I want to write a book?

Question

I need characters and a free publisher. I live in Chichester, so anywhere here or in Bognor would be great.

Answer 1

Good for you for wanting to start writing -- it's not for wimps! You've really asked about more than one thing so I'll take them in turn:

You don't need to ask for characters, they are all around you. The secret of writing is to write. You can make a plan, most of the best writers do (it's very rare to write good books without planning) ... BUT, at the end of the day, you have to write.

Personally I start with a plot idea (what I want the story to be about) and then I start to fill in the characters who would make that story happen. I do a reasonably detailed outline of the plot and then start. Of course the plot changes as the characters do things I wasn't expecting, but that's fine and expected.

Don't worry about style or spelling or grammar at the beginning, just get the words down, get your thoughts on paper (or computer, whatever). If you use a computer switch off the grammar checker (computers are stupid, they don't know anything about grammar) and do without the spelling checker as well, they will just distract you from the job in hand.

You write it, then you put it aside for a few weeks. Ignore it.

Then you go back and be a reader instead of a writer. Make notes, jot down where things haven't worked, where you need to expand things, notice the spelling mistakes, the grammar errors. Then go through and correct it. And print out another fair copy -- and put it aside for a couple of weeks.

Then do it again. (You can switch on the spelling checker now, but make sure it is set for the country you are in -- don't use the US spelling checker for UK work and vice versa.)

After a couple of drafts you will now be in a position to go to someone else. Not a publisher or an agent, not yet, but find online (or offline) writing groups and critique groups. These people are not your friends and should give you an *honest* appraisal of the quality of your work.

You have to listen to what they say. If one person says "this bit didn't seem right" but you're happy then you can ignore them. But if two or three people say the same thing then there will be something wrong that needs correcting.

As you haven't even got a book yet then you don't need to be thinking about publishing. And the location of the publisher is largely irrelevant. Any real publisher (and real agent) will be free, because if they think you're good they do the work for free -- they expect to make money out of you.

Obviously you can self-publish, for example on lulu.com which is easy to use and "free". But don't think for a second you'll make any money out of it. You only make money if you are good, and if you're good you'll be able to get an agent and publisher.

By the time you've gone through the writing process for a while (and at least a year has passed) you may be ready to start submitting to agents. You will need an agent for any genre except SF and Fantasy.

You need to get the Writers & Artists Yearbook which lists all the agents. You find the ones that deal with the genre you're writing in, it will say what they want (an outline, a couple of chapters whatever) ONLY SEND WHAT THEY ASK FOR. If you do anything else they will reject you instantly.

If you do not present yourself as a professional, they will reject you instantly. These people get hundreds and thousands of manuscripts sent to them every year, the only way they can whittle down the numbers is by using every possible error to reject. Even misspelling the company name on the envelope could result in rejection.

An agent will take you on IF (and only if) they think they can sell your book to a publisher. The agents know the market and if they don't think they can sell it they will not take you on.

This is one of the toughest businesses you can get in to. You will have your ego battered, and receive rejection after rejection after rejection -- potentially hundreds of them. A friend of mine, who is now a successful author, spent 15 years trying to get published and wrote 20 books that weren't accepted. He's now had four novels published and has three more in the pipeline.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Don't bother about the Publisher at this stage, just get down and write the book. If you are working during the day you will find it will take you at least a year to finish. Before you submit it to publishers get someone who knows about English Grammar to check it through. It is very unlikely that you will make money on the first book but it is a good endeavour and I wish you all the best

Answer 3

I am writing a sequel to Treasure Island. I have 7 chapters written and I am nearing the end. I have no idea as to where to get it published though.

Answer 4

You said you wanted to write a book, and then ask for characters. I suggest you think of a plot and a story line and then your characters will fit to your story.

Answer 5

start small
write a small book (non-commercial). on a computer. turn it into a PDF. then publish it for free on lulu. once u get the hang of writing a good book, write an all-out bestseller and send a copy of it to a publisher (like Penguin). they'll try to publish it if its good
]but be warned, most books don't get published. don't be disheartened, just keep trying

Answer 6

Slow down. You need to become a writer first, if you can't think of characters yourself then there is probably no point in continuing down this path.

Answer 7

Why not go to your local education college and enrol on a creative writing course?

Answer 8

go to Cafe Press they allow you to write a book and their areno fees except for the book each one they print.

Answer 9

What's your book about? Just let your imagination run wild!

Answer 10

If you need us to give you characters perhaps you should think again.