Anyone write books?
Discussion
I have a few ideas floating around for a book, a while back I started writing but have no more than a couple of pages down so far. Turns out that converting a basic idea in my head into a 300 page novel is actually quite hard 
Hoping the winter months will be more conducive to writing and I can make a bit more progress. Might even have something to (self) publish at some point next year. Just to be clear I have no illusions of grandeur and don't expect to make any money out of it, it's just something I fancy having a go at in my spare time.
What stage are you at?
Hoping the winter months will be more conducive to writing and I can make a bit more progress. Might even have something to (self) publish at some point next year. Just to be clear I have no illusions of grandeur and don't expect to make any money out of it, it's just something I fancy having a go at in my spare time.
What stage are you at?
Zetec-S said:
I have a few ideas floating around for a book, a while back I started writing but have no more than a couple of pages down so far. Turns out that converting a basic idea in my head into a 300 page novel is actually quite hard
Hoping the winter months will be more conducive to writing and I can make a bit more progress. Might even have something to (self) publish at some point next year. Just to be clear I have no illusions of grandeur and don't expect to make any money out of it, it's just something I fancy having a go at in my spare time.
What stage are you at?
I've written half a dozen books, published on Kindle and on my website. I sell around 10-15 a month, so am thinking of buying a small island in the Caribbean.Hoping the winter months will be more conducive to writing and I can make a bit more progress. Might even have something to (self) publish at some point next year. Just to be clear I have no illusions of grandeur and don't expect to make any money out of it, it's just something I fancy having a go at in my spare time.
What stage are you at?
The main trick with self publishing I reckon is advertising, and I'm not good at that. I get ideas, one which got me 40+ books sold in one day and 69 in two, but then I dropped back to my normal 'every other day'. (Cor, I remember every other day.)
There are some things I'm good at with writing so could help others (but mainly those who could help me of course.)
I thought that if we get enough on board, we could be the self-publishing wing of PH. Or something like that.
Doofus said:
That sort of died a natural, and this one is targeted slightly differently. This is more 'writers' circle' stuff, without being a writers' circle that meets up and talks about the cakes.I like to think I may be able to get something onto paper one day. I’ve always enjoyed writing, and often an idea will pop into my head and I think, ‘aha! This’ll make a good story!’ Normally that’s where it stops.
I’ve got as far as to have fleshed out some ideas for an anthology of six short stories with a common theme, having written a 7,500 word first draft of one, and have written 5,000 words towards the first chapter of a book to see how it feels before diving into proper planning. Unfortunately, to do this has taken a lot of time and not much will has been put behind it.
I always find something else I’d rather be doing, though I know I enjoy writing. Annoyingly I often get the urge to write just before going to bed, which of course is exactly what I do. By the time morning rolls around the urge has evaporated. Very frustrating.
In any case, I’d be quite keen to read any short excerpts people may have to share, or tips etc. I’m still young so plenty of time to get my arse into gear!
I’ve got as far as to have fleshed out some ideas for an anthology of six short stories with a common theme, having written a 7,500 word first draft of one, and have written 5,000 words towards the first chapter of a book to see how it feels before diving into proper planning. Unfortunately, to do this has taken a lot of time and not much will has been put behind it.
I always find something else I’d rather be doing, though I know I enjoy writing. Annoyingly I often get the urge to write just before going to bed, which of course is exactly what I do. By the time morning rolls around the urge has evaporated. Very frustrating.
In any case, I’d be quite keen to read any short excerpts people may have to share, or tips etc. I’m still young so plenty of time to get my arse into gear!
I do a bit of writing, with two books out so far, both with a definite petrolhead slant - one self published and one which somehow fluked a publisher.
I'd be interested in getting involved with anything which comes from this thread, and to those who are toying with writing a book, my advice is simply to believe in yourself. The hardest part of writing anything is sitting there looking at the cursor blinking away on a blank screen, and having the self-belief to make a start. Once you've begun work on your masterpiece, aim to do five minutes a day (just five minutes, though you'll often find yourself getting into the flow and doing much more), and you'll find yourself with a finished book sometime in the future. My first book took nine months to write in exactly this manner, and I'm still using the same approach now, 20,000 words into book number three. Sometimes five minutes is five minutes; sometimes I'll get into the flow and stop 2,000 words later; the key is doing something every day...
I'd be interested in getting involved with anything which comes from this thread, and to those who are toying with writing a book, my advice is simply to believe in yourself. The hardest part of writing anything is sitting there looking at the cursor blinking away on a blank screen, and having the self-belief to make a start. Once you've begun work on your masterpiece, aim to do five minutes a day (just five minutes, though you'll often find yourself getting into the flow and doing much more), and you'll find yourself with a finished book sometime in the future. My first book took nine months to write in exactly this manner, and I'm still using the same approach now, 20,000 words into book number three. Sometimes five minutes is five minutes; sometimes I'll get into the flow and stop 2,000 words later; the key is doing something every day...
Zetec-S said:
I have a few ideas floating around for a book, a while back I started writing but have no more than a couple of pages down so far. Turns out that converting a basic idea in my head into a 300 page novel is actually quite hard
who wudda thunk it?I started a book years ago for competition, got about 40k words into it...I need to go back to it
I've always had trouble as I've been too much of a perfectionist. I'll write something, then go back over it to improve it. Then I'll change it again ten minutes later.
I think I need to get into the habit of writing and refining it later. At least with that approach you get a first draft done.
I think I need to get into the habit of writing and refining it later. At least with that approach you get a first draft done.
Can’t stand up and say I am, but my wife is..... well a self published Author that is, using Amazon KDP.
