Writing Success

[SimonSez]

Hello everyone. I would like to hear from those writers who have gotten published. :)

[badducky]

And who wants to know?

[HourglassMemory]

I do want to know. I'm always curious how writers got their work published and what changed in their lives.

[maestrowork]

Answers: yes, perseverance and luck, not much.

[veinglory]

Somewhat (there are degress of being published) and no, not really.

[Jamesaritchie]

I do want to know. I'm always curious how writers got their work published and what changed in their lives.

I wrote a novel and sent it to an agent. She sold it to a publisher. The biggest change was becoming my own boss, and doing something I enjoy for a living.

[Dawno]

Simon and Hourglass - I hope you both spend lots of time reading the threads in the forums - go to the main index and start looking for forums that suit your needs. Want to write a novel? There's a novels forum. Have a particular genre? There are genre forums. Want advice about agents and editors? There are forums for that as well.

Starting a thread with such a broad and vague question won't really be much help to you - or anyone else who comes to the thread looking for an answer to the same question.

[mysteryhost]

Hello everyone. I would like to hear from those writers who have gotten published. :)

What do you want to know?

[James D. Macdonald]

How I got published:

Wrote.
Finished.
Sent it off.

What changed in my life?

Nothing much.

[cwfgal]

After years of writing short stories and accumulating lots of rejections, I switched to novel length work. Didn't sell the first one but the second one found me an agent who sold it to HarperCollins within a matter of weeks. A couple more novel sales followed.

I tried my hand at nonfiction writing (articles) and did well enough to earn a pretty nice income for several years and give up my day job. But eventually I gave it up because I didn't enjoy it and wanted to focus solely on fiction. Plus, I actually missed my day job (and the benefits that come with it).

Did getting published change my life? I suppose it did to some degree but not enough to matter.

Beth

[omega12596]

LOL, if only my success could be matched by my similar answer to Messers Ritchie and MacDonald.

I wrote a novel. I wanted experience dealing with publishers, rejections, submissions guidelines, etc. I wrote a short story to accomplish that goal. I sent it an established e-publisher with a solid track record. They accepted it. I sold them seven more books.

Other than having a fan group, of which I am most appreciative, and being very involved in things related to marketing and promotion, nothing has changed. LOL, I'm not rich or famous, but I am my own boss and I love my 'job'.

[aruna]

Wrote a book, sent it to an agent.

My life has changed dramatically. I moved country, put my kids in good schools, got myself a flat.
However, it seems the reverse is now about to take place.

[L.Jones]

How I got published

I didn't know how hard it was supposed to be

Didn't have people telling me the 'rules"

Read, read, read in the genre that I wanted to write

Took a class from an author on the business of writing

wrote, submitted and kept doing so until the call came


The three best pieces of advice I got in my first year that actually contributed to my selling and still apply today:

1)Just because author X does it, doesn't mean you should

2)Editors are people, treat them they way you'd want to be treated (this applies to agents and everyone in the production staff, office, etc)

3)from my husband: "I cannot afford to buy you flowers and take you out to dinner every time you get a rejection. So either toughen up about it or quit."

annie
Luanne Jones (Heathen Girls, Mira)

[underthecity]

Pretty much what everyone else said:

Wrote magazine articles for a radio trade magazine.

Got interested in a popular local subject that hadn't been written about yet.

Wrote a book about it, found a publisher who published that sort of subject, and got it published.

Then did two more books for that publisher covering topics I was interested in.

My life hasn't changed much except that I do public appearances: I give slideshows covering local transportation and entertainment history (which means I talk to lots of strangers about my interests). Plus, I'm more focused on writing than my other hobbies.

allen

[Zolah]

Hello everyone. I would like to hear from those writers who have gotten published. :)

What exactly would you like to hear? I can tell you all about the lunch I had with my mother last week, and the problems I have with frizz after straightening my hair, but I'm thinking that probably wouldn't be too useful...