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ndr73y | writing_train | 0.9 | What is the worst story you've ever seen, and how can new writers avoid repeating its errors? This title could apply to stories in any medium, whether they be books, comics, film, puppet shows, plays, or videogames. | gydo9mf | gydpgdt | 1,621,206,496 | 1,621,207,098 | 5 | 8 | Andy Weir's "The Egg" is the worst "well known" and "real" short story I've ever seen. Sure, we've all seen crappy fanfic that's worse, but "The Egg" sucks, yet somehow got critical acclaim. This short story is available online for free: go read it! It sucks. Basically, the entire story is dedicated to explaining an idea that your 24 year old stoner cousin Greg came up with at 2 AM while hitting a fat fucking blunt; beyond this, the story is devoid of substance. What meaningful choices does the second person protagonist make in The Egg? What meaningful choices does the god character make? Nothing. The entire story consists of god (its complicated, but he basically is god) expositing to the second person protagonist while speaking in a notably un-godly tone. That's it. That's the whole story. God's actions are also very confusing: why exposit to the protagonist at all? Sure, hes unknowable and the way he sees the world is mysterious, but that's awfully convenient for Andy, isn't it? He doesn't have to explain shit about this god character. If you want to go "BRUUHHHH WHAT IF THE UNIVERSE WAS AN EGG AND WE WERE ALL..." then just do that instead of wasting an entire story on it, Andy! Stephen King wrote an afterlife-based short story (i do not rememeber what it was called) where the protagonist had to choose between moving on to the afterlife or reincarnating in their old life to try and make it better; this story worked because 1) the two major characters involved are actually interesting people, unlike the phenomenally bland second person protagonist and the nonsensical god character, and 2) the protagonist makes an actual choice in it. In conclusion, short stories should 1) have interesting characters, which Andy did not have, and 2) have characters who make choices, which Andy did not have. The Egg also sucked for a few other minor reasons but I'll arbitrarily stop here. anyway this was my incoherent "Andy Weir's 'The Egg' sucks" rant~~, SMASH that like button and ring that bell for more~~ | Prior to the Internet Age, there were underground readings held of The Eye of Argon. It's the only truly bad story I've ever seen that's non-fanfic, though it still suffers from a lot of the same issues: self-inserts, overwrought prose, wounds that disappear at will, etc. It's kind of so bad it's good, though. Really the worst non-fanfiction stories are the boring ones, I'd say - the ones you can't even enjoy ironically. They just sit there, being boring. | 0 | 602 | 1.6 | ||
ndr73y | writing_train | 0.9 | What is the worst story you've ever seen, and how can new writers avoid repeating its errors? This title could apply to stories in any medium, whether they be books, comics, film, puppet shows, plays, or videogames. | gycn4u7 | gyc5tky | 1,621,189,357 | 1,621,181,652 | 8 | 4 | Digital Fortress by Dan Brown. I hated this book I read about 3/4 the way through out of respect for his da Vinci code stuff but I couldn’t read anymore as an IT person everything in that book was completely inappropriate. What I would do is make sure that you can absolutely know what you’re talking about before you write about a subject especially something as complicated as cyber security in a global scale. To me that was the biggest mistake. | i don't really think we need to form a dunk circle on this topic, do you? | 1 | 7,705 | 2 | ||
ndr73y | writing_train | 0.9 | What is the worst story you've ever seen, and how can new writers avoid repeating its errors? This title could apply to stories in any medium, whether they be books, comics, film, puppet shows, plays, or videogames. | gyc5tky | gydas8h | 1,621,181,652 | 1,621,200,040 | 4 | 7 | i don't really think we need to form a dunk circle on this topic, do you? | Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James. I didn’t finish the book, and I’ll preemptively begin by saying “I don’t give a flying fuck how good the book gets, if it starts like raw ass.” And boy does the book start like raw ass. The story begins by some jackass in a tribunal explaining why he fucked up his most recent mission, but instead of just beginning that take, he starts with three or four anecdotes building up his character. But the character is so unlikeable, and his stories so outlandish, that they seem unbelievable, and to top it off, he establishes himself as an unreliable narrator. So thirty pages in, I’ve read three irrelevant anecdotes of a guy I don’t like, and there’s no way to tell if he’s even telling the truth. I stopped reading at that point. | 0 | 18,388 | 1.75 | ||
ndr73y | writing_train | 0.9 | What is the worst story you've ever seen, and how can new writers avoid repeating its errors? This title could apply to stories in any medium, whether they be books, comics, film, puppet shows, plays, or videogames. | gydumiq | gydz143 | 1,621,209,785 | 1,621,211,992 | 4 | 5 | The House of Night series is by far one of the worst series I have ever attempted to read (got through about five books before I finally gave up). Someone can avoid making the same mistakes as the authors by not creating obnoxiously Mary Sue protagonists, not referencing super trendy pop stars that may not stand the test of time like Zac Efron, and knowing when to END a series (just looked it up for the first time in years. TWENTY BOOKS?? Come ON). | Whenever a character says “I don’t have time to explain” when they very clearly do. It’s a thing that gets under my skin every time. There is no reason to keep the person you’re helping in the dark like that. How to fix: just tell the person the reason | 0 | 2,207 | 1.25 | ||
ndr73y | writing_train | 0.9 | What is the worst story you've ever seen, and how can new writers avoid repeating its errors? This title could apply to stories in any medium, whether they be books, comics, film, puppet shows, plays, or videogames. | gyekyhh | gydz143 | 1,621,222,923 | 1,621,211,992 | 7 | 5 | "The Last City of America" is hands down the worst piece of literature I've ever encountered. I actually had joined an online book club where you could get a book for free if you gave a review at the end and this was my first book. It... was so bad that I never used this service again, I ghosted it and still panic-delete the emails I recieved from them. The book has such an interesting summary, and then when you start to read it, you wish you had never learned english. The author writes women as entirely inferior- describing women, you could see the author only saw them as sex toys. I am not exaggerating when I say almost every named woman in the story was sexually assaulted, and some of the ones that did not actively get assaulted in the narrative would casually describe a horrific sexual assault for no reason other than the author had some infatuation with it. The few female characters that didn't get sexually assaulted (before I quit the book) still had paragraphs depicting their bodies and sexual pasts in ways that were entirely unnecessary. This did not happen for the male characters. The rape survivors were also usually referred to as sluts or whores throughout the narration. The main character has sex with a girl who didn't voice any consent and everyone acts like thats totes normal. Background characters weren't even safe, it would be like 'he saw a nurse with big breasts walk by' and it would have no bearing on the story at all. I can't imagine reading this book as a woman, I got pissed off enough as a man. The story depicted mental illness horribly. The line "He needed attention like a toddler with autism" was present. Like, who says stuff like that? Every word surrounding neurodivergence in this book is abhorrent. I don't think this story was ever editted, it was just like, one awful dump of information with sexual abuse thrown in at random. The reasoning behind the characters actions is illogical, the way neurodivergency is portrayed is disgusting, a main character switches his name for actually no reason halfway through despite the fact that the story already jumps from POV to POV. I literally cannot convey how bad this story is. The errors jump way up halfway through, like the author just sort of gave up and published it anyway. So, how to avoid having a story like this: Remember women are people, autism does /not/ make you prone to torturing people, and even reading over your story once for grammar and cohesion does wonders. If you're scared to publish your story, remember this story is out there. You cannot possibly do worse, go for it. | Whenever a character says “I don’t have time to explain” when they very clearly do. It’s a thing that gets under my skin every time. There is no reason to keep the person you’re helping in the dark like that. How to fix: just tell the person the reason | 1 | 10,931 | 1.4 | ||
ndr73y | writing_train | 0.9 | What is the worst story you've ever seen, and how can new writers avoid repeating its errors? This title could apply to stories in any medium, whether they be books, comics, film, puppet shows, plays, or videogames. | gydz143 | gyc5tky | 1,621,211,992 | 1,621,181,652 | 5 | 4 | Whenever a character says “I don’t have time to explain” when they very clearly do. It’s a thing that gets under my skin every time. There is no reason to keep the person you’re helping in the dark like that. How to fix: just tell the person the reason | i don't really think we need to form a dunk circle on this topic, do you? | 1 | 30,340 | 1.25 | ||
ndr73y | writing_train | 0.9 | What is the worst story you've ever seen, and how can new writers avoid repeating its errors? This title could apply to stories in any medium, whether they be books, comics, film, puppet shows, plays, or videogames. | gydumiq | gyekyhh | 1,621,209,785 | 1,621,222,923 | 4 | 7 | The House of Night series is by far one of the worst series I have ever attempted to read (got through about five books before I finally gave up). Someone can avoid making the same mistakes as the authors by not creating obnoxiously Mary Sue protagonists, not referencing super trendy pop stars that may not stand the test of time like Zac Efron, and knowing when to END a series (just looked it up for the first time in years. TWENTY BOOKS?? Come ON). | "The Last City of America" is hands down the worst piece of literature I've ever encountered. I actually had joined an online book club where you could get a book for free if you gave a review at the end and this was my first book. It... was so bad that I never used this service again, I ghosted it and still panic-delete the emails I recieved from them. The book has such an interesting summary, and then when you start to read it, you wish you had never learned english. The author writes women as entirely inferior- describing women, you could see the author only saw them as sex toys. I am not exaggerating when I say almost every named woman in the story was sexually assaulted, and some of the ones that did not actively get assaulted in the narrative would casually describe a horrific sexual assault for no reason other than the author had some infatuation with it. The few female characters that didn't get sexually assaulted (before I quit the book) still had paragraphs depicting their bodies and sexual pasts in ways that were entirely unnecessary. This did not happen for the male characters. The rape survivors were also usually referred to as sluts or whores throughout the narration. The main character has sex with a girl who didn't voice any consent and everyone acts like thats totes normal. Background characters weren't even safe, it would be like 'he saw a nurse with big breasts walk by' and it would have no bearing on the story at all. I can't imagine reading this book as a woman, I got pissed off enough as a man. The story depicted mental illness horribly. The line "He needed attention like a toddler with autism" was present. Like, who says stuff like that? Every word surrounding neurodivergence in this book is abhorrent. I don't think this story was ever editted, it was just like, one awful dump of information with sexual abuse thrown in at random. The reasoning behind the characters actions is illogical, the way neurodivergency is portrayed is disgusting, a main character switches his name for actually no reason halfway through despite the fact that the story already jumps from POV to POV. I literally cannot convey how bad this story is. The errors jump way up halfway through, like the author just sort of gave up and published it anyway. So, how to avoid having a story like this: Remember women are people, autism does /not/ make you prone to torturing people, and even reading over your story once for grammar and cohesion does wonders. If you're scared to publish your story, remember this story is out there. You cannot possibly do worse, go for it. | 0 | 13,138 | 1.75 | ||
ndr73y | writing_train | 0.9 | What is the worst story you've ever seen, and how can new writers avoid repeating its errors? This title could apply to stories in any medium, whether they be books, comics, film, puppet shows, plays, or videogames. | gyekyhh | gyc5tky | 1,621,222,923 | 1,621,181,652 | 7 | 4 | "The Last City of America" is hands down the worst piece of literature I've ever encountered. I actually had joined an online book club where you could get a book for free if you gave a review at the end and this was my first book. It... was so bad that I never used this service again, I ghosted it and still panic-delete the emails I recieved from them. The book has such an interesting summary, and then when you start to read it, you wish you had never learned english. The author writes women as entirely inferior- describing women, you could see the author only saw them as sex toys. I am not exaggerating when I say almost every named woman in the story was sexually assaulted, and some of the ones that did not actively get assaulted in the narrative would casually describe a horrific sexual assault for no reason other than the author had some infatuation with it. The few female characters that didn't get sexually assaulted (before I quit the book) still had paragraphs depicting their bodies and sexual pasts in ways that were entirely unnecessary. This did not happen for the male characters. The rape survivors were also usually referred to as sluts or whores throughout the narration. The main character has sex with a girl who didn't voice any consent and everyone acts like thats totes normal. Background characters weren't even safe, it would be like 'he saw a nurse with big breasts walk by' and it would have no bearing on the story at all. I can't imagine reading this book as a woman, I got pissed off enough as a man. The story depicted mental illness horribly. The line "He needed attention like a toddler with autism" was present. Like, who says stuff like that? Every word surrounding neurodivergence in this book is abhorrent. I don't think this story was ever editted, it was just like, one awful dump of information with sexual abuse thrown in at random. The reasoning behind the characters actions is illogical, the way neurodivergency is portrayed is disgusting, a main character switches his name for actually no reason halfway through despite the fact that the story already jumps from POV to POV. I literally cannot convey how bad this story is. The errors jump way up halfway through, like the author just sort of gave up and published it anyway. So, how to avoid having a story like this: Remember women are people, autism does /not/ make you prone to torturing people, and even reading over your story once for grammar and cohesion does wonders. If you're scared to publish your story, remember this story is out there. You cannot possibly do worse, go for it. | i don't really think we need to form a dunk circle on this topic, do you? | 1 | 41,271 | 1.75 | ||
