HELP--Another Question by crowlett

[crowlett]

Help,

Ok soon I am going to become known as the question guy, but I do have another one. I have a story that I think is good, but I have received fifty rejections stating it is just not what they are looking for. When does one give up and move on. A friend of mine wants to by the story as is for $100, but I would hate to see it in print by KC Miller knowing it was a crowlett original. So here is my question: hold out for a traditional publisher, self publish or sale it for lunch money?

crowlett

[WordGypsy]

Don't sell your story! :( that makes me sad! Keep tweeking it until it's even better and send it out again. REWRITE! I've heard of people sending out 100-150 queries before getting their break. Keep trying!

[BlueTexas]

Have you tried letting someone crit it, help you see why you're getting rejected? Sometimes we're blind when it comes to our own writing.

[JoNightshade]

I'm confused, someone wants to buy the story from you so that they can sayTHEY wrote it? No, no, no, no, no. Please, have some integrity!

On the other hand if someone is offering to buy a short story for $100 but still under your name, I'd totally go for it... most of the time you wouldn't make that much on a short anyway! :)

And don't worry about rejections on short stories, it's not always a reflection on the quality... it's super hard to place shorts and often it's a matter of chance... what the magazine needs and when. Write another story and keep going. I used to write stories for magazines and literary journals and I had about 10 stories out at once, on a kind of mailing rotation. It takes a long time.

[stormie]

Ach! No! Run! Don't sell that ms. to someone else to use!

(Are those enough exclamation points?)

[crowlett]

So the consensus is no sale to my fellow writer. Should I hold on for a traditional publisher for my novel or go look at a self publishing firm? What do you guys think of self publishing?

crowlett

[sassandgroove]

traditional publisher.

Good Luck.

[crowlett]

BlueTexas,

Part of this story is posted here at AW and I am learning from the replies.

crowlett

[Dave.C.Robinson]

So the consensus is no sale to my fellow writer. Should I hold on for a traditional publisher for my novel or go look at a self publishing firm? What do you guys think of self publishing?

crowlett

Go for a commercial publisher. All you need to spend money on is ink, paper and postage.

[JJ Cooper]

BlueTexas,

Part of this story is posted here at AW and I am learning from the replies.

crowlett

Is that the death row one you are talking about? I thought that was the beginning of a novel.

JJ

[crowlett]

Yes it is the death row one. CCA1 The Project

JJ,

I classify my story as a novel, but it is not finished yet. I told the story to a him in detail and he said I’ll give you $100 for it, but I want all rights. The pitches to agents have been rejected so far. I’m just wondering what I should do form here. I guess some would call it a short story, but I think when it is done it will be a novel.

crowlett

[job]

Somebody wants to buy a story somebody else wrote and publish it under his own name?

And this is a friend of yours?

EEeeeeeeww

[JoNightshade]

Oh man, I thought you were talking about a short story! A novel? For $100??? If you're going to sacrifice your integrity, set the price a little higher, man. :)

[crowlett]

job

I know him through a local writing group and we sure work now and then. I consider my AW people as friends. I don’t think he is trying to upstage me or anything, I just said I can’t make this story work and he said sell it to me and I’ll rewrite it as my own. He is all business and I knew this when I pitched selling it to him.

crowlett

[EriRae]

Crowlett, don't do it!! If he thinks he can rewrite it better, have him crit for you and tell you his ideas. That way, you can take them or leave them, and the story will still be yours. If he doesn't want to do that, I would steer clear; it's possible the only reason he's in the writer's group is because he can't come up with ideas on his own.

[Dave.C.Robinson]

My advice, finish the novel. Then decide what to do with it.

[JJ Cooper]

Yes it is the death row one. CCA1 The Project

JJ,

I classify my story as a novel, but it is not finished yet. I told the story to a him in detail and he said I’ll give you $100 for it, but I want all rights. The pitches to agents have been rejected so far. I’m just wondering what I should do form here. I guess some would call it a short story, but I think when it is done it will be a novel.

crowlett

Hi crowlett,

I'm not quite understanding the full picture here. CCA1 (in SYW) is a WIP (unfinished novel). You still haven't finished it and your pitching it to agents? If this is the case it does not surprise me that they aren't picking you up. It would be very rare indeed to do it this way.

If I'm right then I advise you to finish your story, edit it, grab some BETA readers, re-edit and then worry about getting an agent. If you are finding it difficult finishing why not seek out a co-author or a mentor. There is a few over on the other boards looking for one. I didn't mind what you had written per se and you know what my comments were all about, and I would be happy to help out if you want to explore these options more.

Whatever you do don't sell out before you finish it - you will regret it.

JJ

[Dancre]

So the consensus is no sale to my fellow writer. Should I hold on for a traditional publisher for my novel or go look at a self publishing firm? What do you guys think of self publishing?

crowlett

There is a reason why the publishers are giving you the rejections. It could be that there is no hooks, lots of telling, poor grammar, etc. What did the publishers who rejected you say in their letters? Sometimes you have to read between the lines in order to figure out what they are saying.

kim

[Dancre]

Hi crowlett,

I'm not quite understanding the full picture here. CCA1 (in SYW) is a WIP (unfinished novel). You still haven't finished it and your pitching it to agents? If this is the case it does not surprise me that they aren't picking you up. It would be very rare indeed to do it this way.

