Publication

[Marathonodromos]

Hallo I am from Greece and i wrote a fiction book about 900 pages. Can someone please tell me what to do from here so i can be published in U.S, and how can i find an editor?

[Shweta]

:welcome:!

I'd suggest you start off here, at the helpful links (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35603).

You might want to start by looking at what's already been said about novel length (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=657722&postcount=10) (because my first thought is that 900 pages sounds long!), editing your novel (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=657713&postcount=6), and getting a beta reader (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=657706&postcount=3) to help you see if your novel is ready to send off to publishers or agents.

Then, once you're sure about that, you could look at what agents and editors want to see (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=657731&postcount=15), and how to format (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=657716&postcount=7) your manuscript.

Good luck! :)

[Deccydiva]

:welcome: you'll get a lot of help on here. Is your novel 900 pages single spaced or double spaced? Do you have a word count?

[Phaeal]

Yup, I want a word count, too. 900 pages sounds like it's running over 150,000 words, scary long for trying to sell a first novel unless you have sterling credits, connections, or celebrity.

I'd also suggest posting a bit of the novel on the Share Your Work forums, to get an idea of how close you are to publication readiness.

[Shweta]

Just for reference, 900 pages even at 200 words a page is 180 000 words.

[willietheshakes]

Just for reference, 900 pages even at 200 words a page is 180 000 words.

Yup. And, for the record, 883 pages printed for reading and editing purposes can be (and is) in excess of 280,000 words.

Don't ask me how I know these things. I don't want to talk about it.

[CaroGirl]

Don't ask me how I know these things. I don't want to talk about it.
How do you know these things?

[willietheshakes]

How do you know these things?

Doh!

The hard way, honey. I know them the hard way.

(And after eighty bucks on copying, to boot.)

[underthecity]

Since he didn't say so in the first post, and that he asked about an editor, I'm going to hazard a guess that it's his first draft and will therefore probably lose a few thousand words in the revision process.

Marathon, you may wish to read Self Editing for Fiction Writers, available on amazon.com

allen

[Marathonodromos]

I did no count the words yet because i have each chapter in a defferent word document. In fact my pages were over 1500 and i took them away to another file and continued my novel from the 600th page with a changed scenario.(The rest material wiil be used to be made a second story which will be related to the first). To tell you the truth it seems like i will finish in 900th page because now i am in the 810th page and the end will soon come. But my story cannot be redused to less than 900 pages. The fact is i will have 900 pages and obviously i am trapped in them. So you think that editors and publishers even if they like my story (Archaeology-fiction-science fiction), will delete me because i am unknown and have to many pages?

[CaroGirl]

I did no count the words yet because i have each chapter in a defferent word document. But my story cannot be redused to less than 900 pages. In fact my pages were over 1500 so i wiil use them to make a second story which will be related to the first. The fact is i have 900 pages and obviously i am trapped in them. So you think that editors and publishers even if they like my story (Archaeology-fiction-science fiction), will delete me because i am unknown and have to many pages?
I think you do risk publishers rejecting you. It's a rare publisher that's willing to take a chance on an unknown writer and produce a 900-page book. Books that length are tremendously expensive to produce and the risk of incurring financial loss is too high.

I can almost guarantee that your manuscript could be cut significantly right now and, not only be shorter, but better for it.

[Marathonodromos]

So about how many pages are we talking about so i could have a chance to be published?

[eqb]

So about how many pages are we talking about so i could have a chance to be published?

Publishers go by wordcount, not page count.

And the length they will consider depends on the particular publisher. In general, with a first novel in the SF/F genre, you want to aim for around 100,000 words, but you should check the current guidelines. Some want shorter novels. Some take somewhat longer ones.

[Phaeal]

Can't be reduced? Oh yes it can. Take it from one who routinely cuts a third from first drafts. And that's without taking out any substance, often even adding it!

Think lean. It's almost always more powerful.

[FennelGiraffe]

Is there any way you can divide it into multiple books? Two, or at that length (depending on how much wordiness you can trim out), maybe three? The only thing is, each part would need a complete story arc, to stand alone as a novel, even though you would also have the overall arc for the whole thing.

