Breakout Writers Festival 11 September 2021

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This is the Dark Side of Writing

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A publisher for you!

Hey, if you would like to get to know a publisher while she is starting up, then see this note directly from her:

"If you are not yet a member of The Story Mint go to http://www.thestorymint.com/ and register. This is an ‘invite only’ as The Story Mint is still in its early developmental stage."

There is an area you can submit a full length manuscript (novel) for her to consider.

A serial story that you can add to (although all chapters are taken for this current story - so maybe just give feedback on chapters already written, for now).

A place you can receive computer generated feedback on 250 words or so.

She is also looking for feedback on her site since it is only in its BETA stage and will need a lot of work before it is up and running correctly and is more appealing to the eye.

I hear the best way to getting published is to get involved with publishers that are just starting up. So now here’s your chance!!

Commitment

Lee clawed at the hands that held his head down and so received a knock to the back of the head as his reward. He tried to call out but instead breathed in water.

Lee’s body shook as he gagged. His head was then suddenly pulled up.

He coughed up the water from his lungs and said, ‘Oh god, oh god, oh god.’ Then threw up water from his stomach.

Karr, who was behind him, let go, causing him to fall to the floor. Lee lay on the ground while his body convulsed, putting his three fingered left hand to his face – the other two had been cut off. His right hand had been crushed with a hammer – he knew he would never have use of that hand ever again.

Lee had been in the military for over 12 years and had completed six tours, this was the first time he had been captured.

Karr picked up Lee’s semi-naked body and dragged it to the next room where the fire pit smouldered. Lee didn’t know if he could take any more pain. They were going to kill him, that was for certain, it was just a matter of when.

‘The clock’s ticking, my friend,’ the man in the shadows said. ‘If you can’t tell me where the next attack will come from, Karr will have to kill you.’

Lee said nothing.

The hot iron came towards him.

He closed his eyes as tight as they would go.

How to publish your own book. Includes legwork!

Self publishing is something I have left as a last resort, but if you're now at that point then you may wish to consider createspace.com or Kindle Direct Publishing which is through Amazon. Then there’s smashwords.com which also allows you to sell your stories. I’m not sure what sort of success rate they have, but it’s worth a try just to get your book out there.
If you are not from the USA then you will have to pay some hefty cash just to get a cheque (check) mailed out to you. Smashwords uses PayPal, which is much easier.

Something that’s a little more DIY and should give you more results, is to have your books printed up and circulate them to bookstores yourself. This is a long hard process but certainly worthwhile even if you sell only a few books – it actually means people want to read what you write! Matthew Reilly did this before he was able to obtain a publishing deal. He printed up 1,000 copies but I’m pretty sure the number sold was quite low, around the 80 mark.

I don't know how he went about self publishing, but I spoke to a friend who is a manager of an Angus and Robertson store and asked him how he would like to be approached from an independent author.

There are two main options available; the first (which is the advice I received) is to find a printing company that will print you 50-500 books at a low cost but still deliver quality bound books. Oh, and I should mention that this is assuming you have finished the book and have a print ready PDF, or at worst a MS Word document.

Once you check over the proof (rough-copy of a physical final product) they have supplied you, you will sign it off as okay. They will then print you your finished bound books of what ever quantity you decided on. Make sure you include the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) Check this site out for an explanation: http://www.nla.gov.au/services/ISBN.html or http://www.thebookconsultant.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=240 and this for more on EAN13 barcodes: http://www.bookpublisherscompared.com/bar-code/

One more: http://www.athleticaid.com/yaquinapress/barcode/index.html

Hunt down a place in your country that can supply you with one as either a vector file, which you can place into your book through your desktop publishing program. Or a sticker that you can stick onto each of your books.

But, make sure you check a sample first with a bar code reader at a bookstore/distributor. You don’t want to get something printed and find it doesn’t work!

Now comes the hard part: Bookstores don’t want to ring YOU if they are going to make an order, they want to ring a distribution company. Which is what they already do for the majority of their books (although this will differ from independent stores to chain stores to privately owned chain stores).

