Any writers in here

Hi there. Well I have written several books and it literally started in 2008. I sat at my laptop and the words flowed.

I have written 5 books all consisting of 60,000 words, all with the same theme, adoption, because I was and after pouring heart, soul laughter, tear and frustration into each book, I can honestly that it has been THE most therapeutic thing to help me, the other books I have written are for my grandchildren and I have to say that NONE have been published and it isn't through not trying, but thats a different story.

I read my books from time to time ( I have had them all printed ) and I think WHOAAAA HAS THIS REALLY COME FROM ME ?

? ?

And the GNer who writes for the People's Friend? (IIRC)

I understood we had several published authors on Gransnet, Aveline, Maywalk and (correct me if I am wrong) Scribbles among them.

Isn't it Maywalk who is an established author with publications to her name?

I am planning to publish a small book of my own writing myself.

You might like to have a look at this website, with which my only connection is as a customer.

You do not need a document to get a quote from their Quick Quote system.

LINK > Viking Virtual Print House

They are not a publisher, they are a print house. You would be the publisher.

Minimum order, excluding post or courier fee, is £5.

Yes, only £5 minimum order.

Publishing is infested with sharks! Be very careful if asked to pay.
The other key point is that writing a book is the easy part. Publishing is hardest. Publish on Amazon Kindle if you like but how to attract readers? Publicity is the issue there. Lots of places will offer to promote your books but it'll cost you.
To write and be published also needs lashings of luck (and good contacts) it's a massive area.

I do like work in present tense stardreamer It feels very dynamic to me and gives you that sense that you'll never know what will happen next. I'm not sure if there'll be enough chat about poetry to need a separate thread. Perhaps it would be easiest to keep everything in one for now then if a topic seems to grow big enough to need its own thread start one?

I do like Friday Flash Fiction Aveline. Everyday Fiction are good too as if you sign up to their emails you get a piece of flash sent to read every day which soon familiarises you with flash and is great for inspiration. everydayfiction.com/

And so our poets aren't left out: Proems are open to subs atm: proemjournal.wixsite.com/proem/submissions

And for short stories up to 5k words, idle ink is open for subs atm: idleink.org/submit/

Most of the places I sub to atm are unpaid or pay only a token of say $3, or a couple of pounds, but they are great for getting your work out if you are new so that you have something to put on your bio.

The easiest way to publish now if you wish to, is to use Amazon Kindle Direct publishing. It costs nothing. But you do need someone who will proof read what you have written and some fairly good computing skills to do the layout etc. You can then sell on Amazon or buy copies yourself at a very reasonable cost to sell at a profit. kdp.amazon.com/en_US/

Women's magazines have clear submission guidelines and formats. Check them out.
Try 'Friday Flash Fiction' website. 100 word stories. Worth a look. Free to submit.
Write what you like but be aware readers might not. Eg sorry to say StarDreamer I hate stories written in present tense and actually just don't read further if I find something written in that. It feels fundamentally wrong as no author is going to be frantically scribbling down exactly what they're doing as they do it!
Re dialogue: it's very important especially if you're writing about people. Just write it then read it aloud to see if it feels authentic. People don't speak in full sentences all the time. Listen to conversations on the bus or in cafes. Writing dialogue is a skill worth developing.
Nobody said writing was easy or didn't need practise!

Thank you for explaining "flash", hugshelp.

I tend to write in the present tense as if events are happening in the "now" of whenever the reader is reading, not as if recounting what happened at some previous time.

For example,

Stephen opens the door and enters the small café.
"Bonjour", says the young woman from behind the counter.

rather than

Stephen opened the door and entered the small café.
"Bonjour", said the young woman from behind the counter.

Shall we put everything in this thread or shall we have another thread for

On the publication of poetry

?

I think that's something I need to learn to work on Aveline. What I find difficult if it's something I don't really enjoy is working out what it is that works for the reader so that I can bring that into my own work.

A bit like if you don't like steak (weird I know but I don't) but want to make a special meal for someone who loves it. My inclination would be to do as much as possible to it to make it taste not like steak, but that wouldn't work for the steak lover. With food, you can at least follow a recipe but I'm not sure if that can be applied to a piece of writing.

Sorry got interrupted before replying to some of the earlier posts.

It sounds very glamorous having a weekly column Cattergirl It might be niche but you must know a lot about cats.

What sort of poetry do you enjoy and write Doodledog?

Flash is very short fiction stardreamer - structured rather differently to a short story. Roughly speaking it's a moment in time which encapsulates a much broader story for example the moment when a relationship breaks up which is written to show all that was good and bad in the relationship distilled in that particular moment. Usually defined to be under 1000 words but in practice most submission calls for flash fall nearer the 300-500 mark, with a speciality being the drabble at exactly 100 words. There are also micorfiction categories within flash where the word count can be as low as say ten words. stardreamer

I agree with what you have shown with regards to that dialogue stardreamer. and I would say that works for the general narrative as well. Short and punchy for speed and emphasis, slower and more meandering to give a more relaxed tone and slow the pace.

