All of your life imaginary ideas have been floating around in your mind and one day you decide to unleash that creativity and write a book. What a wonderful thought. You go to the keyboard and put the first sentence onto a blank piece of paper. The first sentence soon becomes the first paragraph. The first paragraph turns into the first page in a short period of time. After that the first page becomes the first chapter. Several months later the first chapter turns into your first novel.
What a wonderful accomplishment! Congratulations! You feel as if you are the next literary heavyweight to explode onto the American market.
Not so fast. Let's look at how the real world views your remarkable achievement.
If you've done your homework, then you know that the manuscript was written with twelve point New Times Roman type. The work is double-spaced. You've saved it on disc and probably printed it with the help of your desktop printer. Now what? After all, you feel as if this masterpiece is the next great piece of literary work in American culture.
Do you want to market the intellectual property? If so, how do you go about that? Virtually all literary agents and publishing houses will not accept unsolicited material. You ask what unsolicited material is and find out that it is a piece of literary work that does not have a referral source. In other words, you don't know anybody that can get the finished piece of work through the front door. Now what?
You might ask around to see if you can get an intellectual property lawyer. What is that you ask? That would be a legal representative that can get the work copyrighted and protected from the people that you don't know out there.
You may submit the piece to the Writers Guild and obtain a registration number. They accept downloads from personal computers and for a small fee can protect your work for a short period of time. But you wonder how that will help you. At least with a Writers Guild registration number the work is somewhat protected from anyone that might try to steal it.
However the question remains. How will either of those sources help to get you through a door? The only thing that I can suggest is that perhaps the intellectual property lawyer has some contacts in the literary agency field or the publishing business. After all, up to now the lawyer is the only live link into the industry.
But what happens if that fails? Then you might have to research self-publishing houses and self-publish your first novel. Things could be worse. There are many different packages available that range anywhere from around five hundred dollars up to twenty thousand dollars depending on what you want to try and accomplish and how extensive you would like to market the book.
If you choose to self-publish, then you'll be able to decide whether or not you can design your own cover or pick from some of the generic ones that are offered. You'll have an opportunity to pick the size type that you would like to use. Different formatting styles will be offered. Hardback and paperback editions will be offered.
But have you thought about proofing and copyediting? Will you have to rewrite the novel after it is looked at by an editor? What happens if someone that you have chosen to offer an opinion says that it is not worthy of being published in the shape that it is in? Your expenses will increase as the various jobs are performed.
Let's assume that the manuscript needs some sprucing up and it is determined that you have to pay someone to read, review, and change the text. Is that an expense that you had budgeted into the project? The proofreader will need to be paid after the text is altered. After all the typos will need to be found and fixed; the sentence structure will need to be corrected. Did you plan on that expense as well? Now it is time to design your own cover. Did you leave enough money for a graphics design artist to assist you with that creative endeavor? You ask yourself if all of this is worth it.
Life is churning forward. You have written your first novel, but have finally admitted that writing the prose was the easiest part of the process. Not only that, but it is starting to get expensive and you still don't have an agent or a publisher that is remotely interested in reading an unsolicited manuscript. You surge ahead because you want to show the world your wonderful achievement. Several expensive checks are written to the self-publisher, the editor, the proofreader, and the graphics design person.
Now what happens? The production people with the self-publisher carry out their duties. You become aware of all of the dates and deadlines for the production schedule. Final approval forms are signed. You wait your turn in line. Finally the date comes where the book is hot off the press and you are sent a hardback edition as well as a paperback edition. Finally, after all of the time that you have spent on this project you are a published author. Now what?
Have you thought about how you are going to tell the world that your masterpiece is completed? Have you budgeted dollars for marketing the creation? Have you thought about how the book was going to be distributed to book stores? What happens if it does get into the book stores but you find out that the world is not knocking the door down to buy the finished product? Have you decided to build a web site to not only market the book title but also the author's name?
Now frustration sets in. Welcome to the world of unknown authors. You are not wanted by agents. Large publishing houses don't want anything to do with you. The only people that really want to read your book are the small group of friends and relatives that are in your inner circle. You get discouraged. You throw in the towel. You've spent a ton of money and it has gotten you minimal results. What other suggestions are there?
Related Articles
Seven Things Authors Must Know to Be Successful
By: Jerry D. Simmons | 16/06/2008 | Writing
Publishing is a very competitive business and the choices for getting a manuscript into print are numerous. Everyone who writes has to make a decision on what's best for them and their manuscript or book, but the decision should be based on their personal goals and not what someone else...
Self-Publishing The Hard Way: The Art Of Giving Birth
By: Dodie Cross | 31/10/2007 | Writing
You know? When you publish a book and send it out into the world, it's like giving birth to a baby. Everyone checks out your baby. Is it breath-taking? Does it have ten toes and ten fingers? Is it pink and sweet or does it look like an extra from...