ndr73y | writing_train | 0.9 | What is the worst story you've ever seen, and how can new writers avoid repeating its errors? This title could apply to stories in any medium, whether they be books, comics, film, puppet shows, plays, or videogames. | gyekyhh | gydeaij | 1,621,222,923 | 1,621,201,663 | 7 | 6 | "The Last City of America" is hands down the worst piece of literature I've ever encountered. I actually had joined an online book club where you could get a book for free if you gave a review at the end and this was my first book. It... was so bad that I never used this service again, I ghosted it and still panic-delete the emails I recieved from them. The book has such an interesting summary, and then when you start to read it, you wish you had never learned english. The author writes women as entirely inferior- describing women, you could see the author only saw them as sex toys. I am not exaggerating when I say almost every named woman in the story was sexually assaulted, and some of the ones that did not actively get assaulted in the narrative would casually describe a horrific sexual assault for no reason other than the author had some infatuation with it. The few female characters that didn't get sexually assaulted (before I quit the book) still had paragraphs depicting their bodies and sexual pasts in ways that were entirely unnecessary. This did not happen for the male characters. The rape survivors were also usually referred to as sluts or whores throughout the narration. The main character has sex with a girl who didn't voice any consent and everyone acts like thats totes normal. Background characters weren't even safe, it would be like 'he saw a nurse with big breasts walk by' and it would have no bearing on the story at all. I can't imagine reading this book as a woman, I got pissed off enough as a man. The story depicted mental illness horribly. The line "He needed attention like a toddler with autism" was present. Like, who says stuff like that? Every word surrounding neurodivergence in this book is abhorrent. I don't think this story was ever editted, it was just like, one awful dump of information with sexual abuse thrown in at random. The reasoning behind the characters actions is illogical, the way neurodivergency is portrayed is disgusting, a main character switches his name for actually no reason halfway through despite the fact that the story already jumps from POV to POV. I literally cannot convey how bad this story is. The errors jump way up halfway through, like the author just sort of gave up and published it anyway. So, how to avoid having a story like this: Remember women are people, autism does /not/ make you prone to torturing people, and even reading over your story once for grammar and cohesion does wonders. If you're scared to publish your story, remember this story is out there. You cannot possibly do worse, go for it. | I don't remember the name of it. It was one of the required readings for a literature class. It had more flashbacks than a bottle episode. More time jumps than the back to the future franchise. They were random and sporadic. Often-times in the middle of a paragraph. "He worked at the warehouse. He'd worked there since 1982. In 1987, he was promoted to manager. The warehouse was built in 1850. In 1892, there was a fire. It wasn't as bad as the fire from 1884. The warehouse stocked paper during that fire. In 1885, when it was rebuilt, it stocked corn, which is what burned the second time. Initially, it stored textiles to be taken by wagon down the street. In 1920, it transitioned from corn to all sorts of canned goods. The cannery was built in 1915, just down the street..." This isn't an exact excerpt, just an example. And I'm not even doing it justice. It jumped all over the place, and there wasn't even a coherent story or main character. It was just a bunch of random facts in random chronological order. | 1 | 21,260 | 1.166667 | ||
ndr73y | writing_train | 0.9 | What is the worst story you've ever seen, and how can new writers avoid repeating its errors? This title could apply to stories in any medium, whether they be books, comics, film, puppet shows, plays, or videogames. | gydo9mf | gyekyhh | 1,621,206,496 | 1,621,222,923 | 5 | 7 | Andy Weir's "The Egg" is the worst "well known" and "real" short story I've ever seen. Sure, we've all seen crappy fanfic that's worse, but "The Egg" sucks, yet somehow got critical acclaim. This short story is available online for free: go read it! It sucks. Basically, the entire story is dedicated to explaining an idea that your 24 year old stoner cousin Greg came up with at 2 AM while hitting a fat fucking blunt; beyond this, the story is devoid of substance. What meaningful choices does the second person protagonist make in The Egg? What meaningful choices does the god character make? Nothing. The entire story consists of god (its complicated, but he basically is god) expositing to the second person protagonist while speaking in a notably un-godly tone. That's it. That's the whole story. God's actions are also very confusing: why exposit to the protagonist at all? Sure, hes unknowable and the way he sees the world is mysterious, but that's awfully convenient for Andy, isn't it? He doesn't have to explain shit about this god character. If you want to go "BRUUHHHH WHAT IF THE UNIVERSE WAS AN EGG AND WE WERE ALL..." then just do that instead of wasting an entire story on it, Andy! Stephen King wrote an afterlife-based short story (i do not rememeber what it was called) where the protagonist had to choose between moving on to the afterlife or reincarnating in their old life to try and make it better; this story worked because 1) the two major characters involved are actually interesting people, unlike the phenomenally bland second person protagonist and the nonsensical god character, and 2) the protagonist makes an actual choice in it. In conclusion, short stories should 1) have interesting characters, which Andy did not have, and 2) have characters who make choices, which Andy did not have. The Egg also sucked for a few other minor reasons but I'll arbitrarily stop here. anyway this was my incoherent "Andy Weir's 'The Egg' sucks" rant~~, SMASH that like button and ring that bell for more~~ | "The Last City of America" is hands down the worst piece of literature I've ever encountered. I actually had joined an online book club where you could get a book for free if you gave a review at the end and this was my first book. It... was so bad that I never used this service again, I ghosted it and still panic-delete the emails I recieved from them. The book has such an interesting summary, and then when you start to read it, you wish you had never learned english. The author writes women as entirely inferior- describing women, you could see the author only saw them as sex toys. I am not exaggerating when I say almost every named woman in the story was sexually assaulted, and some of the ones that did not actively get assaulted in the narrative would casually describe a horrific sexual assault for no reason other than the author had some infatuation with it. The few female characters that didn't get sexually assaulted (before I quit the book) still had paragraphs depicting their bodies and sexual pasts in ways that were entirely unnecessary. This did not happen for the male characters. The rape survivors were also usually referred to as sluts or whores throughout the narration. The main character has sex with a girl who didn't voice any consent and everyone acts like thats totes normal. Background characters weren't even safe, it would be like 'he saw a nurse with big breasts walk by' and it would have no bearing on the story at all. I can't imagine reading this book as a woman, I got pissed off enough as a man. The story depicted mental illness horribly. The line "He needed attention like a toddler with autism" was present. Like, who says stuff like that? Every word surrounding neurodivergence in this book is abhorrent. I don't think this story was ever editted, it was just like, one awful dump of information with sexual abuse thrown in at random. The reasoning behind the characters actions is illogical, the way neurodivergency is portrayed is disgusting, a main character switches his name for actually no reason halfway through despite the fact that the story already jumps from POV to POV. I literally cannot convey how bad this story is. The errors jump way up halfway through, like the author just sort of gave up and published it anyway. So, how to avoid having a story like this: Remember women are people, autism does /not/ make you prone to torturing people, and even reading over your story once for grammar and cohesion does wonders. If you're scared to publish your story, remember this story is out there. You cannot possibly do worse, go for it. | 0 | 16,427 | 1.4 | ||
ndr73y | writing_train | 0.9 | What is the worst story you've ever seen, and how can new writers avoid repeating its errors? This title could apply to stories in any medium, whether they be books, comics, film, puppet shows, plays, or videogames. | gyekyhh | gye6dys | 1,621,222,923 | 1,621,215,756 | 7 | 3 | "The Last City of America" is hands down the worst piece of literature I've ever encountered. I actually had joined an online book club where you could get a book for free if you gave a review at the end and this was my first book. It... was so bad that I never used this service again, I ghosted it and still panic-delete the emails I recieved from them. The book has such an interesting summary, and then when you start to read it, you wish you had never learned english. The author writes women as entirely inferior- describing women, you could see the author only saw them as sex toys. I am not exaggerating when I say almost every named woman in the story was sexually assaulted, and some of the ones that did not actively get assaulted in the narrative would casually describe a horrific sexual assault for no reason other than the author had some infatuation with it. The few female characters that didn't get sexually assaulted (before I quit the book) still had paragraphs depicting their bodies and sexual pasts in ways that were entirely unnecessary. This did not happen for the male characters. The rape survivors were also usually referred to as sluts or whores throughout the narration. The main character has sex with a girl who didn't voice any consent and everyone acts like thats totes normal. Background characters weren't even safe, it would be like 'he saw a nurse with big breasts walk by' and it would have no bearing on the story at all. I can't imagine reading this book as a woman, I got pissed off enough as a man. The story depicted mental illness horribly. The line "He needed attention like a toddler with autism" was present. Like, who says stuff like that? Every word surrounding neurodivergence in this book is abhorrent. I don't think this story was ever editted, it was just like, one awful dump of information with sexual abuse thrown in at random. The reasoning behind the characters actions is illogical, the way neurodivergency is portrayed is disgusting, a main character switches his name for actually no reason halfway through despite the fact that the story already jumps from POV to POV. I literally cannot convey how bad this story is. The errors jump way up halfway through, like the author just sort of gave up and published it anyway. So, how to avoid having a story like this: Remember women are people, autism does /not/ make you prone to torturing people, and even reading over your story once for grammar and cohesion does wonders. If you're scared to publish your story, remember this story is out there. You cannot possibly do worse, go for it. | I nominate *World Without End* by Ken Follett, for a combination of being one part boring, one part creepy as fuck, and three parts completely, completely annoying. Let’s start from the top: 1: WWE is an ensemble story, as it’s told mostly from the perspective of 4 characters who meet as children and grow up in the same smallish town that has a massive church at the center. Merthin, a young builder/architect who has to balance his budding relationship with his career, and whom aspires to build the tallest spire in the world, his brother Ralph, an oafish but handsome man who wants to become a knight, and who progressively becomes corrupted with power as he keeps rising in rank, Caris, a girl who hates the church as much as she loves Merthin, and Gwenda, a former child thief who wants to bone a farmer. You’ll notice that the latter two don’t really have much, and that’s the issue there. For an ensemble, only Merthin and Ralph (and Caris way, way later) have any real motivation or emotional stake in the story. Caris mostly gets pushed around by societal forces she can’t control, and Gwenda only really exists to get raped repeatedly and eventually kill Ralph within the last 5 pages of a nearly 1200 page book. A large cast can be a good thing, and you can make that work, but if you’re set on having a pool of main characters rather than one or two, actually develop them. 2: Speaking on the Gwenda thing, a lot of the book is horny in a way that’s just flat out disgusting. I’m the farthest thing from prudish when it comes to sexual content, but so much of the story and much of the dialogue between the characters (is it surprising to know most sex discussion happens between the two female characters referring to the males?) about sex is gross. And there’s way, WAY too much rape. I don’t usually like rape as motivator as a trope. I think it was overdone in the 80s and it’s even harder to pull off now. Rape in general is often completely unnecessary in most stories. But if you really, TRULY have to include a rape in your story, take great care you don’t accidentally write it as erotic. One of the earliest rapes of the book is Gwenda being assaulted by a bandit almost twice her age, and too much time is spent discussing how pleasurable it is despite it being against her will. This happens a LOT, and even Gwenda herself rapes a farmer as he’s grieving and half asleep. 3: A general issue: the story jumps all over the damn place and basically ends up having a lackluster narrative because of it. Running a story with a lot of subplots is not easy. And often a major issue is simply poor structuring of the plot points. Why is there a whole arc about Merthin getting accused of impregnating his rapist that literally adds nothing to the story? Why is there two different rape scenes of Ralph inspecting women for various purposes that barely adds anything? Why does the main conflict (Caris is accused of witchcraft and can only survive by becoming a nun, meaning she can never leave the church) start almost halfway into the book? Pacing is a big fucking deal, and you need to really keep it in mind when you’re working on your pieces | 1 | 7,167 | 2.333333 | ||
