So I've shared some of my works in the (distant) past and I have heard others mention writing, so I wanted to see if we couldn't get more of you guys to come out and share what you've written, whether it's a blog or self-made website or even self-published work.

As much as I'd love to have a thread advertising my own works, I'd rather try to get more of the community involved, so I won't actually post links to my own stuff until others wish to share. But I would like to try to develop a pipeline of resources for anyone interested in getting their own writing off the ground, whether it's through finding others to read and provide feedback/editing or getting advice from other writers who have put their works on Amazon or even just figuring out where to start.

Resources

Feel free to mention any sites that have helped you and I'll link them here

Amazon - The most popular avenue for self-publishing (there's a link at the bottom of the home page), Amazon allows you to put your writing up for sale on Kindle and even has options for on-demand publishing of actual books. KDP Select is an awesome tool for publishing on Kindle that in exchange for not publishing with other e-book providers allows you 5 days over a 3 month period to put your book up for free to gain more readers.

Kindle PC - Kindle PC app that allows those of you who do not wish to buy a Kindle, but wish to support independent writers to do so.

Smash Words - This site covers just about every other e-reader, most notably the Nook from Barnes and Noble.

Epublishabook.com - A great blog with tips on self-publishing

OneBookshelf - Digital marketplace specializing in table-top RPG/gaming. Also has resources for self-publishing books and comics (Thanks to AliasMan02 for the link)

Ka-Blam - Online resource for publishing comics, including TPBs, T-shirts, art boards, and other fun stuff (Thanks to AliasMan02 for the link)

Lulu - Another source for e-books and on-demand publishing with a pretty robust community (Thanks to AggieOO for the link)

Brazos Writers - Writer's club in BCS area that meets monthly (Thanks to aggieann for the link)

Nathan Bransford - He is an agent turned author and has a great FAQ section and guides to nearly every step of the process. (Thanks to nai06 for the link)

Janet Reid - She answer questions and posts about various topics regarding queries, common mistakes, etc. She also runs the blog Query Shark. You submit your query letter to her and she basically tears it apart on the blog for all to see. It may seem harsh, but the end result is a much stronger query letter for you. On her main website she (like most agents) outlines what she specifically wants when you query her as well as the types of projects shes looking for. Its vital that you pay attention to these things because they will get you tossed pretty quickly. See Also (Thanks to nai06 for the links)

Query Tracker - Its pretty straight forward. It allows you to keep track of who you have queried and their response if any. There are also some pretty active forums that people use to find critique partners or to refine their query letter (Thanks to nai06 for the link)

There are plenty of resources out there and I'll continue to update this as I find more or as suggestions are made.

So feel to share your works, your blogs, your twitter, your advice, or even offer up your services as an editor. I look forward to seeing what other Aggies have written and hopefully we can convince any who are on the fence to make the jump. Trust me when I say it's a heck of a feeling to search your own name on Amazon and see your writing pop up.

Note: If you don't wish to associate your work with your handle, feel free to PM me a link and I'll throw it up there for you (I'll get an e-mail address for this eventually for those without stars)

[This message has been edited by bluefire579 (edited 7/18/2012 6:04p).]

Reserving this spot for links

Nobleone - Archangel Origins Sample Chapter

kjb'91 - The Cotton Widow in Climax

bluefire579 - The Plague and various short stories

[This message has been edited by bluefire579 (edited 3/9/2013 6:16p).]

I like this idea.

i've got several things in the works, but nothing out yet.

Right with OO. Aggiegaming has killed most of my fiction time, but I will be geting back into that sometime soon.

The onebookshelf.com family is the best place for self-publication of anything related to tabletop RPGs/gaming. While they're actually the same site, the portal used for most companies is DriveThruRPG.com while the smallest indies may focus on RPGNow.com (but again, they're actually the same site). They also have DriveThruComics.com, DriveThruFiction.com, and WarGameVault.com but I don't know how much share they get.

Ka-Blam.com is a great indie comics self-publishing service.

Thank you for the links. I also have something in the works, but recently came to a standstill. I will get back to it now.

Good thread. Will return later.

i'll post an intro to something i'm working on in the next few days. trying to get it done and back to an editor in the next week or so anyway.

Glad to see the enthusiasm!

Thanks for the links, AliasMan02, added them to the OP

btw - lulu.com is a self publishing site. I've never really compared all the different self publishing sites, but the forums on lulu (http://connect.lulu.com/t5/Lulu-Connect-Self-publishing-and/ct-p/en_US) have a wealth of knowledge that I was able to learn a lot from.