5 Tips To Start Selling Your Self-Published Book
By: Jill Exler | 26/12/2007 | Writing
You've spent hours researching, writing and self-publishing your book. Now, you want to reap the benefits of selling it yourself, but where do you begin?
Here are five simple tips to help you get started.
1. Figure out your market.
"Bookstores are lousy places to sell books," says self-publishing guru Dan Poynter in...
How That Novel Idea Becomes A Novel
By: Jim Ross | 10/05/2008 | Writing
One day you wake up and announce to the world that you would like to write a novel. Pardon the pun, but that is a novel idea. At some point in time that is what everyone dreams about. Let's face it; we all have a story to tell, don't we?
In...
How I Tackled Such A Huge Task
By: Paul Miller | 07/02/2008 | Writing
When I set out to write my book, A Place to Belong, I didn't have the slightest notion as to how I was going to approach this task. I had never written anything in my life that extended beyond a normal letter or reports that I had to submit for...
Internet Authors Don't Need Prospectors
By: Mike Scantlebury | 13/01/2008 | Writing
Publishers need authors, (they say). If that's so, why don't they read the stuff that arrives in the post? Because they aren't prospectors, says Mike Scantlebury, Internet Author. Publishers don't actually sieve the dross, looking for nuggets of gold. How could they? They're far too busy doing lunch and attending ceremonies, you know, important stuff, he says.
The People Versus
By: Melvin M. Harter | 16/06/2008 | Writing
Tough as a tire iron and proud as a parson in paradise, Jeff Sanders, Private Investigator, was good at his job, always cool and always composed, never rancorous or rattled on the witness stand. Fit at 40, he was a wiz at bending the truth toward the side that hired...
Internet Authors Don't Need Cut-offs
By: Mike Scantlebury | 22/11/2007 | Writing
Close the doors. Don't let anyone else in. That seems to be the message from bureaucrats and rule makers the world over. Why? Is there really a question of Health and Safety? Or is it just that a man with a pen and a penchant for control has decided to make up a few rules, draw some boundaries and decide some outcomes. Is it necessary? Does it help? Let Mike Scantlebury take you through the arguments.
Got a Question? Ask.
Ask the community a question about this article:
Frequently Asked Questions
Finding original writings of William Sywgard
By: prita | 06-07-2008
I am looking for Awareness Techniques Book 1 by William Swygard . I have Book 2 and am interested in any of the original writings Can someone help??
The Town of Dipsy Doodle
By: msbetty | 05-07-2008
Is the Tom Thumb Book "The Town of Dipsy Doodle still under copy right? It was originally published by Rand McNally & Company in MCMXLX.
Tassahara hotsprings
By: reimerconstruct | 03-07-2008
I'd like to know who has knowledge of ernie gann's visits to tassahara hotsprings, The place My grandparents owned and operated.
Authors putting up ads on answers.
By: Ki | 02-07-2008
Why are there authors trying to sell their books here? It doesn't help the people in the questions if all you're giving for an answer is an ad for your book. Does anyone else notice this?
Bell hooks email address?
By: supercat1951 | 02-07-2008
What is the email address for bell hooks, please?
How much is 1780 deed book monmouth worth
By: buckler53 | 01-07-2008
how much is 1780 deed book monmouth worth
Q&A Powered by:
More from Jim Ross
Civil Justice Versus The Criminal Justice System
By: Jim Ross | 10/05/2008 | Law
How has the American justice system transformed so amazingly over the last few decades? The answer could be a very complex problem to identify.
Are these changes due to an increasingly larger number of attorneys that have entered the marketplace? Is it because the burden of proof is so undeniably different...
How That Novel Idea Becomes A Novel
By: Jim Ross | 10/05/2008 | Writing
One day you wake up and announce to the world that you would like to write a novel. Pardon the pun, but that is a novel idea. At some point in time that is what everyone dreams about. Let's face it; we all have a story to tell, don't we?
In...
The Phenomenon Of Golf Grows
By: Jim Ross | 06/05/2008 | Sports and Fitness
The popularity of the game of golf has skyrocketed since the early nineteen nineties in the United States. There are a multitude of reasons for this phenomenon. Perhaps the main reason may be the aging of the baby boomers. However, another factor to not overlook is the social benefit that...
What Is The Lure Of The Game Of Golf?
By: Jim Ross | 06/05/2008 | Sports and Fitness
Have you ever stopped to think what it is about golf that you like so much?
Some people would say that it allows them to enjoy a form of exercise that is not quite so strenuous as running or jogging on the treadmill or pedaling on the exercise bike. Others would...
Writing 
