Hello, all!

My name is Elizabeth Schechter, and I write steampunk erotica (among other things). I have two steampunk short stories out in the wild (well, almost. One won't be out until May), and am working on a novel.

Pleased to meet you all!

Tags: newcomer

Views: 12

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Greetings! Welcome to the guild, and good luck with releasing your shorts into the wild. If you don't mind me asking, what have you been doing to prepare them for release? I've got a few shorts I am grooming as well and would be interested in picking up any wisdom you have to lay down:)

Hi, David,

 

Preparing fiction for the wild -- first, FINISH the things! (Seems like a funny thing to say, but I know a lot of aspiring writers who never have actually finished a story or a novel.)

 

Once they're done, have someone ELSE read them. Join a writing workshop (the Online Writers Workshop is FANTASTIC for science fiction, fantasy and horror. For erotica, I recommend the Erotica Reader and Writers Association -- they have a Storytime mailing list where you can post your works for critiques.) Listen to what they have to say -- you are NOT the person to find the little nits in your story. Not at first, anyway. (I've gone back weeks or months after, reread something and went "Yipe! How did THAT get past me?" One of these was already in print, so it got past me AND my editor!)

 

Then, once you've listened to your beta readers and done your own revisions, and once you're just about to reach the point of pitching the story out the window... THAT is when you send it in. ;-)

 

Be patient. Publishing is SLOW. It took almost a year and a half for my first sale to finally see the light of day.

 

Publishing is also subjective. Do not take rejection personally. If, however, you have several rejections on the same story or novel, that might be the time to take a step back and regroup. Have you gotten any nibbles on your query at all? Might be time to rework the query letter! Have you gotten partial requests or full requests, but no takers? Take another look at the novel or the story. It might need more work. (Query letters and partials are pretty much only for novels. If you're submitting a short story, you submit the WHOLE thing.)

 

Hope that helps! Please feel free to ask me anything else!

thanks for all the tips. this is great advise. I started earnestly a couple of years ago. The first MS got to about the 6th rewrite, several agent rejections with a few requests to see the whole thing. Overall, it was a much too complicated novel to attempt as my first. But the feedback I got was great. Realizing I needed do make money and stick within my abilities, I am now about to get my second MS back from a couple of editors.
This time I am bypassing the gatekeepers in order to ebook publish this summer and see how that goes.
The beta readers sounds like a good idea. I'll have to do that after reworking what I get from the editors. How many beta readers did you use? Did you have criteria? or just anyone willing to read the book and give you feedback?
I have four regular beta readers and a few others who volunteer on a genre basis. The regulars are my husband (who is my grammar snark), my writing partner, another friend who is a writer, and a friend who is a great reader. My main criteria for working with them is that they have to be willing to tell me where and when I have to kill the baby, as it were. I don't want anyone to handle my work with kid gloves. I want them to rip it to shreds and make me do it RIGHT.

Now, are you looking at self-pub or one of the smaller ebook houses? Most of my sources are romance and erotica, but I might be able to point you in the direction of a good small publishing house so that you're not wandering in the wilds alone.
Thanks for the offer with the publisher help, but I am intentionally going this one alone. I'm shooting for a small, but loyal fan base that I have been getting to know pretty well. I think I can find enough of them that read books electronically to make a go of it. I'm even thinking of foreign markets that lacknselection for ebooks.

If you're going to try the foreign market, then you really do want to talk to someone in the know (if not a publisher, than a publishing lawyer). There are legal issues that I'm not even going to PRETEND to understand.

 

Good luck!

Thanks! That's a good reminder. I need to bring a lawyer on board. I think I'll post something about going foriegn in a forum and see what pops out.

RSS

SWAG Support Fund

Visit us on:

TWITTER                          TUMBLR

FACEBOOK                      WORDPRESS

GOOGLE+                        GOODREADS

Latest Activity

Lia Keyes replied to Kevin Steil's discussion The Steampunk Museum Needs You! in the group THE EMPORIUM
"The Steampunk Museum website is utterly gorgeous, Kevin! Who wouldn't want to be a part of such a great concept, so well executed? You are such an inspiration to me.  "
8 minutes ago
Mary C. Findley replied to Kevin Steil's discussion The Steampunk Museum Needs You! in the group THE EMPORIUM
"Hi, Kevin. I am not very good at forums so I haven't been too active on this site, but I do love my introductory acquaintance with steampunk and want to get more involved. I have two books by Sophronia Belle Lyon e-published. Interviews for…"
18 minutes ago
Kevin Steil added a discussion to the group THE EMPORIUM
Thumbnail

The Steampunk Museum Needs You!

Hello everyone!Most of you know me as the creator of the news and information resource site, Airship Ambassador.http://www.airshipambassador.com/(By the way, it would be great to interview more of you for the blog)Some of you may also be familiar with my latest project, The Steampunk Museumhttp://www.thesteampunkmuseum.com/The mission of the Museum is to document all of the amazing and inspiring…See More
23 minutes ago
Kevin Steil posted a discussion

The Steampunk Museum Needs You!

Hello everyone!Most of you know me as the creator of the news and information resource site, Airship Ambassador.http://www.airshipambassador.com/(By the way, it would be great to interview more of you for the blog)Some of you may also be familiar with my latest project, The Steampunk Museumhttp://www.thesteampunkmuseum.com/The mission of the Museum is to document all of the amazing and inspiring…See More
24 minutes ago
Lia Keyes liked Lia Keyes's page HUGE THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS!
29 minutes ago
Lia Keyes posted a status
"Rubbed my eyes in disbelief when I checked the SWAG Support Fund balance this morning. More soon!"
29 minutes ago
Lia Keyes replied to Jackie Garlick-Pynaert's discussion A big Hel-lo!!
"A big fat WELCOME to the Guild, Jackie! I was so delighted to see your smiling face here. I hope you get a lot out of the site, make new friends, and get that book published soon!  In the mean time just let me know if there's any way to…"
47 minutes ago
Jackie Garlick-Pynaert posted a discussion

A big Hel-lo!!

Hi!I'm a friend of Lia's and thrilled to join this group! I've written a Y.A. Fantastical/Steampunk/Adventure/Romance and hope to get it published soon!See More
1 hour ago

MEMBERS' BOOK COVERS

Indie & Anthology Covers


Badge

Loading…

© 2013   Created by Lia Keyes.

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service