Has anyone here been published? And...

[Zubi-Ondo]

Have you been published? The "And..." is because I'd like to take an informal poll of how long you had been writing before you were published (?)

And if you write novels: How long does it take you to write one?

And - Do you have a day job, or other income?

I'm not published, but I'm not really in a hurry. I have a job that pays decently, and I have young kids keeping me busy, so I couldn't really be in a hurry even if I wanted to be.

Thanks.

If there is a better place for this post, could an admin move it for me?
Thanks.

- Z.

[Teresa Edgerton]

Yes, I've been published. It took me about seven years to write my first published novel. I stopped counting the revisions at six or seven; I think in all there may have been a dozen.

Subsequent books have taken me anywhere between a year and five years to write.

There have been times since then when I've had a day job, but mostly we live on what my husband makes and my sporadic writing income.

[Zubi-Ondo]

Thanks Teresa - I take it you enjoy the craft then.

I was just reading this today, and I wondered if you had seen it, and if it's even halfway true?

How to avoid the slushpile

Thanks,

- Z.

[Teresa Edgerton]

The original article? It's meant to be humorous, but a lot of people take it far too seriously. It makes editors sound capricious and unreasonable, which they seldom are. They're there to do a job, after all, not torture writers.

But there's a grain of truth in the piece, here and there.

It's just that people shouldn't be getting their writing advice from articles that are meant to be tongue-in-cheek.

[flynx]

I've been published in three anthologies (paid for none except copy) and had been 'seriously' writing for about 3 or 4 years.

Here's the relatively good news. the stories were originally published online (still are) and I was asked (gasp, yes solicited) for those particular titles to be included in the anthologies (hence not being paid and all three being charitable collections)

I've been working on a couple of novels (neither sci-fi) for a couple of years, as the mood takes me which is why they're hardly started let alone finished.

I'm actually dreading finishing them and needing to find the guts to send them out.

[chopper]

Originally Posted by flynx

I'm actually dreading finishing them and needing to find the guts to send them out.

i'd view it as a particularly long application form or job interview

nonetheless i think i know what you mean & its something i view with trepidation too.

s

[Jaqhama]

G'day Zubi

Yes I've been paid and published.
I mainly do short stories or novellas and have been paid and published by a variety of webzines and magazines; everything from sci-fi to military and motorcycle related stuff.
All of the publishers so far have been in the USA.
I've been extremely fortunate in that I've only ever had two rejections. And one of those rejections was for a flash fiction piece that seemed not to gel with the publisher.
It actually involved God sending Lucifer down to Earth to wipe out mankind, as he'd got sick of humankinds constant warring. I'm orginally from the UK and have lived in Oz for most of my life...I don't think the USA flash fiction publisher quite understood UK/Oz humour or dialog

As for work...I work 4 nightshifts a week...so I have plenty of time if things are quiet, and they normally are, to write at work if I choose to. I can obviously write on my 4 days off as well.

I've just sold my entire collection of sword and sorcery stories to an American magazine publisher. I've also made a deal to have those stories and a couple of others printed in the one novel later in the year.

I'm going to self publish a completed action/thriller/horror novel thru Lulu.com this year. Just to see how it sells compared to a traditionally published book.

I'm currently at work on another collection of action/adventure sci-fi stories that I'll eventually submit (as one novel) to a major Australian publishing house via an agent.

How long does it take me to write something?
I can knock out a short story between 5000 to 10,000 words in a couple of nights when I'm in the mood.
I don't normally write at all when I'm not in the mood.
I'll go a month or more without writing anything, just letting ideas sift around in my head. I might make notes now and again.
Then one day I'll just decide to start the story and it's normally finished in a few days.
Last year I wrote five short stories in less than a month.
The hardest thing about writing is actually sitting down at a keyboard and doing it.
Once I'm sat and typing I can write all day/night.

Hope some of this helped to answer your questions mate.

Cheers: Jaq.

[Zubi-Ondo]

Originally Posted by Jaqhama

G'day Zubi
...
It actually involved God sending Lucifer down to Earth to wipe out mankind, as he'd got sick of humankinds constant warring. I'm orginally from the UK and have lived in Oz for most of my life...I don't think the USA flash fiction publisher quite understood UK/Oz humour or dialog.