The Lulu forums do look pretty robust (though I feel like the formatting is going to take some getting used to for me)

Bluefire and Alias,

Had a question re publishing. This is new to me, but I've been thinking about it for quite some time.

When the time comes (ready to publish something), how do you decide on when to self-publish or to look for a publisher?

Depends on your project. My modest writing has been using the IP of an existing company, so that wasn't even a decision, whether it was for an established RPG publisher or an indie comic creator or whatever.

My self-publishing has been small projects, piecemeal, on a very limited scope, so doing it on my own makes sense. It's also good practice, as I have found that I really enjoy publishing and am going to do more of that in the future (going to be Kickstarting a project this fall, I hope).

So in summary, I think it depends on your project. If I had a novel or something like that, I'd try to sell it to a publisher first. That may just be my ego talking, but to me it's more legit for some reason. If I was selling short stories (especially genre stuff, like high fantasy or sci-fi or erotica or whatever is your bag) then self-publishing for Kindle makes a ton of sense.

Thanks, Alias, for the advice.

I'm writing an apocalyptic-type novel that I hope to make a 2 or 3 part series.

I was initially going to look for a publisher to see if they would pick up the first installment. If it doesn't pan out, then I'll see about the self-publishing route.

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I'm writing an apocalyptic-type novel that I hope to make a 2 or 3 part series.

I was initially going to look for a publisher to see if they would pick up the first installment. If it doesn't pan out, then I'll see about the self-publishing route.

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Good luck, need more Aggies out there representing.

Put in a teenage heartthrob vampire, a two-dimensional female lead that speaks to the lost dreams of lonely housewives, and zombies, and you should be in good shape.

are these resources only for novels & books? i write occasionally but it's more of the screenplay variety

I have a friend who is a playwright. I'll ask him.

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Good luck, need more Aggies out there representing.

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Thanks, appreciate it!

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Put in a teenage heartthrob vampire, a two-dimensional female lead that speaks to the lost dreams of lonely housewives, and zombies, and you should be in good shape.

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We can have a vampire vs zombie war.

Writers in the B-CS area are invited to join Brazos Writers: http://brazoswriters.org/

Presentation from our February meeting, about self-publishing and ebooks: http://brazoswriters.org/images/PDF/ebooks-02-12.pdf

Brazos Writers also has a Facebook page with information about events.

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When the time comes (ready to publish something), how do you decide on when to self-publish or to look for a publisher?

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To go with what Alias said, it's best to weigh the pros and cons of self-publishing when you're making the decision.

Pros
1. It's yours. 100% your work. Amazon takes a decent cut, but at the end of the day, you answer to no one about the content of your work. If you're getting published professionally, you will probably have to make rewrite after rewrite before it ever sees the light of day. While that can be a good thing, it can also be a bad thing, as you could potentially see your story changed in a way you don't agree with.
2. Whether you really want to make money with it. For me, I approach it as more of a hobby. If I make any significant money, then great, but if not, it's fine since I have a steady job. If I can manage to get signed by a publisher, then great, but I personally just enjoy writing and putting my work out there, so I'm okay with continuing self-publishing

Cons
1. You have to be the one that does the work a publisher normally does. Getting cover art, dealing with copyright, marketing, etc. A publisher takes care of these things, so if you do it yourself, it falls on you, which can be a pain.
2. You're not the only one. Even if you have a strong product, it's difficult to distinguish yourself because publishing on Amazon is so easy. If marketed correctly with a strong product, you can achieve fairly decent success (there are some pretty neat stories of people selling hundreds of thousands on Amazon), but it is very difficult.

Good luck with you story, let us know what happens with it!

Thanks, bluefire!

I'll definitely keep you guys posted.

somewhat unedited...and short intro to some stuff i'm working on.

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I sat with my back to the road on soft low-lying soft vegetation halfway up the mountain. The world around me was calm. I'd spent the better part of the day cycling through British Columbia on a windy mountain road that many revere as one of the most scenic stretches in all of North America. As I pedaled along, I stared into the surrounding landscape hoping to catch a glimpse of a moose wading into a one of the many lakes or perhaps a grizzly bear snaring a trout from a glacial river.

The wilderness surrounding me was the type that National Geographic documentaries dream about. Emerald green lakes kissed the bases of lush, pine covered mountains. Swift glacial rivers and streams hundreds, sometimes thousands, of feet below divided the mountains. The air was the freshest I'd ever been privileged to breath, without a hint of car exhaust or smell of a factory. All the beauty surrounding me was framed by bright blue sky and towering snow-capped mountain contrasting the smaller piney peaks.

