The Writers' Community of Durham Region

Archive for the ‘Ask a Writer’ Category

Dear Ask-a-Writer

I have a Christian Self-Help Book(21000 words) I want to get published. I have tried many of the traditional publishing houses. Now, I am looking into Lulu, Createspace, LSI, and recently PublishAmerica. I am reading that PublishAmerica, is simply a scam. What do you think?

Geary

Our organization does not endorse or advise members where they should get published. We do not have any members that we know of, who have had any direct experience with any of the publishers that you mention except Lulu, so we cannot direct you to any of them for a firsthand account of their experiences.

There is a website that collects feedback on many aspects of publishing in North America. It’s called Preditors and Editors, but we do not endorse or claim that the information provided there, or anywhere else, is accurate.

The best source of information is from writers who are willing to share with you their direct experiences with specific publishers.

We caution you to do your homework, ask to see the contracts and be sure you understand exactly what you’re signing before doing so. If you are making a substantial investment, we recommend you hire someone who understands contracts to review it for you in advance to ensure you know what you’re signing.

Ask-a-Writer

Dear Ask-a-Writer

Has anyone ever used a voice to text software to write a novel ?
Has anyone used a digital voice recorder in combination with the ‘voice to text software ?

Scott

When my wife had wrist surgery a few years ago, she used Dragon NaturallySpeaking for her writing. Dragon is considered by many as the best of the speech-to-text systems. Realize there are several factors. First, you have to train Dragon on how you speak, and you have to learn how to speak to be effectively understood. The bigger factor was editing, which with Dragon is not trivial. You can’t just say “delete the last sentence or last paragraph.” You have to walk through specific steps.

Dragon ships with a headset, as quality voice capture is important. I doubt that using a dictation machine would work. It is nice to think that you could pull out a dictation system, speak a chapter and have it transcribed. Hands-free professionals such as coroners doing an autopsy use speech-to-text effectively. They need to do their work hands free and the key is, they are willing to learn the techniques.

You could write a book via a voice capture system, but if you are competent at keyboarding, I think you will find typing quicker. I do.

Rich

Dear Ask-a-Writer

Research – how do most fiction writers research background material, without travelling the world to visit locations?

Don

The internet can likely supply you with all you need to know on a general level, keeping in mind the 5 w’s of journalism: who; what; where; when and why. Also read testimonials on travel sites to get individual impressions and likes and dislikes. Watch movies set in the places you want to write about to give you info on sounds and atmosphere.

Ultimately, however, what makes setting come alive for readers, is not the facts of a place, but a character’s perception of it, and the emotional essence that it brings out. Here, the old rule of “write what you know” comes into play. Yes, you may never have stood on cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean, but you likely have stood on the Scarborough bluffs, or been out to Newfoundland. The emotions people feel standing on a headland in the wind are universal.

You’ve never been in a medieval dungeon, but you have been in a damp cellar; you haven’t been to a particular bar in New York, but you’ve been to a bar in some other big city. You get the idea… Universal details and emotions will carry you through.

Dear Writer

Well I would love to say I have only one question to ask of you but that would be a lie. I have recently begun working on a fiction novel and although I have no experience in writing I feel I am doing fairly well so far, problem is my grammar skills and fundamentals of structure are not the greatest. I am about 70 or more pages into my book and I already have ideas laid out for the next two books to follow. My questions are should I edit everything I can to the best of my ability before trying to have it published or do they do that for you if your book is picked up? I heard they tend to change a lot of what you write anyways. Also when it comes to getting a book published how do I go about doing it? I have checked out some web sites but I feel really uncomfortable sending people my work what if my idea or work gets stolen and used by someone else is there a way to prevent that? Anyways I’ve taken up enough of your time, I would appreciate any advice you could give. Sheri

Ask-a-Writer appreciates how complex the publishing process can appear when you are just beginning. By starting your research, you demonstrate that you are on the journey to developing stronger skills and abilities as a writer.

Let’s start with publishers: Sheri, you will need to continue your research as you get closer to a finished final draft of your novel. There are a lot of books out there that give you information on the contact info for publishers that you will approach with your manuscript. How to craft a compelling query letter to interest a publisher, how to format your manuscript (and yes, spelling, grammar and structure are all vital part of a clean and publisher-ready submission), manuscript length, how to prepare a synopsis, etc. – all that information is available to you. Visit your local library or independent bookstore for help in finding the resources for writers.

