Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs.
How far would you go to get published?
I have to say I'm not the kind of person who could write to trends. I feel best writing something I want to write. I'm still kicking myself for not revising my YA NaNoWriMo Novel from 2007 with angels because I could maybe have caught that little trend.
I would do endless revisions and cut out parts of the story. I've actually had a couple things published in magazines and have learned a little about revising from that experience. For one story in a Sunday School paper I had to get the story down to 300 words. It felt like a lot at the time but it was totally worth it to get my first paid publishing credit.
I've considered self-publishing. I have a couple Picture Book manuscripts that I feel are in good shape. Sometimes I think about working my butt off or giving up my trips to the coffee shop so I can hire an illustrator to get these books out there. With things like the iPad, Nook Color and Kindle Fire it makes me wonder if a picture book author has the chance to enjoy success in the ebook format.
8 comments:
I think writing to trends rarely works out. It's so hard to predict a trend, and hopping on to the tail end of one isn't always a good thing either. So I'm with you on writing what you want to write. That way I can guarantee it's something I'll want to read.
Yeah, the trend-chasing thing's hard, because by the time it becomes a trend and you're writing to it, the pub houses are already flooded with books in that genre, all due out in a year or two. By the time you finish writing and editing yours in a year or two and send it to query... They'll already be sick of that genre!
Go ahead and finish the angel story. Angels might not be in now, but they might make a comeback by the time you've finished it. :) Seriously, if you love the story, revise and polish. There's always a market for great stories, and the best ones are the ones you love. (Preaching to the choir, I know.)
I've never thought about self-publishing children's books (since I don't write picture books), but that's fascinating. With all these devices, I can see how it could work. And yay for not writing to trends!
I can't write to trends even if I wanted to - I have to write what pops in the brain and if it happens to match what will be hot three years from now - yay!
The self-publishing bug almost bit me with my first project. I'm glad it didn't.
I would definitely consider self-publishing. You might find an illustrator who'd love to work with you and split the royalites.
The self publishing thing is very interesting. Especially now with all the tablets and the option to really change the format of everything. And I agree, follow your interests. The things that interest you the most are where the passion is. There is always a market for passion!
I've been thinking about e-book illustrations lately myself, and foregoing the traditional publishing route for a few projects. If you think my style would be a good match, let me know. If anything we could just talk about it!
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