Status and Support

[Kotik]

I got a confirmation email from Baen that said my manuscript's been received and that I should write my next novel while I'm waiting. Greaaaat. The last one took me eight years, but I was kinda busy writing about 700,000 words of fanfic at the same time (in addition to my day job). Hopefully I can decrease production time this time around.

May I humbly beg for another 700.000 words of fanfic before you go for the sequel?

[Distracted]

LOL. I think my husband would divorce me if I wrote seasons seven and eight of Enterprise, but it's nice that you want to read more of my stories. I think you guys will like my original stuff. It has lots of similarities to my fanfics since it's science fiction with a splash of romance thrown in. I wish I could post it for all of you to read and comment but that would mess things up with Baen. Guess you'll just have to be patient along with me.

[Alelou]

Writing the second novel makes sense, actually.

Does Baen not allow simultaneous submissions? That's rare in this industry these days. You could also be trying to interest some agents who deal with science fiction. Tell them you have an existing fan base from your fanfic and they might well be interested. It's considered a reasonable path to publication for scifi writers. (Hell, maybe even for *all* writers after 50 Shades.)

Check out anyone who looks interesting via Preditors and Editors before you deal with them, though.

[Distracted]

I was planning to start looking for an agent if Baen doesn't want it. Isn't it too late to look for an agent to represent me for this book if I've already submitted it? And no, Baen doesn't allow simultaneous submissions. I did tell the editor in my cover letter that I had a "small international fan base of several hundred individuals" as a result of my online fanfiction. Dunno if it'll do any good, but since I've never had any fiction in print it was the only thing I could come up with.

[Alelou]

If Baen wants it, you should be able to THEN get an agent if you want one. Is Baen some odd duck in the publishing world? Having an agent would be quite normal, especially for fiction writing. But then simultaneous submissions are also normal.

Mind you, it might not be worth getting an agent, since you'll then be paying 15% of your advance and royalties to that person -- but a good agent protects your interests and can help make a publisher take your book seriously and help you negotiate the issues that can come up (like "I hate that cover!"). If you do decide to get one, find one who's into science fiction/fantasy.

[Distracted]

I've been told that Baen is one of the few publishing houses that will even consider a manuscript from a writer who doesn't have an agent, so I guess maybe it is an odd duck. I didn't know that simultaneous submissions were the norm, though. The submission guidelines from Baen specificallly say that they won't consider them. I guess maybe it's because of their very open submissions policy. They probably want to weed out the authors who are just throwing their work at everybody in creation just to see if it will stick. Could also be because a naive new author like me would be more likely to follow their guidelines just to get published, though.

[Alelou]

Baen may well have this thing figured out for their own working model -- as long as they don't ask you to actually pay to publish your work, and you read stuff you like published by them, they've just got their own publication model. They come "highly recommended" on preditors and editors, so that bodes well.

Now, if they say yes, you'll have an easier time publishing your work to acclaim if you're keeping fanfic.net busy with exciting new stories. So ... it's time to keep your hand in! (Not necessarily in ENT, though that's what we'd all like here.)

[Weeble]

Given that I know absolutely nuthin' about the publishing business, I will just cheer from the sidelines.

Geaux Dis! Geaux Dis!

[Alelou]

The chances of me finally finishing the next chapter of North Star went up immeasurably when I discovered (to my horror) that Netflix does not stream "Downton Abbey" season 2.

Hmm. Must try library tomorrow...

[Alelou]

Double post, sorry, but this is one of the weirder exchanges I've ever had with someone at ff.net:

Person I've Never Heard Of:

Subject: Hello

Taking story ideas?

Me:

Sorry, no.

Person I've Never Heard Of:

or story requests I mean.

So would it be too rude to say, "Maybe I'd take a story request from a dear friend, though I haven't yet in this lifetime and I'm having a hard enough time just writing my own stuff ... and you, sir, are a complete stranger I've never seen leave a review on anyone's story, let alone one of mine"?

Probably another "Sorry, no" would be wiser.


Do other people get these? How do you respond? (Did you get one tonight?)

[Kotik]

Do other people get these? How do you respond? (Did you get one tonight?)

I got quite a few of these in the last few months. Often some zealots with an agenda. One particular user, who never reviewed, kept pestering me that I absolutely need to include a same-sex relationship in my story. How do you reply to that without looking like a homophobe? I don't have the slightest problem with gay people, infact two of my friends are gay, but I personally can't imagine taking another guy to bed. So how am I supposed to write about something that I can't really imagine? My usual approach is to more or less brush those people off.

"Thanks for your feedback, but [insert_user_idea_here] is currently not planned to be included".

The end.

[Alelou]

Wow, what chutzpah that person had. That was a very diplomatic response!

This reminds me of how Dear Abby (advice columnist) had to try to figure out when frat boys were trying to set her up with weird fake questions.

I should probably note that the fellow who contacted me responded very politely to my second "Sorry, no."

[Cogito]

Well, funnily enough nobody has ever asked me to write a story for them, although I can see at once why people would be approaching you. I guess that from your perspective it might sound rather like "Hey, I want you to write me a story but I noticed that you don't seem to have any good ideas of things to write about, so I thought you might want some of mine ..." but I'm sure it was intended as a complement and I hope you're taking it that way. I've read authors notes in the past that showed that stories had been written on request so I don't suppose it's completely unknown, although asking a stranger to spend such a huge amount of time and creative energy producing something for your enjoyment seems presumptuous to me.

On a completely unrelated note, I'm very much looking forward to the continuation of "North Star".

[Weeble]

I think you handled it well Alelou.

Kotik,

I never understand the need to force 'slash' onto the main Enterprise characters. If someone wanted to add characters to pursue that line of thought, ok, but I never saw it in the main seven.

To each their own, I guess

[Alelou]

I might take it as a compliment from, I don't know, a fellow writer, or someone I have gotten to know, but from a stranger? I remember getting into this long conversation years ago with some guy who wouldn't take no for an answer, and just wanted me to write his story for him because, apparently, he didn't feel HE could write it, but it was a really great idea, so SOMEONE should! I don't think he'd even read my stuff.

I was thinking of making Anna gay in "North Star" just because I really haven't written a gay character yet, but then I got distracted by another relationship for her. I'm as pro-gay rights as can be, but I have to admit thinking that way for my characters just doesn't come easy. I've tried reading slash and I know some of it is very well written, but I really just don't buy these particular characters that way. (I suspect I could make an exception for Malcolm and Hayes, though.)