I was near the top of the final descent of the day. The quaint town of Lillooet was a thousand or so feet below me. It would be nice to relax after almost 80 miles of riding on the day. As I sat there gathering myself, everything was serene. It was if someone had hit “pause” on the remote that controlled my life. And then time abruptly regained forward motion as my bike flew over my shoulder within an inch of my head and landed directly in front of me.

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Thanks for sharing AggieOO. Is this part of a short story or something longer?

Can anyone recommend a copyeditor who is willing to look at manuscripts (for a fee of course)? I am not sure what the standard rate is for such a service.

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Thanks for sharing AggieOO. Is this part of a short story or something longer?

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something longer. been working on it for a long time. I wrote 200 pages back in 2008/09 and then sat on it for way too long. I have a friend who is a book agent, and she sort of convinced me, in a way, to dig it back out. I'm in the process of revising/updating the proposal and writing a new sample chapter. We'll see where it goes from there. If I get no bites, I'll go the self-publishing route.

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http://www.yourbodyisyourengine.com
RRCA Certified Running Coach

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Can anyone recommend a copyeditor who is willing to look at manuscripts (for a fee of course)? I am not sure what the standard rate is for such a service.

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$20/hour is pretty standard for a legit freelance editor.

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something longer. been working on it for a long time. I wrote 200 pages back in 2008/09 and then sat on it for way too long. I have a friend who is a book agent, and she sort of convinced me, in a way, to dig it back out. I'm in the process of revising/updating the proposal and writing a new sample chapter. We'll see where it goes from there. If I get no bites, I'll go the self-publishing route.

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Keep us updated, would love to read more

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Can anyone recommend a copyeditor who is willing to look at manuscripts

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I'm actually also interested if anyone has any copyeditors in particular to recommend. I get decent feedback from friends and family, but at the end of the day, they can only do so much

Thought some of y'all might enjoy this short story I wrote for kicks this spring. Haven't tried publishing it anywhere, but if y'all like it, I might try.

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THE WEIGHT OF SILVER



I'm a coward. That's what they called me, but they're right. Here I lay, with my piece by my side - but hardly the peace I desire - watching the door over my white knuckles and the blanket they clutch to my chin. There's a coin taunting me on the table by the door, a silver dollar – the cost of my sanity. Sleep can't take me. There will be no rest for me tonight, just as there wasn't last night, or the night before that, or the night before that.

I can still hear them, cursing me for my weakness.

What was I to do? They said they'd kill us all if I didn't let them I'm. "We just want the money," they'd said, "open the door or we'll burn you out." How was I to know there were only three of them left? We had no windows on our car - no way in, no way out, save the red door, locked with irons.

"We won't kill you if you let us in," they promised! I thought they meant all of us. I thought I was keeping us safe.

Willy had the right of it. "Been through it all a hundred times," he said. "They'll move on if we sit tight," but he wasn't the one by the door. I was. And I was a naive fool.

What was that? Sounded like footsteps, shuffling. A whispered voice in the wind. I dare not look outside. I can't face them. I can't face what I did to them. If I open the red door, they'll be there waiting for me. Flies, maggots and bloated tongues, spinning in the wind. Why'd I do it? Why'd I let them in?

The tall one with the fiery beard, he'd thanked me when the door swung open. I thought I'd done the right thing! Until I saw the gaunt one with the dead eyes behind him.

"Don't hurt this one, Clancy" Firebeard had said. "This one's our friend." He patted me on the shoulder.

"You idiot!" Thomas had screamed from behind me.

They cut out his tongue for that.

"Nobody calls my friend an idiot," Firebeard said after.

They took the money - Firebeard, Deadeyes, and the apache who was with them - they took the money and rode away, but not before they'd left the others to hang.

They blame me. I hear them. Even Thomas, with his tongue out, he stares at me and says it's my fault every time he spins my way.

Shut up!

I killed them.

Shut up!

I killed them because I was afraid to die.

SHUT UP!

Help should have come by now. Another train should have found me. It's not coming, though. I know that now. The first few days I'd hoped, but this is what I deserve. I haven't left the boxcar since they closed me in here with my blanket, my iron, and my ******* silver dollar.

I can't leave. I can't face them. This cabin is the hell I bought with my crimes.

I still have my piece though. It's still loaded – unused. I can leave any time I want. No coming back, though. My gun and my coin, that's all I have left.

"Pay the man for his troubles, Clancy" Firebeard told Deadeyes. He threw me a coin, a silver dollar, and smiled a dead smile.

Father John used to tell me the Greeks put coins on the eyes of their dead. To pay for passage to a better place, he'd said. I only have one coin... if I died with only one eye remaining, would it be enough?

