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NaNoWriMo?

Am I the only one participating in NaNoWriMo this year — i.e., tomorrow — who still doesn't have a story idea? 😬

resserts 8 Oct 31
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Only taking up the NoNo Write Mo' competition as a reference point on form and novel length.... I'm wanting feedback about the commerciality of short novels and short story anthologies in the U.S. Here in New Zealand I've been told by two local (Auckland) publishers that short story anthologies are not wanted at all. One insisted they are harder to promote/sell than poetry collections, and that 60,000 words is a "short form" implying it's not a real novel. The other, when I told him I was outlining a series of three short novels of 60,000 words each, said he was unsure how to go about promoting a "novella". When I replied that a novella is 30,000 words there was (literally) no answer from him. The gold standard here of what a novel is seems to be based on a 900-page New Zealand novel (I guess around 400,000 words) that a few years ago won the esteemed UK Booker Prize.

Anyway, my plan has been for some time to submit my short story anthology and short novels to Booklocker.com, my usual publisher/distributor in the U.S., so NZ publishers are on the backburner for me. A special publishing-promotion scheme offered by Booklocker costs (from memory) an upfront payment of around $300 plus monthly payments of $75 a month for promotion, reviewable monthly according to mutual satisfaction re sales progress.

Any comments on whether this seems do-able, or is realistic in terms of short story anthologies and short novels being published at all for a significant readership level?

Garbonza Level 6 Nov 2, 2020

I wish I could help you with your quandary, but the world of publishing is very much outside my wheelhouse. I've never been published; I just enjoy writing when I have the time and energy. I suspect, if I live long enough, that I'll end up with a digital stack of manuscripts that will never be read unless I self-publish (and self-publishing doesn't really seem to be all it's cracked up to be, either). In any case, I wish you the best in publishing and marketing your short stories and novellas.

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I joined NaNoWriMo yesterday, have no idea what I am doing or how it works, but I do have several stories I am working on. Would like to know if they are interesting or how to make them interesting. I will see.

NaNoWriMo's website isn't as intuitive as I'd like. You need to create a new project and then log in each day and update your word count. They award meaningless badges along the way to try to motivate you, too.

1

I think about it every year, but don't engage. I did it 4 years in a row and somehow couldn't warm up to it.

I hear ya. Last year, I wrote 14 words and gave up. My heart just wasn't in it.

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I just finished up a 93,000 word novel, and I have a second one started with about 30,000 words written. Right now I don't have time or energy for starting another project. However, I have a collection of short stories that need to get hammered into an anthology. I'm having a blast with these projects!

mischl Level 8 Oct 31, 2020

Congrats on finishing up your novel. I wish I had more time and energy to write. I find it's hard to be as creative as I once was when I'm as perpetually stressed out as I've been for the last several years. I really need to make time in my daily schedule for creative pursuits.

Do you have publishers in mind, or publishing strategies, for your novel and for your short story anthology? I'm interested in both forms for my own purposes -- see my post on this page. Any feedback welcomed please.

@resserts For me, writing is a HUGE stress reliever. Sometimes I get so deep into my story that I have a little difficulty getting back to the real world.

@resserts, @Garbonza I self publish. I spent a couple years beating my head against the wall trying to get a publisher. When I finally did, she worked for about six month trying to sell my book, then she died suddenly from a heart attack. I took that as a sign from the universe. Screw publishers. I publish and sell on amazon.

@mischl Do you feel that self publishing is working well for you? I've been under the impression that self publishing takes a knack because, in addition to being a skilled writer, you need to be superb at marketing yourself.

@resserts My attitude is: If you need to make money, don't be a writer. If I had taken all that time I spent writing books and instead used my riding mower to mow grass for people, I would be a LOT wealthier. I write for personal enjoyment. The checks I get from amazon are also an enjoyment, but I couldn't live off of them.

0

Never heard of it 🙂

NaNoWriMo (National Novel-Writing Month) is a challenge each year in November to encourage people to write. You can meet up with other writers online or in person in your area, exchange words of encouragement, etc. But I've never been able to complete the challenge (50,000 words) in previous years.

[nanowrimo.org]

@resserts well all the best with it, sounds fun but a lot of work too.

@resserts I just went to this site and joined. In doing so they said to use Discord as the platform to use for contacting each other. Great program but I have not figured out how to contact the people on the site with it.

@girlwithsmiles Thank you. I have a little PTO this month, so I'm hoping that will help me make up for some time inevitable lost for my regular job.

@dalefvictor Hmm, they may have changed things a bit. The site isn't very intuitive to begin with, but I didn't know anything about using Discord to communicate; it used to be possible to message users directly within the site. If I figure it out, I'll let you know what I learn.

@resserts From what I can figure they have embedded Discord into their site.

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