By Joseph Nicholson
I know that usually talk about something very nerdy and sci-fi related over at clockworkquills.com but this time ‘round, I wanted to talk about something a little more serious and share some of my experiences so that others won’t fall into the same pitfalls that I have. As a published author, I have had my share of lumps in the world of writing. I am by no means a highly accomplished author, however. I haven’t sold forty thousand copies of my book. I don’t have a movie deal in the works. I don’t even make enough on my book sales to quit my day job. You say, “Man! I just wrote this amazing story! I can’t wait to get it published and become a super-mega superstar like Stephen King!”
My story started very similarly to this. My love of Role-Playing Games’s spawned a creative streak in me. I would write original modules for the Wizards of the Coast Star Wars Roleplaying Game for my friends and then run them. I would make original characters complete with back-story, personality traits, etc. During one game back in my undergrad days, I was reading the character background for a character that I came up with and one of the participants, who was also my college band director, was so impressed by it that he asked me why I didn't try writing something to get published and make millions of dollars. I didn't have a good answer for him, so I did. I wrote two amazing, epic-long Star Wars novels back-to-back as sequels set in the Jedi Purge era following Revenge of the Sith and Order 66.
Then I started doing some research and found out that Del Rey Books (who owns the rights to Star Wars publishing) doesn't accept unsolicited manuscripts, in other words, without an agent, I wasn't going to get the time of day. Logically, the next step was to find an agent. So I hit the World Wide Web in search of an agent who would be my harbinger of fame and fortune. I found one! I won’t say which one it is as to not slander them, but this is where I went wrong. I emailed them, asking that if I had a specific publisher in mind, would they submit the manuscript to them? They said they would. I said, “Great! Here’s my manuscript.” They said, “Thanks. Oh, by the way, there’s a $90 critiquing fee that we charge to make sure your work is publish-worthy. That should have been a big, fat, obnoxious red flag! But, with fame and fortune in my sights and the naivety of a greenhorn writer, I said, “Wow! Thanks!” like they were doing me some big favor. Of course, a week later I got another letter saying that the critique came through and it was approved for the submitting process.
During the months I waited to hear back from my agent, I started doing my own research again. I visited many of my favorite Star Wars Author’s websites (Troy Denning, Timothy Zahn, Christie Golden, Drew Karpyshyn , etc...), especially their FAQ’s, and found out that you don’t ask to write for Star Wars, they ask you to write for them. I was crushed. My dreams shattered, I picked up the pieces, sent the agency an email telling them not to waste their time and that I would come up with something original. A few months later, I finished my first original manuscript and submitted it immediately. This time ‘round they waved the $90 critique fee and said they would push it to publishers just as soon as I paid them to have someone edit it.
Fortunately, I had a friend who was a high school English teacher and she edited it for me for free. Thanks, Melissa! That mitigated the cost, but the agency wasn't happy about it at all and told me if there were any errors, no publisher would touch it—also incorrect. After about a year of waiting, I finally emailed the agency to get an update. The “Dear John” form email I got back said—in more words, or course—“why don’t you try self-publishing on Amazon.com?” At that point, I terminated my contract and started looking elsewhere. Beware! You should NEVER have to PAY someone to have your book published! That was the advice I got from multiple authors with whom I spoke on the subject.
I put that story on the back-burner and started a new project, The Seryys Chronicles. After I finished Death Wish, I started looking for agents again. After a few denials, I gave up. I told myself that it must be fate that I’m not getting published. I found multiple small publishers that claimed they had books out in print, or online. Here’s another lesson I can share with you all: Do your research! Most of these “publishers” had little or nothing in print, no websites, and some even had warnings on the BBB website. Again, I was deflated. Then, one day, I found a small publisher was looking for new authors. This publisher claimed to have some works already out and was gracious enough to supply the titles. I was able to go online and find the books easily on Amazon.com to confirm that. That was when I found MQuills and subsequently their imprint Clockwork Quills. Then I spent another week or two debating whether I wanted to go with a small publisher or take my chances with another agent and hope that a big name publisher would take it.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I would NOT get famous off my first, second, third, fourth or even fifth book, that it would be a process. It’s a trade-off for sure. You can try going with a big time publisher and you may NEVER get published—and even if you do, there’s still a chance you won’t be highly successful—or go with a smaller publisher and increase your chances of getting published exponentially. Everyone needs to start somewhere. For me, Clockwork Quills was the perfect opportunity to get my name out there and show the world that I can write. Plus, THEY edited my book, THEY published it free of charge and THEY paid ME the royalties! That is the way publishing is supposed to work. That is what a good, legit publisher does. And for these reasons, I am deeply grateful to have found them.
Anyway, I hope that this blog will illuminate the way for others, that my mistakes can help other fledgling authors find their way through the maze of publishers and agents promising the world and then some, and leaving them flat. Very rarely do authors hit it big in the writing world off of their first go ‘round. Not everyone can enjoy the success that authors like Stephenie Meyer (Twilight Saga) or J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter) have. The more realistic rise to international superstar-ness is a story like Dan Brown’s (The Di Vinci Code). He actually wrote Angels and Demons before he wrote The Di Vinci Code. Not to mention he tried his hand at being a musician first. It wasn’t until The Di Vinci Code became a best seller did his other novels enjoy any real success.