ndr73y | writing_train | 0.9 | What is the worst story you've ever seen, and how can new writers avoid repeating its errors? This title could apply to stories in any medium, whether they be books, comics, film, puppet shows, plays, or videogames. | gye1hbk | gyekyhh | 1,621,213,256 | 1,621,222,923 | 2 | 7 | Probably not the worst, but the most infuriating to me. A Dance of Blades. It’s the second book in a series and the farthest I went with it. The part I hated the most was the sheer arrogance in the writers note in the back. On its own, it was probably a 2 star book, confusing, very little in the way of stakes because the magic system is entirely based on rule of cool and seems to have no adverse effects, it name-drops elves and orcs but they have absolutely no effect. The note opens with “I think I’m getting the hang of this.” Just that arrogance compelled me to make a goodreads and tear into it as a review. | "The Last City of America" is hands down the worst piece of literature I've ever encountered. I actually had joined an online book club where you could get a book for free if you gave a review at the end and this was my first book. It... was so bad that I never used this service again, I ghosted it and still panic-delete the emails I recieved from them. The book has such an interesting summary, and then when you start to read it, you wish you had never learned english. The author writes women as entirely inferior- describing women, you could see the author only saw them as sex toys. I am not exaggerating when I say almost every named woman in the story was sexually assaulted, and some of the ones that did not actively get assaulted in the narrative would casually describe a horrific sexual assault for no reason other than the author had some infatuation with it. The few female characters that didn't get sexually assaulted (before I quit the book) still had paragraphs depicting their bodies and sexual pasts in ways that were entirely unnecessary. This did not happen for the male characters. The rape survivors were also usually referred to as sluts or whores throughout the narration. The main character has sex with a girl who didn't voice any consent and everyone acts like thats totes normal. Background characters weren't even safe, it would be like 'he saw a nurse with big breasts walk by' and it would have no bearing on the story at all. I can't imagine reading this book as a woman, I got pissed off enough as a man. The story depicted mental illness horribly. The line "He needed attention like a toddler with autism" was present. Like, who says stuff like that? Every word surrounding neurodivergence in this book is abhorrent. I don't think this story was ever editted, it was just like, one awful dump of information with sexual abuse thrown in at random. The reasoning behind the characters actions is illogical, the way neurodivergency is portrayed is disgusting, a main character switches his name for actually no reason halfway through despite the fact that the story already jumps from POV to POV. I literally cannot convey how bad this story is. The errors jump way up halfway through, like the author just sort of gave up and published it anyway. So, how to avoid having a story like this: Remember women are people, autism does /not/ make you prone to torturing people, and even reading over your story once for grammar and cohesion does wonders. If you're scared to publish your story, remember this story is out there. You cannot possibly do worse, go for it. | 0 | 9,667 | 3.5 | ||
ndr73y | writing_train | 0.9 | What is the worst story you've ever seen, and how can new writers avoid repeating its errors? This title could apply to stories in any medium, whether they be books, comics, film, puppet shows, plays, or videogames. | gye71ti | gyekyhh | 1,621,216,094 | 1,621,222,923 | 2 | 7 | I've read slush piles so I've seen some bad stuff. Here's how you avoid fucking up: Answer these questions. 1) Who is the audience for this book (sci-fi fans who loved Wool, teenagers who loved Twilight etc)? 2) Can you name three books/series in your chosen genre that are appropriate comparisons? (Hunger Games, Wintersmith etc) 3) Does yours radically diverge from those examples? If you cannot name your audience, cannot name comparative works, or have a book that radically diverges then you fucked up and need to fix it. It's like someone wants a 24-page picture book for six-year-olds and you write a graphic murder scene with drug use. You fucked up. Unfortunately, people can't tell when they've fucked up in subtler ways in other genres (and I'd argue most of the time it's not so subtle anyway). | "The Last City of America" is hands down the worst piece of literature I've ever encountered. I actually had joined an online book club where you could get a book for free if you gave a review at the end and this was my first book. It... was so bad that I never used this service again, I ghosted it and still panic-delete the emails I recieved from them. The book has such an interesting summary, and then when you start to read it, you wish you had never learned english. The author writes women as entirely inferior- describing women, you could see the author only saw them as sex toys. I am not exaggerating when I say almost every named woman in the story was sexually assaulted, and some of the ones that did not actively get assaulted in the narrative would casually describe a horrific sexual assault for no reason other than the author had some infatuation with it. The few female characters that didn't get sexually assaulted (before I quit the book) still had paragraphs depicting their bodies and sexual pasts in ways that were entirely unnecessary. This did not happen for the male characters. The rape survivors were also usually referred to as sluts or whores throughout the narration. The main character has sex with a girl who didn't voice any consent and everyone acts like thats totes normal. Background characters weren't even safe, it would be like 'he saw a nurse with big breasts walk by' and it would have no bearing on the story at all. I can't imagine reading this book as a woman, I got pissed off enough as a man. The story depicted mental illness horribly. The line "He needed attention like a toddler with autism" was present. Like, who says stuff like that? Every word surrounding neurodivergence in this book is abhorrent. I don't think this story was ever editted, it was just like, one awful dump of information with sexual abuse thrown in at random. The reasoning behind the characters actions is illogical, the way neurodivergency is portrayed is disgusting, a main character switches his name for actually no reason halfway through despite the fact that the story already jumps from POV to POV. I literally cannot convey how bad this story is. The errors jump way up halfway through, like the author just sort of gave up and published it anyway. So, how to avoid having a story like this: Remember women are people, autism does /not/ make you prone to torturing people, and even reading over your story once for grammar and cohesion does wonders. If you're scared to publish your story, remember this story is out there. You cannot possibly do worse, go for it. | 0 | 6,829 | 3.5 | ||
ndr73y | writing_train | 0.9 | What is the worst story you've ever seen, and how can new writers avoid repeating its errors? This title could apply to stories in any medium, whether they be books, comics, film, puppet shows, plays, or videogames. | gyc5tky | gydeaij | 1,621,181,652 | 1,621,201,663 | 4 | 6 | i don't really think we need to form a dunk circle on this topic, do you? | I don't remember the name of it. It was one of the required readings for a literature class. It had more flashbacks than a bottle episode. More time jumps than the back to the future franchise. They were random and sporadic. Often-times in the middle of a paragraph. "He worked at the warehouse. He'd worked there since 1982. In 1987, he was promoted to manager. The warehouse was built in 1850. In 1892, there was a fire. It wasn't as bad as the fire from 1884. The warehouse stocked paper during that fire. In 1885, when it was rebuilt, it stocked corn, which is what burned the second time. Initially, it stored textiles to be taken by wagon down the street. In 1920, it transitioned from corn to all sorts of canned goods. The cannery was built in 1915, just down the street..." This isn't an exact excerpt, just an example. And I'm not even doing it justice. It jumped all over the place, and there wasn't even a coherent story or main character. It was just a bunch of random facts in random chronological order. | 0 | 20,011 | 1.5 | ||
ndr73y | writing_train | 0.9 | What is the worst story you've ever seen, and how can new writers avoid repeating its errors? This title could apply to stories in any medium, whether they be books, comics, film, puppet shows, plays, or videogames. | gyc5tky | gydo9mf | 1,621,181,652 | 1,621,206,496 | 4 | 5 | i don't really think we need to form a dunk circle on this topic, do you? | Andy Weir's "The Egg" is the worst "well known" and "real" short story I've ever seen. Sure, we've all seen crappy fanfic that's worse, but "The Egg" sucks, yet somehow got critical acclaim. This short story is available online for free: go read it! It sucks. Basically, the entire story is dedicated to explaining an idea that your 24 year old stoner cousin Greg came up with at 2 AM while hitting a fat fucking blunt; beyond this, the story is devoid of substance. What meaningful choices does the second person protagonist make in The Egg? What meaningful choices does the god character make? Nothing. The entire story consists of god (its complicated, but he basically is god) expositing to the second person protagonist while speaking in a notably un-godly tone. That's it. That's the whole story. God's actions are also very confusing: why exposit to the protagonist at all? Sure, hes unknowable and the way he sees the world is mysterious, but that's awfully convenient for Andy, isn't it? He doesn't have to explain shit about this god character. If you want to go "BRUUHHHH WHAT IF THE UNIVERSE WAS AN EGG AND WE WERE ALL..." then just do that instead of wasting an entire story on it, Andy! Stephen King wrote an afterlife-based short story (i do not rememeber what it was called) where the protagonist had to choose between moving on to the afterlife or reincarnating in their old life to try and make it better; this story worked because 1) the two major characters involved are actually interesting people, unlike the phenomenally bland second person protagonist and the nonsensical god character, and 2) the protagonist makes an actual choice in it. In conclusion, short stories should 1) have interesting characters, which Andy did not have, and 2) have characters who make choices, which Andy did not have. The Egg also sucked for a few other minor reasons but I'll arbitrarily stop here. anyway this was my incoherent "Andy Weir's 'The Egg' sucks" rant~~, SMASH that like button and ring that bell for more~~ | 0 | 24,844 | 1.25 | ||
ndr73y | writing_train | 0.9 | What is the worst story you've ever seen, and how can new writers avoid repeating its errors? This title could apply to stories in any medium, whether they be books, comics, film, puppet shows, plays, or videogames. | gye1hbk | gye6dys | 1,621,213,256 | 1,621,215,756 | 2 | 3 | Probably not the worst, but the most infuriating to me. A Dance of Blades. It’s the second book in a series and the farthest I went with it. The part I hated the most was the sheer arrogance in the writers note in the back. On its own, it was probably a 2 star book, confusing, very little in the way of stakes because the magic system is entirely based on rule of cool and seems to have no adverse effects, it name-drops elves and orcs but they have absolutely no effect. The note opens with “I think I’m getting the hang of this.” Just that arrogance compelled me to make a goodreads and tear into it as a review. | I nominate *World Without End* by Ken Follett, for a combination of being one part boring, one part creepy as fuck, and three parts completely, completely annoying. Let’s start from the top: 1: WWE is an ensemble story, as it’s told mostly from the perspective of 4 characters who meet as children and grow up in the same smallish town that has a massive church at the center. Merthin, a young builder/architect who has to balance his budding relationship with his career, and whom aspires to build the tallest spire in the world, his brother Ralph, an oafish but handsome man who wants to become a knight, and who progressively becomes corrupted with power as he keeps rising in rank, Caris, a girl who hates the church as much as she loves Merthin, and Gwenda, a former child thief who wants to bone a farmer. You’ll notice that the latter two don’t really have much, and that’s the issue there. For an ensemble, only Merthin and Ralph (and Caris way, way later) have any real motivation or emotional stake in the story. Caris mostly gets pushed around by societal forces she can’t control, and Gwenda only really exists to get raped repeatedly and eventually kill Ralph within the last 5 pages of a nearly 1200 page book. A large cast can be a good thing, and you can make that work, but if you’re set on having a pool of main characters rather than one or two, actually develop them. 2: Speaking on the Gwenda thing, a lot of the book is horny in a way that’s just flat out disgusting. I’m the farthest thing from prudish when it comes to sexual content, but so much of the story and much of the dialogue between the characters (is it surprising to know most sex discussion happens between the two female characters referring to the males?) about sex is gross. And there’s way, WAY too much rape. I don’t usually like rape as motivator as a trope. I think it was overdone in the 80s and it’s even harder to pull off now. Rape in general is often completely unnecessary in most stories. But if you really, TRULY have to include a rape in your story, take great care you don’t accidentally write it as erotic. One of the earliest rapes of the book is Gwenda being assaulted by a bandit almost twice her age, and too much time is spent discussing how pleasurable it is despite it being against her will. This happens a LOT, and even Gwenda herself rapes a farmer as he’s grieving and half asleep. 3: A general issue: the story jumps all over the damn place and basically ends up having a lackluster narrative because of it. Running a story with a lot of subplots is not easy. And often a major issue is simply poor structuring of the plot points. Why is there a whole arc about Merthin getting accused of impregnating his rapist that literally adds nothing to the story? Why is there two different rape scenes of Ralph inspecting women for various purposes that barely adds anything? Why does the main conflict (Caris is accused of witchcraft and can only survive by becoming a nun, meaning she can never leave the church) start almost halfway into the book? Pacing is a big fucking deal, and you need to really keep it in mind when you’re working on your pieces | 0 | 2,500 | 1.5 | ||
s378lr | writing_train | 0.93 | "You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining" What does this mean? I'm trying to make an outline for this novel that I want to write and I suddenly hit a road block so I thought of looking up Pixar's Rules of Storytelling, and I came upon the quote from above, and I can't really figure what it's trying to say. What's the difference between "doing your best" and "fussing"? Does "doing your best" when writing not mean being concerned about it? What does it mean when they say that "Story is testing, not refining"? Isn't a story refined by testing it out (i.e. reading it for yourself or having an editor go through it in order to make the proper refinements)? Thank you for those who would be willing to share their clarifications. | hsj57km | hsixd9t | 1,642,104,703 | 1,642,101,771 | 11 | 7 | At one workplace we called it “rearranging the deck chairs on the TITANIC.” It keeps you busy, but doing less and casting your gaze forward works better. | I think the difference between "doing your best" and "fussing" is that doing your best work is not the same thing as spending weeks fussing over minor details and tweaking things. You create your best stuff, fundamentally, when you're making big strides and testing new waters, not sitting on the same project forever endlessly working on it. Which isn't to say that editing or refinement isn't necessary, but it's not where the real heart of *good* storytelling comes from. A bad story can't be tweaked into being good; a good story can be tweaked to be better. | 1 | 2,932 | 1.571429 | ||
