I have been writing a novel...?

Question

I'm writing an adventure novel and from I've been studying I think it is going well but I live in a small town, find it hard to communicate with writing experts out of my immediate group because of distance and limited finances. For a writer that trying to finish a novel and get it published, how do I get the resources or help that I need when I have limited resources, a distance problem, and a finance problem? Please, how do you get the help I need to finish the novel and get it published under these circumstances?

Answer 1

You could try joining Forward Motion for Writers. It has forums and writing workshops with many people in your situation. Once you take the time to learn navigating the forums, you can get lots of incredible free help.
http://www.fmwriters.com

A smaller group that I'm a member of is Newbie-Writers. I've found them to be a very helpful group as well.
http://www.newbie-writers.com

Answer 2

With the internet, distance has nothing to do with it. Whenever you actually send your story for someone to read, you use e-mail. And whenever you send it to an agent (most still prefer paper), it's still going to be by mail even if they were in the same city as you.

Others here have recommended message boards and websites -- this is a rich environment that previous authors never had the luxury of having so consider yourself lucky.

But I don't recommend you show your first draft to anyone. As Hemingway said, "All first drafts are !$#@." Instead, what you want to do, and it would be more valuable for you, is to ask them to listen to (or read), your pitch. You can do this with anyone because you want to see their reactions as the story plays in their minds and whether you're holding their attention in all the right places and to see if they're moved (I love genre fiction and I believe action adventure can move us if it's a good story like any story). You can do this in writing, but it's harder to see the reaction of course. A pitch usually takes 10 minutes to tell. Your best criticism is if they're silent.

How to tell a pitch?
A pitch is told from your outline of the story (depending on the stage of writing you will have this after you're finished or before you begin). You should have about two sentences per scene, know your acts, your climaxes, etc... You then put this into a summary so you can tell exactly what happened. You can try this with stories you might already know like Star Wars and see that you can tell the story in 10 minutes. Anything less might not be satisfactory to your reader though. You want to go through everything so you lead the listener through your story in all the right places -- the inciting incident, the middle, the final climax, etc... Then when it's over and they're speechless, you know your story is a good one. Then you only have to worry about writing it. At this stage, you'll get to a second draft and then a third and then it's ready to have someone read it and that can be anyone -- one doesn't have to write books to know what a good story is. It's about the story, not about your style. And also at this stage you can have writers check it out by sending it to them via e-mail so they can comment on your writing and make recommendations. But your pitch will be a lot more valuable at this stage than having someone read it.

Answer 3

You can self publish your adventure novel but remember that you would also have to distribute the book, meaning you would have to get it out to the public by using ebay or contact book stores who will buy directly from you for resale.

Distribution is a major problem when self publishing. Cost is about $3,000 but then you would have 1,000 books in your basement and sell only one or so a week.

It is very difficult for a first time writer to get a publisher to print the book and distribute it.

Answer 4

the best job for people who living in the middle of nowhere is to write books. When something marketable will be written, open yellow pages, or do research on line and find publishing companies, Mcgraw Hill, Prentiss .. and find an agent. If they like your staff they will publish it, if not they will give pin-pointers on where to improve

Answer 5

You need to save more money till you're able to afford the necessary expenses to travel to interview the people you'd like to interview. Don't rush to finish it and send in less that excellent writing cos it will definitely be rejected. Take your time and try your absolute best.

Answer 6

hard work?
Why don't you try sending it to some publishing companies? There are also plenty of Writing magazines that have ads and advice in them. And remember the telephone?

Answer 7

yes you have