I’m not posting this blog to discourage anyone from trying, honestly. I just want other new authors to realize that it’s not fame and fortune right off the bat. All I’m saying is that, sometimes, you have to grind it out for a while before you achieve greatness. So keep plucking away and follow your dreams. If you work hard enough to sow the seeds, you will reap the benefits eventually.
Keep writing and good luck!
My story started very similarly to this. My love of Role-Playing Games’s spawned a creative streak in me. I would write original modules for the Wizards of the Coast Star Wars Roleplaying Game for my friends and then run them. I would make original characters complete with back-story, personality traits, etc. During one game back in my undergrad days, I was reading the character background for a character that I came up with and one of the participants, who was also my college band director, was so impressed by it that he asked me why I didn't try writing something to get published and make millions of dollars. I didn't have a good answer for him, so I did. I wrote two amazing, epic-long Star Wars novels back-to-back as sequels set in the Jedi Purge era following Revenge of the Sith and Order 66.
Then I started doing some research and found out that Del Rey Books (who owns the rights to Star Wars publishing) doesn't accept unsolicited manuscripts, in other words, without an agent, I wasn't going to get the time of day. Logically, the next step was to find an agent. So I hit the World Wide Web in search of an agent who would be my harbinger of fame and fortune. I found one! I won’t say which one it is as to not slander them, but this is where I went wrong. I emailed them, asking that if I had a specific publisher in mind, would they submit the manuscript to them? They said they would. I said, “Great! Here’s my manuscript.” They said, “Thanks. Oh, by the way, there’s a $90 critiquing fee that we charge to make sure your work is publish-worthy. That should have been a big, fat, obnoxious red flag! But, with fame and fortune in my sights and the naivety of a greenhorn writer, I said, “Wow! Thanks!” like they were doing me some big favor. Of course, a week later I got another letter saying that the critique came through and it was approved for the submitting process.
During the months I waited to hear back from my agent, I started doing my own research again. I visited many of my favorite Star Wars Author’s websites (Troy Denning, Timothy Zahn, Christie Golden, Drew Karpyshyn , etc...), especially their FAQ’s, and found out that you don’t ask to write for Star Wars, they ask you to write for them. I was crushed. My dreams shattered, I picked up the pieces, sent the agency an email telling them not to waste their time and that I would come up with something original. A few months later, I finished my first original manuscript and submitted it immediately. This time ‘round they waved the $90 critique fee and said they would push it to publishers just as soon as I paid them to have someone edit it.
Fortunately, I had a friend who was a high school English teacher and she edited it for me for free. Thanks, Melissa! That mitigated the cost, but the agency wasn't happy about it at all and told me if there were any errors, no publisher would touch it—also incorrect. After about a year of waiting, I finally emailed the agency to get an update. The “Dear John” form email I got back said—in more words, or course—“why don’t you try self-publishing on Amazon.com?” At that point, I terminated my contract and started looking elsewhere. Beware! You should NEVER have to PAY someone to have your book published! That was the advice I got from multiple authors with whom I spoke on the subject.
I put that story on the back-burner and started a new project, The Seryys Chronicles. After I finished Death Wish, I started looking for agents again. After a few denials, I gave up. I told myself that it must be fate that I’m not getting published. I found multiple small publishers that claimed they had books out in print, or online. Here’s another lesson I can share with you all: Do your research! Most of these “publishers” had little or nothing in print, no websites, and some even had warnings on the BBB website. Again, I was deflated. Then, one day, I found a small publisher was looking for new authors. This publisher claimed to have some works already out and was gracious enough to supply the titles. I was able to go online and find the books easily on Amazon.com to confirm that. That was when I found MQuills and subsequently their imprint Clockwork Quills. Then I spent another week or two debating whether I wanted to go with a small publisher or take my chances with another agent and hope that a big name publisher would take it.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I would NOT get famous off my first, second, third, fourth or even fifth book, that it would be a process. It’s a trade-off for sure. You can try going with a big time publisher and you may NEVER get published—and even if you do, there’s still a chance you won’t be highly successful—or go with a smaller publisher and increase your chances of getting published exponentially. Everyone needs to start somewhere. For me, Clockwork Quills was the perfect opportunity to get my name out there and show the world that I can write. Plus, THEY edited my book, THEY published it free of charge and THEY paid ME the royalties! That is the way publishing is supposed to work. That is what a good, legit publisher does. And for these reasons, I am deeply grateful to have found them.
Anyway, I hope that this blog will illuminate the way for others, that my mistakes can help other fledgling authors find their way through the maze of publishers and agents promising the world and then some, and leaving them flat. Very rarely do authors hit it big in the writing world off of their first go ‘round. Not everyone can enjoy the success that authors like Stephenie Meyer (Twilight Saga) or J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter) have. The more realistic rise to international superstar-ness is a story like Dan Brown’s (The Di Vinci Code). He actually wrote Angels and Demons before he wrote The Di Vinci Code. Not to mention he tried his hand at being a musician first. It wasn’t until The Di Vinci Code became a best seller did his other novels enjoy any real success.
I’m not posting this blog to discourage anyone from trying, honestly. I just want other new authors to realize that it’s not fame and fortune right off the bat. All I’m saying is that, sometimes, you have to grind it out for a while before you achieve greatness. So keep plucking away and follow your dreams. If you work hard enough to sow the seeds, you will reap the benefits eventually.
Keep writing and good luck!
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