The Book is Done!

[tjguitarz]

Just finished my book! Started it on March 8. Finished on November 18. Still have lots of editing though. But I'm pumped anyways!

Here's the official tally...

Chapters: 41 (plus the prologue and epilogue)
177,980 words
970,892 characters (with spaces)
336 pages in MS Word (at .5'' margins, 11 font, times new roman, and 1.5 spacing)
556 pages in a typical published book (assuming 320 words per page)

[tjguitarz]

How lucrative of a process is that?

I was actually thinking more along the lines of (after polishing it) submitting it to an agent, and then trying to get it published under Tor (that being the ideal situation).

[dorkelf]

Just finished my book! Started it on March 8. Finished on November 18. Still have lots of editing though. But I'm pumped anyways!

Here's the official tally...

Chapters: 41 (plus the prologue and epilogue)
177,980 words
970,892 characters (with spaces)
336 pages in MS Word (at .5'' margins, 11 font, times new roman, and 1.5 spacing)
556 pages in a typical published book (assuming 320 words per page)

Congratulations! Keep us up to date with your editing process and don't hesitate to post stuff here for comment and critique.

And, make sure to enter the writing contests! Really one of the best things about 300 or 500 word contests is that you have to hack down and edit most of the time to get it under the word limit. This really helps to refine editing skills you're gonna need for the revision process.

Paul

[tjguitarz]

Yeah I was planning on doing something for the contest. My best friend is an AMAZING artist but he sluffs off. I was going to write something for him to draw out. Once he does it, I'll post those too.

[[toj.cc]WildBillKickoff]

Congrats on finishing the book, bro. I'm at just under 6,000 words so far on mine (about 16 published pages by your calculations), with a projected 50k or so to go. I'm writing non-fiction though, so for what I have to say, the shorter, the better.

[tjguitarz]

WildBillKickoff;194053']I'm writing non-fiction though

What about?

[tjguitarz]

Just finished 1st round of revisions. I'm kind of tired, so my tally might be off, but here's what I think so far.

305 pages typed (11 font, Times New Romans, .5 inch border, 1.5 spacing)
520 pages in a published book (assuming 320 words per page)
166,641 words
909,244 characters

[Hescominsoon]

How are you going to publish? Might i suggest lulu.com if you haven't made a decision?

[tjguitarz]

I thought about that for a little bit, but I don't know how successful I would be at self publishing (unless you have some good tips!).

My plan is to get an agent or go directly to a publisher. I know it's difficult, but that seems like the best course of action.

[ajmucha]

so far i got 10 pages of my book...like..7 of chapter one...1 of chapter 2..and 2 of chapter 6...lol...and like 20+pages of tactical data plus glossary which is a good 7 or so

[tjguitarz]

AJ, are you any further on your chapters yet? I read your tactical data and I like how you write. I'm eager for chapter 1.

[tjguitarz]

I just finished Round 2 of editing! Here's the updated count.

46 chapters + prologue + epilogue
284 pages (11 font, Times New Roman, .5 margins all around)
482 pages (in a typical 320 words/per page published book)
154,521 words
843,043 characters (with spaces)

It's kind of funny. I chopped off 74 pages of fluff throughout my 2 editing stages! After one more round, I'll probably let a few people read it, gauge their reactions and comments, and do a last round of editing before submitting it for publication.

As for book 2, I think I'm going to start that on March 8 (1 year after I started the first book).

[Neirai the Forgiven]

I'd be interested in reading it, but perhaps you should force me to wait and buy it.

[tjguitarz]

Haha. I really want to let some of you guys read it. I'll probably start a thread sometime later this month. I'd like to mail them to you so you can make marks and comments with a pen (the most effective way). Of course, I'll include a return envelope for ya!

[Triage IV]

TJ,

If the finding-the-agent thing is hard...as a first time author, try going through the steps of find the publisher first. Once you do, the publisher will hook you up with several possible agents: publishers will generally rather deal with agents than with writers directly. Agents know the business...writers are...well...writers...artists...not business people.

Writer's Digest Books has some awesome books on how to take these steps. They also give you invaluable advice on how to present the manuscript...everything from it's physical appearance (remember to include those headers) to how to mail it...and what steps to take (as in, don't send the manuscript at first, but, kind of, and introduction letter).

But, WOO HOO! Gratz on the completion. It's a good feeling isn't it?

[tjguitarz]

Writer's Digest Books

Link? I've poked around their website, but nothing too in depth. You sound like you know what you're talking about, so if you could give me a link to a book, I'd definitely check it out!

But, WOO HOO! Gratz on the completion. It's a good feeling isn't it?