s378lr | writing_train | 0.93 | "You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining" What does this mean? I'm trying to make an outline for this novel that I want to write and I suddenly hit a road block so I thought of looking up Pixar's Rules of Storytelling, and I came upon the quote from above, and I can't really figure what it's trying to say. What's the difference between "doing your best" and "fussing"? Does "doing your best" when writing not mean being concerned about it? What does it mean when they say that "Story is testing, not refining"? Isn't a story refined by testing it out (i.e. reading it for yourself or having an editor go through it in order to make the proper refinements)? Thank you for those who would be willing to share their clarifications. | hsj57km | hsj2nkw | 1,642,104,703 | 1,642,103,756 | 11 | 2 | At one workplace we called it “rearranging the deck chairs on the TITANIC.” It keeps you busy, but doing less and casting your gaze forward works better. | To me it sounds like being honest with whether you've got something or you've got nothing. Because you can literally write anything, and also because "story" is slapped on anything that requires additional information ("what's the story behind that?") -- some people assume "anything can become a story" and that's not the case. You cannot refine or fuss non-story into story. Sounds like that's what they're saying. | 1 | 947 | 5.5 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htqj06p | htq95vl | 1,642,855,093 | 1,642,848,285 | 15 | 10 | Beyond the obvious reputational damage, here’s something else to ask yourself: what possible benefit would there be in doing this? Say you’re an editor and some unknown writer hires you to check their manuscript. You think it’s absolutely brilliant, so you decide to steal it and pass it off as your own. Then what? Even incredible writers have said how difficult it was to get their first book picked up by a publisher. So just because you think a book is brilliant doesn’t mean agents or acquisitions editors will. But say you can easily land an agent and a publisher. First-time authors tend to have lower advances these days. And then what happens when the editor wants your follow-up? You’re not going to get rich off one book, but editing is consistent. So no editor would risk their reputation and a stable career on something that has so few advantages. | I've had my work edited by people who also write, and people who don't, and there are reasons neither will steal your work. Other writers have their own ideas they'd rather work on, there's just no motivation to steal it. That would be like someone who paints for fun trying to steal your work even though they'd have no fun doing it and it probably won't sell for anything. People who don't write don't really have interest in stealing your work and if they've found themselves in the position to be qualified to edit, that's an actual job that pays very well. My sister will help me out with line editing if I'm working on a contest or nonfiction, and if she was doing this professionally she'd make around $300 a day with the pace she works at. Was actually just looking into that last night so I can pay her if I win the contest she's helping me with, editors make serious bank, industry standard is .05 cents a word. | 1 | 6,808 | 1.5 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htqc3cp | htqj06p | 1,642,850,391 | 1,642,855,093 | 8 | 15 | As others have said, career suicide is what's stopping them. If a book is going to make money is a crapshoot. You can't be like "oh yeah. This is a million-dollar bestseller" and know that for a fact. It is in no way worth torpedoing your livelihood (and reputation with those connections in the industry, if you have them) to attempt to get away with plaigarism | Beyond the obvious reputational damage, here’s something else to ask yourself: what possible benefit would there be in doing this? Say you’re an editor and some unknown writer hires you to check their manuscript. You think it’s absolutely brilliant, so you decide to steal it and pass it off as your own. Then what? Even incredible writers have said how difficult it was to get their first book picked up by a publisher. So just because you think a book is brilliant doesn’t mean agents or acquisitions editors will. But say you can easily land an agent and a publisher. First-time authors tend to have lower advances these days. And then what happens when the editor wants your follow-up? You’re not going to get rich off one book, but editing is consistent. So no editor would risk their reputation and a stable career on something that has so few advantages. | 0 | 4,702 | 1.875 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htq6iqs | htqj06p | 1,642,846,336 | 1,642,855,093 | 7 | 15 | The editor would likely lose their career from the reputational damage. | Beyond the obvious reputational damage, here’s something else to ask yourself: what possible benefit would there be in doing this? Say you’re an editor and some unknown writer hires you to check their manuscript. You think it’s absolutely brilliant, so you decide to steal it and pass it off as your own. Then what? Even incredible writers have said how difficult it was to get their first book picked up by a publisher. So just because you think a book is brilliant doesn’t mean agents or acquisitions editors will. But say you can easily land an agent and a publisher. First-time authors tend to have lower advances these days. And then what happens when the editor wants your follow-up? You’re not going to get rich off one book, but editing is consistent. So no editor would risk their reputation and a stable career on something that has so few advantages. | 0 | 8,757 | 2.142857 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htqj06p | htq35ij | 1,642,855,093 | 1,642,843,870 | 15 | 5 | Beyond the obvious reputational damage, here’s something else to ask yourself: what possible benefit would there be in doing this? Say you’re an editor and some unknown writer hires you to check their manuscript. You think it’s absolutely brilliant, so you decide to steal it and pass it off as your own. Then what? Even incredible writers have said how difficult it was to get their first book picked up by a publisher. So just because you think a book is brilliant doesn’t mean agents or acquisitions editors will. But say you can easily land an agent and a publisher. First-time authors tend to have lower advances these days. And then what happens when the editor wants your follow-up? You’re not going to get rich off one book, but editing is consistent. So no editor would risk their reputation and a stable career on something that has so few advantages. | Editors search for authors, not individual books. Your book us probably not good enough to be worth stealing, anyways. | 1 | 11,223 | 3 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htq0wdg | htqj06p | 1,642,842,206 | 1,642,855,093 | 1 | 15 | I send a text to the editor, she read and said the price. That's it. Don't worry, just sent it. | Beyond the obvious reputational damage, here’s something else to ask yourself: what possible benefit would there be in doing this? Say you’re an editor and some unknown writer hires you to check their manuscript. You think it’s absolutely brilliant, so you decide to steal it and pass it off as your own. Then what? Even incredible writers have said how difficult it was to get their first book picked up by a publisher. So just because you think a book is brilliant doesn’t mean agents or acquisitions editors will. But say you can easily land an agent and a publisher. First-time authors tend to have lower advances these days. And then what happens when the editor wants your follow-up? You’re not going to get rich off one book, but editing is consistent. So no editor would risk their reputation and a stable career on something that has so few advantages. | 0 | 12,887 | 15 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htq95vl | htqmn2a | 1,642,848,285 | 1,642,857,276 | 10 | 11 | I've had my work edited by people who also write, and people who don't, and there are reasons neither will steal your work. Other writers have their own ideas they'd rather work on, there's just no motivation to steal it. That would be like someone who paints for fun trying to steal your work even though they'd have no fun doing it and it probably won't sell for anything. People who don't write don't really have interest in stealing your work and if they've found themselves in the position to be qualified to edit, that's an actual job that pays very well. My sister will help me out with line editing if I'm working on a contest or nonfiction, and if she was doing this professionally she'd make around $300 a day with the pace she works at. Was actually just looking into that last night so I can pay her if I win the contest she's helping me with, editors make serious bank, industry standard is .05 cents a word. | Other posts have mentioned reasons why reputable editors wouldn’t do this. And there’s the key word: reputable. Do your research before hiring an editor. Find one with a good reputation and testimonials (and ask other authors who they use). Make sure the editor has a contract and this is addressed. (My editing contract says something to the effect that I relinquish all rights of the material to the author and make no claim of any part of the work being mine.) The author-editor relationship relies on trust, so find an editor you can trust and you won’t have a problem. There are lots of trustworthy editors out there. | 0 | 8,991 | 1.1 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htq6iqs | htq95vl | 1,642,846,336 | 1,642,848,285 | 7 | 10 | The editor would likely lose their career from the reputational damage. | I've had my work edited by people who also write, and people who don't, and there are reasons neither will steal your work. Other writers have their own ideas they'd rather work on, there's just no motivation to steal it. That would be like someone who paints for fun trying to steal your work even though they'd have no fun doing it and it probably won't sell for anything. People who don't write don't really have interest in stealing your work and if they've found themselves in the position to be qualified to edit, that's an actual job that pays very well. My sister will help me out with line editing if I'm working on a contest or nonfiction, and if she was doing this professionally she'd make around $300 a day with the pace she works at. Was actually just looking into that last night so I can pay her if I win the contest she's helping me with, editors make serious bank, industry standard is .05 cents a word. | 0 | 1,949 | 1.428571 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htq35ij | htq95vl | 1,642,843,870 | 1,642,848,285 | 5 | 10 | Editors search for authors, not individual books. Your book us probably not good enough to be worth stealing, anyways. | I've had my work edited by people who also write, and people who don't, and there are reasons neither will steal your work. Other writers have their own ideas they'd rather work on, there's just no motivation to steal it. That would be like someone who paints for fun trying to steal your work even though they'd have no fun doing it and it probably won't sell for anything. People who don't write don't really have interest in stealing your work and if they've found themselves in the position to be qualified to edit, that's an actual job that pays very well. My sister will help me out with line editing if I'm working on a contest or nonfiction, and if she was doing this professionally she'd make around $300 a day with the pace she works at. Was actually just looking into that last night so I can pay her if I win the contest she's helping me with, editors make serious bank, industry standard is .05 cents a word. | 0 | 4,415 | 2 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htq95vl | htq0wdg | 1,642,848,285 | 1,642,842,206 | 10 | 1 | I've had my work edited by people who also write, and people who don't, and there are reasons neither will steal your work. Other writers have their own ideas they'd rather work on, there's just no motivation to steal it. That would be like someone who paints for fun trying to steal your work even though they'd have no fun doing it and it probably won't sell for anything. People who don't write don't really have interest in stealing your work and if they've found themselves in the position to be qualified to edit, that's an actual job that pays very well. My sister will help me out with line editing if I'm working on a contest or nonfiction, and if she was doing this professionally she'd make around $300 a day with the pace she works at. Was actually just looking into that last night so I can pay her if I win the contest she's helping me with, editors make serious bank, industry standard is .05 cents a word. | I send a text to the editor, she read and said the price. That's it. Don't worry, just sent it. | 1 | 6,079 | 10 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htqmn2a | htqc3cp | 1,642,857,276 | 1,642,850,391 | 11 | 8 | Other posts have mentioned reasons why reputable editors wouldn’t do this. And there’s the key word: reputable. Do your research before hiring an editor. Find one with a good reputation and testimonials (and ask other authors who they use). Make sure the editor has a contract and this is addressed. (My editing contract says something to the effect that I relinquish all rights of the material to the author and make no claim of any part of the work being mine.) The author-editor relationship relies on trust, so find an editor you can trust and you won’t have a problem. There are lots of trustworthy editors out there. | As others have said, career suicide is what's stopping them. If a book is going to make money is a crapshoot. You can't be like "oh yeah. This is a million-dollar bestseller" and know that for a fact. It is in no way worth torpedoing your livelihood (and reputation with those connections in the industry, if you have them) to attempt to get away with plaigarism | 1 | 6,885 | 1.375 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htq6iqs | htqmn2a | 1,642,846,336 | 1,642,857,276 | 7 | 11 | The editor would likely lose their career from the reputational damage. | Other posts have mentioned reasons why reputable editors wouldn’t do this. And there’s the key word: reputable. Do your research before hiring an editor. Find one with a good reputation and testimonials (and ask other authors who they use). Make sure the editor has a contract and this is addressed. (My editing contract says something to the effect that I relinquish all rights of the material to the author and make no claim of any part of the work being mine.) The author-editor relationship relies on trust, so find an editor you can trust and you won’t have a problem. There are lots of trustworthy editors out there. | 0 | 10,940 | 1.571429 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htq35ij | htqmn2a | 1,642,843,870 | 1,642,857,276 | 5 | 11 | Editors search for authors, not individual books. Your book us probably not good enough to be worth stealing, anyways. | Other posts have mentioned reasons why reputable editors wouldn’t do this. And there’s the key word: reputable. Do your research before hiring an editor. Find one with a good reputation and testimonials (and ask other authors who they use). Make sure the editor has a contract and this is addressed. (My editing contract says something to the effect that I relinquish all rights of the material to the author and make no claim of any part of the work being mine.) The author-editor relationship relies on trust, so find an editor you can trust and you won’t have a problem. There are lots of trustworthy editors out there. | 0 | 13,406 | 2.2 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htqmn2a | htqk0jj | 1,642,857,276 | 1,642,855,709 | 11 | 5 | Other posts have mentioned reasons why reputable editors wouldn’t do this. And there’s the key word: reputable. Do your research before hiring an editor. Find one with a good reputation and testimonials (and ask other authors who they use). Make sure the editor has a contract and this is addressed. (My editing contract says something to the effect that I relinquish all rights of the material to the author and make no claim of any part of the work being mine.) The