did u ever publish a novel/book/poetry?

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I really don’t know if there are any other publishing houses that are specialised on new and unknown authors, but Novum does for sure :wink:

But this publishing house isn’t specialised only on them... as I’ve heard, there are also famous personalities in the publishing list… such as Katy Karrenbaumer.
However, I think that Novum can be a great opportunity for unknown authors with a good manuscript, that haven’t published anything before and/or got rejected by other publishers.

@freelove: yes, she was really satisfied with their service and the people were very kind (Novum also has its own service hotline - whenever a problem occured, she made a call and things got cleared simply)
at first, she had reservations relating to the cost sharing thing, but in the end, the costs weren’t as high as she expected :wink:

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 21

widmnd

Yes I would be interested in knowing the answers to those questions too :smile:

Reply 22

freelove

Hmm another thing that comes into my mind - what about layout and graphics and that, was it also done on a professional level to be satisfied with?
Writing and getting published are really two different pairs of shoes. It is always a long way, but for me totally worth it to work also your ass off a bit!

Reply 23

Kittiara

I've published poetry and articles. Poetry through contests and through an anthology that was organised through a writing website that I am a member of. Articles by basically being cheeky and pitching ideas to online media websites.

With poetry contests, it's good to be careful. There are genuine ones out there, and ones that will publish anything and everything and then want you to pay a fortune for a copy of the publication. So that's rather pointless, as it says nothing about your work.

With books, it's also good to be careful of the vanity press, where they'll publish your work, but you have to pay for it, and do your own promotion. You'll usually end up out of pocket. That's happened to a couple of friends of mine.

There are genuine small publishers out there, though. I've done editing for an American one in the past.

Reply 24

widmnd

Thanks for that Kittiara! I guess it's really hard /if not sometimes impossible to know if you found a genuine and trustworthy publishinghouse :/ I personally would rather rely on other people's experience, so ifanyone told me of a publishing company they know is good, I would considergoing with it. It's always better to go to forums and inform yourself for thesekind of matters I find :smile:

But personally I am more interested in the publishingof books rather than articles and so on – I understand the process is verydifferent.

Reply 25

freelove

I think there are a lot of differences in that kind.
Publishing is not publishing also - I prefer it done as a book, always thinking maybe as an ebook also, but never sure if that is what is really needed, and as I am also a bit old fashioned, books preferred. Tp pay for that is not new to me, nor is it a problem, as long as you have an advice, marketing, graphics - this is always ok.

Reply 26

widmnd

Yeah I get that - I wouldn't want to publish anything online either. I guess the idea of a physical book is just so much more appealing. I guess it can be a first step towards publishing an actual paper book, but still... I'd be scared of then "being stuck" as an e-book reader author.

Reply 27

Snufkin

Universities Forum Helper

Don't look for a publisher, find an agent. If they take you on, they do the leg work of finding a publisher.

Reply 28

CandyCurls

Original post by freelove

As far as I know, she got personal custodians who took care of stufflike this, but they didn’t make any decision without her permission. Andrelating to the layout and graphics: she got a questionnaire at the beginningof the process, which includes questions not only about layout and graphics,but also about the editorial report, advertising and so on. In this way, shehad an effect on all decisions relating to the cover design, editorial, orthography,… :wink:

She also told me, that she was really satisfied with the collaboration andthe way her custodians managed everything

Reply 29

Tootles

Original post by Snufkin

Don't look for a publisher, find an agent. If they take you on, they do the leg work of finding a publisher.

This is what I'm doing actually. It's a bloody big if though. I started writing three weeks ago and I've had one reply - 'this isn't my kind of thing, better luck elsewhere...'

Reply 30

Snufkin

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Tootles

This is what I'm doing actually. It's a bloody big if though. I started writing three weeks ago and I've had one reply - 'this isn't my kind of thing, better luck elsewhere...'

That is why I advise people not to email random agents - they all have different specialisms and cater to different markets, find one that matches your book.

Reply 31

The Warsmith

I have published poetry before. That was back in primary school. My poems are still in the Ulster Gazette though :biggrin:

Reply 32

Captain Jack

Original post by freelove

As I am a very creative person in generel I also assume writing is one of my favourite things to do, I startet with short stories as a teenager and now it evolved a little bit more - but still I see myself as very new in the literature scene or context, whatever u may call it ...
Therefore my question is - did u ever publish something, do u have any advices?

I have a long time ago.

The hardest part is actually getting through to someone willing to read your stuff and willing to consider publising you. You have to stand out, and to do that you have to get published in mags, papers, online. Appear at events, network etc.

Reply 33

Tootles

Original post by Snufkin

That is why I advise people not to email random agents - they all have different specialisms and cater to different markets, find one that matches your book.

I didn't

mine's a fantasy novel, and the agent I sent it to was interested in sci-fi/fantasy. Probably my synopsis didn't look awesome.

Reply 34

Dr Pesto

Original post by PinkMobilePhone

Self publishing is easier. If you want to get published by a publisher, you could have a long hard slog on your hands.

My website is www.wolfborn.co.uk if you're interested.

So how does one go about self publishing?

Reply 35

PinkMobilePhone

Volunteer Team

Original post by Dr Pesto

So how does one go about self publishing?

Well this is the way I do it :

You write a book
You edit the hell out of it
You put it into book format in InDesign
You make sure you have a cover and a blurb and copyright information
You purchase a pack of ISBNs from Nielsen
You use one of your ISBNs to produce a barcode which you put on the back of your cover
You make sure your cover is the right size for your book
Once everything is ready to go, you register your chosen ISBN at Nielsen Title Editor
You then upload your book and cover to Ingram Spark
You pay an extra monetary amount to get your book listed in the catalogues which go to the major distributors like Gardners and Bertrams
and that's all there is to it.

Simple. All you do is bleed.

Reply 36

widmnd

Haha well that sounds super easy! (not)
But isn't even choosing a cover tricky, in terms pf the copyright etc? Like where do you guidance for that?
It just seems like there is an awful lot of decisions involved. Maybe I am easily impressed :P

Reply 37

freelove

@ PinkMobilePhone: sounds quite easy but it is not like that, I me3an editing putting a cover on it is a work to be done by another one that knows how it is done.
@ ser Alex Toyne: Congraz, still in there, very good, how did it come that way?