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mree β€” On Writing - Getting Published

Published: 2006-02-28 17:19:15 +0000 UTC; Views: 42002; Favourites: 2038; Downloads: 6018
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Description Edit: Part II (How to Get a Literary Agent) is now up. [link]

I've never seen a writing tutorial on dA (or at least run into one....I'm sure there must be some out there), especially not one covering how to get one's writing published. Also, since I've been getting a ton of questions about this process, I thought the best way would be to make a tutorial. Pardon the randomness of this.......I know this probably doesn't apply to a LOT of people, as it only targets those who are interested in publishing a novel. Still, I hope it's helpful to some of you out there! This info is still kind of obscure to find, although there are a lot of books out now that talk specifically about how to get your novel into the hands of literary agents and publishers. You can find these books often in their own section at Barnes & Noble, or if you search online for them. Many published authors also have how-to sections on their websites dedicated to aspiring writers.

Again, random I know......... This is Part I of a series, although I don't know how many it'll take to get the info across. You could write a million pages about the process and still not finish. O__O I'm just covering the general information, the essentials that anyone would need to know when just starting out. If you're writing a novel and want to be published, I hope this helps! Thanks, and if you have any additional questions, please feel free to post them in my current journal. That way, other people with the same question can see the answer. Thanks again.

(Note: Just for anyone who is curious, I like writing fantasy stories. )
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Comments: 266

tinkertoes [2008-05-12 18:24:54 +0000 UTC]

thank u so much more putting this up. i cant wait for the second part! I've been looking for a publishing agent for a while now.

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dewolfannaness [2008-05-12 17:45:13 +0000 UTC]

Thank-you for making this. I found it very helpful.

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punkangel404 [2008-05-12 17:44:27 +0000 UTC]

This is so nice of you. I really appreciate it. I've been looking for something like this for years.

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MetarsusDemented In reply to ??? [2008-05-12 17:37:56 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much. Though I'm planning on publishing an anthology of poetry first, this is immensely helpful.

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waywardpheasant In reply to ??? [2008-05-12 17:35:16 +0000 UTC]

For all the aspiring writers out there, as cutthroat as the world is, if you write standard prose (and I mean non-avant garde), you can probably get published with the aid of a literary agent. The sooner you accept that 10-20% of the money made isn't for you, the sooner you see your name on a bookshelf. And the publishing world is still paying big bucks for good books, Elizabeth Kostova's novel The Historian netted a one million dollar advanced, the current biggest advance paid for a novel, and it's her first book. Don't give up the ghost!

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Roninmaru [2008-05-12 17:07:53 +0000 UTC]

great tutorial ^^ I need it 'cause I already wrote book of poems which is almost 5 years old

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daghrgenzen [2008-05-12 16:25:59 +0000 UTC]

I think this is a wonderful tutorial, especially since I haven't seen anything like it before on DA and because I'm willing to publish some of my stuff...! Congrats on the DD, well deserved! :+fave:

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Blue44 [2008-05-12 15:13:42 +0000 UTC]

i'm about to start part II. i loved this. it was very helpful

if you havent thought about doing a part 3, you should. there's still one thing that writers should know about, and thats how to write a query letter

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Blue44 In reply to Blue44 [2008-05-12 15:17:13 +0000 UTC]

ok, so i didnt read part 2...its there...so ignore me

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AzizrianDaoXrak [2008-05-12 15:13:17 +0000 UTC]

thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou

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chewy9887 [2008-05-12 15:10:22 +0000 UTC]

Hi! Love your gallery!

I was wondering if you could give me information on writing a childrens book. I've got one in the works - I'm finishing the paintings and was wondering if you could possibly answer a question for me. I know this tutorial is more for the novelist, but I thought since you wrote this one you might know.

My question is:

Should I submit my original work (paintings- etc.) to the agent or should I scan them in and keep the originals to use at a later date? I was thinking to scan them in so I could add text to the image bubbles and whatnot.

Thanks!

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Angelonight [2008-05-12 15:09:32 +0000 UTC]

Very informitive.
It answered alot of questions

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WICKED-ZOEYGIRL [2008-05-12 13:50:38 +0000 UTC]

Dead useful, thank you very much!

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Gushousekai195 [2008-05-12 13:12:35 +0000 UTC]

What can you do to work around all the bad stuff?

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The-Elven-Priestess [2008-05-12 13:07:23 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for putting this out!

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htfcuddles In reply to ??? [2008-05-12 12:42:48 +0000 UTC]

OMG!!!
I was looking something like this by years!
Thanks you! :3

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MisterSnakebite In reply to ??? [2008-05-12 11:52:45 +0000 UTC]

I'm really glad I found this...It'll help me out a lot. This is one hell of a good idea, think I'll take everything you've said into account. Thanks.

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Corvidae65 [2008-05-12 11:23:51 +0000 UTC]

Might come in handy someday Thank you for writing it and sharing

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NoreLineas [2008-05-12 09:12:21 +0000 UTC]

Huzzah! Thank you so much for writing this mree

I know you'll get hundreds of these, but I have to say that the most helpful part at this point for me was the average amount of words that a book tends to have! Interesting facts too

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JouskaEtc In reply to ??? [2008-05-12 07:41:17 +0000 UTC]

This is wonderful, I knew all this already but Im sure there are many who don't and it is a nice change from all the art tutorials. I think people sometimes forget about the writers on DeviantART.