author-editor relationship relies on trust, so find an editor you can trust and you won’t have a problem. There are lots of trustworthy editors out there. | The law, mostly And also the fact that they're editors, not authors. They don't want your novel and they don't need it because they're getting paid to edit. If they steal people's work, they're gonna lose their job and their income for nothing. They're being paid well already, why throw that away for something that might never get published anyway? | 1 | 1,567 | 2.2 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htqmn2a | htq0wdg | 1,642,857,276 | 1,642,842,206 | 11 | 1 | Other posts have mentioned reasons why reputable editors wouldn’t do this. And there’s the key word: reputable. Do your research before hiring an editor. Find one with a good reputation and testimonials (and ask other authors who they use). Make sure the editor has a contract and this is addressed. (My editing contract says something to the effect that I relinquish all rights of the material to the author and make no claim of any part of the work being mine.) The author-editor relationship relies on trust, so find an editor you can trust and you won’t have a problem. There are lots of trustworthy editors out there. | I send a text to the editor, she read and said the price. That's it. Don't worry, just sent it. | 1 | 15,070 | 11 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htq6iqs | htqc3cp | 1,642,846,336 | 1,642,850,391 | 7 | 8 | The editor would likely lose their career from the reputational damage. | As others have said, career suicide is what's stopping them. If a book is going to make money is a crapshoot. You can't be like "oh yeah. This is a million-dollar bestseller" and know that for a fact. It is in no way worth torpedoing your livelihood (and reputation with those connections in the industry, if you have them) to attempt to get away with plaigarism | 0 | 4,055 | 1.142857 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htq35ij | htqc3cp | 1,642,843,870 | 1,642,850,391 | 5 | 8 | Editors search for authors, not individual books. Your book us probably not good enough to be worth stealing, anyways. | As others have said, career suicide is what's stopping them. If a book is going to make money is a crapshoot. You can't be like "oh yeah. This is a million-dollar bestseller" and know that for a fact. It is in no way worth torpedoing your livelihood (and reputation with those connections in the industry, if you have them) to attempt to get away with plaigarism | 0 | 6,521 | 1.6 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htq0wdg | htqc3cp | 1,642,842,206 | 1,642,850,391 | 1 | 8 | I send a text to the editor, she read and said the price. That's it. Don't worry, just sent it. | As others have said, career suicide is what's stopping them. If a book is going to make money is a crapshoot. You can't be like "oh yeah. This is a million-dollar bestseller" and know that for a fact. It is in no way worth torpedoing your livelihood (and reputation with those connections in the industry, if you have them) to attempt to get away with plaigarism | 0 | 8,185 | 8 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htq35ij | htq6iqs | 1,642,843,870 | 1,642,846,336 | 5 | 7 | Editors search for authors, not individual books. Your book us probably not good enough to be worth stealing, anyways. | The editor would likely lose their career from the reputational damage. | 0 | 2,466 | 1.4 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htq6iqs | htq0wdg | 1,642,846,336 | 1,642,842,206 | 7 | 1 | The editor would likely lose their career from the reputational damage. | I send a text to the editor, she read and said the price. That's it. Don't worry, just sent it. | 1 | 4,130 | 7 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htq0wdg | htq35ij | 1,642,842,206 | 1,642,843,870 | 1 | 5 | I send a text to the editor, she read and said the price. That's it. Don't worry, just sent it. | Editors search for authors, not individual books. Your book us probably not good enough to be worth stealing, anyways. | 0 | 1,664 | 5 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htqk0jj | htq0wdg | 1,642,855,709 | 1,642,842,206 | 5 | 1 | The law, mostly And also the fact that they're editors, not authors. They don't want your novel and they don't need it because they're getting paid to edit. If they steal people's work, they're gonna lose their job and their income for nothing. They're being paid well already, why throw that away for something that might never get published anyway? | I send a text to the editor, she read and said the price. That's it. Don't worry, just sent it. | 1 | 13,503 | 5 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htr1iba | htrwqqp | 1,642,864,660 | 1,642,877,136 | 4 | 5 | Picking the right editor is important. Reputation is key. | Well it’s illegal | 0 | 12,476 | 1.25 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htq0wdg | htr1iba | 1,642,842,206 | 1,642,864,660 | 1 | 4 | I send a text to the editor, she read and said the price. That's it. Don't worry, just sent it. | Picking the right editor is important. Reputation is key. | 0 | 22,454 | 4 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htrolg6 | htrwqqp | 1,642,873,983 | 1,642,877,136 | 2 | 5 | if you use docs it has dated edits to make it impossible to steal | Well it’s illegal | 0 | 3,153 | 2.5 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htq0wdg | htrwqqp | 1,642,842,206 | 1,642,877,136 | 1 | 5 | I send a text to the editor, she read and said the price. That's it. Don't worry, just sent it. | Well it’s illegal | 0 | 34,930 | 5 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htq0wdg | htrolg6 | 1,642,842,206 | 1,642,873,983 | 1 | 2 | I send a text to the editor, she read and said the price. That's it. Don't worry, just sent it. | if you use docs it has dated edits to make it impossible to steal | 0 | 31,777 | 2 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htq0wdg | hts9r90 | 1,642,842,206 | 1,642,882,323 | 1 | 2 | I send a text to the editor, she read and said the price. That's it. Don't worry, just sent it. | I'm not sure how it works everywhere but here in the UK I'm well protected by intellectual property laws. As long as I keep all my own edits to show my own progression from a germ of an idea then I'm all good. For electronic copies, they're automatically dated but handwritten notes and edits, I take a photo and scan in so that the date of entry goes with them. | 0 | 40,117 | 2 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | hts9r90 | hts98rz | 1,642,882,323 | 1,642,882,112 | 2 | 0 | I'm not sure how it works everywhere but here in the UK I'm well protected by intellectual property laws. As long as I keep all my own edits to show my own progression from a germ of an idea then I'm all good. For electronic copies, they're automatically dated but handwritten notes and edits, I take a photo and scan in so that the date of entry goes with them. | THE CONTRACT. Don't rely on handshakes and emails. Make a contract. Before you hire the editor, there should be a contract. This specifies things like the timeline, the cost for service, the format the files will be transferred in, the type of feedback you will receive, and other legal protections like them not pirating your book. BOTH of you have to keep up your end of the contract (they work, you pay) or you are in violation of contract, and can pursue legal action. Paper trails are important. | 1 | 211 | 2,000 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htq0wdg | htsg59e | 1,642,842,206 | 1,642,884,939 | 1 | 2 | I send a text to the editor, she read and said the price. That's it. Don't worry, just sent it. | I won't say it's never happened, but it's not as common as new writers think. In the end, would some book by some noob really be worth losing a job over? Would it really make enough money to risk being sued? To lose the respect of their peers? Of their family? | 0 | 42,733 | 2 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | hts98rz | htsg59e | 1,642,882,112 | 1,642,884,939 | 0 | 2 | THE CONTRACT. Don't rely on handshakes and emails. Make a contract. Before you hire the editor, there should be a contract. This specifies things like the timeline, the cost for service, the format the files will be transferred in, the type of feedback you will receive, and other legal protections like them not pirating your book. BOTH of you have to keep up your end of the contract (they work, you pay) or you are in violation of contract, and can pursue legal action. Paper trails are important. | I won't say it's never happened, but it's not as common as new writers think. In the end, would some book by some noob really be worth losing a job over? Would it really make enough money to risk being sued? To lose the respect of their peers? Of their family? | 0 | 2,827 | 2,000 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htsg59e | htsdoo3 | 1,642,884,939 | 1,642,883,932 | 2 | 1 | I won't say it's never happened, but it's not as common as new writers think. In the end, would some book by some noob really be worth losing a job over? Would it really make enough money to risk being sued? To lose the respect of their peers? Of their family? | Whoever you choose to edit your book should have you sign a mutual NDA that says they won’t steal any of your work, edited or not. | 1 | 1,007 | 2 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htq0wdg | htt3i6u | 1,642,842,206 | 1,642,894,445 | 1 | 2 | I send a text to the editor, she read and said the price. That's it. Don't worry, just sent it. | No reputable agent or publisher would risk their reputation and do this. Reputable being the key word. | 0 | 52,239 | 2 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htt3i6u | hts98rz | 1,642,894,445 | 1,642,882,112 | 2 | 0 | No reputable agent or publisher would risk their reputation and do this. Reputable being the key word. | THE CONTRACT. Don't rely on handshakes and emails. Make a contract. Before you hire the editor, there should be a contract. This specifies things like the timeline, the cost for service, the format the files will be transferred in, the type of feedback you will receive, and other legal protections like them not pirating your book. BOTH of you have to keep up your end of the contract (they work, you pay) or you are in violation of contract, and can pursue legal action. Paper trails are important. | 1 | 12,333 | 2,000 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htsdoo3 | htt3i6u | 1,642,883,932 | 1,642,894,445 | 1 | 2 | Whoever you choose to edit your book should have you sign a mutual NDA that says they won’t steal any of your work, edited or not. | No reputable agent or publisher would risk their reputation and do this. Reputable being the key word. | 0 | 10,513 | 2 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htt7tot | htq0wdg | 1,642,896,204 | 1,642,842,206 | 2 | 1 | I can’t imagine this ever happening, particularly in this century. Just the act of emailing the manuscript would be enough to prove a case of copyright infringement. | I send a text to the editor, she read and said the price. That's it. Don't worry, just sent it. | 1 | 53,998 | 2 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | hts98rz | htt7tot | 1,642,882,112 | 1,642,896,204 | 0 | 2 | THE CONTRACT. Don't rely on handshakes and emails. Make a contract. Before you hire the editor, there should be a contract. This specifies things like the timeline, the cost for service, the format the files will be transferred in, the type of feedback you will receive, and other legal protections like them not pirating your book. BOTH of you have to keep up your end of the contract (they work, you pay) or you are in violation of contract, and can pursue legal action. Paper trails are important. | I can’t imagine this ever happening, particularly in this century. Just the act of emailing the manuscript would be enough to prove a case of copyright infringement. | 0 | 14,092 | 2,000 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htt7tot | htsdoo3 | 1,642,896,204 | 1,642,883,932 | 2 | 1 | I can’t imagine this ever happening, particularly in this century. Just the act of emailing the manuscript would be enough to prove a case of copyright infringement. | Whoever you choose to edit your book should have you sign a mutual NDA that says they won’t steal any of your work, edited or not. | 1 | 12,272 | 2 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htsdoo3 | hts98rz | 1,642,883,932 | 1,642,882,112 | 1 | 0 | Whoever you choose to edit your book should have you sign a mutual NDA that says they won’t steal any of your work, edited or not. | THE CONTRACT. Don't rely on handshakes and emails. Make a contract. Before you hire the editor, there should be a contract. This specifies things like the timeline, the cost for service, the format the files will be transferred in, the type of feedback you will receive, and other legal protections like them not pirating your book. BOTH of you have to keep up your end of the contract (they work, you pay) or you are in violation of contract, and can pursue legal action. Paper trails are important. | 1 | 1,820 | 1,000 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htthfa0 | hts98rz | 1,642,900,201 | 1,642,882,112 | 1 | 0 | I’ve always mailed copy of my work to myself and keep the unopened, delivered package to prove you had written it by the date on the postmark | THE CONTRACT. Don't rely on handshakes and emails. Make a contract. Before you hire the editor, there should be a contract. This specifies things like the timeline, the cost for service, the format the files will be transferred in, the type of feedback you will receive, and other legal protections like them not pirating your book. BOTH of you have to keep up your end of the contract (they work, you pay) or you are in violation of contract, and can pursue legal action. Paper trails are important. | 1 | 18,089 | 1,000 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | hts98rz | httwpdq | 1,642,882,112 | 1,642,906,827 | 0 | 1 | THE CONTRACT. Don't rely on handshakes and emails. Make a contract. Before you hire the editor, there should be a contract. This specifies things like the timeline, the cost for service, the format the files will be transferred in, the type of feedback you will receive, and other legal protections like them not pirating your book. BOTH of you have to keep up your end of the contract (they work, you pay) or you are in violation of contract, and can pursue legal action. Paper trails are important. | Ok here’s my question….where doe an author find a good reputable editor? | 0 | 24,715 | 1,000 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | htuuxk2 | hts98rz | 1,642,924,968 | 1,642,882,112 | 1 | 0 | First, my editor has impeccable credentials, integrity and a solid reputation. Every couple of days, I email my manuscript to myself. When its ready for editing, I email the word file to my editor along with a letter where I express my concerns and ask questions. She sends me a contract to sign and return. Then, I pay her. All this proves my ownership of the manuscript. | THE CONTRACT. Don't rely on handshakes and emails. Make a contract. Before you hire the editor, there should be a contract. This specifies things like the timeline, the cost for service, the format the files will be transferred in, the type of feedback you will receive, and other legal protections like them not pirating your book. BOTH of you have to keep up your end of the contract (they work, you pay) or you are in violation of contract, and can pursue legal action. Paper trails are important. | 1 | 42,856 | 1,000 | ||
