ZA Furries

Raven Song wrote: ↑Wed Feb 07, 2018 10:44 pm What sort of investment cost does one need to publish a book... asking for a friend (she says not actually asking for a friend and remembering she now has 1 post left before hitting her important number...)

It really depends on where you're trying to get published and who you're trying to get published by. For most reputable publishing houses, they offer their services for free. You deliver the manuscript, they take care of the rest.

But then you also get vanity publishers, who only publish as many copies as you are willing to pay for. I'm not sure of the exact cost, since I've never used them, but they vary greatly, and usually aren't worth the price.

There are also "print on demand" publishers, who are cheaper than vanity publishers, but only print copies as they get ordered, so results vary greatly depending on how popular your work is, and what kind of marketing is being done (if at all).

If you're trying to get published in South Africa, you're quickly going to discover that all the publishing houses are stuck in the stone age. None of them (last time I checked) accept manuscript submissions via email, so you have to send them a PHYSICAL manuscript through the POST OFFICE. Can you imagine what Ander will cost like that? Just printing out 3800 pages would cost a fortune in ink and paper, and posting something that heavy would probably cost a pretty penny, as well. Also, most of them don't send your manuscript back after they're done evaluating it, so you have to send one to EVERY PUBLISHER you want to court. It's ridiculous.

Edit: I actually am kinda curious to print it out now. Just to see what a stack of 3800 pages would look like... >_>

If I could give my two cents. Rather stick with the schedule. People are more receptive to being spoonfed.
If you dump the last chapters at once. They might get lost.

Contrast wrote: ↑Wed Feb 07, 2018 7:51 pm Thanks, Adagio. I still remember the kind words you said about Ander just as I was getting started, and I was at my most fragile. About the rain and the arrow. That really meant a lot to me.

(Oh, and thanks to you, too, Rakuen! I totally forgot to say thanks, sorry.)

When I tell people about Ander I still tell them about that scene!

If you're trying to get published in South Africa, you're quickly going to discover that all the publishing houses are stuck in the stone age. None of them (last time I checked) accept manuscript submissions via email, so you have to send them a PHYSICAL manuscript through the POST OFFICE. Can you imagine what Ander will cost like that? Just printing out 3800 pages would cost a fortune in ink and paper, and posting something that heavy would probably cost a pretty penny, as well. Also, most of them don't send your manuscript back after they're done evaluating it, so you have to send one to EVERY PUBLISHER you want to court. It's ridiculous.

That's how it works in Sunny SA, and they're reticent to change. One of the publishers that's sort of going towards being more modern is Lapa (but they're heavy Afrikaans publishers mostly and also somewhat Christian so I think anything outside of that will be frowned upon).

Even though they advertise as being in business, do avoid Publishing World SA- they're insolvent and their MD is wanted for fraud.

I thought Penguin Random House accepted digital submissions?

Leeward wrote: ↑Thu Feb 08, 2018 9:31 amI thought Penguin Random House accepted digital submissions?

They're an exception, but they don't accept any Sci-Fi, Fantasy, or Young Adult fiction. Ander is really difficult to categorize by genre (even I don't know what the hell it actually is). I suppose I could submit it under "general fiction", but I don't think that will fly.

ArtyLoop wrote: ↑Thu Feb 08, 2018 9:02 amavoid Publishing World SA- they're insolvent and their MD is wanted for fraud.

Thanks for the info, I'll be sure to make a note of it.

The challenge is that traditional print media is coming under threat from the digital revolution. And this is a double-edged sword.
Because why?

a) Demand for printed books, is at an all-time low I believe
b) People are embracing the e-book/epub on the e-reader rather widely.

The biggest problem with e-books are their longevity and ability to be pirated. One person buys a copy of it and then it gets seeded on torrent sites and boom.. everyone gets a copy easily, and you cry because you get no money. Traditional media is just too costly to pirate, I do know that if a book was very expensive in the old days, yes, we photocopied the entire thing because that was cheaper.

Despite these issues, it does mean that one can now self-publish, cutting out the middlemen and all that, but honestly, are you going to pay for a file that you can share? DRM exists but it just annoys people.

Printed books can be pirated too: scan the whole thing and dump it into a PDF, optionally run through OCR to reduce file size and boom.

What about a signed hard copy? Can't pirate that, unless Contrast has a handwriting which is easy to forge.

Cape_F0X wrote: ↑Thu Feb 08, 2018 1:02 pmsigned

Speaking of signatures and whatnot, I'm actually thinking of getting it published under a pseudonym. Ander has some really questionable moments, and I don't like the idea of people I know in real life linking me to it. Maybe I'm just being paranoid? I don't know...

I'm super proud of what I wrote, but at the same time, I really, really don't have the faintest idea of how "normal" people might react to it. So far the only normal person I know of who's read my work is Animew's mom. o.O

And my sister! She was reading it too!

Adagio wrote: ↑Thu Feb 08, 2018 8:18 pmAnd my sister! She was reading it too!

Is she normal?

Lol! More normal than I am!

Just a heads up. Ander is now completely and fully uploaded to both SoFurry and Deviant Art, so for any of you who were waiting for the story to be available in its entirety, it's all up there now.

Congrats Contrast!!!

Thanks, Raven.

That is awesome!
I desperately need to read it when I can find the time for it.
Hopefully soon, because it is absolutely brilliant. ^.^

Thanks, Trace. I hope you'll enjoy it. ^_^

I found a promising publisher, but apparently my manuscript is so massive that their automated system couldn't handle it.

They asked me to cut off the first part (just the tip, lol) and send it as something that could function as a "Book 1" of what would have to be at least a 10 book series (I know I'm getting ahead of myself, seeing as how they haven't even looked at it yet, but how awesome would that be?). It also needs to be less than 120 000 words. D:

At first I despaired, but then I checked my manuscript and... well whaddaya know? The ideal cut-off point is at 119 149 words. All I had to do was change the last subchapter into an epilogue, and BAM! Ander - Book 1. Done. I don't believe in fate, but DAMN that felt nice.

Still need to write a new synopsis, though... :/

Fingers crossed.

So.... the new Wheel of Time?

Lol, I wish. That thing sold like a hundred million copies. I'll be happy just to get published at all.

It needs to be published so I can buy it! X3

It'll take 1-2 months before they get back to me, but I'll keep everyone posted.