The kinds of editing and changes a publisher will do focuses on refining an already clean and compelling manuscript. So you should also consider taking workshops on creative writing – editing, submitting your work, fiction techniques – all of these and many more are offered in a variety of settings. Again, check out your local library and postsecondary facilities for writing groups or programs in your area. And by all means, continue to visit websites to look for that information – Ask-a-Writer assumes this is how you discovered The Writers’ Circle of Durham Region website. These days, publishers have too little time and too few resources to read manuscripts that are not yet publisher-ready, so you will need to devote a lot of time and energy to getting it right before you send your book out there.

As far as keeping your book idea ‘safe’, Sheri, you cannot copyright an idea – and besides, no matter how great your book idea is, it won’t be original. What is original, however, is how you think and write about that idea, and no one can take that away from you.

Congratulations for setting out on your journey of being a writer. Keep writing that book and just focus on the first book for now. Ask-a-Writer hopes that we’ve been of some help to you along the way. Keep us posted on how the journey goes.

Dear Ask-a-Writer

How do I get Published? How much will It cost? I basically want to know everything i can do to get my book noticed.

The questions you ask are not answered easily. You mention a book, but not whether you have completed one. If you have a completed manuscript, you have several options.

You can self-publish, which can be costly, depending on how big the book is, whether there are photos in it, etc. You can do it all yourself, which means you write it, edit it, design the cover or find someone to design it for you, lay out the book or have someone do it for you, choose a printer, store the books and distribute them. There are also firms that will take on a lot of these jobs for you – at a cost, of course. You can pay Lulu, for example, to print the book for you, and you purchase the books through a print-on-demand service. You can also have your book included in their online catalogue. There are many other publishers that will take on the publishing work to varying degrees and offer various marketing possibilities – all at a price, of course. There is no way to tell you how much any of this will cost, as each book is different and there are so many options.

Your other option is to try to get your book noticed by a traditional publisher, which costs you nothing except the postage to mail a query letter or book proposal. In fact, if a publisher takes on your book, you would receive royalties and possibly an advance. If your book is nonfiction, you need to find out how to put together a book proposal, and you can approach some publishers directly with that. Or, you can try to get an agent by first sending a query letter. If your book is fiction, you pretty well need an agent. Writer’s Digest publishers a guide to literary agents, or you can search online. You need to research how to write a good query letter. The book “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Published” is a great place to start.

The other thing you can do is network with writers through writing organizations and find out how others are going about getting published. Keep your eye out for workshops on getting published, as these can be tremendously helpful.

Hope that helps. All the best in getting your book noticed.

Dear Ask-a-Writer

For people like me who’ve written from a young age and eventually began writing in different ways its hard to decipher what I’m best at. I used to only write short stories and fiction. Then I began writing poetry and slowly moved away from fiction.

Presently, I’ve moved to lyric writing. Sometimes my poetry and lyrics mesh and I cant separate the two. Do you believe its possible to excel in multiple forms of writing?

Ive maintained the discipline to write but not the ability to continue writing in all forms. Any advice on how I could learn to do that?

Best,
Kayla

Thank you for writing in with such an interesting question. One of the best things a writer can do is explore multiple genres. How do you know what you enjoy unless you try things?

You say you have maintained the discipline to write – excellent! You also wonder how to continue writing in different forms. Our suggestion is that you do just that. Try your hand at non-fiction. Write a letter to the editor. Pitch an article idea to a magazine. Explore genre fiction – sci fi, romance, adventure. Better yet, take a creative writing course in your area or online. It’s amazing what having assignments and deadlines can do to keep you writing and trying new things. And remember that the lines between and among genres are blurring today. We have areas such as prose poetry and creative nonfiction. Have fun with a variety of types of writing.

It is indeed possible to excel in multiple genres of writing. We have several writers in WCDR who do just that.

We hope this helps. Keep writing!
Ask-a-Writer

Dear Ask-a-Writer

Can someone who isn’t a language major be taken seriously as an author?

I have a psych degree, a marketing diploma and a bachelor of ed. I am an avid reader with natural creativity and a knack for written and oral communication.

I am just curious about how I would be perceived in a writing community.

Dear Writer,

While having a language major may be a requirement for certain post-graduate university courses, it is certainly not a requirement to be taken seriously in a writing community.

Your comment “I have a knack for written and oral communication” – that is the piece that is important. That is the common link that you will find in any community of people who define themselves as writers. It’s the passion for the written word that draws us all together.