She has written a Trilogy about a young woman inheriting a Chateau in France, writes under the pseudonym Emma Sharp. She has an excellent work ethic and has written the three Novels in the space of a year. All three have been professionally edited, two on sale already the third is just waiting for the cover design.
She’s also written quite a number of short stories, some of which she read out on local radio. A book of short stories and a humorous novelette will likely get published in a few months, though I think we might do them as free books to generate interest in her Chateau series.
Where we fall down as team is the marketing, that’s my job as she just doesn’t really understand computing and the internet. Sales are pretty slow and we have not come close to covering the costs yet, but I remain hopeful and once the third book is out we intend to do some serious advertising to try and gain some momentum.
The problem with self publishing is its stack full of people offering advise, but at a price. You just know that most of these people are making far more money out of budding authors than the authors are ever going to make selling books!.
She has written a Trilogy about a young woman inheriting a Chateau in France, writes under the pseudonym Emma Sharp. She has an excellent work ethic and has written the three Novels in the space of a year. All three have been professionally edited, two on sale already the third is just waiting for the cover design.
She’s also written quite a number of short stories, some of which she read out on local radio. A book of short stories and a humorous novelette will likely get published in a few months, though I think we might do them as free books to generate interest in her Chateau series.
Where we fall down as team is the marketing, that’s my job as she just doesn’t really understand computing and the internet. Sales are pretty slow and we have not come close to covering the costs yet, but I remain hopeful and once the third book is out we intend to do some serious advertising to try and gain some momentum.
The problem with self publishing is its stack full of people offering advise, but at a price. You just know that most of these people are making far more money out of budding authors than the authors are ever going to make selling books!.
Pub2Pub_Ben said:
I do a bit of writing, with two books out so far, both with a definite petrolhead slant - one self published and one which somehow fluked a publisher.
I'd be interested in getting involved with anything which comes from this thread, and to those who are toying with writing a book, my advice is simply to believe in yourself. The hardest part of writing anything is sitting there looking at the cursor blinking away on a blank screen, and having the self-belief to make a start. Once you've begun work on your masterpiece, aim to do five minutes a day (just five minutes, though you'll often find yourself getting into the flow and doing much more), and you'll find yourself with a finished book sometime in the future. My first book took nine months to write in exactly this manner, and I'm still using the same approach now, 20,000 words into book number three. Sometimes five minutes is five minutes; sometimes I'll get into the flow and stop 2,000 words later; the key is doing something every day...
I find writing easy. I can write 1000 words and revise them in 90 mins, with a cup of tea taken as well. That's the easy part. Working out what I want to write, now that's the difficult bit. Not only that, I've often written a whole chapter and then deleted it as it wasn't what I'd wanted.I'd be interested in getting involved with anything which comes from this thread, and to those who are toying with writing a book, my advice is simply to believe in yourself. The hardest part of writing anything is sitting there looking at the cursor blinking away on a blank screen, and having the self-belief to make a start. Once you've begun work on your masterpiece, aim to do five minutes a day (just five minutes, though you'll often find yourself getting into the flow and doing much more), and you'll find yourself with a finished book sometime in the future. My first book took nine months to write in exactly this manner, and I'm still using the same approach now, 20,000 words into book number three. Sometimes five minutes is five minutes; sometimes I'll get into the flow and stop 2,000 words later; the key is doing something every day...
I write 850 words and also 1500 words weekly. The former I have to pick the particular subject within a restricted range. I normally spend three or four hours trying to come up with ideas, sometimes longer. Once that's cracked, I can finish the copy in 90 mins, although I'll read it before sending it off a day or two later. The 1500 words, for which I get paid twice what I receive for the 850, is on a subject I am given. I'm also told what to cover in detail, in what paragraph etc. That takes me no longer than two hours to complete from the time I receive the brief to the time I save it, although again I read it before sending it. It's a ghost written a blog. Mind you, the former is more satisfying.
Writing is easy. The content is the bit that is frustrating.
I'm currently writing a little booklet. It's not going well. I've got the introduction but the first chapter is defeating me. I'll probably write one of the other chapters in order to get in the flow. It helps coming on PH and knocking out a couple of hundred words. That's why my posts can be rather long. It takes my mind off the subject, but keeps me writing.
BoRED S2upid said:
I’ve written a children’s book that I personally think it far better than half the utter rubbish I read to my children and I’ve read a lot over the last 6 years. Ok it’s not on par with Julia Donaldson but I can see it selling. But what’s the next step?
Sadly the next step is the hard bit!.Have you had it edited ?, it’s quite a costly exercise.
you will a need a cover design, this is pretty vital to get exposure.
If you decide to self publish on Amazon you will need to get your head around Amazon KDP, which is quite tricky in parts.
By far the hardest thing though is understanding the way Amazon organises the amount of exposure the book is likely to get on searches. This is absolutely vital if you want to get sales, it seems to be very heavily biased towards books which are either already successful with thousands of sales and hundreds of reviews.
A new author starting from scratch will have a very hard time getting the book to show up in sufficient searches to make a decent number of sales.
I also think there is quite a big disconnect between the quality of the product and the number of sales being generated. That is to say some of the books which seem to have very good sales figures and even good reviews are really a bit crap. They are just marketed better than others.
BoRED S2upid said:
Can’t I just send it to a publisher? It’s one of those that could be a series of 10,20,30 very easily if could make them a lot of money.
I've not got to the publishing stage with my novels yet, but it was sugfested to me that using an agent can make publishers take you more seriously, even though it'll cost you a chunk of the fortune you eventually make.Gassing Station | Books and Literature | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff