Prologue, Pt.2

So there is an objective to this blog. I have three objectives directly. Between those objectives I have some other stuff I’m going to write about, such as the second draft of the book, the process of revising and researching the bits I blagged the first time around (Like how to build a windmill. No, really), and anything I read which generally proves useful to me. I should start by giving a little more information about all this, so you lovely people have a reason to come back and read more. I’m not sure how successful my ramblings would be otherwise.

The book is called ‘book’ at the moment. I haven’t decided on a title but I have a few in mind. I wanted to wait until I’ve reviewed what I have before naming it all. The book is a fantasy story of a young girl’s adventure as she finds herself in a situation she knows nothing about. Forced from her home and chased across the country, she finds herself escorted by a reclusive woodsman in the search for her brother in the hope that he can protect her from the people who hunt her.

Now that’s about as basic as I can get it. Being honest, when I write it with such a vague tone it sounds a little unoriginal as well (It isn't, I hope!). I don’t want to give a full blurb just yet until I’m sure all the elements I’ve used so far are retained in the second draft. Also, don’t be scared by the word ‘fantasy’. There is not an elf, dwarf or dragon to be found in my tale. That sounds snotty, but it’s true (Don’t get me wrong, I love high fantasy novels with monsters, magic and mythical beings). The story is intentionally character driven, and while it may not be a modern day story, I think certain aspects of the story can be adapted to everyday life.

I like the story. I’m proud of the book so far. I had the idea in my head for a good three or four years before I sat down and put it down in words. Let’s be honest, if I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t have made this blog. I would have waited until I had a ‘better’ book with a greater chance of success. As it is I think I this story is good enough to push. I’m looking forward to finishing it completely and getting the ball rolling. For now, I’m waiting a few weeks until I’ve forgotten about it to an extent. Apparently it’s important to leave a first draft for an extended period (experts!), but I do want to just get back to it. Rawr.

Anyway, here’s the main three objectives of this blog:

1. Find an agent.

No, I probably don’t need one yet. I mean, I’m one guy with a big chunk of text at the moment. I don’t have any writing credentials, publishing credits or anything. However, it appears that a lot of authors who seek the traditional publication route (I.E want their books in the stores) could do worse than have an agent to help them do that. I also like the idea of have a literary agent, Californication style. There’s a few I’m interested in but until I’ve finished up the second draft, I can’t really send off manuscripts.

2. Find a publisher.

Yep. Get someone to print the book. Not a real hard one to understand, but for me the best part of writing is having other people read it. If someone’s willing to put in the time to read the three or five or seven thousand words committed to page then that shows that what I’ve done is at least vaguely interesting. Now I’ve got 131,289 words, though. Mwuahaa. Anyway, it’s been something of an ambition of mine to have something I’ve written on the shelves of a Waterstones or W.H Smiths. I think I’d get a hell of a kick from achieving that. Suppose it’s the same from a band seeing their record on a CD rack, or an actress having their name imprinted on a theatre poster. It’s certainly an ego thing, but also a validation that they’re getting somewhere.

3. Failing those, self publication.

In recent times, authors skipping the old school publishing houses and going straight to Amazon Kindle, E-books and iPad typeofthings has become pretty popular. Last year e-books sold more copies than regular books. Now bear in mind that there’s a fair few reasons for this – e-books are a lot cheaper, it’s more convenient to just download a book than go to a store, internet shopping as a whole is still rising, to name a few – but it’s interesting to note. It has been said that self publication (termed also as ‘vanity press’) is for those people who’s work is not deemed good enough for regular publication. I feel that’s quite a cheap way of phrasing it. With the advent of companies like Createspace you can supply paperback copies of your book to those who buy it online. I think the main difference is that publication companies will provide a much more stable route to the bookshops. I really want to get my book into the regular publishing machine, but self publication is always a fall back option.

I’ll probably learn much more about this over the coming months. Come back to this page later in the game and we can laugh together about how completely uninformed I am/was.

Oh, and feel free to share and follow this blog. I’ll try not to spam you too much, and it’d be nice to hear what people think about the process. <3