So now you need to find a distributor that’s happy to have a box of your books sitting in their warehouse with your ISBN on each one. Your business details will stay with the distribution company, so you will of course need a business identification number (ABN if in Australia).

At this point you will strike up a deal with the distribution company regarding what they make if a book is bought buy a book store. How much you make from each sale will depend on what the distributor is willing to part with - don’t be too strict on the deal; they’re your only hope! This is a venture to get your book and your name out there, not to make millions of dollars.

The distribution company will then take care of invoices, distribution (obviously), phone calls, etc. Plus it will appear more professional to your buyers. Lastly, you will need to have a brochure printed up (We Print It have some good prices, or use the same company that printed your bound books). This brochure will be what you arm yourself with when visiting all the stores in your area.

The brochure will show the front cover of your book, retail price, synopsis, the distributors details and maybe some details about you. If you are unsure of what to put on your brochure, walk into a book store and look at their brochures that advertise their books. Then model yours on the same wavelength but with only your book on the front.

When you arrive at a book store, ask to speak to the manager and show them the brochure. If they seem interested in your book then you may be able to sell them a copy/s right there and then and not use the distributor for that particular sale. Or if you don’t mind parting with a sample, give them a book and tell them you’ll visit again in a week to pick it back up, and they can make a purchase after they've read it. Or, during that week they can call the distributor instead and order copies if they want to have it in their store before you return.

You can also post off the brochures to book stores that are not within driving distance, in and around your country and possibly even follow it up with a phone call to the manager to make sure the brochure was received.

When visiting a bookstore, try and be there when the manager is there. You will find that he/she is there most days, but will have two days off during the week. You can ring up before hand and make sure they will be there, or just turn up on a Monday, they are there most first days of the week.

Any advertising or self promotion after that is entirely up to you.

The second option with self publishing is to approach a company that does everything for you, depending on what you want to spend. They can have a designer take care of your front cover, they can organise the bar codes, they can set up print on demand for you, they can even have something set up for you where you/your book are promoted in your country as well as others. The cost will grow depending on how much you want done for you, and realistically I don’t think it is money well spent. Plus you will never be able to gauge what people think of your book if you’re not doing the work yourself.

In saying that, having someone, or a company, set up your book with professional typesetting, cover design and proper use of bar codes will give you a more professional finish and also free your time up for other things, such as writing!

One issue with print on demand is that you will only get a dollar or two for each book sold. But I guess at least your book will be out there!

You will need to decide on what is best for you. I’m still not sure if I’m going to venture into the world of self publishing myself at this stage. Time will tell.

P.S. A print ready PDF is an Acrobat PDF that is at the correct size you want it to print at, is in cmyk format, includes page numbers, chapter headings, title and will include all the information in a standard novel. Everything will be in its correct place and set with the font you want it to print with. You will also need to have cover pages ready and illustrated and included within the document. If you have more questions let me know. I worked in the printing industry for over 15 years so I should be able to help you out with any and all questions. I also have some designer friends that I can put you in contact with. These people also have printing contacts (so do I, but I don’t want to appear as if I’m selling anything on this blog. This site is just a place of information, nothing more).

Good luck!

It's your book! You should do what you think is best.

This has been written mainly for novel writers and short story writers, however I’m sure the majority of it can be adapted to what you may have written outside of these areas.

Please make sure you fully research any decision you wish to make and don’t go by my words alone. Whatever you decide should be your choice. Anything I have suggested within my blog is exactly that, a suggestion, nothing more.

I only wish to point this out because I don’t want anyone making a mistake because of something I may have mentioned. It’s your book, you are in control!
Good luck to you all!

Information on getting your book published

Writing a novel is the easy part, getting someone to print it is almost impossible!

However, these points may help you improve those odds:

Write at least 3 full length completed and revised novels. As soon as you have finished the first one, send a query letter around to any agents and publishers you can get hold of (in all English speaking countries starting with your own country). Explain a little about yourself and the manuscript you are proposing to submit. You will need to ascertain what publishers/agents want your genre or style; there’s no use sending to someone that won’t be interested.

