Comments on THE GALAXY EXPRESS: If No Publisher Wants Your Story, What’s An Author...

Hi, Melisse! I'm guessing stories can always b...

2009-11-19T13:54:08.394-05:00

Hi, Melisse! I'm guessing stories can always be shelved, hard as it must be to wait for more favorable market conditions. And good point about resubmitting. Perhaps good sales on other books will sweeten the pot, too, eh?!

I know I look at epubs for scifi romance. I have t...

2009-11-19T11:13:59.222-05:00

I know I look at epubs for scifi romance. I have two ebooks I have yet to read, maybe I'll start one today.

I personally wouldn't self publish a story I couldn't sell. I might add it as a free read to my yahoo loop.

I think the better way for an author to go is to sell something else to a publisher that takes scifi romance(and I am an epubbed author, so that is where I would go), develop a relationship with an editor, then resubmit, perhaps after beta/critique of the work.

What if us Skiffy Romers went scouting for real...

2009-11-16T22:10:07.926-05:00
What if us Skiffy Romers went scouting for really good self-pubbed, ePubbed, or otherwise not traditionally pubbed SFR authors and reported back to you, Heather?

Interesting! As for epubbed authors, I think we are already doing that. What limits the endeavor is the fact that not everyone has an e-reader.

As for self-pubbed/stories posted online, I’ve linked to a few now and then as authors contact me—but maybe I could do a link roundup of these stories and open the comments for anyone wanting to link to their free stories/promote self-pubbed ones. But it would be reader beware since there’d be no way to prove if they were true SFR.

To expand upon what I posted, let’s say for example that a skiffy rommer posts a story/novella on her site/blog either for free, for the low, low price of .99 cents, or even as donations optional. Knowing the skiffy rommer is actively involved here, I’d be more inclined to read her story than I might have been otherwise. Let’s say I read the story and love it, and others in the community have read it and loved it. Then we “hand-sell” the story right along other (published) books we generally discuss.

Again, this is hypothetical and like XandraG noted, the onus is on the author for marketing. Plus, there’s an emotional risk in that what if no one or very few people downloaded the story? Ugh, how painful. But it’s a thought I had about harnessing the power of social media for SFR. It's kind of useless right now because there aren't many of these stories available.

marketing departments (the true gatekeepers, LOL

Ain’t that the truth—very astute point!

if the guy who twitters @shitmydadsays can get a TV show deal out of it, someone with a well-written book can get agent interest.

I know, isn’t that something? It also demonstrates the challenge of finding just the right angle.

I saw no point in trying to sell The Star Captains...

2009-11-16T09:44:35.419-05:00
I saw no point in trying to sell The Star Captains' Daughter once it was rejected everywhere. Sharing it was what mattered with me. The story begged to be free. And so I gave it away.

An author with a following in a niche genre or sub...

2009-11-16T08:57:11.987-05:00
An author with a following in a niche genre or subgenre needs to use that to her advantage when querying agents and editors. If you are writing for an amateur or semi-pro community and getting good feedback and notoriety, and you have something that is well-written and polished (and isn't already posted somewhere on the 'net for public consumption), then there are definitely agents and editors who will sit up and take notice. That's an angle they can use for their marketing departments (the true gatekeepers, LOL), no matter how small it might seem. Hey, if the guy who twitters @shitmydadsays can get a TV show deal out of it, someone with a well-written book can get agent interest.

Having said that, self-pubbing is viable, but with the understanding that the onus is on the author to become art department as well as editorial department, and to personally hand-sell to reviewers and personally raise awareness of the product, which takes away from writing. If an author is prepared for that, and can afford to competitively price their book in whatever formats they produce it in, then go for it, and let us know when it's ready for consumption! :)

As one of Kimber An's old "crunchy critte...

2009-11-14T18:12:32.443-05:00
As one of Kimber An's old "crunchy critters," I read an early, early draft of Star Captain's Daughter and loved the whole premise of this YA SFR. I know it's changed a lot since then, but I'm sure the core of the story is the same.

And BTW, I love your idea of scouting out great self-published SFR. Maybe self-publishing isn't the dead end many believe it is.

I recently stumbled across a conspiracy theory science fiction story called THE SECOND SHIP (Synergy Books) that I believe became a top seller on Amazon. The author, Richard Phillips, went to great lengths to promote his story including a nationwide radio interview that I understand sold out his book within 24 hours. It's the tale of a second crashed saucer re: the Roswell Incident. Of coures, I'm sure it didn't hurt that his former jobs with Los Alamos and Livermore National Labs, et al, added some credence to his work, even though it's "fiction." We don't all have those kind of credentials.

You can find links to the free ebook or the online...

2009-11-14T15:46:02.242-05:00
You can find links to the free ebook or the online blog novel here-

http://kimberan7.tripod.com/id11.html

Thanks for asking!

So, Kimber An, where is this story of your heart?

2009-11-14T14:57:43.276-05:00
So, Kimber An, where is this story of your heart?

Oh, I just had an idea! What if us Skiffy Romers ...

2009-11-14T09:53:44.609-05:00
Oh, I just had an idea!

What if us Skiffy Romers went scouting for really good self-pubbed, ePubbed, or otherwise not traditionally pubbed SFR authors and reported back to you, Heather?

Then, you could post about it here, so we'd have more SFR.

I'd do this at Enduring Romance, but I review across so many genres that I don't think I have as many Skiffy Romers visiting as you do. The more of us scouting the better luck we'll have.

There's lots of things you can do, but the fir...

2009-11-14T07:49:19.680-05:00
There's lots of things you can do, but the first one is

WRITE ANOTHER STORY

because you grow as a writer with each new one. I'm all for self-publication, ePub, agent or no agent, whatever. There's more than one way to skin a cat and *I know I'm not Stephanie Meyers and I don't care.*

I don't need fame or money. I saw it up close as a nanny and it no longer impresses me. All I really care about is the story and the impact it has on readers. If I get paid for those stories, that's a nice bonus.

I've posted a novel online. I'm calling it an early draft of Star Captains' Daughter. Regardless, it is my favorite story I've ever created. I can never publish it for pay as it is, because it's already out there. But, that's okay. It's just one small part of a huge universe I've created in my imagination. I've already grown so much since I wrote it and, besides,

*reimagining it would be pure joy.*
;)

I really like Therese Walsh's story, gives me ...

2009-11-13T23:25:03.924-05:00
I really like Therese Walsh's story, gives me hope.