s9voqn | writing_train | 0.81 | What’s to stop an editor from just taking your book if they like it? They have a revised version of your work and all the connections right? I’m generally curious about this. Just finished up my first novella. It needs to be edited of course but am totally unfamiliar with the process. Is this ever an issue? | hts98rz | htvlmor | 1,642,882,112 | 1,642,944,650 | 0 | 1 | THE CONTRACT. Don't rely on handshakes and emails. Make a contract. Before you hire the editor, there should be a contract. This specifies things like the timeline, the cost for service, the format the files will be transferred in, the type of feedback you will receive, and other legal protections like them not pirating your book. BOTH of you have to keep up your end of the contract (they work, you pay) or you are in violation of contract, and can pursue legal action. Paper trails are important. | Just piling on at this point. Easy case to win and every editor/agent knows that. You're safe. | 0 | 62,538 | 1,000 | ||
d5h1sa | writing_train | 0.99 | What are the downsides of self-publishing through Amazon? I understand I can get a physical copy of my book, and that sounds great. But does anyone have a clear list of pros and cons to consider? Appreciate it. | f0lsi46 | f0m3psp | 1,568,728,429 | 1,568,736,057 | 76 | 167 | Here are some great videos of an Amazon Self-Pub author who broke it down in two videos. The Pros: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvP6LROYZfs The Cons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFcjpEVX-q8 | Pros: complete control; instant availability Cons: you will (probably) make no (appreciable) money unless you make promotion your full-time job; you (probably) won't be able to sell it to a traditional publisher later | 0 | 7,628 | 2.197368 | ||
d5h1sa | writing_train | 0.99 | What are the downsides of self-publishing through Amazon? I understand I can get a physical copy of my book, and that sounds great. But does anyone have a clear list of pros and cons to consider? Appreciate it. | f0m3psp | f0m0ewh | 1,568,736,057 | 1,568,733,871 | 167 | 46 | Pros: complete control; instant availability Cons: you will (probably) make no (appreciable) money unless you make promotion your full-time job; you (probably) won't be able to sell it to a traditional publisher later | There’s plusses and minuses to both variants of publishing, and quite a few authors I know use self-pub to set up a platform and sales record so that if they then want to go trad, they’re going to an agent saying “ I have written this series of four books, have sold 5000 copies, have a newsletter of 1000 fans and know how to publicise,” which is going to get you far more attention than “here is my manuscript”. The real question is, are you going to get what you want out of self pub for the amount of time and money you’re prepared to put into it? If what you want is validation and awards and status with traditional gatekeepers, industry professionals, books in the store; you’re not going to get that. If you want to write a book and sit back and have the monies come rolling in: you’re not going to get that. But then those are pretty much long shots with trad pub anyhow. If you want to get your story out there and get reader feedback so you can continue improving, all good. If you’re prepared to work hard and learn loads to put out a quality product, excellent. If you have a technical bent and are chilled with learning all the new tech involved (not difficult but some people aren’t), go you! The pluses are, You get to share the amazing stories in your head! So exciting! Readers give you feedback that matters, so you’re adjusting to what the market wants, not the marketing director. You don’t get told, “I love your story but we can only publish it if you make the hero a unicorn shifter, change it to fantasy, kill the heroine halfway through and add a humorous cat.” (okay slight exaggeration but not by that much, allegedly!) You can publish more than one book a year (and it will help your sales to do so) You get control over your book and can make it happen to your standards. If you find a typo, correct it and upload the amended version in like 20 mins. You get regular payments of royalties and visibility of sales numbers. There’s a huge and helpful community out there who are totally stoked about publishing and can’t wait to share knowledge (not always consistent though!) When you get that first copy, and it’s all yours, sometimes via contractors like editors and cover designers, but *you did that*. And it is seriously the best feeling in the world when someone really GETS your book and buys one of everything you ever wrote. The cons are: Easy if you do a half-arsed job (but may well bomb in that case), a big learning curve and a lot of work to do it well. You have to do everything yourself or pay others / do work swaps if nec. You can spend a lot on money on it if you don’t research what works best (there’s a lot of guidance about though) Er... That moment with the first book where you think “It’s a good book and now it’s widely available so people will buy it” and then you launch to crickets because you don’t know about platform, newsletter, etc etc etc (there’s a lot of guidance about that too). I’ve been in self pub for ten years - writing very slowly because life has been a bit hardcore - but I love it and I love the fact that it keeps changing all the time. You have to have a geek streak a mile wide and be stubborn as hell to make it work— but on the other hand, if you haven’t got a pile of money to spend, there’s not much you can’t do if you have loads of time. (Sadly I have neither, hence plodding along). If you’re really seriously interested in it, happy to answer questions. Geek streak showing again, eh? :) | 1 | 2,186 | 3.630435 | ||
d5h1sa | writing_train | 0.99 | What are the downsides of self-publishing through Amazon? I understand I can get a physical copy of my book, and that sounds great. But does anyone have a clear list of pros and cons to consider? Appreciate it. | f0m7ter | f0mg4zl | 1,568,738,800 | 1,568,744,205 | 26 | 29 | I think the editorial process of traditional publishing is very important and most self published authors skimp on that and end up publishing work that isn't ready or at it's best form. | This might piss some people off, but let's be honest: there are a lot of shitty, shitty books that are self-published on Amazon. Self-publishing can be a great tool to get your name out there, and there are plenty of self-published authors who have found success, but for every Jenna Moreci or Andy Weir, there are probably a dozen people that didn't bother to do more than basic line editing and dropped their book on Amazon as if it's a gift to the world. As a result, there is a negative public stigma surrounding self-published Amazon books. People will be less likely to take you seriously if you say your book is an Amazon self-pubbed ebook. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of great books in that particular market, but very few of them have reached the public eye for their quality, whereas plenty of the bad ones get publicity for being...well, bad. | 0 | 5,405 | 1.115385 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isgjtjz | isghn2r | 1,665,866,260 | 1,665,865,334 | 39 | 37 | >I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. Just be aware that for an unknown author, especially if none of those short stories have been published in a real publication (a journal, magazine, web journal, whatever), it's very unlikely that an agent will agree to represent it. I was literally just listening to a discussion of this by agents on the Manuscript Academy podcast. It's apparently an extremely hard sell to find a publisher who will buy a short story collection of unpublished stories from an unknown author, and so most agents won't even bother to try. Short story collections by a single author are a real fringe area in the publishing world apparently, and almost always involve a known author. | It is going to depend on three factors, really. 1.) **Quality of the work.** If it's poorly written, you're going to have a bad time. 2.) **Your persistence.** Even if it's really really good, you're likely to get rejected dozens of times (at least!) before you find an agent to represent you. 3.) **The genre and market.** If you want to write a story right now about a vampire romance or a kid who learns they're magic and gets sent to magic school to learn magic, you're going to have a problem even if it's good because the market is saturated. If you have a really well written novel about a pedophile dragon looking for a child to cast a spell on so they can be together forever, you're not going to have success because almost no one wants to read about that. | 1 | 926 | 1.054054 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isgia3y | isgjtjz | 1,665,865,605 | 1,665,866,260 | 22 | 39 | Prepare to receive every possible answer to this question. My personal answer is, it really depends on what you want. When you say "appreciated by strangers," then it sounds to me like conventional publishing may not be what you need. Conventional publishing is incredibly slow and can often be painful. I've been writing for over 20 years and it took me over 5 years to see my first book published by an indie press last month, and it's print-on-demand (meaning not stocked in bookstores). There are myriad stories about classic works that almost didn't make it, and you better believe that means there are amazing works that \*actually\* didn't make it. Why? We all have opinions but nobody really knows. Good news is, if you just want to share your art with folks and don't care about making money or making a career out of it, you can self-publish and share with your network, or find a writing community like Royal Road to join and be a part of. At the end of the day, the world of writing is changing endlessly and none of us has a single perfect answer to this question. You might write the greatest horror anthology of all time and get no attention, and someone else might write a litrpg full of plot holes and grammar errors and amass hundreds of thousands of followers. | >I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. Just be aware that for an unknown author, especially if none of those short stories have been published in a real publication (a journal, magazine, web journal, whatever), it's very unlikely that an agent will agree to represent it. I was literally just listening to a discussion of this by agents on the Manuscript Academy podcast. It's apparently an extremely hard sell to find a publisher who will buy a short story collection of unpublished stories from an unknown author, and so most agents won't even bother to try. Short story collections by a single author are a real fringe area in the publishing world apparently, and almost always involve a known author. | 0 | 655 | 1.772727 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isgjtjz | isgh699 | 1,665,866,260 | 1,665,865,138 | 39 | 1 | >I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. Just be aware that for an unknown author, especially if none of those short stories have been published in a real publication (a journal, magazine, web journal, whatever), it's very unlikely that an agent will agree to represent it. I was literally just listening to a discussion of this by agents on the Manuscript Academy podcast. It's apparently an extremely hard sell to find a publisher who will buy a short story collection of unpublished stories from an unknown author, and so most agents won't even bother to try. Short story collections by a single author are a real fringe area in the publishing world apparently, and almost always involve a known author. | It’s a mix of connections, luck, and quality. Finding an agent to rep you and your manuscript. Then finding a publisher to pick it up is its own hurdle, but that’s one your agent mostly works towards. With something like a collection of short stories, you might want to look into smaller and independent presses. Either way, don’t let difficulty deter you. There’s only one way to succeed. | 1 | 1,122 | 39 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isgh699 | isghn2r | 1,665,865,138 | 1,665,865,334 | 1 | 37 | It’s a mix of connections, luck, and quality. Finding an agent to rep you and your manuscript. Then finding a publisher to pick it up is its own hurdle, but that’s one your agent mostly works towards. With something like a collection of short stories, you might want to look into smaller and independent presses. Either way, don’t let difficulty deter you. There’s only one way to succeed. | It is going to depend on three factors, really. 1.) **Quality of the work.** If it's poorly written, you're going to have a bad time. 2.) **Your persistence.** Even if it's really really good, you're likely to get rejected dozens of times (at least!) before you find an agent to represent you. 3.) **The genre and market.** If you want to write a story right now about a vampire romance or a kid who learns they're magic and gets sent to magic school to learn magic, you're going to have a problem even if it's good because the market is saturated. If you have a really well written novel about a pedophile dragon looking for a child to cast a spell on so they can be together forever, you're not going to have success because almost no one wants to read about that. | 0 | 196 | 37 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isgownd | isgia3y | 1,665,868,447 | 1,665,865,605 | 34 | 22 | The chances are, to be frank, pretty terrible. Getting traditionally published takes an enormous amount of time and effort, and requires talent, timing, and luck. You need to be a strong writer, have a solid understanding of the market, and know how to strike the right balance between fresh and familiar, creative and commercial. Alas, most people who think they're writing at a publishable level are very, very far from actually being at that point. In addition, those who write for the sake of passion, particularly those who don't do much reading, are unlikely to know what the market is looking for at any given time. In the UK and US markets, a literary agent is the first step in getting published. Luckily, you don't need any connections to find one, but you do need a polished, perfected manuscript and a strong, hooky query letter. Agents get thousands to tens of thousands of queries a year, so standing out is really the only way to get attention. Once you have an agent, you agent will handle the process of submitting your manuscript to editors at publishing houses. If an editor also likes your book, and manages to get everyone else involved in production on board, only then will your book end up out in the world somewhere. The advice Malignant-Koala gave you is correct. There is virtual zero market for short story collections from unpublished authors (and even then, there's virtually no market for short story collections in general). Looking for niche small presses or self-publishing would be your best bet on that front, though that likely wouldn't result in a bookstore presence. If you're interested in learning more about traditional publishing, r/pubtips is the place for you. | Prepare to receive every possible answer to this question. My personal answer is, it really depends on what you want. When you say "appreciated by strangers," then it sounds to me like conventional publishing may not be what you need. Conventional publishing is incredibly slow and can often be painful. I've been writing for over 20 years and it took me over 5 years to see my first book published by an indie press last month, and it's print-on-demand (meaning not stocked in bookstores). There are myriad stories about classic works that almost didn't make it, and you better believe that means there are amazing works that \*actually\* didn't make it. Why? We all have opinions but nobody really knows. Good news is, if you just want to share your art with folks and don't care about making money or making a career out of it, you can self-publish and share with your network, or find a writing community like Royal Road to join and be a part of. At the end of the day, the world of writing is changing endlessly and none of us has a single perfect answer to this question. You might write the greatest horror anthology of all time and get no