Authors and Artists that still Wage-Slave

[Ostlander]

I visited the "Apple" in '95 and thought it was really cool, but....there were people and lots of them!

My secondary reason for writing; so I can move to the sticks and hide from my fellow man-monkeys for the rest of my life!

Write, get a check, then hide is the plan.

When I go to the local coffee shop and chill, I seem to attract all sorts of people that want to disrupt the "groove", lol. I'm one of those people that does his best work while around mild distractions (conversation, music, etc...), but.......I hate being directly bothered while I'm doing it.

 

[Xyanthon]

I just got paid to publish some of my art in Curse of the Witch Head by Expeditious Retreat Press (hi Joe and Suzi). I love to do art and have no illusions about ever making any serious money off of it. Enough to finance my gaming would be cool. I work in IT and happen to like my job quite a bit. I'd still do art regardless of if I was getting paid to do it or not. I actually "donate" quite a bit of work to projects such as OSRIC. That being said, I'd like to get some more paying work as well.

 

[yangnome]

I'm agent hunting right now with my first manuscript and have a second I need ot go back and work on. I've had a few agents express interest in the premise of my novel, so there is some hope. I've been sitting on teh manuscript (not sending it to those agents) because I was waiting to hear back on a writer's workshop fellowship I had entered. I just got my rejection notice for that today. I guess it is time to send out the manuscript to those that requested it.

No reputable agent shoudl charge to read or search. By AAR guidelines, an agent cannot charge upfront fees and iirc can only charge up to 15% of your deal with the publisher once the work is accepted somewhere.

 

[yangnome]

So, did you have to pay to get the book published? Or did they basically say "We'll publish it for free, and pay you royalties, but no advance?"

Obviously, ignore these if they're too personal. I'm just curious how the industry works.

PC. The industry is different for fiction vs. non-fiction.

For fiction, it generally works like this (assuming you are looking for a big publisher):

1. You write a manuscript, then rewrite and polish it. (add in as much procrastination as you like)

2. You start to query agents about your project (any industry contacts help in this step, meeting agents at writing conferences also can help)

3. You slog through reject letters until someone asks for a partial or full look at your manuscript

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until an agent likes what they read and feels they can represent it.

5. Sign contract with agent (no up front money if dealing with a reputable agent, general deal is 15% first publishing rights)

6. Agent shops book around to publisher. The agent may or may not work with you to polish the book

7. Agent finds a publisher. They may or may not have an editor work with you to polish up the book.

8. Book eventually gets published

9. Receive a check that is a lot smaller than you thought it would be

Supposedly this gets easier with subsequent novels since you already have an agent. of course novels that don't sell well force many authors to have to find new agents, or even write under different names.


If you don't care about the big publishing houses, you could always work with a small publisher or self-publish through a site like Lulu.com. You won't get their marketing efforts or see your book in bookstores, but you will see it in print an dyou can sell it to family and friends (and whoever buys into your marketing) via online stores. There have been a few success stories that have gone this route and later been picked up by larger publishers.

 

[Ostlander]

Agents are evil fleecers!

I went with a POD...

They have access to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and so on. Online, so the writer has to pimp the shelf stores. It makes sense since the amount that is published daily is enough to fill a store!

If I sell, they make money, if I don't they still make money off of their other authors that do sell.

Agents should be avoided nowadays, unless you reallllllly are sure that your work is "the bomb"

Sorry for my slang people, I live next door to four beautiful college girls that drunk call me all the time and I've picked up their lingo. "Like I'm drunk and if you came over and partied that would like be bad ass! Like...like...like...

Anyway, try a POD or something for your first. Never pay money up front. If you get published, then consider an agent for any further work if the first doesn't sell OR if it does sell big and you want to access bigger markets with more novels!

 

[Ostlander]

I just got paid to publish some of my art in Curse of the Witch Head by Expeditious Retreat Press (hi Joe and Suzi). I love to do art and have no illusions about ever making any serious money off of it. Enough to finance my gaming would be cool. I work in IT and happen to like my job quite a bit. I'd still do art regardless of if I was getting paid to do it or not. I actually "donate" quite a bit of work to projects such as OSRIC. That being said, I'd like to get some more paying work as well.

I like your work...art student background or were you born talented?

 

[jeff37923]

I live next door to four beautiful college girls that drunk call me all the time and I've picked up their lingo. "Like I'm drunk and if you came over and partied that would like be bad ass! Like...like...like...

My God, man! You're already living the Life!

I am envious...

(My own personal goal is to be a "kept man" like George Peppard was in the beginning of Breakfast at Tiffany's. Find a patronness of the arts and all that. )

 

[Ostlander]

Nah, when the remainder of their conception was drying somewhere I was already discovering the wonders of sex...it's flattering, but at this stage in life it is also disruptive. I work from 6am to 2:30pm five days a week at a hospital (they may call between 11pm to 3am). I have to get up at 4am-ish to get my crap together (coffee, music to motivate me, shower, etc...)! That leaves 2/3 of a day to fit in the "second job" and sleep...it sounds stupid, but I just don't ( or refuse to make) have the time for that stuph (and yes I did check myself this morning to make sure I have not transformed into a Ken doll). My co-workers tease me and have suggested that I exile myself to a monastery somewhere.

The hospital is 85% female staff too, so maybe it's the estrogen OD I get daily that makes having all those lovlies next door annoying too. I chose a second path and I'm determined to stay the course I suppose.

I would rather sit around in a coffee shop or something and talk writer/artist crap with other writer/artist types than "chase the skinnies" now. Perhaps that could be an additional topic for this thread?

 

[Thad Enouf]

I work a night security job that allows me to write when the site is quiet.

Heh. This sounds familiar. I wrote two novels and a bunch of short stories doing the very same job back in the 90's. One can also do a TON of reading with such a job.

Currently, I still have a day job while I'm working on my fantasy novel, though it pays twice as much, has benes, etc. than the night shift guard position did. So although I've moved up the ladder somewhat, it's not in the career that I'd like. Fancy that.

One thing is for sure: No matter how bad it gets, I never stopped writing. It's just something I need to do to keep my head straight. It's very odd but I've come to accept it.

 

[Ostlander]

Not odd at all really.,,needing to write. Art is a skill that can be learned, but I believe that it is the NEED to do it that makes one an artist.