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Novelist1982 · #51

Gadzooks,

I thought that after I pronounced this thread dead that no one would invest their time coming here and posting, but you proved me wrong.

Well, guess what

I am excited to be back. Yes, that's right, you have resurrected my lost soul and shown me the light. This thread is my outlet, and I applaud you for reminding me of that.

By the way, since my silence over a month and a half ago, I have completed writing another young adult story, this one with a psycho killer.

I am exploring my limits by deversifying my writing. "Ariona: The Bounty Hunter" was an interactive fantasy quest written in second person point of view and was my first published book.

The second story I wrote is currently being represented by an agent, and I hope to find a great publisher for it. That story was written in third person point of view and was a fantasy adventure dealing with a parallel realm similiar to primative Earth, but has mythical beings such as elves, minotaurs, and a sorceress.

The third book I finished writing on June 9th was the story, mentioned above, with the psycho killer and his teenage prey. It was written in third person, and is a thriller/suspence story.

I believe that this thread should be a great chance for creative minds to state their honest opnions about things like interactive quests (what media they are converting to, such as blackberries and other palm pilots etc.) and book publishing in general.

I open this thread to heated conversations (so long as they remain friendly and good intentioned) such as postings by Sethomas, Emu, and Esuohlim.

Thank again, Gadzooks, for the electrocution, “Nothing like voltage to jumpstart the brain.”

Terra · #52

Are there any excerpts from your latest book yet?

And are there some more cool emots out there?

Esuohlim · #53

How does writing a choose-your-own-adventure book make you a novelist anyway

Emu · #54

R.L. Stine did it

Fathom Zero · #55

Yeah, but he wrote novels before that, that were so successful that they were turned into a television series. My favourite episode was the one where they were kids were stuck inside a boardgame. It was awesome.

Novelist1982 · #56

Hey,

It's nice to hear from you guys again (Sup: Emu, Fathom Zero, Esuohlim.) Here is the definition of a novel curtisy of dictionary.com:

"A fictional prose narrative of considerable length, typically having a plot that is unfolded by the actions, speech, and thoughts of the characters. "

My interactive book was 242 pages, of considerable length, and tells the story of a bounty hunter, her motivations for what she does, and the story unfolds throughout the different paths and leads to an epic confrontation against an evil necromancer.

I call myself a novelist because that is the goal I set for myself. I liked writing "Ariona", but no longer wish to write interactive stories (there is currently no profitable market, and my attempts to revive popularity for them were futile).

I write young adult stories now, typically 120 pages, but I have a sci-fi trilogy I will write as decent length novels in the future. My current writing style is similiar to that of R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike, beings as they were my greatest literary influences over the years.

Hey Terra,

There are not any excerts from my most recent stories

but fear not, for they will get published in the near future. And there will be the presence of emoticons in most of my posts, when they apply, that is.

noob3 · #57

when i hear the word ariona i think of aerola

and it gets me all thinking about boobs

Novelist1982 · #58

Hey,

Whatever gets the name stuck in your head is fine with me. Consider that if "Ariona" reminds you of "Aerola", then "Aerola" may remind you of "Ariona".

Black Flag · #59

no that's not how it works at all and that's not some part of your grand marketing scheme

also, i don't know if someone already mentioned it, but you're book is published by publishamerica. man, if you shit on a piece of paper and called it a transcript, they'd publish it.

Novelist1982 · #60

Hey Black Flag,

I think you mean "your" and not "you're" because that means "you are", and makes YOU look foolish.

And you can smack talk Publish America all you want, but at least say something more acurate such as, "If you shit on a piece of paper, called it a manuscript and Publish America thought they could make a profit off selling it, then they would publish it.

I am not unaware of the debate of Publish America's poor reputation, however, as bad as their company may seem, ALL major publishing companies require an agent, whereas Publish America does not. It is not an attempt on their part to trick authors to sign a contract, but it makes it possible for a novice writer to become published and have a chance to prove their skills.

I am sure you are not aware of their contract, so let me briefly state why it may appeal to some authors. It is a standard 7-year contract which states that Publish America would obtain first-rights to publish a manuscript and sell it (whether it be a softcover, hardcover, on a bookshelf in a book store, or available on any on-line bookstore around the world). It grants modest royalties to the author, paid bi-annually. If hollywood wanted to turn a book into a movie, it is up to the author to decide if they should agree to the proposal, not Publish America. Not all contracts give that kind of option to the author. If you care for nothing else I have stated thusfar, at least consider that with their contract, the author retains all rights to the book after the contract has expired.

If you were an author, and you wrote what you thought was the best book of all time, wouldn't you want to retain the rights after the contract was over? I sure as hell would.

These are the negative facts about publishing with Publish America:

They overcharge for the book (if a tyipical book about that length for that genre would cost

Novelist1982 · #61

Hey Black Flag,

I think you mean "your" and not "you're" because that means "you are", and makes YOU look foolish.

And you can smack talk Publish America all you want, but at least say something more acurate such as, "If you shit on a piece of paper, called it a manuscript and Publish America thought they could make a profit off selling it, then they would publish it.

I am not unaware of the debate of Publish America's poor reputation, however, as bad as their company may seem, ALL major publishing companies require an agent, whereas Publish America does not. It is not an attempt on their part to trick authors to sign a contract, but it makes it possible for a novice writer to become published and have a chance to prove their skills.

I am sure you are not aware of their contract, so let me briefly state why it may appeal to some authors. It is a standard 7-year contract which states that Publish America would obtain first-rights to publish a manuscript and sell it (whether it be a softcover, hardcover, on a bookshelf in a book store, or available on any on-line bookstore around the world). It grants modest royalties to the author, paid bi-annually. If Hollywood wanted to turn a book into a movie, it is up to the author to decide if they should agree to the proposal, not Publish America. Not all contracts give that kind of option to the author. If you care for nothing else I have stated thusfar, at least consider that with their contract, the author retains all rights to the book after the contract has expired.

If you were an author, and you wrote what you thought was the best book of all time, wouldn't you want to retain the rights after the contract was over? I sure as hell would.

These are the negative facts about Publish America:

-They overcharge for the book (if a tyipical book about that length for that genre would cost around $12, they might sell the novel for $18).

-They do not advertise for the novel at all, whatsoever.

-They lie about their business address. They have a fictional address printed in their novels, whereas their website and their contract states their real address.

These are the positive facts about Publish America:

-The author never pays a cent for the book to get published.

-The author retains the books rights after the contract expires.

-During the contract, the book is available on-line at ANY bookstore website.

-The book can be un-edited, verbatum, word for word what the author wants it to say (find that option at another publishing company).

So, if you are going to smack talk Publish America, at least state the facts and not some bias half-ass unexplained bland statement of opinionated crap.