The coin is cold and heavy on my eye. But even the pinched lids of my left eye aren't as dark as the barrel I look down with my right. There's an exit at the end of that tunnel. A way out. To a place where Willy and Thomas can't blame me anymore.

Do it.

Shut up.

Do it!

Shut up!

DO IT!

NO!

There's another way out.

Revenge.

Who ever knew a silver dollar could be so heavy?



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"What are you looking at, Clancy?"

All that ass ever does is stare at me with those dead eyes of his. Good with his knife, quick with his blade, but the mute doesn't make for good conversation. He stayed silent.

That damn whimpering dog makes better conversation. I can still hear her outside. She hasn't been fed in three days – not since we put her owner in a hole out back – but the damn ***** is too dumb to leave.

Not my problem if she doesn't eat. Nobody will care what becomes of her in this forgotten trapper's den, that's for sure.

"Fine, I'll talk to myself then. Happy?"

Clancy's face gave nothing away.

"I can tell you're unhappy about what happened to Apache – or whatever his name was. Kicking-Wolf? Cow-Pie? Whatever. You know as well as I do red-men can't be trusted. Besides, what's an Indian going to do with a bag of coin anyway?"

Nothing's so sweet as the sound of coin, clinking and clanking as a man runs his hands through it. No touch so refreshing as the cold embrace of a fistful of silvers, the fickle *****es slipping through your fingers.

"Soon as winter passes, we'll be rich men wherever we go. Until the leaves die and fall from trees again, by then it'll all be spent. It will be time for another train and another winter in the mountains with you. So why don't you learn to ****ing say something this year."

I need to find a partner who talks. Might as well be me spending my winter with the trapper in the hole out back. Winter's a long time to be alone without conversation.

"You know, you can be pretty worthless at times, Clancy. There's nobody here but us no more. The shack's empty. Sometimes a man wants to hear something other than the sound of his own voice. Had I cut your tongue out instead of that freckly *******'s in the train last month, you wouldn't have minded a thing, would you?"

Clancy flashed a smile and flicked his tongue between his teeth like a snake, but from him the act was worth more a shiver than a laugh.

"**** you too. I'm going to grab another drink."

That's when the door opened and **** went all to hell.

The first bullet took Clancy in the back before he'd fully turned to see who'd come in, it happened so fast he might not have even registered the sound of the shot before he was struck. Three more punctured his lungs and arms and two others missed their mark as the silent man collapsed and took the table down with him. His cold eyes never changed, though. No shock, no surprise, no nothing.

I looked over the bar from where I'd dove, the dark silhouette was trembling in the doorway, reloading its iron.

"What the **** did you shoot Clancy for?!"

The man's laugh was crazed and bitter.

"I recognized those mares outside. I didn't think I would, but I did. I just want them to be quiet, to leave me alone. I just want them to shut up!"

The man stumbled forward into the light. His eyes were shallow, his face ragged and bristly – yet familiar.

"What are you doing here?" it's the man from the train, "you aiming to make a liar out of me? I told you I wouldn't hurt you, but that was before you done shot poor Clancy."

"Was that his name? You hear that, Willy? It was Clancy that hung you by your rope. Not me. Clancy!"

The man looked at the rafters as he screamed his nonsense. My gun was hanging on the wall beside him; I slowly move my hand toward the knife on my belt instead.

"Don't worry," he turned to me with a haunted giggle. "I'll pay you for Deadeyes."

He flipped a coin across the room.

I loosened the knife as we watched the coin spin through the air.

The silver dollar bounced and slid across the counter.

"That's no good though. That won't pay the fare. It isn't enough, is it, Father John?" he's talking to someone who isn't here again. I don't like it. "That's only enough for one eye, and he's got two."

My knife was in the air before his sights were level and caught him in the arm. His wild scream was like a wounded animal's as I leaped the counter and charged. His bullets went wide – or did they? My left arm was suddenly useless and heavy, a dull throb.

I crashed into him all the same and the iron flew from his grip. The weight of my collision sent us out the door and into the dirt.

I reached for his throat with my good hand and wrapped a fist around it. Somehow, he had a knife – or was it mine? – stabbing me in my side, but all I felt was his neck between my fingers, the blood itself unable to pump past my tightening grip.

His stabs grew more feeble, more slow, until they stopped all together and the blade fell from his hands. The crazed glint fled from his eyes, but it wasn't peace that replaced them – they looked like Clancy's eyes now.

And the blood was everywhere, but it wasn't his.

Something fell from inside me when I rolled on my back. I tried to push it back in, but everything was so cold, so dim.

