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 Amusing story, might be a new approach for publishers

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jomarks




Number of posts : 5
Registration date : 2012-10-01

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PostSubject: Amusing story, might be a new approach for publishers   Amusing story, might be a new approach for publishers EmptyMon Oct 01, 2012 3:08 am

The Writers Tale
Once upon a time there was a writer, he had a great idea for a book and spent a large amount of his time lovingly creating his masterpiece. He had heard that if he could get a publisher to tell his story he would be showered with gold.

He sent his story to all the publishers he could find, but they did not want his work. This made him very sad, he did not understand why they could not see him for the genius he was.

A friend told of a magical being known only as the “agent”. This being had special (database) powers and a large list of publishing friends, who respected his opinion and liked being taken to dinner by him.

So our writer went to the agent to ask him to read his story to the publishers. The agent read the work but decided that he would not make enough money to pay for the special dinners the publishers liked, and so rejected our writer.
Our writer was quite upset and decided his last chance might be to consult the mystical inter-web. There he found many trolls and goblins claiming to be publishers and promising to publish his story if only he would give them gold. Luckily our writer had a wise old grandmother who told him that if he was paying to have his work “published”, then all he was really doing was printing his work himself. This was not the same as selling his work for gold. It was in fact the complete opposite.
In a last desperate attempt to be recognised for the clever author he was, our writer decided to create a new and mystical thing called an ebook. This was reported to instantaneously transport the writers work into the hands of every person on the planet.
He toiled for days trying to understand the vagaries of the ebook and after much tugging of hair and gnashing of teeth; he finally formatted the book in a way that the elders of Amazon would accept. He placed his ebook in their hands and waited. Nothing happened.

He consulted his friends who said that they had looked for his ebook. Unfortunately his friends had very short attention spans, and had been distracted by shiny websites with glittery offers of instant riches, and dazzled by fairies of a dubious moral background. Some had found a forest of ebooks, thousands of un-edited texts slowly decaying in the wasteland of the web. But there were so many, and most were so bad, that his friends had been driven back to the fairies for comfort.

“I need an enchanted editor”, thought our writer, “I need the protection of my own wizard agent who will do my bidding and only share my gold when there is some. How can I do what I love, how can I write and be at one with my pen of destiny when there is all this other stuff to do. How can I go on.”
Just as the dream was slipping away and his mind clouded with clichés, he came across this story.
He saw himself in the words, he felt the pain in the rejections and smiled at the conclusion.

Penrose Publishing will share the gold if there is any. They don’t want any upfront.

Like the mystical agents of old, they will want to see your wares before they go on the mighty quest for you. They will want you to agree to share the burden, in a document, crafted from the boiler plates of time, by the evil ones who inhabit the world of solicitors.

They will call on their coven of editors to help hone your work, they will carry the marketing burdens and all that goes with them. You will always know that they are with you, because you know, and they know, that there is no gold unless you succeed.
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Abe F. March
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Abe F. March


Number of posts : 10768
Registration date : 2008-01-26
Age : 85
Location : Germany

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PostSubject: Re: Amusing story, might be a new approach for publishers   Amusing story, might be a new approach for publishers EmptyMon Oct 01, 2012 11:33 pm

A story that many authors can relate to and empathize.
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Richard Bowers
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Number of posts : 26
Registration date : 2012-11-26
Location : Sanger, CA

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PostSubject: Re: Amusing story, might be a new approach for publishers   Amusing story, might be a new approach for publishers EmptyFri Dec 07, 2012 9:40 am

I'm finding it difficult to see what's so special about your story?? Just why is the moral of your story "special" when what you described happened to almost everyone that writes and publishes? There was one error though. No agent that I know of ever "reads" a story. They haven't done it in the years I've been around - not even once. You can quote me on that because there is an unwritten code that alludes to it. So you are the first to make such a claim. Thanks for your effort I do appreciat it. Richard
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alj
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alj


Number of posts : 9633
Registration date : 2008-12-05
Age : 80
Location : San Antonio

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PostSubject: Re: Amusing story, might be a new approach for publishers   Amusing story, might be a new approach for publishers EmptyFri Dec 07, 2012 10:23 am

When I finished my first book - a nonfiction study - I started with university presses, thinking that since it had a target audience, and was developed though thorough scholarly research, they might be willing to see it published. I chose institutions that would have a common interest and ready audience. I got the most laudatory and complimentary rejections you could imagine.

The bottom line was - and this was in the late '90's - even with my target audience, the would not be able to sell enough copies to make a profit.

A few years later, I tried again, and this time, used the services of one of the first publishers who would be able to print on demand, and so, required no up-front payments.

It worked for that book and for me at that time. For several years, my book was among the top three books sold on the topic - often being in the first position. It received a good bit of critical acclaim = from those who were interested in the subject.

But that audience was the kicker.

Fiction books do not have an automatic audience, no matter what the genre, no matter how well written. Without and "in," without connections, you will not be able to get an agent, much less a mainline publisher, to give it a cursory glance.

Do your research, ask questions, and be prepared to take on the major part of promotion and marketing.
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Shelagh
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Shelagh


Number of posts : 12662
Registration date : 2008-01-11
Location : UK

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PostSubject: Re: Amusing story, might be a new approach for publishers   Amusing story, might be a new approach for publishers EmptyFri Dec 07, 2012 10:44 am

Good advice, Ann.
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