[MadScientistMatt]

When I first saw the book length, my first thought was that you should look to sell it as a trilogy instead of a book.

[Marathonodromos]

When I first saw the book length, my first thought was that you should look to sell it as a trilogy instead of a book.

Maybe i should start thinking of making a trilogy after all. God, i need to make a great surgery operation on the scenario and the plot.

[Feathers]

Hey, and welcome. :)

I would suggest that you do some editing before deciding to break your book up into two books or a trilogy. You may end up cutting a lot more than you first expected. And I have to second Self Editing for Fiction Writers. That was a great book that helped me out a lot with my editing.

-Feathers

[James D. Macdonald]

Don't pay an editor.

Don't pay a publisher.

Don't pay an agent.

[Shweta]

Just in case it gets lost in the comments...

Don't pay an editor.

Don't pay a publisher.

Don't pay an agent.

This might be the most important thing any of us can tell you. (That's often true of things Uncle Jim (James D. Macdonald) says.)

Here's something I didn't figure out for several months, when I joined AW: the "Absolute Sage" under his name means "pay attention to this person!" The absolute sages really know what they're talking about :)

(Sorry Uncle Jim, will quit using you as an example now :D)

[Marathonodromos]

I also want to know about editors. Are they companies which editing your manuscript aparth from publishers or are they people who work in publishing houses?

[IceCreamEmpress]

I actually think that Marathonodromos is in one of the rare situations where it might make sense to pay a professional editor. Writers for whom English is a second language who want to submit a manuscript to English-language publishers might be better served by having their manuscript edited than by spending the same money on classes to improve their writing in English.

I say this as someone who's done both English as a Second Language teaching and freelance developmental editing with ESL clients. For someone whose written English is where Marathonodromos' is now (based on the posts in this thread), it's going to take a couple of years of part-time study to get to a point of fluency that would enable Marathonodromos to edit the manuscript into publishable shape. And the comparative costs in time and money make hiring an editor the quicker and cheaper route.

Of course, there are ways one can get this help for free. Marathonodromos, have you thought about exchanging Greek lessons or editing services with someone in return for English editing services? Or, if you have the time, simply exchanging Greek lessons for English lessons?

[Miss Java]

Sounds like you need to do some major trimming. My first draft was around 195,000 words. After several (at least 8) drafts, my final draft came in at just under 120,000 words. I'm at the upper end of fantasy for a new author.

I got an agent. Will have to tell you later whether or not it came in too long to be accepted at a publisher. Still waiting to hear back from my first round of submissions.

[Marathonodromos]

I actually think that Marathonodromos is in one of the rare situations where it might make sense to pay a professional editor. Writers for whom English is a second language who want to submit a manuscript to English-language publishers might be better served by having their manuscript edited than by spending the same money on classes to improve their writing in English.

I say this as someone who's done both English as a Second Language teaching and freelance developmental editing with ESL clients. For someone whose written English is where Marathonodromos' is now (based on the posts in this thread), it's going to take a couple of years of part-time study to get to a point of fluency that would enable Marathonodromos to edit the manuscript into publishable shape. And the comparative costs in time and money make hiring an editor the quicker and cheaper route.

Of course, there are ways one can get this help for free. Marathonodromos, have you thought about exchanging Greek lessons or editing services with someone in return for English editing services? Or, if you have the time, simply exchanging Greek lessons for English lessons?

I really have not even thought of sending my manuscripts to a publisher having this awfull level in English language. But i have people around me who are professionals in Elglish literature and someone of them will translate my manuscript when it will finish.

About the language exchange. You mean someone to send me a manuscript in english and i will have to translate it in Greek? And vice versa?

[Kryianna]

Marathonodromos, is your manuscript in English or Greek? I think we were all presuming it was in English, but I'm getting the impression that it's in Greek. Are you wanting to submit it for publication in Greek to Greek publishers, or in English to American/British publishers?

[Marathonodromos]

Marathonodromos, is your manuscript in English or Greek? I think we were all presuming it was in English, but I'm getting the impression that it's in Greek. Are you wanting to submit it for publication in Greek to Greek publishers, or in English to American/British publishers?

The manuscript is in Greek and after i will finish it, it will be translated in English. Then it will be promoted to American publishers written in English.