Young Writers Society

Months ago I finally finished up the final draft of my novel, The Mysteries of Love and Madness. I never thought of getting it published, though I have published one book before. My friends and family talked me into and actually, now don't get mad, paid a publisher to publish my novel. I had researched online and had heard about the publisher known as Xlibris and have met a few authors who had published their novels with them. From what they had told me they were very professional, so I thought that I'd try them out. And I am glad I did. The book is finished and I just approved the bound galley that was sent to me. I had to sign off on it and now the books is to be released next month, August 2008.

If you're interested, you can take a look at my temporary website at http://www.freewebs.com/zacharyzeitlow

Tell me what you think? Did I make a bad choice?

I know that I will have to market the book and its going to be a long journey and a new one at that.

WOW!
It's great that you got your book published by anyone...though I'm not sure if your family paying the publisher was that great of an idea.
I'm saying that just because if they were bribed, do you really know if your book would've been good enough?

That's okay...If your family liked it enough to pay them, than it must've been pretty darn good.

I've written 4 books...well...finished 3...
And I've never gotten any of them published. Most of the companies I looked at needed to be sent through an agent to really be coinsidered or you had to be over a certain age...

So, congrats on getting published! That's better than I've ever done!

Hope to see your book on the shelves some day!


-GC10

I've heard of Xlibris. One of my uncle's friends published a book through them...it's upstairs right now.

I think it's very much personal preference as to whether or not this was the right thing. I've never published a book or tried yet, but my personal goal is not to self-publish but to have both an agent and a publisher accept my work for being what it is. I know that for me if I would self-publish I would feel disappointed in myself. I want someone to read something of mine and say, "Yes, I would love to put this in print."

I would say as long as you are satisfied and willing to put a heck of a lot of work into marketing then you made the right choice. Also, this is probably good if you're an impatient person. If you didn't self-publish then you could be 70 by the time your first book is published, who knows?

DOn't you mean next month gamechanger?

I've heard of Xlibris because one of my uncle's friends published through them. And I don't mean to get you down, but the pages are falling out of the binding of the book. And all I did was read the book.

As to your decision: I would say it's very much personal preference. And how much you want to work. For me, I have decided never to self-publish because I know I wouldn't be satisfied. I would never know whether an agent or publisher would ever actually like or want to put my work in print. And that would drive me nuts. I would rather wait til I am 70 years old and get a novel through the system onto a bookshelf than self-publish.

But that's just me.

For you, I would say this is a good choice if you are satisfied with self-publishing, an impatient person for getting your book in print right away, and if you are willing to work really really hard to market. Really hard.

Congrats!

I personally agree with GML. I seriously thought about self-publishing for a while, but then I decided that if it's not good enough for an agent or a publisher to appreciate, the nI don't want it to be published at all. Period.

That being said, I think if your family put the time and money into self-publishing your book because they thought it was that good, congratulations. I'm totally excited to read it! Make sure you post the information and everything once it's ready to come out.

Three cheers for luca!

Thanks for the great posts! Really appreciate it.

I did send my novel into a traditional publisher and they had accepted it, but I had already signed a contract and paid for Xlibris' services, so I was a bit down about that. Next time, I think I'll try, though I fear that I may not get one(who does nowadays?), try to get an agent. I might just wait until after I get my Master degree and see it that helps, but I doubt it.

Anyway, I wanted to get my word into print, no matter fame or fortune right now at the present time.

I have the rest of my life to try and get published and become the next Nabokov or Mann or even Joyce. It's a life long journey and I don't plan on stopping any time soon.

Thanks for all the kind words, comrades! It's the overall friendliness of these forums that brings be back every time.

Oh wow, double congratulations then! I have no doubt that your book will be successful - just try to market it a little bit, even if you are self-publishing. You don't have to be famous, but you do want to get it out there (because I want to buy it! ) That's the biggest advantage that traditional publishing has over self-publishing - they are really good at marketing.

It's true. Traditional publishers can get your book onto the shelves of bookstores like Barnes and Noble and Borders. I self published my previous novel and I had to do all of the marketing and it is draining. I had to set up book signings, go to bookstores to see if they would stock my book in their stores(A hard task seeing as most of them won't stock books if they are not returnable.), send out press releases, and try to get interviews. Its an ongoing process, but I like it, even though it can drain energy.

Anyway, I just sent back the bound galley, everything was fine. I had my editor look it over, and some family members, not to mention myself. I also reviewed the marketing tools, which are some business cards and book marks.

It is going to take around four to six weeks for the book to go to print and then I'll have a concrete release date, but I am going to try and set up some book signings and trying to get some interviews.

This is late, since its early August, but congrats on getting your book published!

Agents > Self-publishing

Except for Eragon. CP was lucky.

You said that you did get accepted by a real publisher, so you know that you can do that. You're only 18 years old. I imagine it would be okay to experiment with self-publishing now, especially with the knowledge that you can be accepted.

Congratulations, too. I wish I had the guts to do something like that!

Well, the book is out now, but only on my publishers website at the moment. It will appear on Amazon.com and the others within the next month. I have about two book signings lined up for next month, one at a small bookstore, another at a larger Borders, as well as having a few newspapers review my new novel in the upcoming month or so.

And my publishes, Xlibris, has sent out various things to various newspapers around the country, but who knows what they will do with them.

The book looks great though, it's about 219 pages long, but the print is a bit small, but the layout is brilliant. I love how the entire book looks, except for my author photo, which paints a rather sinister image of myself that I did not anticipate when the photo was taken.

Here is the website from my publishers. It is a bit expensive for a book:

[/url]https://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=51865[url]

But back to work....

It does look neat. Congrats on getting published! It must be a really exciting feeling, knowing that your book is out there and people can read it and...wow. I want to get published now.

Yoho! Well, the published life, unlike when my first novella was released, is a bit overwhelming! I'm being asked by librarians to do readings at young writers conferences that are happening around the Las Vegas valley and it feels likes its all pulling me under! Oh, well. I don't mind it. At least my written work is out there for people to read.

Whoever said you can't follow your dreams, I sure want to bash them upside the head!