G'day Jaqhama, That doesn't sound too out of the SF&F realm to me. Maybe you could try what those less successful writers do, and submit to a few other places! (LOL - Since you're not accustomed to being rejected)

Originally Posted by Jaqhama

As for work...I work 4 nightshifts a week...so I have plenty of time if things are quiet, and they normally are, to write at work if I choose to. I can obviously write on my 4 days off as well.

There's the trick I've been looking for, an 8 day week. (Just joking - I know what you meant)

Originally Posted by Jaqhama

I don't normally write at all when I'm not in the mood.
I'll go a month or more without writing anything, just letting ideas sift around in my head. I might make notes now and again.

Same for me, up to there. I am working on my first novel, and like I said in the top post, I couldn't be in a hurry if I wanted to.

Originally Posted by Jaqhama

The hardest thing about writing is actually sitting down at a keyboard and doing it. Once I'm sat and typing I can write all day/night.
Cheers: Jaq.

Agreed. Well, If you're talking about anything as long as a novella or longer, perhaps editing is pretty hard too.

One question it seems you might have missed: How long were you writing before you were published? ( even if you started when you were 5. )

Thanks Jaqhama,

Cheers Mate,

- Z.

[Jaqhama]

How long?

Hmmm...I wrote a couple of short stories when I was in my mid 20's.

Then almost nothing until the late 90's.
The internet was the turning point for me.
So much more access to magazine/webzine and book/ebook publishers.

[Tobytwo]

Well, I'm just about to be published (see avatar!). Writing the book took about 9 months, but I did it on-and-off whilst trying to write something much more serious, and I work full time. The first few chapters were done for my own amusement as much as for publication.

I have been writing one way or another since I was 10 - 18 years ago. However, only over the last few years have I given publication serious thought and, I think, has my writing become good enough to get into print. I do have a day job, but as soon as I can make enough money from this writing business, I won't! That could be a while, though. All depends on how well it sells. Rather nerveracking, really...

[Anthony G Williams]

Originally Posted by Jaqhama

Hmmm...I wrote a couple of short stories when I was in my mid 20's.

Then almost nothing until the late 90's.

Wow - so you're almost 100 years old?

[Jaqhama]

Originally Posted by Anthony G Williams

Wow - so you're almost 100 years old?

LMAO...I'm mid 40's now.

Funny how something reads perfectly ok...until...

[Anthony G Williams]

There's a column in The Independent newspaper every Saturday which picks up all of the paper's errors of English construction, misuse of cliches etc, which have been spotted by readers over the past week. Highly educational, especially for budding writers.

[Paul Alabaster]

Not been published to date - I have won a few compeitions and been approached by vanity publishers - boo and hiss, but I am going to be contacting some agencies and publishers too - I am the worlds worst editor however and my other half helps me out in dusting off my work before people view it. I think all writers, even the top notch ones have a good editor behind them. I remember watching a programme about J.K.Rowling at Christmas and it showed her having a meeting with her editor - the red pen came out and it was all over the page! So that made me feel a little bit better!

I write novels and they do take between 1-3 years to complete - so itsa real labour of love -

I do have a job to pay all those nasty bills but doing so does eat into my writing time! Again - Boooo Hissssssss!

My genre is thriller/horror

Oh and I agree Jaqhama about the use of the net - it is a good way of getting info in terms of research and even getting yourself 'out there' - I have recently launched my own website - IM or e-mail me if you want to know more!

I a new member to this site and just want to say I think its great!

[Mary Hoffman]

Yes, I am a published writer and live off my writing. But I have been able to do this only for the last 15 or so years. Before that I did tutoring, teaching, educational consultancy etc. etc. Now I just write to commission but that could all fall apart tomorrow - the publishing world is in such a bad way.

My first novel took a year and a half to write (not full-time) and another year or so to find a publisher. By the time it came out it was 5 years after I had started to write it.

All my books save 2 have been for teenagers or children. In the last 7 years, since moving out of London, I have written 4 novels in the Stravaganza sequence (fantasy) and one and two thirds historical novels: The Falconer's Knot and Troubadour (the current book). But I have also written a full-length adult novel (still out with publishers) and a few shorter books.

Because I now write novels of 80,000 words+ and they require historical research (in some cases lots of it) I allow about six months for research and writing, but not including editing, copy-editing, proof-reading and all the later stages. I have to do some of all that while started on the next book (as now).

Best of luck with your own writing.

Mary