attention, and someone else might write a litrpg full of plot holes and grammar errors and amass hundreds of thousands of followers. | 1 | 2,842 | 1.545455 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isgh699 | isgownd | 1,665,865,138 | 1,665,868,447 | 1 | 34 | It’s a mix of connections, luck, and quality. Finding an agent to rep you and your manuscript. Then finding a publisher to pick it up is its own hurdle, but that’s one your agent mostly works towards. With something like a collection of short stories, you might want to look into smaller and independent presses. Either way, don’t let difficulty deter you. There’s only one way to succeed. | The chances are, to be frank, pretty terrible. Getting traditionally published takes an enormous amount of time and effort, and requires talent, timing, and luck. You need to be a strong writer, have a solid understanding of the market, and know how to strike the right balance between fresh and familiar, creative and commercial. Alas, most people who think they're writing at a publishable level are very, very far from actually being at that point. In addition, those who write for the sake of passion, particularly those who don't do much reading, are unlikely to know what the market is looking for at any given time. In the UK and US markets, a literary agent is the first step in getting published. Luckily, you don't need any connections to find one, but you do need a polished, perfected manuscript and a strong, hooky query letter. Agents get thousands to tens of thousands of queries a year, so standing out is really the only way to get attention. Once you have an agent, you agent will handle the process of submitting your manuscript to editors at publishing houses. If an editor also likes your book, and manages to get everyone else involved in production on board, only then will your book end up out in the world somewhere. The advice Malignant-Koala gave you is correct. There is virtual zero market for short story collections from unpublished authors (and even then, there's virtually no market for short story collections in general). Looking for niche small presses or self-publishing would be your best bet on that front, though that likely wouldn't result in a bookstore presence. If you're interested in learning more about traditional publishing, r/pubtips is the place for you. | 0 | 3,309 | 34 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isgia3y | isgh699 | 1,665,865,605 | 1,665,865,138 | 22 | 1 | Prepare to receive every possible answer to this question. My personal answer is, it really depends on what you want. When you say "appreciated by strangers," then it sounds to me like conventional publishing may not be what you need. Conventional publishing is incredibly slow and can often be painful. I've been writing for over 20 years and it took me over 5 years to see my first book published by an indie press last month, and it's print-on-demand (meaning not stocked in bookstores). There are myriad stories about classic works that almost didn't make it, and you better believe that means there are amazing works that \*actually\* didn't make it. Why? We all have opinions but nobody really knows. Good news is, if you just want to share your art with folks and don't care about making money or making a career out of it, you can self-publish and share with your network, or find a writing community like Royal Road to join and be a part of. At the end of the day, the world of writing is changing endlessly and none of us has a single perfect answer to this question. You might write the greatest horror anthology of all time and get no attention, and someone else might write a litrpg full of plot holes and grammar errors and amass hundreds of thousands of followers. | It’s a mix of connections, luck, and quality. Finding an agent to rep you and your manuscript. Then finding a publisher to pick it up is its own hurdle, but that’s one your agent mostly works towards. With something like a collection of short stories, you might want to look into smaller and independent presses. Either way, don’t let difficulty deter you. There’s only one way to succeed. | 1 | 467 | 22 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isgpnav | ish4g2a | 1,665,868,768 | 1,665,875,299 | 13 | 14 | There's a lot of luck involved, in my opinion - trying to find the right agent or publisher at the right time with the right work - but if you write to a professional standard there's always a real chance. I'd been writing for 25 years before I secured my first traditional publishing deal (direct with a small publisher). Although I haven't made enough from my two books to leave my non-writing career, it was very satisfying that someone thought my novels were worth paying for, and even more satisfying seeing my books on a new release table in bookshops together with some of my favorite authors. | A lot of people have spoken about traditional publishing. However, I want to touch on **getting in a bookstore** Places like Barnes & Nobles and chain bookstores pick their books based on a wholesaler's catalog. Wholesalers are people who buy books in bulk, books they think will sell a bunch, then they compose a tight catalog and mail that to bookstores. The bookstores then peruse the catalog, pick the ones that they think will sell, and order that. So it's about getting onto the wholesaler's catalog. Here's a lengthy description of the process It's incredibly hard to get a book onto a shelf at Barnes & Nobles or whathaveyou. And personally? As someone who had the dream of seeing their book in a bookstore since I was 13? I think it's a waste of effort because bookstores are pretty dead. Now if you want to get into your local independent store, that's a lot easier. Usually you just got to ask. Places like that love local authors. Even the local chain store might have a shelf for local authors, or at the very least let you do a reading/signing there. | 0 | 6,531 | 1.076923 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | ish4g2a | ish0nhn | 1,665,875,299 | 1,665,873,604 | 14 | 4 | A lot of people have spoken about traditional publishing. However, I want to touch on **getting in a bookstore** Places like Barnes & Nobles and chain bookstores pick their books based on a wholesaler's catalog. Wholesalers are people who buy books in bulk, books they think will sell a bunch, then they compose a tight catalog and mail that to bookstores. The bookstores then peruse the catalog, pick the ones that they think will sell, and order that. So it's about getting onto the wholesaler's catalog. Here's a lengthy description of the process It's incredibly hard to get a book onto a shelf at Barnes & Nobles or whathaveyou. And personally? As someone who had the dream of seeing their book in a bookstore since I was 13? I think it's a waste of effort because bookstores are pretty dead. Now if you want to get into your local independent store, that's a lot easier. Usually you just got to ask. Places like that love local authors. Even the local chain store might have a shelf for local authors, or at the very least let you do a reading/signing there. | No trad pub is going to want short stories from an unknown. You'd need to sell well to magazines, probably for several years, before someone would be interested. Short stories, even in collections, don't really do well self published, which I'm sure someone has advised you to do. | 1 | 1,695 | 3.5 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isgh699 | ish4g2a | 1,665,865,138 | 1,665,875,299 | 1 | 14 | It’s a mix of connections, luck, and quality. Finding an agent to rep you and your manuscript. Then finding a publisher to pick it up is its own hurdle, but that’s one your agent mostly works towards. With something like a collection of short stories, you might want to look into smaller and independent presses. Either way, don’t let difficulty deter you. There’s only one way to succeed. | A lot of people have spoken about traditional publishing. However, I want to touch on **getting in a bookstore** Places like Barnes & Nobles and chain bookstores pick their books based on a wholesaler's catalog. Wholesalers are people who buy books in bulk, books they think will sell a bunch, then they compose a tight catalog and mail that to bookstores. The bookstores then peruse the catalog, pick the ones that they think will sell, and order that. So it's about getting onto the wholesaler's catalog. Here's a lengthy description of the process It's incredibly hard to get a book onto a shelf at Barnes & Nobles or whathaveyou. And personally? As someone who had the dream of seeing their book in a bookstore since I was 13? I think it's a waste of effort because bookstores are pretty dead. Now if you want to get into your local independent store, that's a lot easier. Usually you just got to ask. Places like that love local authors. Even the local chain store might have a shelf for local authors, or at the very least let you do a reading/signing there. | 0 | 10,161 | 14 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isgpnav | isgh699 | 1,665,868,768 | 1,665,865,138 | 13 | 1 | There's a lot of luck involved, in my opinion - trying to find the right agent or publisher at the right time with the right work - but if you write to a professional standard there's always a real chance. I'd been writing for 25 years before I secured my first traditional publishing deal (direct with a small publisher). Although I haven't made enough from my two books to leave my non-writing career, it was very satisfying that someone thought my novels were worth paying for, and even more satisfying seeing my books on a new release table in bookshops together with some of my favorite authors. | It’s a mix of connections, luck, and quality. Finding an agent to rep you and your manuscript. Then finding a publisher to pick it up is its own hurdle, but that’s one your agent mostly works towards. With something like a collection of short stories, you might want to look into smaller and independent presses. Either way, don’t let difficulty deter you. There’s only one way to succeed. | 1 | 3,630 | 13 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | ish0nhn | isgh699 | 1,665,873,604 | 1,665,865,138 | 4 | 1 | No trad pub is going to want short stories from an unknown. You'd need to sell well to magazines, probably for several years, before someone would be interested. Short stories, even in collections, don't really do well self published, which I'm sure someone has advised you to do. | It’s a mix of connections, luck, and quality. Finding an agent to rep you and your manuscript. Then finding a publisher to pick it up is its own hurdle, but that’s one your agent mostly works towards. With something like a collection of short stories, you might want to look into smaller and independent presses. Either way, don’t let difficulty deter you. There’s only one way to succeed. | 1 | 8,466 | 4 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isixrpi | ish544w | 1,665,914,349 | 1,665,875,607 | 3 | 2 | Well, first of all, the chance is zero if you don't write anything beyond a first draft. I would be far more concerned about never having finished a project in a decade if I was in your position. Why not try self-pub? Traditional publishing is great but it's not the only route to getting yor work seen by strangers. There are loads of resources and companies that will help you with the process, it avoids the gatekeeping of traditional publishing, and you'll find it easier to put your book in front of readers who might like it. The downside is you have to be proactive at every part of the process. | If you have horror short stories, your best bet to getting published is submitting them to magazines like Nightmare or The Dark. | 1 | 38,742 | 1.5 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | ishbmli | isixrpi | 1,665,878,600 | 1,665,914,349 | 2 | 3 | A bookstore? Sure if you can find a locally owned one that will give you some space, you could even do a book signing. I know of a self published author that even got his local Costco to sell his book, with the additional promise that if he sold a certain volume they would sell the book at more stores. His book, perhaps not a coincidence, was called “giving candy to strangers” and was about the power of just building relationships to make sales. He went on local social networks like NextDoor to promote the Costco book sales. Idk how it worked out. | Well, first of all, the chance is zero if you don't write anything beyond a first draft. I would be far more concerned about never having finished a project in a decade if I was in your position. Why not try self-pub? Traditional publishing is great but it's not the only route to getting yor work seen by strangers. There are loads of resources and companies that will help you with the process, it avoids the gatekeeping of traditional publishing, and you'll find it easier to put your book in front of readers who might like it. The downside is you have to be proactive at every part of the process. | 0 | 35,749 | 1.5 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isixrpi | ishibyr | 1,665,914,349 | 1,665,881,766 | 3 | 2 | Well, first of all, the chance is zero if you don't write anything beyond a first draft. I would be far more concerned about never having finished a project in a decade if I was in your position. Why not try self-pub? Traditional publishing is great but it's not the only route to getting yor work seen by strangers. There are loads of resources and companies that will help you with the process, it avoids the gatekeeping of traditional publishing, and you'll find it easier to put your book in front of readers who might like it. The downside is you have to be proactive at every part of the process. | Being published traditionally is luck and hard work. Most writers have talent. Even the ones we think are bad. You can self-publish and get yourself into bookstores if you are rejected. I know authors who use Ingram spark, but the returns can be expensive. | 1 | 32,583 | 1.5 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isixrpi | ishhe0g | 1,665,914,349 | 1,665,881,324 | 3 | 1 | Well, first of all, the chance is zero if you don't write anything beyond a first draft. I would be far more concerned about never having finished a project in a decade if I was in your position. Why not try self-pub? Traditional publishing is great but it's not the only route to getting yor work seen by strangers. There are loads of resources and companies that will help you with the process, it avoids the gatekeeping of traditional publishing, and you'll find it easier to put your book in front of readers who might like it. The downside is you have to be proactive at every part of the process. | Well, are you any good? | 1 | 33,025 | 3 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isgh699 | isixrpi | 1,665,865,138 | 1,665,914,349 | 1 | 3 | It’s a mix of connections, luck, and quality. Finding an agent to rep you and your manuscript. Then finding a publisher to pick it up is its own hurdle, but that’s one your agent mostly works towards. With something like a collection of short stories, you might want to look into smaller and independent presses. Either way, don’t let difficulty deter you. There’s only one way to succeed. | Well, first of all, the chance is zero if you don't write anything beyond a first draft. I would be far more concerned about never having finished a project in a decade if I was in your position. Why not try self-pub? Traditional publishing is great but it's not the only route to getting yor work seen by strangers. There are loads of resources and companies that will help you with the process, it avoids the gatekeeping of traditional publishing, and you'll find it easier to put your book in front of readers who might like it. The downside is you have to be proactive at every part of the process. | 0 | 49,211 | 3 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isixrpi | ish55of | 1,665,914,349 | 1,665,875,627 | 3 | 1 | Well, first of all, the