writer's resources

[psycho d]

Hey all you writers out there, i am looking for some of the better online resources such as forums and info site for publishing and such. Most of what i have found are sites are geared towards fiction or less academic works. i am getting close to finishing a nonfiction book on the philosophy of human nature and culture and would like ready myself for the next phase. Since i have yet to get published, i will likely take some of the book material and churn our a couple of essays and attempt to get them published first. Any resources or other info would be highly appreciated. Grazie.
derek

[Doc Faustus]

I'll do a little legwork for you. I know very little about nonfiction markets but I'll tell you if I come up with one. Also, start a blog and get a few people interested in what you're doing.

[psycho d]

Thanks. i went to a writers conference a couple years back and they made this huge point to start a blog. It turned my stomach then and it does so now. That said, maybe i should drink up some pepto and get one started. i just hate doing things with the obvious point being to make myself the center of attention, but again who says i should enjoy everything. i long for the good old days when a writer could sit in a dark, dank dung-hole of a room happily alone, usually drunk, churning out golden ink. i do appreciate the help Doc. i of course will do my own legwork as well, just thought if'n someone knew some great online resources off the top of their head it would be that much easier. Ashe.
derek

[Doc Faustus]

As much as I hate to say it, you may need a copy of that godawful phonebook of the damned known as The Writer's Market. Ignore all advice in the front. It is bullshit from people whose first publisher was Gutenberg. But, you'll find magazines aplenty. Just know half of the leads are dead and a quarter of them are insanely niche. Basically, you're going to have to drop 26 hardearned dollars for a book you'll get maybe ten good leads out of on a good day, but I'm not sure you can get around it.

[psycho d]

i was afraid of that. i remember that book from a couple of years back. Necessary evil. The library has a copy, but its not the latest addition so it is probably worthless. i could really use that dough for milk, but hey, rockstar skinny is hip right? Thanks again.

[Doc Faustus]

Seeing as the most recent edition will already be out of date and they know as much about small presses as the average creative writing professor or pet turtle, yeah, the older one will be out of date. But for right now, don't worry about that, worry about bolstering your blog and getting material under your belt. You don't need somebody to tell you how to sell nothing.

[bwind22]

The best writer's resources are other books. Read all those first.

Recommended:

Everything by H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, but mostly Lovecraft
Brave New World by Huxley
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
If Chins Could Kill by Campbell
Nine Stories by Salinger
Greek, Nordic, and Hindu mythologies
really anything by Charles Dickens, Jack London, William Gibson, Kurt Vonnegut, and Dr. Hunter Thompson

Did you even read the thread? How would any of that help him get published?



If you are intersted in self-distribution with help... Check out www.createspace.com. It's free to register, send them a copy of your book and they'll put it for sale on Amazon for you (taking a percentage of any sales of course.) I'm in the process of putting my most recent short film on there. It should be for sale on Amazon by the end of Feb. I don't really expect anyone to purchase it (because the minimum price I can charge is $9.00 and that's with me getting 0% royalties on any sales.) but it will get me an imdb.com profile, which I think is pretty cool.

[psycho d]

The best writer's resources are other books. Read all those first.

Recommended:

Everything by H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, but mostly Lovecraft
Brave New World by Huxley
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
If Chins Could Kill by Campbell
Nine Stories by Salinger
Greek, Nordic, and Hindu mythologies
really anything by Charles Dickens, Jack London, William Gibson, Kurt Vonnegut, and Dr. Hunter Thompson

All good stuff, but the book i am writing is a work on philosophy with a bit of social commentary sprinkled in. That said, these responses are all most appreciated. i started a blog to get some interest in my work as per Doc, now i just need to posting some relevant stuff. Thanks again. Ashe.
derek

[X¤MurderDoll¤X]

"If publishing is a mystery to you, just call me sherlock holmes. all you need to do is write something people would pay money to read, then the rest is cake. you spend a couple years writing a good story and you'll be eating birthday cake all the way to the bank, my friend. the food bank that is, and the birthday cake is old because nobody wanted it or showed up at the party. anyway... nobody makes money writing, so why bother? did you know most writers commit suicide? guess how many ebooks I have on my laptop? go ahead, guess. 1057 the fact of the matter is I'm pretty drunk right now and you should probably go home and think about what I'm saying to you."

I wanted to be a writer once and that's what my creative writing professor told me, shortly before killing himself.

[The Flayed One]

Jack London? Really?

[psycho d]

"If publishing is a mystery to you, just call me sherlock holmes. all you need to do is write something people would pay money to read, then the rest is cake. you spend a couple years writing a good story and you'll be eating birthday cake all the way to the bank, my friend. the food bank that is, and the birthday cake is old because nobody wanted it or showed up at the party. anyway... nobody makes money writing, so why bother? did you know most writers commit suicide? guess how many ebooks I have on my laptop? go ahead, guess. 1057 the fact of the matter is I'm pretty drunk right now and you should probably go home and think about what I'm saying to you."

I wanted to be a writer once and that's what my creative writing professor told me, shortly before killing himself.

Now don't you be fretting over me. Mommy already came by and dulled all of my knives...
d

[Doc Faustus]

"If publishing is a mystery to you, just call me sherlock holmes. all you need to do is write something people would pay money to read, then the rest is cake. you spend a couple years writing a good story and you'll be eating birthday cake all the way to the bank, my friend. the food bank that is, and the birthday cake is old because nobody wanted it or showed up at the party. anyway... nobody makes money writing, so why bother? did you know most writers commit suicide? guess how many ebooks I have on my laptop? go ahead, guess. 1057 the fact of the matter is I'm pretty drunk right now and you should probably go home and think about what I'm saying to you."

I wanted to be a writer once and that's what my creative writing professor told me, shortly before killing himself.

It's true. You have to work your ass off for very little money. But you also have to look at the fact that creative writing professors usually have no talent as writers or gumption and rely on publishing (as he said) one short story in the New Yorker in 1978 as a pulpit for expertise. I know multiple writers who are managing to scrape out a living. Some of them actually a comfortable one. For every one person succeeding in any way, there are are one hundred thousand failures so unless you have the patience of a saint, a lot of mental endurance and get that there are a lot of bitter failures out there on the periphery that will tell you it's impossible, you'll end up being a dipshit with no energy who kills himself. I have a friend whose book, his first, mind you, sold 1000 copies in its first month because he had a fun premise that people could latch onto. It's tough but not impossible. You just have to remember that not everybody who plays baseball is Mickey Mantle, not everybody who acts is Brad Pitt. If you think you are Brad Pitt or Mickey Mantle because of your one piece of short fiction in the New Yorker in 1978, then you'll demoralize yourself to death wondering why people don't buy your boring lit fic novel about a professor's descent into depression after failing in the publishing industry in 1978.

[Doc Faustus]

Jack London? Really?

Jack London is a master and highly relevant. The short fiction more than the novels, though. Also, he's a journalistic icon.