I think I just tend not to gravitate to pieces of work that include much dialogue. I think it might be because I write in first and second POV quite often and they don't lend themselves to it so well. I don't seem to come up with ideas that lend themselves to much dialogue which is something I need to think about, because it is an area of writing I want to get better at.

There's a difference between writing what you want to write or like reading and what others might want to read or, more to the point, might pay to read. There is a discipline of writing for women's magazines. You won't necessarily find one that's your cup of tea. You have to write what is theirs if you want to be paid for your writing and to have a large readership.
It's a two way thing - think of your readers rather than necessarily your preference.

What do you mean by "flash" please?

In relation to dialogue I read somewhere that one can influence reading speed by length of lines.

Apparently one famous writer in her novels had long lines of dialogue in early chapters, then as the story moved to its dramatic climax, had short sentences.

For example, my wording,

"I have been wondering where you have been."
"I have a right to privacy, Where I go is my private business"
"I think you should say, I have been concerned."

"Where have you been?"
"Not saying."
"Tell me!"

I don't think anyone is suggesting we share our work on the forum. I'm certainly not. I was thinking more of general chat about our work and anything of interest to writers.

In the interest of starting the ball rolling:

I enjoy writing flash and short stories, mainly of a literary flavour. I particularly like magical realism which is heavy in metaphor and lyrical prose and, by contrast, gritty contemporary work. I have a novel on the back burner, in the early stages of world and character building. I tend to favour fantasy, historical fiction, and romance in novels. I've just started trying my hand at poetry and tend to veer more towards prose poems.

I struggle most with dialogue. It's just not something I find myself using heavily. I'm not great at writing humour, but wish I was.

I've thought about trying my hand at writing for women's magazines but, so far, haven't found one whose stories are my cup of tea so would find that a slog. It's fair to say I haven't sampled too many, though.

I'd love to know more about you all, what you enjoy or otherwise, etc.

Doodledog

That's very kind, but I would probably just drop in now and then. Maybe it's best to let the OP take the lead and see where it goes?

Fine.

Oops I wrote Bluebelle and I should have written Doodledog.

My aplogies to both ladies.

Both are welcome.

That's very kind, but I would probably just drop in now and then. Maybe it's best to let the OP take the lead and see where it goes?

Doodledog

*Yet what sort of thing are you thinking of the "something" being please?*
I wasn't thinking of anything . I just meant that if people wanted to chat about writing, I would be happy to join in.

Oh I can sort something for you then.

Doodledog

This is why publishers fight shy of anything that has been posted online.

I think there are (at least) two issues.

One is that it has been published as such, so publication elsewhere is not then new to the audience.

Two is that the online publication has resulted in some third party (for example Gransnet the business) either having or claiming some intellectual property rights over the work, such as copyright or licence.

The first one might not be as much o a problem as the second one, because if, say, the author published, say, poems on his or her own website, then a hardcopy book of the poems might sell well, either notwithstanding the online publishing, or because of the online publishing because people have seen the poems online and want the hardcopy version, either for themself or as a gift, or both.

Yet what sort of thing are you thinking of the "something" being please?
I wasn't thinking of anything . I just meant that if people wanted to chat about writing, I would be happy to join in.

If Gransnet (the business) were to be the publisher would that still be an issue?

Bluebelle wrote Having said that, if something is set up that includes poets, I'd like to join in if that's ok?

I expect it would be ok for you to join in. It certainly would be if I were to start it. Yet what sort of thing are you thinking of the "something" being please?

This is why publishers fight shy of anything that has been posted online.

Doodledog

I don't want to teach anyone to suck eggs, but in case anyone is not aware, it's not a great idea to put work online if you hope to get it published, as a lot of publishers will not touch previously published work. Posting it on here counts as published in that context (as does posting on FB or similar unless it is a closed private group, although that is usually ok).

Having said that, if something is set up that includes poets, I'd like to join in if that's ok?

There is also the issue of Gransnet claiming non-exclusive copyright.

LINK > www.gransnet.com/forums

quote

Welcome to Gransnet. We've selected some topics below we think you might want to discuss but you're free to talk on any subject you like. You need to be a member of Gransnet to use the forum. Please be aware this is a public forum and your postings are open for all to see. Please note that Gransnet has non-exclusive copyright in all submissions to Gransnet, and reserves the right to edit and re-publish these in print form.

end quote

I only noticed that a few days ago. I don't know how long it has been there.

What exactly in "non-exclusive copyright"? I had never known that term before. Do they mean they have a non-exlusive licence?

Someone can only "reserve" a right that they actually have in the first place.

They don't mention what fee they will pay to authors for use in print.

What about the movie rights?

I don't want to teach anyone to suck eggs, but in case anyone is not aware, it's not a great idea to put work online if you hope to get it published, as a lot of publishers will not touch previously published work. Posting it on here counts as published in that context (as does posting on FB or similar unless it is a closed private group, although that is usually ok).

Having said that, if something is set up that includes poets, I'd like to join in if that's ok?