They get many hundreds of manuscripts a week, as you may have guessed, so you may as well send to places that would want to publish your book. Also, once you get approval to send in your manuscript, you can only send to one at a time (otherwise risk getting a bad name).

By the time you have sent your query letter, synopsis or 3 chapters - depending on what they asked for - then a year will have passed. Now you are ready to send off query letters for your second novel.
Also, during that year, enter every writing competition that you can find - I’m entering 3-8 short stories a month at present, just to get my name out there. Also create a webpage, blog, Facebook page, to promote yourself. Lastly, cross your fingers!

Check this site out for Australian listings:
http://austlitagentsassoc.wordpress.com/members/
http://www.spacejock.com.au/LiteraryAgent.html

Check out this for samples of manuscript submissions:

http://misssnark.blogspot.com/2006_01_01_misssnark_archive.html#113615544692769930


More info:

http://www.how-to-write-a-book-now.com/how-to-write-a-synopsis.html

Competitions worldwide:
http://www.austwriters.com/AWRfiles/competitions.htm

Splitter

It was almost midday. Soon the cycle would start again. His forehead was already shiny with beads of sweat that trailed down into shallow riverlets to the tip of his nose and dripped onto the paperwork in front of him. He wiped at the splash of water smearing it across the semi-dried ink while still writing with his other hand.

The itching had already begun at the peak of his scalp just like it had done over the last three times at seemingly random times during the 36 hours since he had drank the vile concoction. He felt the top of his head with his left hand while he continued writing with his right. There was a split there now. It was starting. His body convulsed as the drug in his body took effect and began to change him.

Doctor Ferris Balder, theoretical scientist, not commonly found to be testing his own theories with physical experiments, found himself to be doing just that and it had worked! However, it had not worked in the way he had expected.

The itching became a tearing and he felt his face split directly down the middle. His left hand explored the area where his nose should have been; it was in two halves, no longer one single nose. Each half began to grow skin and cartilage to become two separate wholes. The rest of the two seperated faces grew more skin, lips, a new eye, hair and an ear until there were two heads.

Balder had spent the last seven months researching the idea of being able to regrow organs from the damaged hosts body so that there would be no need for organ donations and then no risk of organ rejection. He had finally been able to find limited success from his own calcualtions as well as the biology team that had undertaken physical experiements using rats. The doctor had looked over the results from each experiment and had finally been sure that this last serum would be the answer to every surgeon’s and waiting organ transplant recipient’s dreams.

Doctor Balder collapsed to the floor, not because of shock or because he could not cope with the changes occuring within his body but because he had successfully split himself in to two.

The body on the left went further into spasm as more parts of the body on the right were formed. The half that lay on the other side of the chair, with the right hand still gripping the pen, moved in an almost identical way while the new skin, bones and ligaments grew at an impossible rate to make him a whole person.

Moments later the two men that were once one, stood. They looked over at the other identical men that had also experienced the same process. Now there were 16 people in the room and they were all him. As one, the doctors shook their heads and said quietly, ‘We’re going to need a bigger room.’

Heart

The unashamedly trinket adorned home had an ancient lived in smell of old things. Not stale nor dusty however, the opposite in fact; it was spotless and tidy. There were no sounds emanating from anywhere inside; he had taken the time to make sure of that and listen for at least a minute once he had broken in. He also knew that no one had come or gone once the old woman had been taken away.

The source of his knowledge had come only a few days past, after overhearing her neighbours talking near an ambulance – there was always an opportunity if he just kept his eyes and ears open – they had said that she had phoned for help complaining of a tightness in her chest and shortness of breath.

This had given him absolute freedom to search through her home for anything of value. It had been easy to force the back door open, he had pushed with his shoulder only a few times before hearing a cracking of the dry worn timber.

He walked casually into a room that looked as if it were being used as an office. Papers were piled neatly on the desk but were oddly covered in a heavy dust. A picture of the old woman and a man – possibly her deceased husband – also sat on the desk.

One desk drawer was slightly ajar. He peered inside and was amazed to see loose change and notes stuffed inside. It was so full that the drawer jammed when he tried to open it, but he persisted until it shot open and then he began filling his pockets. Then a noise! He looked up and saw that a closet door had creaked opened on unoiled hinges. It was dark in there. He crept forward to investigate and possibly discover if it was a cat or rodent that was hiding within.

