Published authors and percentage income

Boneman said:
I'd ask this question to everyone: if, after ten years of working on your books, editing, rewriting, recrafting, paying for professional help, improving, improving, improving, and getting close to deals, nothing has happened, wouldn't you consider self-publishing? And how do you feel that after these ten years Gerry Tindkood writes a book in a month and puts it alongside yours, and everyone has no way of equating them?
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I don't know this guy, never heard of him till Sir Boneman mentioned him. I take it he means Terry Goodkind.

Is his book crap - I don't know.

Did he write it in a month when its took me 7 years to get mine half legible - I'm not sure.

Did he get in the New York Times best seller list - apparently so.

Because I'm sales orientated, in my mind there is no argument about someones writing when they get in that list. I cant believe its that bad.

No disrespect but alot of people slag off Dan Brown and JK Rowling, saying their writing is rubbish. Is this not the case of, because Goodkind is a self-publisher, he must be rubbish. When in fact to achieve those sales, he can't be that bad.

Just an opinion...
 
Normally I'd think you had a point here, Gary, but he (the lovely Terry) really is a bit - um - hard to read (IMHO) and would, I suspect, hide between his hands as he read the feedback if he was on the critiques board here.

I guess popular doesn't always mean good, but it does mean successful if you take sales as the parameter.
 
Nah, Goodkind is published, I was just having a dig at the fact that one of his books allegedly took him 6 weeks to write... and it was awful....:eek:

It was the sixth of a series, so them keeping up HAD to buy it... A bit like wheel of Time, I think - if you submitted any of the last five books of those to a publisher today, you'd be rejected faster than the intergnat can fly! (IMHO, I know there are those who like him... shudders...)
 
Boneman said:
Nah, Goodkind is published, I was just having a dig at the fact that one of his books allegedly took him 6 weeks to write... and it was awful....:eek:
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Aye it was awful for you but maybe for others it was slendiferous:)
 
springs1971 said:
Normally I'd think you had a point here, Gary, but he (the lovely Terry) really is a bit - um - hard to read (IMHO) and would, I suspect, hide between his hands as he read the feedback if he was on the critiques board here.

I guess popular doesn't always mean good, but it does mean successful if you take sales as the parameter.
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Haha, I've won the argument. He's apparently published. If he'd been self-published he would've hired an editor, had it proof read and made reading it like having a peanut butter sandwich.:eek:
 
No you cant say it.

This is a family friendly forum...wait the wife's waving my copy of Hello magazine at me. What he said folk - uh!

Sorry Bonehead I'm wrong but I usually am:)
 
I have been diagnosed as often humorous.

The doctor, who specializes in schizophrenia said I was definately funny.:eek::eek:
 
Hi,

I've actually got some of Terry Goodkind's stuff on my shelves, and I quite like it.

As for six weeks to write a book, that's slow. I wrote a 73k novel 'Pawn' in three weeks. (Unfortunately it's now been a month in editing which is rather slowing things down, but it should be out in another couple of weeks). However, when I checked I found that even that was a slow day at the office. I googled one guy who wrote a 96k novel in two weeks. He had to, something to do with publishing deadlines. I haven't read it or him, so can't say if it's good or not, but it's still impressive.

Cheers, Greg.
 
I agree it depends on writing speed, but it doesn't take me 6 weeks to write a first draft. I've written three since the start of NaNo and now have a detective series needing rewriting and editing.

I am cursing milk on my keyboard - which means it is now resting in peace. This has been a great discussion.

My detectives are something I am seriously considering self publishing, because it isn't LGBTQ, fantasy or romance and my main two characters are gay. (Oh and I have another gay couple, a lesbian couple and a transexual, amongst others lol) Friends who have tried to get similar works have been asked to tone them down. (My boys are not getting toned down lol)

My main fantasy is butting up against not being futuristic or historical.

My other fantasy should be pedestrian enough and is the story that stands the better chance with an agent.
 
AnyaKimlin said:
My detectives are something I am seriously considering self publishing, because it isn't LGBTQ, fantasy or romance and my main two characters are gay. (Oh and I have another gay couple, a lesbian couple and a transexual, amongst others lol) Friends who have tried to get similar works have been asked to tone them down. (My boys are not getting toned down lol)
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You just need to find the right publisher. Most of the central characters in my historical fantasy are non-straight, and Angry Robot had no problem with that; one of my friends who writes about a lesbian werewolf private eye has been published by small press Queered Fiction who, unsurprisingly, focus on LGBTQ characters.

I would second the comment that speed of writing has little to do with quality. If someone is writing full time and is a good typist, it's no big deal to put out 3-5k of competent prose in a day, which means one can write a novel draft in 4-6 weeks.

For someone like me who is a discovery writer, that initial draft has to be followed by extensive revision, whereas someone else might precede their draft with extensive outlining - either way, start to finish it takes a lot longer than it seems. There's also the time you spend prior to writing the story, jotting down notes or letting ideas mull in your subconscious, even whilst you're working on another project.

If a book written in six weeks is bad, it's probably because the writer is a) not that good in the first place and b) had no time to revise the initial draft to make up for lack of raw brilliance.
 
Anne Lyle said:
You just need to find the right publisher. Most of the central characters in my historical fantasy are non-straight, and Angry Robot had no problem with that; one of my friends who writes about a lesbian werewolf private eye has been published by small press Queered Fiction who, unsurprisingly, focus on LGBTQ characters.
.
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Yes both are fantasy/paranormal ;) Angry Robot is prejudiced against this story because it isn't fantasy lol

Things are improving, but the nature of my story means it faces an additional barrier. (It is a full blown cosy mystery set in a small market town). I have already decided I'd rather self publish if it looks like agents/publishers won't accept my characters without watering them down.
 
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