Der Meister's Writing (and YouTube!) Thread: Live from the Waiting Room!

[der meister 3,236]

No new writing, but I did just send out 2 queries for the children's book I got ghosted on by an agent last year. I pitched it on Twitter on a whim and 2 agents expressed interest, so why not? I did re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-edit my first novel, and I think it's totally rad. I'm going to finish another edit on my third novel next, I think.

[der meister 3,236]

This thread is 7 years old and I've made zero professional progress. That's really discouraging to notice.

[OrbitingDeath 3,228]

13 hours ago, der meister said:

This thread is 7 years old and I've made zero professional progress. That's really discouraging to notice.

 

but we love you regardless

[JardyB10 4,868]

I'm not great (read: very bad) at keeping up and supporting your writing, but you're one of the most admirable and impressive people in this community, and even though you've been disappointed with your writing career up to this point, I will always be proud of and impressed with your work!

[der meister 3,236]

There was yet another Twitter pitch event this past week. I got a like from an agent and an indy pub. The agent rejected my query in 2 hours, and the indy pub got the submission a few minutes ago. Interestingly, all of the professional interest I receive is from my first novel, an urban fantasy story about a living woman trapped in Purgatory, and not about my favorite novel I've written so far, which is my love-letter to John Carpenter's 80's anti-capitalism flicks. That one feels like it could get a good cult following going if it ever gets released to the world.

 

As a related side-note, I'm turning 40 next year. I had been telling myself that if I didn't have an agent or some kind of progress by the time I turn 40, I might self-pub. I'm not sure I'm going to stick with that, but if I do, I hope some of you check out my work.

[JardyB10 4,868]

What does it take to self-publish?

[der meister 3,236]

It honestly depends. Part of the reason why self-publishing has such a negative stigma about it is that a lot of authors don't take the time to edit or hone down their stories, and they just throw them out there hoping to make a quick buck. In my experiences, the two biggest time consuming aspects of it, aside from actually writing and editing the stories, are cover design and formatting the file in a way that works across multiple digital devices and is also ready for physical printing if necessary. In the past I have used Amazon for self-publishing short stories, including my collection of short stories which is available to purchase as an actual paperback. Amazon, unfortunately, has not been particularly supportive of authors during the fairly recent tiktok trend of buying a short story or a novel digitally, reading some percentage of it up to 99%, and then returning it. The purchaser receives a full refund, but the author is charged a data fee for the actual downloading that took place, so it's not uncommon for authors to check their earnings at the end of the month and find that they actually owe Amazon money because people returned whatever they bought.

 

There are non Amazon outlets for self-publishing, which is probably what I would go with, but I don't know nearly as much about them because I haven't worked with them before. @JardyB10

Edited October 24, 2022 by der meister
Should have tagged

[der meister 3,236]

Waiting to hear back on 1 agent for kid's book, and Indy pub on novel. Got a rejection on a short story (submitted to two other places today). 

 

Also, my document for Ryuji pieces passed 20,000 words today, and that is missing a few media spots. So there's like 1/4 of a novel (or 1/3, if we consider one of my books).

[der meister 3,236]

Email received from Indy Pub mentioned above, requesting the full novel. They said that they've never had a reader react to a submission like this before, as the reader requested the full manuscript before finishing chapter 1 of the 3 chapter submission.

[mediocrepony 1,216]

That's amazing! Good for you man you deserve it

[der meister 3,236]

Woke up to a rejection.

[Phil 5,129]

On 10/23/2022 at 6:59 PM, der meister said:

I used Amazon for self-publishing short stories, including my collection of short stories which is available to purchase as an actual paperback. Amazon, @JardyB10

 

Are you referencing  Nightmares and DreamScapes?? Still have that proudly on my bookshelf! gosh has it been seven years since then already??
 

Rejection is always rough to take on the chin but if you’re pleased with the words, that’s what counts. I love your writing style - between the N&D, the novelette you let me read, and the other samples out on your website/twitter, you are a heck of an author and should be proud of your work always!

 

 Chin up and thank you for the updates. Not going to lie, I had to start reading them from November 21, 2021 because that’s the last time I had opened this thread. My bad. I’m a terrible friend  
 

 

[Phil 5,129]

On 12/6/2022 at 6:48 AM, der meister said:

Woke up to a rejection.

Also out of interest, do they ever give a specific reason why it’s been rejected? Or is  it more HR-like “we have decided not to continue pursuing this relationship”? 

[der meister 3,236]

They actually gave me a full report on this rejection, @Phil, but I haven't had the stomach to read it yet. Rejections on a query are one thing, but a rejection on a full is something else. The first rejection on a full - same novel - said they thought the dialogue was occasionally awkward, as if that wouldn't take more than 30 minutes to adjust.

Edited December 8, 2022 by der meister

[OrbitingDeath 3,228]

Sucks to hear man, instead of just letting you know what should be adjusted and fix it that it would suit em.... 

Don't let this get to you too much   Wish there was a way to help out

[der meister 3,236]

Got a "please revise and resubmit" request from an agent on my kid's book this morning. The suggested revisions are substantial - basically add 50-100% to length, change the character's age, etc, but it wasn't a rejection, so that's something. Now I just need to remember how to write. The only stuff I've written for the past 8 months is Ryuji pieces. I have a feeling my 11 year old character is going to start exclaiming, "for real!?"

[der meister 3,236]

In the past month and a half, I've added about 3,500 words to this manuscript, with a minimum target of 5,000. Two chapters left to read through and expand upon, and then we'll see how much is left.

[der meister 3,236]

Another 1k words since the last update. And somehow I still have 2 chapters left? I'm not sure what tf I was talking about last post.

[OrbitingDeath 3,228]

You got this bud!

[JardyB10 4,868]

Can you please teach George R R Martin your ways of being productive in writing?

[der meister 3,236]

Lol I'm definitely not the right person for that, @JardyB10. For my first novel, I set a weekly word minimum of 1k and went from there. Nowadays the VHL gets the great majority of my writing energy. Russia invading Ukraine put me in a major funk and I basically stopped writing altogether (except here) for 8 months. The publishing industry is also dogshit bad, which kills my motivation even further 

[der meister 3,236]

Passed 15k tonight and got to the end of the book. The chapters are definitely a little uneven, ranging from 2 to 8 pages, but the exciting bits are the longer bits, so I think it's ok. 

[der meister 3,236]

Wife hasn't started reading my revisions yet, so the agent hasn't gotten the resubmission yet, but it struck me that I almost never mention that I still have a bunch of shit up on Amazon if people want to buy it or have Kindle Unlimited and want to read anything for free. If anyone has gotten anything in the past and hasn't left a review, those are ALWAYS appreciated.

 

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Alex-Emerson/author/B00N71Y8J8?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

[der meister 3,236]

Revised version resubmitted to the agent who requested it. I'll update this thread in 3 months when I hear back lol

[der meister 3,236]

Well, in an effort to have additional areas for creative expression, I created a YouTube channel today where I will be uploading a variety of gaming content, ranging from retro games to Magic Arena to what I'm conceptualizing as Skyrim short films / character studies based on pure role play. I won't be uploading any videos until after I get my new PC in 8 days, but if anybody wants to sub now, I'd appreciate it. I made the channel name coincide with my writing pen name, for cross-promotional purposes, so whenever I do get either traditionally published or get too annoyed and self-publish, I can promote it from the YT channel as well. And for any of you who might be old-school Magic: the Gathering players, the image in the top left of my header is of cards I actually own and use in a Mirko Vosk Commander deck

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/@AlexIsgAEming