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Rajia In reply to ??? [2008-05-12 07:38:02 +0000 UTC]

You. Are. And angel.

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theskyfallsonyou [2008-03-15 03:29:19 +0000 UTC]

This really helped! Thanks!

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Draith [2008-02-23 06:18:39 +0000 UTC]

Wow... a dA tutorial that isn't an "art" tutorial (in air quotes since writing IS an art...). Very nice!

That exception about Terry Goodkind makes sense... (exception to a rule... with Wizard's First RULE... ...)
I adore those books, so case-in-point!

I knew a lot of this, but some I didn't, so this was fun and informative at the least! I'd love to someday publish a series of books that lies inside my head, but alas, I'm not counting on it.

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writingisart2 [2008-01-22 20:06:55 +0000 UTC]

I officially love you. Yay!!

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jhubert [2007-12-07 10:21:34 +0000 UTC]

Added to the Art Tutorials Wiki as well.

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Covetousness [2007-11-30 01:56:01 +0000 UTC]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I've been wondering about the process of publishing for a while now, and this really gives me a good insight about it!
And you explained it in a very easy, understandable way; which is very nice.
Again, thank you!

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moodyblues [2007-11-07 20:15:03 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for sharing this; it's really helpful.

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DaGrblz In reply to ??? [2007-09-19 23:42:44 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! I'm hoping this will help me... even though it sounds silly that I want to publish something. XP

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uberspect [2007-09-06 08:29:23 +0000 UTC]

A great resource for fledging writers.
Thank you so much.

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NoahKai [2007-08-28 21:16:14 +0000 UTC]

I like writing Fantasy novels as well! It's just hard to get it out of my head and onto paper

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Spiritlobo [2007-08-18 03:12:00 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for posting this! I'm starting my first novel, and I'm not exactly sure how getting it published will go, and I'm sure this will really help!!

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Zyriax-Darkhelm [2007-08-12 19:46:29 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for posting this!

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Princess-Camille [2007-08-09 21:04:48 +0000 UTC]

OOh... I'm gonna need that!

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shadow7wolf [2007-08-07 22:52:57 +0000 UTC]

thank you so much for posting this!

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jdphoenix32 [2007-08-06 16:21:42 +0000 UTC]

This is great. I needed the agent one more but both are very helpful. Thanks for making this.

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lovetodeviate [2007-08-02 12:58:18 +0000 UTC]

This is really nice. I had to search quite a bit on the internet for this information to get it myself, and it's all here in one deviation. Not that I have any plans of publishing anymore.

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Jumplion [2007-08-01 03:04:47 +0000 UTC]

Wow, this is great!

I'm making a story (THAT WILL GET PUBLISHED!!!) and i expect to BLOWE the freakin agent off his feet! I'll rise to the top! Right next to harry potter!

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GwenaTerra [2007-06-28 20:20:45 +0000 UTC]

Wow! The average top ios only 120,000 words...eeep! Mines already reached 40,000 and I am only at chapter 4. Is that bad?

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mree In reply to GwenaTerra [2007-06-28 23:05:32 +0000 UTC]

It depends on how you split your chapters, but if you're still way at the beginning in terms of plot, then yes, you will need to speed up the story and tighten the conflict. The average chapter, I'd say, ranges between 1,000 and 4,000 words, max.

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Uftaki [2007-05-05 21:23:26 +0000 UTC]

Awesomely helpful and informative! Thank you very much for these tutorials!

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sweetfire-05 [2007-04-26 05:29:48 +0000 UTC]

this and the next one you did are a great help i'm in the process of writing my first book so i really appreciate this

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BlackMage339 [2007-03-14 17:07:48 +0000 UTC]

I'm so happy I found this! I've been trying for ages to find a clear, easy to understand walkthrough of what to do ^^ Very helpful

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summonerxavier [2007-03-13 17:15:17 +0000 UTC]

thanks for posting this tutorial, it's a great help :3

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soulconvict [2007-03-07 22:20:21 +0000 UTC]

Ahh, why do people have to make our lives so difficult TT_TT
Good tutorial, it really explains the general facts that I've been dying to know. >_<

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Waefaerie [2007-03-04 06:25:09 +0000 UTC]

I *just* stumbled upon this when showing your gallery to my sister. It was very inspiring; it gave me hope. I've been struggling with the fact that my one dream is to get published, yet my family is fairly well convinced such a career will have me basically living in a cardboard box. I'm not naΓ―ve, but I think that advice like this can really make the difference so thank you *so* much for posting these two pieces!

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tmpst24myst [2007-01-30 01:54:05 +0000 UTC]

I'll comment after I read through it.

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Rezic [2007-01-12 18:40:51 +0000 UTC]

Very helpful... Would you happen to have a downloadable Word or Text version???

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mree In reply to Rezic [2007-01-13 17:02:18 +0000 UTC]

Unfortunately I don't at this point, sorry......maybe I will in the future!

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wax-crayon [2006-11-10 23:44:15 +0000 UTC]

How kind of you to put up such a guide.<3


[ -loves Terry Goodkind- xD; ]

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Air-Wave [2006-09-03 15:14:03 +0000 UTC]

You
Are
My
Hero

I've always wanted to get in the book/publishing swing of things. Now I think I might want to take it to the next level.

*jumps in car* TO THE BOOKSTORE!

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