"Personal" question(s) to John Jarrold

[SJAB]

Originally Posted by John Jarrold

I hope that my being honest here does help...

Yes it does, John. Your posts have helped me a great deal over the past few months. In fact I have just got home to find an email accepting one of my short stories for a pro, paying, anthology. I feel it was your advice on researching the types of publications that suit a story that helped me sell it.

Spaceship;

Don't give up, I was going to earlier this year, but a number of friends, some on this forum, convinced me to keep trying. Just receiving the email about my short story has made up for all the rejections.

[I, Brian]

Originally Posted by SJAB

Gulp! The odds are frightening and seem to get longer. Also, when I read the quality of some of the new writers that are appearing I wonder if I am being a bit b-minded, if not stupid, in thinking any of my work could make it.

Don't be hard on yourself.

If what I've read has any truth in it, at least 90% of submissions are completely amateur from the off. You're basically looking at around the last 5% of submissions actually acheiving any kind of professional standard.

So if you can get into that group, the odds of being published are significantly improved.

Or have I misunderstood the general standard of submissions, John?

(And here's hoping you get the neighbours issue sorted out soon ).

[John Jarrold]

Quite right. Most people can't write to a professional standard. That doesn't mean they shouldn't enjoy writing - just that it has nothing to do with being published commercially by a multi-national conglomerate whose raison d'etre is making money...

[Marco]

Estimates as to what percentage of novels written are commercially publishable average out at 1%. I've read industry insiders who've put it as high as "from 1 to 5%" and one U.S. agent who put it as low as 0.1%, but 1% seems to be a standard guess. Interestingly, John's take up rate so far is over 1%!!! Maybe you're the good writers' choice, John!

[John Jarrold]

I've slowed down noticeably through this year! Don't want many more clients, since I'm a one-man band...

[Wayne Blackhurst]

Originally Posted by John Jarrold

I've slowed down noticeably through this year! Don't want many more clients, since I'm a one-man band...

Too bad....Then again, paying out twice for a roof over one's head could mean another surge Ho, ho! (Laughing at my own sad joke BTW, not an unfortunate situation, although c'mon, you have to admit it's a little crazy...)

Figures, percentages, blah, blah. OK, it's very competitive, best to do the very best you can, enjoy it, keep aware, keep things in perspective and keep writing. Rather than worry where one stands in the literary pecking order. In my very humble opinion.

[John Jarrold]

All anyone can do is their best. Then it's up to others to decide if it's right in commercial, mass-market terms, if that's what an author is looking for...

[Wayne Blackhurst]

Originally Posted by John Jarrold

commercial, mass-market terms, if that's what an author is looking for...

The ultimate prize for any aspiring author, for sure....

[SpaceShip]

Well, I wish it were John - my loft is creaking with the boxes of books still sitting up there waiting ... waiting !!!

Have considered gluing them all together and making a quite fetching coffee table - (well it would be a rather large coffee table) - a little lacquer on the top and - well, who knows, I might end up in the furnishing industry!

[scalem X]

John, the tragic to me, seems to be:
1-If you make writing only one amongst a lot of pastimes, you in general won't get to the goal of making your writing professional.
2-If you really dedicate almost all of your time to writing, that's still no guarantee that you'll succeed in getting published. This ofcourse, makes the chance for disappointment resulting in bitterness, pretty high.

In my case (people are selfish aren't they) the problem seems to be that I don't really know how far I've evolved. Is option 2 worth a try for say a year, or would I need more than a single year?

Now comes the real question: do you have some sort of statistics on the ages of writers and how long they've been wandering along the writing path before getting their first publication?

[John Jarrold]

It varies writer by writer. Like all matters related to writing, there is no formula. I can tell you that it took a writer as good as Iain Banks over ten years from his first submission to publication...

If you really want to write, you'll write. If you let the percentages put you off, you ain't a writer. Writing is mostly not about publication.

[scalem X]

Mmm I agree and I know there is no formula, but maybe I should be more concrete:

I really love writing, but tend to prefer to write say a short story in a week and then correct it later to writing on some piece two days in a week and then the next week another 2 days and...
See the thing that bothers me is that I'm still at Uni and which means that I can't write every day. But maybe a sollution poses itself. I have decided to use two years completing my second year. This will result in me having quite some spare time. I have a few things that could fill up that time, writing being one of them. Yet it remains a tough decision.
I probably will spend some more time writing, but being 19, English being a second language I sometimes feel like I shouldn't try to go for the professional path until I've finished Uni.
I know there are exceptions, but all these writers seem so old .

I think there seems no other sollution but to write and hope a rejection letter explains me how far I am as to writing something publishable.

Any suggestions? Sorry maybe I went some off topic and started rambling about myself and agh well just ignore if that's the case.

[John Jarrold]

You need to be aware of the market and its sophistication, if you want to be published. In terms of SF, this means looking at authors like Alastair Reynolds, Charles Stross, Neal Asher, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Richard Morgan and others (their ages range from 30-odd to about 50) who have broken through over the last five years. In fantasy terms, China Mieville, George R R Martin, Naomi Novik...a publishers' sales director has to equate a new author with a recent name when he or she discusses them with the bookselling trade, rather than long-term bestsellers. It's an industry, and being aware of the market as it stands in 2006 is part of a prospective writer's job. And everyone has to pay their dues, which means writing, writing and more writing...I mentioned Iain Banks, He was 30 when his first novel was published. Over fifteen years working in mainstream publishing (which I didn't enter until I was 34), I didn't publish many authors in their 20s. Of course there are exceptions - but that's what they are: exceptions. Most people younger than that need more experience and time learning their craft to be extra-special enough for publication. But you can't start too early. Just don't expect a fast-track to publication.

[mistri]

I actually find the age of the authors mentioned inspiring, as cheesy as that sounds. It's good to know that adults of all ages are continuing to find publishing success.

Sometimes (I'm in my late twenties), I worry that I haven't achieved anything yet. But we're lucky as writers - we don't have to 'break in' to the industry as early as necessary in other careers. And there's a lot to be said about learning from experience, as well.

[Psyloke]

John, some advice would be much appreciated.

Last year I completed a novel. I sent sample chapters & the synopsis off to a series of agents and after to a few publishers, and have a lovely pile of rejection letters, slips etc.

Many of the "rejection letters" state how my writing is of a high standard, with good pacing and such, but that the story was in some way lacking. Some then state they'd be happy to read any future work by me. So it seems to me that my writing is hopefully publishable but I fail in the storytelling...

Since all I send in are a couple of sample chapters obviously they're going from the synopsis to understand the story. The problem I have is that while it's possible my story concept isn't any good, I have a strong suspicion my many incarnations of Synopses are failing me. I have yet to be happy with a single one though I've rewritten at least 8 times now. Is there any help I can get in condensing a complicated story and characterisation/conflicts while still making it entertaining? I've got half-page, one-page and 2-page versions which focus more on characters, or more on plot, or on world situation, but none of them do the story justice.

I'd rather write a 150k word novel than a one-page synopsis any day!