chance is zero if you don't write anything beyond a first draft. I would be far more concerned about never having finished a project in a decade if I was in your position. Why not try self-pub? Traditional publishing is great but it's not the only route to getting yor work seen by strangers. There are loads of resources and companies that will help you with the process, it avoids the gatekeeping of traditional publishing, and you'll find it easier to put your book in front of readers who might like it. The downside is you have to be proactive at every part of the process. | It's going to depend upon a couple of factors, two of these are covered in other comments which is **Talent** and **Luck**, but there's also another factor that is very highly sought after by traditional book publishers and that's **Marketability**. How likely is your book going to sell, is this the right time for the book, have you already established an audience, how great is your following on social media, are you yourself an interesting enough character to push books? Having good marketability and a name for yourself will push you up the list. Unfortunately, there are thousands of talented and marketable authors lining up at the gates with great products, which is where luck comes in (or knowing someone in the biz to push for you). What gets even more depressing though is that, even if you did publish with a reputable publishing house, the chances of you making a living off your book are slim to none. It's like winning the lottery twice. | 1 | 38,722 | 3 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isixrpi | ishmwos | 1,665,914,349 | 1,665,883,958 | 3 | 1 | Well, first of all, the chance is zero if you don't write anything beyond a first draft. I would be far more concerned about never having finished a project in a decade if I was in your position. Why not try self-pub? Traditional publishing is great but it's not the only route to getting yor work seen by strangers. There are loads of resources and companies that will help you with the process, it avoids the gatekeeping of traditional publishing, and you'll find it easier to put your book in front of readers who might like it. The downside is you have to be proactive at every part of the process. | Collection of stories are a hard sell from people who aren't known | 1 | 30,391 | 3 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isi20jx | isixrpi | 1,665,891,322 | 1,665,914,349 | 1 | 3 | Funny how everyone here is saying it’s sooo hard to get published and that’s all I ever hear yet thousands of books are published each day. Why try if it’s sooooooooooo ridiculously hard? Why even try | Well, first of all, the chance is zero if you don't write anything beyond a first draft. I would be far more concerned about never having finished a project in a decade if I was in your position. Why not try self-pub? Traditional publishing is great but it's not the only route to getting yor work seen by strangers. There are loads of resources and companies that will help you with the process, it avoids the gatekeeping of traditional publishing, and you'll find it easier to put your book in front of readers who might like it. The downside is you have to be proactive at every part of the process. | 0 | 23,027 | 3 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isi83bs | isixrpi | 1,665,894,776 | 1,665,914,349 | 1 | 3 | Your like me I first draft lots of novels like lost count on how many I have :) | Well, first of all, the chance is zero if you don't write anything beyond a first draft. I would be far more concerned about never having finished a project in a decade if I was in your position. Why not try self-pub? Traditional publishing is great but it's not the only route to getting yor work seen by strangers. There are loads of resources and companies that will help you with the process, it avoids the gatekeeping of traditional publishing, and you'll find it easier to put your book in front of readers who might like it. The downside is you have to be proactive at every part of the process. | 0 | 19,573 | 3 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isixrpi | isiwcuw | 1,665,914,349 | 1,665,913,148 | 3 | 1 | Well, first of all, the chance is zero if you don't write anything beyond a first draft. I would be far more concerned about never having finished a project in a decade if I was in your position. Why not try self-pub? Traditional publishing is great but it's not the only route to getting yor work seen by strangers. There are loads of resources and companies that will help you with the process, it avoids the gatekeeping of traditional publishing, and you'll find it easier to put your book in front of readers who might like it. The downside is you have to be proactive at every part of the process. | If you want to be appreciated by strangers, it’s probably a lot easier to share your writing online in a community. Even if all the luck and talent in the world was in your favor, and your book made it to shelves, it doesn’t mean you’ll get to see or know what people think of your book, or that they’ll like it. By all means do try publishing and advocating for your own writing, but it’s probably a better step to try making a coherent first draft and sharing it to online strangers or family and friends before looking for someone to throw money behind you. | 1 | 1,201 | 3 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isiwqru | isixrpi | 1,665,913,480 | 1,665,914,349 | 1 | 3 | I don't know about your chances, but keep in mind that publishing a book is a lot harder than people think, and it is very expensive to do so. | Well, first of all, the chance is zero if you don't write anything beyond a first draft. I would be far more concerned about never having finished a project in a decade if I was in your position. Why not try self-pub? Traditional publishing is great but it's not the only route to getting yor work seen by strangers. There are loads of resources and companies that will help you with the process, it avoids the gatekeeping of traditional publishing, and you'll find it easier to put your book in front of readers who might like it. The downside is you have to be proactive at every part of the process. | 0 | 869 | 3 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | ish544w | isk5dmg | 1,665,875,607 | 1,665,937,637 | 2 | 3 | If you have horror short stories, your best bet to getting published is submitting them to magazines like Nightmare or The Dark. | It’s very very very low. So write for the love of it and try anyway. You never know. | 0 | 62,030 | 1.5 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isk5dmg | ishbmli | 1,665,937,637 | 1,665,878,600 | 3 | 2 | It’s very very very low. So write for the love of it and try anyway. You never know. | A bookstore? Sure if you can find a locally owned one that will give you some space, you could even do a book signing. I know of a self published author that even got his local Costco to sell his book, with the additional promise that if he sold a certain volume they would sell the book at more stores. His book, perhaps not a coincidence, was called “giving candy to strangers” and was about the power of just building relationships to make sales. He went on local social networks like NextDoor to promote the Costco book sales. Idk how it worked out. | 1 | 59,037 | 1.5 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isk5dmg | ishibyr | 1,665,937,637 | 1,665,881,766 | 3 | 2 | It’s very very very low. So write for the love of it and try anyway. You never know. | Being published traditionally is luck and hard work. Most writers have talent. Even the ones we think are bad. You can self-publish and get yourself into bookstores if you are rejected. I know authors who use Ingram spark, but the returns can be expensive. | 1 | 55,871 | 1.5 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isk5dmg | ishhe0g | 1,665,937,637 | 1,665,881,324 | 3 | 1 | It’s very very very low. So write for the love of it and try anyway. You never know. | Well, are you any good? | 1 | 56,313 | 3 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isk5dmg | isgh699 | 1,665,937,637 | 1,665,865,138 | 3 | 1 | It’s very very very low. So write for the love of it and try anyway. You never know. | It’s a mix of connections, luck, and quality. Finding an agent to rep you and your manuscript. Then finding a publisher to pick it up is its own hurdle, but that’s one your agent mostly works towards. With something like a collection of short stories, you might want to look into smaller and independent presses. Either way, don’t let difficulty deter you. There’s only one way to succeed. | 1 | 72,499 | 3 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | ish55of | isk5dmg | 1,665,875,627 | 1,665,937,637 | 1 | 3 | It's going to depend upon a couple of factors, two of these are covered in other comments which is **Talent** and **Luck**, but there's also another factor that is very highly sought after by traditional book publishers and that's **Marketability**. How likely is your book going to sell, is this the right time for the book, have you already established an audience, how great is your following on social media, are you yourself an interesting enough character to push books? Having good marketability and a name for yourself will push you up the list. Unfortunately, there are thousands of talented and marketable authors lining up at the gates with great products, which is where luck comes in (or knowing someone in the biz to push for you). What gets even more depressing though is that, even if you did publish with a reputable publishing house, the chances of you making a living off your book are slim to none. It's like winning the lottery twice. | It’s very very very low. So write for the love of it and try anyway. You never know. | 0 | 62,010 | 3 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | ishmwos | isk5dmg | 1,665,883,958 | 1,665,937,637 | 1 | 3 | Collection of stories are a hard sell from people who aren't known | It’s very very very low. So write for the love of it and try anyway. You never know. | 0 | 53,679 | 3 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isk5dmg | isi20jx | 1,665,937,637 | 1,665,891,322 | 3 | 1 | It’s very very very low. So write for the love of it and try anyway. You never know. | Funny how everyone here is saying it’s sooo hard to get published and that’s all I ever hear yet thousands of books are published each day. Why try if it’s sooooooooooo ridiculously hard? Why even try | 1 | 46,315 | 3 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isi83bs | isk5dmg | 1,665,894,776 | 1,665,937,637 | 1 | 3 | Your like me I first draft lots of novels like lost count on how many I have :) | It’s very very very low. So write for the love of it and try anyway. You never know. | 0 | 42,861 | 3 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isiwcuw | isk5dmg | 1,665,913,148 | 1,665,937,637 | 1 | 3 | If you want to be appreciated by strangers, it’s probably a lot easier to share your writing online in a community. Even if all the luck and talent in the world was in your favor, and your book made it to shelves, it doesn’t mean you’ll get to see or know what people think of your book, or that they’ll like it. By all means do try publishing and advocating for your own writing, but it’s probably a better step to try making a coherent first draft and sharing it to online strangers or family and friends before looking for someone to throw money behind you. | It’s very very very low. So write for the love of it and try anyway. You never know. | 0 | 24,489 | 3 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isiwqru | isk5dmg | 1,665,913,480 | 1,665,937,637 | 1 | 3 | I don't know about your chances, but keep in mind that publishing a book is a lot harder than people think, and it is very expensive to do so. | It’s very very very low. So write for the love of it and try anyway. You never know. | 0 | 24,157 | 3 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isk5dmg | isjrlpi | 1,665,937,637 | 1,665,932,085 | 3 | 1 | It’s very very very low. So write for the love of it and try anyway. You never know. | If your goal is to be published, you can do that on any number of e-publishing platforms. If your goal is to eventually get a contract with a print publisher, e-publishing is the way to start these days. An existing track record for sales is what attracts their attention. In the old days you’d build that up via selling pieces to magazines or newspapers. Now you do it via electronic self-publishing (or there may be publishing cooperatives within your genre that you can work with. Check websites you read on ir look up the publishers of authors you purchase ebooks of). | 1 | 5,552 | 3 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isk5dmg | isjyeuu | 1,665,937,637 | 1,665,934,857 | 3 | 1 | It’s very very very low. So write for the love of it and try anyway. You never know. | It's impossible to give you any clear idea of "the odds" because so many different factors converge to determine which books get published and which don't. But I will tell you this: your odds are 0 if you don't try. Also, I've been doing this for a zillion years, more or less, and I can tell you that the more often you make the attempt, the better your odds get. So even if your first book doesn't get picked up, maybe your next one will. (And then you've got TWO books you can work with!) It takes a long time to get established in publishing. That's something you should expect going in. And also, brick-and-mortar bookstores become less important every year. The majority of book sales take place online now, so your odds of seeing your book in a store might decrease even while you're getting your books published. That's just due to changes in our technology and the ways we interact with the retail environment--another thing that's out of your control. But you can still sell plenty of books even if they aren't in bookstores. Edited to add: >Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? As for what gets you there, I'd say these are the most important things, in this order: 1. belief in yourself and the will to keep trying even when you run into setbacks (and you will run into setbacks. A lot of them.) 2. Ability to tell a good story. 3. Luck--your submission has to hit the right person in the right way at the right time. That all comes down to luck; you can't control timing. But the more often you try, the greater your chances to hit a lucky streak. | 1 | 2,780 | 3 | ||
y4xims | writing_train | 0.79 | What is the likelihood of actually getting published and released in bookstores? I've been writing as a hobby for about 10 years now, never getting past the first draft of anything. I do it because I genuinely enjoy it and it is my favorite creative outlet, but at the same time I would love for my work to be appreciated by strangers at some point. I don't want it to be my job and I don't need to even make money off of it really. I think my best bet for getting something published would be this collection of short horror stories I've been working on. If I can get it to the point of being quality work, better than other run of the mill books being published, what are the chances of seeing it in a bookstore one day? Does it depend on who you know or a portfolio of some kind or the quality of work I submit or possibly just luck? Thanks. | isgh699 | ish544w | 1,665,865,138 | 1,665,875,607 | 1 | 2 | It’s a mix of connections, luck, and quality. Finding an agent to rep you and your manuscript. Then finding a publisher to pick it up is its own hurdle, but that’s one your agent mostly works towards. With something like a collection of short stories, you might want to look into smaller and independent presses. Either way, don’t let difficulty deter you. There’s only one way to succeed. | If you have horror short stories, your best bet to getting published is submitting them to magazines like Nightmare or The Dark. | 0 | 10,469 | 2 |
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