If you have completed all the schooling that your certification indicates, you’ve no doubt already spent a great deal of time on the page, and also have no doubt acquired a great deal to write about.

It sounds like you have a lot to share, and any writing community worth its salt will welcome you in and support you in your desire to share it.

Best of luck with your writing career,

Ask-A-Writ

Dear Ask-a-Writer

When one is not such an organised writer and the plot of the book is on pages, in note books in files on the computer, on napkins and it needs some order can you suggest how to tackle this as the task is so daunting im scared I will creating a mess from the mess. It all needs to be put together but not sure how to approach this.

Sunny

Dear Sunny

It’s difficult to say too much without knowing how you approach your novel. If you are a writer who works from a plot outline, I would suggest you take large envelopes and mark them with the plot points, chapter headings, numbers or “beginning, middle, climax, end” etc and do a sort into those.

If you write from character, perhaps sort into the characters that you have been writing scenes about, then go through the scenes you have written about and name them; “Mandy discovers the body” “Mandy gets a call from Rick” “Mandy realizes she will miss her flight” etc. Once the scenes are named, it should be easier to decide where they fit in the story.

Whichever way you sort, however, perhaps the first step should be to get it all into one format — typed up into the computer — especially if you don’t want to tear up your notebooks. It’s going to have to be in typed form at some point anyway. If it is all typed, you can do the same sorts mentioned above electronically.

Ask-a-Writer

Dear Ask-a-Writer

I have created a draft copy of a novelty book, however, now i need to find an agent (should I go to USA or Canada?), how do I go about getting a good one – any recommendations? I do not have any friends to ask or work pals. I am totally on my own on this adventure. Can you direct me? and Also how much to you let out in your proposal letter – do you tell it all??

Linda

Finding an agent can be as challenging as finding a publisher, but people do it every day, so take heart. Writing a book is a huge step, and you need to realize that marketing it will take some time. To locate agents, look in Writer’s Market and in Canadian Writer’s Market. There is also a neat book by Jeff Herman called Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors and Literary Agents. Read through and make a list of agents in both Canada and the U.S. who handle the type of book you’ve written.

Then you need to do a book proposal. There are books on how to write book proposals. You will also find an excellent section on writing book proposals in “The Idiot’s Complete Guide to Getting Published.” You will also find advice on the Internet – do a Google search on “book proposals” and follow the bouncing ball, depending on whether your book is fiction or non-fiction.

Then you need to start sending proposals to the appropriate agents. Hopefully you will get a response from one or more.

Dear Ask-a-Writer

I would love to do a workshop/breakfast/circle to learn about the best way to “tell” these stories, she is telling them in the first person, as they come to mind, her present stories remind her of something in the past and so she will get into that, do I just follow the flow or should I try sort them into periods of her life, what workshop will help me with this, bearing in mind $ is a little on the tight side.

Enthusiastic, Whitby

Dear Enthusiastic,
Ask-a-Writer wishes the world was full of friends like you. That is an awesome task you have taken on and your friend is fortunate indeed to have someone as supportive as you.

First person is a great way to record memoir-related work but it certainly doesn’t have to be narrated in first person in the final draft. And while building a story from the oldest part forward to the most recent part is the traditional way of writing memoir, it is, by no means, the only way to construct a book. Ask-A-Writer suggests you take a look at several of the more interesting memoirs/personal stories that are published to get an idea of what we mean.

Save money and visit your local library. Fortunately, downtown Whitby has a tremendous library and very helpful library staff who can point you to books that will help. Frank McCourt’s “Angela’s Ashes” comes to mind, along with Jeannette Wells’ “The Glass Castle” as two remarkable memoirs. Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, Pray, Love” is supposed to be a quite intriguing personal account. You can compare these books to see how a “personal account” is constructed and how it differs from memoir.

The library also has a good collection of books about writing for writers. The will be sure to be some that will help you with this task.

But Ask-A-Writer has a sneaking suspicion that you have ‘writing bones’ — even though you are writing the life of your friend, it is unusual to take on such a task unless you had your own narrative voice nibbling at the edge of your keyboard. There are many workshops being offered that are related to writing memoir — and writing other things too. We suggest you treat yourself to a breakfast at one of the upcoming WCDR breakfast meetings, or at least, scan the offerings of workshops on the WCDR website to watch for any that will spark your interest.

Good luck as you continue work on your friend’s life story. And drop us a line when you are finished. We’d love to know how it all turns out.

Ask-a-Writer