A white face poked out from the dark shadows and growled. The face was human and of an old man.

The thief stumbled backwards into the work desk too stunned to do anything but stare dumbly. The old man leapt from the closet with frothy saliva spitting out as he spoke with unintelligible words. His eyes were frightfully haunted and his stare was equally horrifying.

Cold hands clasped about the thief’s throat, then pressure until a crack sounded, followed by another, then finally a sickening crunch. The old white-faced man released his grip and let the body fall to the ground with a thump, then walked slowly back to the closet with his head drooped as if tired. Once inside the closet he closed the door so that he was again in darkness.

Mend

White clothing, needles injecting, hospital equipment, people lying on surgical beds.

The doctor wrote with a green pen on his clipboard, notes referring to test subjects, details relating to vile W-7.06.

The clipboard lowered from the doctors view revealing a man lying on a hospital bed dressed in a white gown with pale blue stripes. He was awake and alert with sensors taped to his head and body.

Early thirties male, weight at approximately 80 kilograms, height 180 centimetres, Caucasian, and was noted down on his clipboard as fit and healthy.

Red swelling had appeared on the surface of his arm around the break but the bone had not broken through the skin. The patient appeared a little nervous but calm enough to receive the procedure.

Presently the patients concentration was on the lights above him, it was possible he had not been informed of why he was here and so was confused, but that was of no concern to the doctor. Slowly the patient lowered his eyes from the bright lights and saw that a doctor had arrived at the end of his hospital bed.

‘Everything looks good here Mr Tyson, soon we will begin the procedure with an injection that will slowly send the serum around your body,’ the doctor with the clipboard explained with a comforting smile. ‘Just sit back and relax, it won’t last too long, I promise.’

The patient nodded, ‘Thanks doc.’ He was nervous but smiled back anyway.

The patient breathed in deeply before letting his breath out again and appeared quite relaxed afterwards. A young female doctor dressed in a business suit with a white overcoat administered the injection while smiling to her patient, she then wiped the needle mark with a white cotton ball. She looked back at the doctor, nodded and left for another room.

Sweat began to drip from the patients face as his heart rate increased to over 100 beats per minute. His calm demeanor disappeared. Rivulets of sweat rolled down and onto the blue hospital pillowcase darkening the fabric.

Suddenly the patients arm cracked and squeaked under the skin. A startled expression crossed the patients features as he looked up into the doctor’s eyes, then back down at his arm. They could both see movement under the skin as repairs took place. The patient looked as though he was about to ask an urgent question, but then dizziness swept in, his eyes rolled upwards and he fainted. Only the rise and fall of his chest disputed the possibility that death had swept in to take his life away.

The doctor’s probing fingers moved over the patients arm, he felt skin, muscles, tendons, and then deeper: bones; all in tact. Nothing was out of the ordinary. He quickly scribbled something on his clipboard and walked away satisfied with the results of the new drug.

Commitment

Lee clawed at the hands that held his head down and so received a knock to the back of the head as his reward. He tried to call out but instead breathed in water.

Lee’s body shook as he gagged. His head was then suddenly pulled up.

He coughed up the water from his lungs and said, ‘Oh god, oh god, oh god.’ Then threw up water from his stomach.

Karr, who was behind him, let go, causing him to fall to the floor. Lee lay on the ground while his body convulsed, putting his three fingered left hand to his face – the other two had been cut off. His right hand had been crushed with a hammer – he knew he would never have use of that hand ever again.

Lee had been in the military for over 12 years and had completed six tours, this was the first time he had been captured.

Karr picked up Lee’s semi-naked body and dragged it to the next room where the fire pit smouldered. Lee didn’t know if he could take any more pain. They were going to kill him, that was for certain, it was just a matter of when.

‘The clock’s ticking, my friend,’ the man in the shadows said. ‘If you can’t tell me where the next attack will come from, Karr will have to kill you.’

Lee said nothing.

The hot iron came towards him.

He closed his eyes as tight as they would go.