I didn't hear the whimpering ***** until she'd padded up right to my side. I hadn't noticed how skinny she'd grown out in the cold, her ribs looked wrong where I'd kicked her the day before.

She didn't howl, though. Didn't growl, either. She just looked at me and licked her chops.

Then she started to eat.

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Can anyone recommend a copyeditor who is willing to look at manuscripts (for a fee of course)? I am not sure what the standard rate is for such a service.

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Try Ellen McGinty at thestoryatlas.com/

man so much to add to this thread, where to begin? I just cracked open a fresh beer so lets do this.

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Bluefire and Alias,

Had a question re publishing. This is new to me, but I've been thinking about it for quite some time.

When the time comes (ready to publish something), how do you decide on when to self-publish or to look for a publisher?

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Honestly this is a tough choice. A lot depends on your genre. If its things like text books, manuals, etc. self publishing may be the right route for you. Some might disagree(especially on the lulu boards), but if you want to make a career out of writing self publishing will not get you there. The biggest problem is that it is up to you to market your book. Thats tough to do when you likely have a limited budget. Also, self publishers are often looked down upon in the writing world. The thought behind this is that if your book is good enough you shouldnt have to self publish. Now lets say you want to go the publisher route. First off, the big six or their imprints are going to spend the dough to market you and your book. That could mean twitter/social media campaigns or even sending you to conferences like ALA or BEA. There is not a single publishing company out there that will take unrepresented work unless you are already famous. That means you have to get an agent. If you are going to get an agent, they need to be based in the NYC area. Again some will disagree, but most major publisher are in new york and a good part of an agents time is spent at functions, lunches, and getting drinks with editors at publishers. thats just how its down. Agents in NYC are able to cultivate very good relationships with publishers to give them an edge over non NYC agents. And trust me, its a big edge.

And speaking of agents, do your homework first. Make sure they actually take the type of work you are offering. You'll need to write a query letter to send to them. Query letters are very important and there are a lot of resources out there regarding them.

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Put in a teenage heartthrob vampire, a two-dimensional female lead that speaks to the lost dreams of lonely housewives, and zombies, and you should be in good shape.

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oddly enough, this is the worst thing to write right now. The market is flooded with these types of manuscripts and they are getting picked up by agent and publishers arent buying. Expect to see an increase in contemporary YA fiction over the next two years.

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are these resources only for novels & books? i write occasionally but it's more of the screenplay variety

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screen plays are a whole different beast. The best thing you can do for a screenplay is write a 20-50 page synopsis. Thats what people are going to want to see before they look at the whole screenplay

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Can anyone recommend a copyeditor who is willing to look at manuscripts (for a fee of course)? I am not sure what the standard rate is for such a service.

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One option you can look into is a critique partner. Its basically someone in the same place as you writing a manuscript. You trade works every few chapters and critique each others work. There are loads of boards for critiquing out there. The best part is that its free. And aside from copy editing, you get good feedback on things like layout, how/when info is revealed to the reader, and general reviews of ideas.


Also another great resource is nanowrimo. It stands for National Novel Writing Month ( http://www.nanowrimo.org/ ). If you are serious about writing a book, it can be a great kick starter. The goal is to write a book(50,000 words) in the month of november. It helps you track you progress and lets you connect with other writers out there

FWIW, my wife just sold her first book so I have a little first hand info on a lot of different aspects of the process. Id be happy to try and answer any questions you might have.

A thread where we share excerpts might be fun in general, actually. This is a working (draft) intro for my new self-published tabletop RPG.

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I have been asked by my peers to record, as simply and concisely as I can, a brief overview of our heritage and how we arrived where we are as a society today from where we were perhaps a few hundred years ago. This I am only too happy to do. After all, this subject is that which I have spent my life pursuing for the benefit of all.

The need for such a primer in our lost history is an oddity itself. Many undoubtedly believe that we have always lived in this way, in this world as it stands. It seems strange to think that our people did not always exist in small pockets of civilization, huddled and isolated in the wilderness in an attempt to survive, or hiding behind the high walls of petty kings. That our world was not always covered with splits in the fabric of space and time, through which poured inhuman races, horrific monsters, and alien plagues. That our forebears walked in glorious cities that are now crumbling ruins.

But, that is the truth. Mankind once built a world of beauty and science and peace, and then watched it all crumble until all that is left of a Golden Age are what scraps we can pull from the ruined heap of their world.

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Or if you enjoy pandering sensationalist drama, there is always Sunset on Innocence.

Thanks, nai, and congrats on your wife getting published. That's a great accomplishment!

Alias, are you writing a post-apocalypse story? Looks cool.