Today was a huge day for me. Finally finished my book!
 

After what seems like an eternity in rewrites I have finished the book I was writing and sent it to my agent today. It had lingered for a while then I took the last 6 weeks and just focused on it. My regular business felt the pain of that, but I got it done and get to finally move on with the next step of the process.

Now I just have to keep my fingers crossed that the publisher decides to put some money behind it so it doesn't just get lost in the stacks.

Grats man, It was once one of my dreams but I take some consolation in the fact that more people have read my text via websites/internet then I most likely would have had as an accomplished story teller.

And I think I prefer being a story 'seller' then 'teller'..lol

But grats to you man, you must feel great today :)

Congrats :thumbsup

Lots of people talk about writing a book, myself included, and it must feel great to finish it.

I am so happy to hear that you pushed it through bro! I'm sure the publisher already likes it, and that it'll see the light of the day very soon :thumbsup

Well done!

What is the subject of your book and have you been published before...if so what have you had published?

congrats! i started like 2 or 3 but never pulled through. i have also 2 concepts for movies laying here but i have no time and no clue how to write a storyboard :-/

Very big accomplishment ... congrats!

good job

I have published short stories, sold a couple of movie scripts to very small production companies that never saw the light of day and use to write for a couple of music magazines, but this is my first book.

The book is fiction. It is a mystery/thriller about a woman who's husband of 21 years is dying of a brain tumor. On his death bed he confesses to her that for the last three years he has been killing people. She is freaked out, but assumes he is hallucinating. He dies the next day and slowly she starts to find things that make her believe he wasn't lying to her. What she doesn't know is that he had a partner and that partner knows about her and wants her dead before she can learn his identity.

Thanks for all the kind words. It has been a crazy day for me today. Between getting this done and taking my friend to urgent care to get his face looked at after he had a stupid car wreck I have been running around like mad.

Now I'm just going to sit down and work for a few hours and get some stuff done then relax with a couple of drinks and a nice thick steak.

Interesting plot!

That's great man, the work behind something like that is unbelievable. Congratulations!

sounds cool, i would read that. a bit like John Katzenberg

Congrats on the completion of the book. :thumbsup

Hope it sells very well for you - sounds like an intriguing story.

I've never read anything by him. I'll have to check him out.

Congrats. I like that plot.

sounds pretty interesting, good luck with it :thumbsup

I just finished my book, too.

It had all kinds of twists and turns.

Thats when I learned it was a choose your own adventure book.

Does sound very cool indeed, Kane... A thriller with the potential of a screenplay if published. My fingers are crossed for you and I'm sending good thoughts your way! Good luck.

i like the plot, sounds like my kind of book. i write for AOL, and have been starting to outline a book as well, it just seems like such a big mountain to climb :(

I had no idea what I was getting into :) I knocked the first draft out pretty quickly, but that is really just the start. It is the rewrites that are difficult. I found writing the first draft to be fun and easy. Making that draft better with rewrites was hard work.

But it is a pretty rewarding feeling.

sounds like a neat book, let me know when it's published, I'll pick up a copy :thumbsup

Well congrats upon your success. The premise sounds like it could be made into an entertaining movie...in my opinion...and if you can't get a publisher to publish it...and since you have some experience in writing a movie script...you may want to entertain that thought.

I have made a couple of attempts to write a book...and learned that it is very difficult for me to combine together enough words to complete a book. My attempts turned into novelettes and I was far from satisfied with the results...so I did not make an effort to get them published. If I had more patience I probably could complete a book but it would not be the "great American novel" and would not make much money or garner much fame so I will not do so.

I remember one famous American author who was interviewed on the Carson show and he was asked how he went about writing a book. He was asked do you have an inspiration and then sit down and begin writing. He said no...that if he waited for inspiration...he would never get a book written. He said that he would sit down and begin writing and at the end of the day he would have written crap or possibly something worthwhile to be added to his novel...and stated that he did not find much joy in writing..but found it to be work.

congrats good job!

Good job, man. I'm working on a couple scripts at the moment myself. :)

There are times when it really feels like work. When you are stuck in the middle of it and have lost your way and are trying to come up with something worthwhile it can be a real challenge. I have never had writers block which is good, but that doesn't mean it isn't a real challenge not just to get the ideas, but to put them down in a way that they make sense.

Luckily my past experience helped me get an agent and I have a publisher. I would love to see it made into a movie, but I'm not really focused on that right now, I just want the publisher to like it enough that they put some publicity behind it and give it a decent shot at finding an audience. If more comes of it that is great. I allow myself to sometimes dream, but in the end I am a realist about success in the writing business.

I like the story line.. sounds like a best seller !

Well realistically...it is my understanding that even those authors whom have had a book or books published...only a very small percentage actually are able to make a living at writing.

For sure. They say only about 5% of the members of the Writers Guild actually make more than about 5K a year off of it. It is something I have always wanted to do and just getting this book out will be a big step. If it sells well enough that I make some decent money on it that would be great. If not as long as the publisher believes in me and wants another I will write another. After that I would have to see where I stand and what I want with my life. If I was making some decent money writing, but it wasn't enough to live on I would probably continue and use it as savings/retirement/extra cash. If it was a full on failure where I made next to nothing then I would probably focus my efforts other things.

Writing is one of those strange things. You can have a great book and nobody buys it, but garbage will sell like wildfire. It is as much about marketing as it is about good writing.

what is the process of getting a book published from an unknown?

If it is fiction you basically have to write the book and at least get a first draft done. Then you approach agents and get one of them to sign and represent you. That agent then finds the publisher for you. They know who is looking for what so they can help get you placed with a good publisher. The publisher then works with you to finalize the book (your agent may have been doing the same earlier). This means rewrites and edits to make it as good as possible. When the book is done they publish and promote it and you will often end up going out and doing readings, appearances, interviews and anything else they can get for you.

Getting the agent can be the hardest part. They make their living off of selling your work so if they read it and don't think they can sell it they reject you. You could write a kick ass book, but if they don't think they can sell it, they won't sign you. Other agents might sign you anyway because you have talent then they will help you write something they can sell.

If the book is non-fiction you can sometimes research who publishes books like the one you want to write and approach them directly. Since non-fiction has a much more definable audience they will often work with authors directly instead of agents. Obviously if you are writing some kind of major non-fiction book that could be a huge seller then you would want an agent to help you get the best deal possible.

Must feel great ,you don't meet writers everyday.
Good luck with it!

congrats !!!!

Congrats, best of luck bringing it to fruition:thumbsup

that is really cool :)
ive wanted to finish up some sci fi stories i have started and try to get them published...laziness is standing in my way though

Congrats... Hope all goes well with the publisher....