If I'm right then I advise you to finish your story, edit it, grab some BETA readers, re-edit and then worry about getting an agent. If you are finding it difficult finishing why not seek out a co-author or a mentor. There is a few over on the other boards looking for one. I didn't mind what you had written per se and you know what my comments were all about, and I would be happy to help out if you want to explore these options more.

Whatever you do don't sell out before you finish it - you will regret it.

JJ

JJ is right. No wonder the publishers/agents are rejecting your story. You don't HAVE a story. Follow JJ's advice, get the blasted thing done first, then look for a publisher.

kim

[JJ Cooper]

See that crowlett, Kim is agreeing with me. She knows I rock.:)

JJ

[Dave.C.Robinson]

Finish it. No one will accept it unfinished. Just work on the writing then move on to the selling.

[stormie]

First, finish the book.

Second, polish your query. Think of a great hook.

Third, send it out to carefully selected agents or publishers (not both. Agents don't appreciate it if they take you on and find that the novel has already been shopped around considerably).

Fourth, never pay anyone to publish your work. If it's great, you won't have to go the self-publish route.

Fifth, never, ever, sell your work--even unfinished--to another writer to use as he/she wishes. Think about it: He's using your work, but his name. What if the book took off and became a best seller? You'd be miserable, he'd be happy.

Okay, I'm done lecturing. I stayed calm, didn't I? :D

[crowlett]

Thank you all. I know I have spelling issues and I try hard to fix them, but I need to succeed not try. I love this group.


crowlett

[JoniBGoode]

I told the story to a him in detail and he said I’ll give you $100 for it, but I want all rights. The pitches to agents have been rejected so far. I’m just wondering what I should do form here. I guess some would call it a short story, but I think when it is done it will be a novel.
crowlett

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think technically he doesn't have to pay you anything for it. It sounds like you simply told him your idea. And, since ideas can't be copyrighted, he could simply use it.

I will say, I belong to two writer's groups, and neither of them work this way. A) We critique words on paper, not "ideas" or verbal stories and B) they would help me with my WIP, not offer to buy it from me.

I think the biggest problem here is the lack of a manuscript. As someone else has eloquently said on AW, if you have a story "in your head", you don't have squat.

[stormie]

Joni, I was under the impression Crowlett already wrote part of it and was going to sell that. Hmmm....

[rwam]

And another thing, Crowlett, and I don't think you're going to like this. Not only do you need to finish your novel once, you're probably looking at a couple drafts after that. I am assuming, of course, that what you are pitching to agents is an unfinished FIRST DRAFT.

After you've finished your first draft and go through the revision process, work on polishing your query.

I suspect you're probably impatient, anxious to be published. Forget that nagging voice that's telling you it's not happening fast enough and focus instead on crafting your story. This takes time and effort that's painful to expend, but I promise you it's well worth it.

[JJ Cooper]

So here it is. Crowlett sent me a snippet via PM and I can honestly say that he has a story there that just needs a little tweaking. That bloke from your writing group is a tight-ass, I would have given you more. Just kidding, I've got a WIP that rocks.

So I've offered to help crowlett with some critiquing and advice along the way. So now I've made it public he hasn't got an excuse to sell it to the bloke with no ideas. Also I'll be looking for others here to help me encourage his writing through to the end. This is not a co-writing arrangement, rather the same help we provide as per normal here at AW.

JJ

[crowlett]

Joni,

Parts of the story are already wrote out. The same of the story exist on this web page for help. It is more than an Idea.

crowlett

[crowlett]

JJ,


Thank you. My biggest problem is I never finish anything I write. My friends are always asking when are you going to finish that story you showed us and I’m already on to the next. My wife will not listen to another pitch until I finish “The Last Winter”; it has been in a closet for four years. So here we go I am going to finish CCA1 and quit being a whiner.

crowlett

[crowlett]

And another thing, Crowlett, and I don't think you're going to like this.

I suspect you're probably impatient, anxious to be published.

rwam,

Everything I have heard in reply to any of my post here at AW, has made me smile. I love this group and nothing you say here can be as bad as some of the rejection from gents.

Thank you guys, all of you.:Hug2:

and yes I am impatient.

[JJ Cooper]

Ok mate. Start polishing chapter 1 and send it through to me. You can finish this thing.

JJ

[rwam]

And for the record, Crowlett, I'm impatient too. It's a daily battle to just stay focused on not only completing each necessary step of the very long process, but doing the best possible job along the way.

Have faith in your writing.

Oh, and another thing. Re-query every single one of those agents after you've completed your WIP.

[Prawn]

It depends on the idea. If you have a fabulous novel about planes hitting the world trade center, it probably won't sell. It needs to be the right story at the right time.

[JoniBGoode]

Joni, I was under the impression Crowlett already wrote part of it and was going to sell that. Hmmm....

Ah, thanks Stormie. My mistake. I thought we were talking about him "telling" the plot to someone.

[stormie]

And I began to question myself and what I perceived. See what you started, Joni?! :)

[crowlett]

Thanks Guys. Keeping the story for now and working it out.

crowlett

[stormie]

http://bestsmileys.com/clapping/5.gif
Great! Good luck!

[Maryn]

Just want to say quickly that keeping your story as your own is the right decision, in my opinion.

Maryn, who's been watching this thread