Amazing feeling! :-)

[tjguitarz]

HORRAY!

I'M DONE EDITING!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! :eek::eek::eek:!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Phew, glad that's done with. It took me much longer than expected because of school, but we're finally done! Here's the total count...

45 Chapters + Prologue + Epilogue
280 Pages (11 font, .5 inch margins, Times New Roman)
139,787 Words
763,366 Characters (with spaces)
436 Pages (in a typical printed book at 320 words per page)

Yay! I'm so happy it's done. I made some major changes this time around. The plot is a lot better, more original. Well... I guess it's time to write book 2.

[Neirai the Forgiven]

Mail me a copy already :)

[cc.slim]

U make me smile n proud!!! I will pray for your success in this endeavor for I feel n c it is your hearts desire!!!

[tjguitarz]

U make me smile n proud!!! I will pray for your success in this endeavor for I feel n c it is your hearts desire!!!

:D Thanks man! That means a lot!

Mail me a copy already :)

I'll make a thread in a day or two asking for who wants a copy. I'll try to mail them, but that's a lotta paper. I might just email them. We'll see!

[Glitch]

haha, again... what is the book on? fiction ? non-fiction? idk if you already said, and if you did.... just yell at me and tell me where you posted what it is about. I think it is awesome you got it written though.

[Blkstones]

id love a copy it soudns interesting, specially coming from another christian.

ill await the next thread, grats on finishing

[tjguitarz]

haha, again... what is the book on? fiction ? non-fiction? idk if you already said, and if you did.... just yell at me and tell me where you posted what it is about. I think it is awesome you got it written though.

It's fiction -- fantasy. It's kind of like a cross between Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, but I like my plot better :-)

I'll be trying to print a bunch off this week and I'll see how many I can spit out to send to you guys. My goal is to ship it off mid-July, so I've gotta hurry!

[Glitch]

cool. manuscripts... WO-HO!!!

[Lazarus]

Could you just email it to me? Like the whole thing and all your notes and such?

j/k :) Nice job.

A finished book... I wonder what that means...

[tjguitarz]

A finished book... I wonder what that means...

It means "AHH!" My mom has started reading it and is catching a few things I messed up on, as well as notifying me areas I need to clarify. She never reads books like I've written, so anything that's confusing she'll shout for help right away. Translation: me pwnt.

It'll be a while before I'm up to snuff and can send anyone copies. That means I won't be shipping it off to a publisher/agent for a good month or two. :(

[Cool_Hand_Luke]

Don't get discouraged. Keep plugging away at it. The hardest part is still yet to come. Writing and editing it is actually the easiest part. The hardest part is submitting it to a publisher and then even harder work is the marketing of your work.

When considering a publisher, there are a vast amount of factors to take into consideration. I went with a Christian Publisher called "Xulon Press". They charged me $1600.00 back in 2000. They did a great job on my book and made it available on Amazon, Barns n Noble, and ChristianBooks.com, but because they are a Print on Demand publisher (they make your book into a .pdf file and thus there is basically no inventory) regular books stores will not carry it on their shelves because they cannot return Print on Demand books. I won't use them again, lesson learned. Research all aspect of your publisher and the process and the marketing plan. Don't agree to anything until you are 100% satisfied with what they have to offer and be sure to pray through the whole process.

You can see my book here as an example.

Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Conquering-Bible-Interpretation-Dade-Ronan/dp/1591601541/ref=sr_1_1/104-6143331-9319111?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183065531&sr=1-1

Barns n Noble
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781591601548&itm=1

ChristianBooks.com
http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=01543&netp_id=311792&event=ESRCN&item_code=WW

[tjguitarz]

Cool Hand Luke,

It must be an awesome feeling to see your book on big sites like those. Considering my subject (science fiction and fantasy), I feel like the only way I'm going to be successful is if I go through a big publisher like Tor or Random House. But if that all falls through, I'll definitely try a Print on Demand publisher! Thanks for your support. As always, I'll be turning to the Lord for help!

TJ

[Amicus Dei of [FoG]]

uh wow you have about 140k more words than my first book (which i finished and have decided will not be brought to the publishing stage)
and about 160k more than my second book (which i haven't progressed toward the part that the title of the book refers to... lol. My title - The Kingdom of Aran. The book's current progress - Aran is just about to be crowned to replace the mortally ill Arch-King Julius)

so you obviously have a massive plot (unlike mine)

[tjguitarz]

;234393']so you obviously have a massive plot (unlike mine)

Too massive. It hurts my head sometimes.

[ajmucha]

i hurt my head thinking of the biomorphological aspects of the main character of my fantasy book who is a dragonkin girl