I don't do small talk --

[Harbor]

-- but I decided it would be polite to do so anyway.

Hello. I'm Harbor, I've been writing on purpose and for a purpose (mine) for about seven years. I intend to self-publish within the year so I dearly need feedback. Since my works of late have been rather long, nobody I know will commit to reading them, so I will reach out to those who must have the time to be browsing the internet, and who are also less likely to beat around the bush in an attempt not to hurt my feelings.

[Spectre]

We can totally do that. Welcome, by the way. ;D

[sapphire]

Welcome, Harbor.
I think you'll find what you're looking for here.

[Raphael]

Cool.

[GiannaRose]

I'd love to read your work!

[Endovia]

Welcome to the Echo, Harbor! You've come to the right place.

[Harbor]

Thank you for the welcomes.

GiannaRose, I have put up the first 'chapter' of one of my favorites in the Novels board, if you're interested. If it doesn't interest you however, I insist that you read something else, because if you spend your time on a story you don't like I will feel bad.

[Genesis]

Welcome to the Echo, Harbor

Typically I stick to the poetry and lyrics threads, so I might not be commenting much on prose. If you're ever in the poetic mood though, I'd be happy to critique whatever ya got

[Harbor]

I may take you up on that

[Jade]

Hi, Harbor! Welcome to the Echo, sorry for the delayed greeting. Before you self-publish you might want to look more into it. I'm not fond of it, but for your purpose it may be all you need. I'd recommend contemplating self-publishing a little more deeper before doing it. I would recommend getting published through a true publishing house, but if you only want enough copies of your book for you, friends, and family then self-publishing is fine. It's not a good choice if you want your book to be seen by zee world.

[Harbor]

Toni, I've been researching self-publishing for a couple of years and I'm not looking to make a lot of money, but I've seen books full of errors get three hundred purchases off of Amazon in just a month, so I'm hoping more to find a niche and work with it. Self-publishing allows a lot more flexibility than does traditional, so while it's also a lot more work, coming at it knowing you aren't likely to be a bestseller or get your book read all over the world or translated into languages, I'm hoping it will satisfy my desire to have my book seen because I believe others will enjoy it.

Now that you mention it, I haven't sent out any query letters for this one though, so it would probably be a good exercise to spend a few months at that first just in case this one gets lucky. Thanks for the reminder!

[sapphire]

I'm sure you've done your research, Harbor, but I'd just like to add my input on the self-publishing thing.
It sounds like all you're looking for is a small output to reach whatever number of people happen to want to read the book. That's totally fine, and kudos to you for writing just for the sake of writing.
I just want to say that anything you've heard about publishers being willing to take people who have self-published successfully is almost entirely untrue. Once you've self-published, the Big Five will not take you, so you'll be stuck self-publishing or working with small publishers. I've spoken with agents who have confirmed that (and one who told me that any media outlet that says otherwise is lying, heh).

Best of luck, however you end up publishing!

[Harbor]

Good to know! Thanks

[Jade]

Apr 20, 2013 21:08:43 GMT -6 sapphire said:

Once you've self-published, the Big Five will not take you, so you'll be stuck self-publishing or working with small publishers. I've spoken with agents who have confirmed that (and one who told me that any media outlet that says otherwise is lying, heh).

Glad to know that, Sapphire!