A new step in my writing.

United States
January 14, 2012 10:20am CST
I love writing. I have been writing in some form or another since I was younger. When I was younger, I wrote a lot of poetry. It was just my way of getting all my built up emotions out. I found out that I am only able to write poetry when I am depressed though. After I had kids I decided to start trying to write children's books. Then I found out how hard it is to get one published. I have sent one off 3 times. 2 no responses and 1 decline. I recently did a lot of looking into different kinds of writing jobs I can do at home and online. That is when I found YahooVoices. I submitted a flash fiction and it was published. I know it is not much since they publish so much, but this is still a huge step for me. I am now currently working on writing a book. So far it seems to be coming along great. I don't get much time to work on it each day though. I am hoping it will only take a few months. Has anyone else written a book before? How long did it take you?
1 person likes this
8 responses
@carolscash (9492)
• United States
14 Jan 12
I write for Yahoo Voices as well and I really enjoy it. I liked it better when it was Associated Content as they were easier to get published with I think, but I still like it. I also am working on a book, but I don't know how to go about submitting it for publishing. I hope to find out soon. Any tips you can give me?
• United States
14 Jan 12
Most publishing companies require you to have an agent. I don't have the money to pay one though lol. What I do when I am trying to find a publisher for my Children's books is look online at the different publishing companies. I make sure I look for the ones that are children's companies. A search for that would usually be something like this children's book publisher accepting submissions You will have to go to the submissions sections and look to make sure they are first accepting, and second accept unsolicited submissions. That means you are wanting to submit one without an agent. Then read through their guidelines to see how they expect it to be submitted. There really are a lot of publishing companies that are willing to work with new authors, it's just finding takes a lot of looking and reading. I am having so much trouble with the children's area because unlike adult and YA books, there really isn't a whole lot of different types of children's books. With adults and YA, there are several different categories. Also most publishers of children's books want educational stories. I like stories that encourage the imagination though, so that is what I write.
14 Jan 12
I wrote a book in 2010 and self published using a popular UK print on demand website: www.grosvenorhousepublishing.co.uk Altogether it cost me £835, but as I trained and worked as a professional proofreader I didn't have to pay extra for my manuscript to be proof read. I was very pleased with the result and would recommend them to anyone wishing to self publish. In addition they now offer e-book publishing This is a very reputable company but there are some real scammers out there now. So be careful what you are doing! I wish you all the best!
14 Jan 12
Apologies! I lost one of my full stops or 'full points' as they are called in proof reading!
@Bluedoll (16774)
• Canada
14 Jan 12
It seems to be taking forever. This book that I've been writing since Novemeber is still in the works. I guess I can say I've started two books but not completed. I do like writing too but not sure I would want to do it for money. It is great for putting your stuff on paper though. Short stories maybe are my destined occupation. Publishing I hear is a business.
@Bluedoll (16774)
• Canada
15 Jan 12
Then it sounds like you need to just do it then. Who knows perhaps the children's book like my baby's will find an interest to go on in the future. If someone after reading something says, looking for a finish, that means it is of excellent quality! The idea of publishing has in the past become another type of writers block for me. I think it is connected to self worth and need of assurance. The best consideration I've come up with to date is just to produce, if that is possible several works. At least that way if something was desired out there in the publishing world I could say, oh, would you like four more? What I don't want to do is get in that blocked up rut of publishing dilemma that is, in order to write I need to get published stoppage issues or I think I need the money to write. On the other hand maybe I will never be published. The other possibility is to define what publishing is? I guess it means different things to different people? publishing = $ publishing = recognition publishing = a writing schedule publishing = sharing publishing = all of the above Keep writing!
• United States
14 Jan 12
I have a children's chapter book that I started, but ended up not finishing. The ideas for it just stopped coming. With this book that I am currently working on, it takes me a bit to get going, but soon as I do, the ideas just come out. For me it is like seeing it play out in my head like it's a movie. I am just writing out what I see going on in my head. My husband read part of what I had written and he wanted me to stay up all night and finish lol. He wanted to know how it ends. Funny thing is, I don't even know how it is going to end. I am not that far in my head with it. If that makes sense lol.
@Archaiwy (599)
• China
15 Jan 12
Congratulations on your published books.And i appreciate your hard working and determination.I also want to write.I am collecting materials for my book at the present time.I think if i carry on doing it like you,i will have my book published one day.
• United States
15 Jan 12
I haven't gotten any books published yet. Just the one flash fiction. I am trying though.
@Aja103654 (5646)
• Philippines
15 Jan 12
I started writing 2 years ago. Mostly fanfiction. I don't think I will make it as a professional writer, I don't have that much skill. I do it for fun. Right now, I'm writing fanfiction still and am slightly suffering from writer's block. I wish you luck on your children's book!
• United States
15 Jan 12
Thank you. With me, ideas come and go, so hopefully I can at least get done with my first book before it goes again. I did some reading about writer's block. I read that most of the time when writers suffer from it, it is because they are either just starting a book, or nervous about the ending and not having anything to do afterwards. Next time you sit down to write, just try to clear your mind. Put on some soothing music too. Hopefully it helps. Good luck with it.
@koopharper (7422)
• Canada
14 Jan 12
I wrote a book and am still working on refining the manuscript with the help of friends on writing.com. The initial manuscript took me a month and a half. Editing has been a whole lot more work. As a writer I have good story lines but my grammar and punctuation have a long way to go. Learned a lot of other things along the way as well. I'm still hoping someday to get it published. I've written eight chapters of a sequel and basic plot lines for two other books. Book Junkies on Facebook have been very helpful as well. Two of my friends on Book Junkies have had books get published within the last six months. I hope to join them at some point in the not so distant future.
• United States
14 Jan 12
Good luck to you. Sounds like you are really working hard to get your goal accomplished.
15 Jan 12
those are genius and good grammar should go into this kind of field
@Bluedoll (16774)
• Canada
15 Jan 12
Well I guess that leaves me out the grammar part I thought I could work at but forget the genius asset. Think I could write a book on, What It Is Like To Be Blonde. Might not be genius but could be fun.
15 Jan 12
Yahoo Voices is US-only, in case anyone reading this thread wonders. I've just published my first real book. For free, using CreateSpace for POD services (paperback) and KDP for the Kindle edition, both of which go to Amazon for sales. Very easy to do. The whole thing took about a year, at a guess, from putting everything together through rewriting it (ohhhh so many times), getting it edited, getting a cover for it, proofing and so on. It's a very long, involved process. I also did NaNo this year and finally got my novel down on paper. It's still a complete mess in its totally raw form but I'm hoping to get back to it in a couple of months and try to tidy it up, rewrite most of it and make it interesting! Incidentally, being turned down a few times by publishers is normal. Most famous authors got turned away dozens of times before they were accepted (Harry Potter took over 20 attempts, I believe).
@bloggeroo (2167)
• Philippines
14 Jan 12
I shelved my book project until I got my website organized and figured out how to do the thousand little things I needed to do on a day to day basis. Anyway, I wanted to write a book about writing and publishing an aspiring writer's first book at Amazon.com within a specific period of time (say, 100 days). And I will be writing from the perspective of a software engineer (or civil engineer) so the book is very practical and literally a show-and-tell book. Since I myself haven't published my first book, I'm in a chicken and egg situation--I will be writing the book AND proving that it can be done as I said it would. And maybe for confirmation, I will have to write a second book so I will be more credible.