Where do I go now? (Getting published and all that nonsense)

I would definitely do a second draft. They're dreaded, I know, but it helps to trim the fat. Having never been published myself I don't know which direction to point in that area. You've written some wonderful stuff and I wish you much success. Rich

Ah, you must learn to love the redrafting process, young jedi. Don't be tempted by the dark side telling you one draft is enough. One draft is never enough if you want to master the force that is truly great writing. (Excuse the cheesy Star Wars references, I haven't a clue what's come over me.) Here's a link I stumbled across the other day. http://thebookdoctorbd.blogspot.com/2010/08/ive-finished-my-first-draft-... You'll be pleasantly surprised how your work develops through the redrafting process. Best of luck, and let us know how you get on.

Why not try the Indie's? (but not mine, please, we're swamped!) - they're often a much better bet than The Big Boys, and kinder, too :) UKA has extensive (publishing) resources, although I haven't been through it for ages, so some links (and, indeed, markets) may well be defunct. Indies come and go with astonishing speed sometimes. Anyway --> http://genres.ukauthors.com/modules.php?name=Content And there's no shame in self publishing these days, either. Good luck!

Hello there MM, congratulations on the completion of your first major draft of your first novel. You have to ask yourself several questions before you proceed on your re-drafting. Keep in mind you already probably re-wrote it three times if you count all the changes already done. Only you can answer these: Am I happy with what is now completed, RTF, 1" sides, Times New Roman? Do I wish to make this a career? Am I prepared to write regularly each day without fail? Do not pay anyone one cent to publish (Vanity) unless you wish to self-publish; Get going: Today's competition almost demands an agent-- Google agents re your novel content and send 10 of them a Precis on your book, include your background, reason for publishing, knowledge of content and what your future writing intentions are, as well as one copy of your first chapter (do everything through Internet---much cheaper than snail mail). Resources: Google "Piers Anthony Internet Publishing" for invaluable free info re Internet Publishers; Go to Library and check out books on subjects similar to yours, get their names and check on Internet what these publishers require in their submissions. You may have many more questions, but work on the above. Remember to develop your own style. And try not to re-vise so much, you MAY lose the intent of your story flow. Sometimes the first completed version is the best. Cheers, Richard LP

I'm doing the rounds with my self-published children's picture book and finding that Waterstones are most obliging with signing events and community activity events. Thank God, because they're the only book seller on the high street these days. I met a writer also doing the rounds and he told me he made more money in self-publishing than not. What happened was, he self-published 2500 copies of his book and sold them all, then he was picked up by a very good publisher who offered him a 10% deal. The long and the short is that if you treat the book as something you're prepared to market, you'll get a deal if it's well received and you're good at selling. Maybe something will come along that will have publishers fighting for its rights, but for the other 99.99% of unsolicited material, it's very difficult to support, especially with the depression (if this is a recession, my name's Wilbur the Wolf). I say publish and be damned. It will strengthen your will to continue writing, fine-tune your sales technique and give you a goal to sell the books as a marketeer. the hard part of writing a book is selling it. that's why publishers are there, but the market's changing and 26% of all books sold last year were self-published. All the best Richard

Mudkip, you can self publish your book with Lulu and all you pay is to purchase your own books, and that is at a discount. Since Xmas I have published six books with them and have just recieved a cheque for my sales. The process is not too complicated as they guide you through the complete process from start to finish. You even set the price of your book. I can now publish a book in less than one hour. Select the free ISBN and free distribution, and your books will still be available on Amazon after a few weeks. I was completely satisfied with the quality of the books and even though they have not made me rich, they are selling. I would though advise you to ensure that your book is as near perfect as you can het it, as Lulu have no input into the contents. Hope this helped. Below is a link to my Lulu bookstore. Take a look and see what you think. http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/HULSEY

Forgot to mention, Biddles (http://www.biddles.co.uk/) do (or used to) reasonably priced short runs (100 copies min). They're very good, friendly and reliable, I've used them myself. http://www.ukauthors.com

Well done on the completion of your first novel! I haven't read any of Cigarette yet but will go away and find it and let you know what I think. Alex

Hey! All the advice given seems great, but I must warn you - a second draft will not be the only one needed! I have to warn you that, if a publisher does take you on, the editing process will be a long game of tennis between you, yourself and the editor, and no matter how many times you go through your manuscript, even at the twentieth draft, you'll still find the odd comma that's gone astray, or that you've used the same adjective three times in one paragraph, or a character has done or said something in chapter three that doesn't tie up with a development in chapter twenty, or need to rewrite a whole chapter that you suddenly find yourself unhappy with, etc, etc! Or maybe that's just me! Anyway, the best advice I can give you is to find a friend or relative who is great at spelling, grammar, etc and get them to proof-read it for you - they'll also be able to bring up any plot points or flaws you won't have noticed because you're too close to it. Invaluable before you go near a publisher or agent! Anyway, best of luck, and keep writing! J x