ebook publishing

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

If/when you do, I hope you like it.

[Captain Seafort]

It took me ages to get around to reading WNJHGB, and while I have some issues with it, they're restricted to the basic frame of the setting in terms of the versus argument. The plot, writing, characterisation, etc are great.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

I'm guessing it's, "Why the bloody hell did you have Q send the Vong to fight the Daleks?!" or something along those lines. Or maybe the Borg, I don't know. Glad you liked the plot, writing and characterization at least. If you have any specifics, I'd love to hear them so I may improve for the next round.

[Captain Seafort]

I'm guessing it's, "Why the bloody hell did you have Q send the Vong to fight the Daleks?!" or something along those lines.

On the contrary, that was absolutely cracking. One bit I think you could have done without was the Tenth Doctor's little cameo towards. While I can appreciate why you threw him in, it felt a little too in-your-face and jarring and pulled me out of the story, whereas the Dalek/Vong encounter worked as an interlude without really affecting the main story (besides removing the Vong of course).

If you have any specifics, I'd love to hear them so I may improve for the next round.

It's simply a matter of our relative, uh, interpretations of the relative technical strengths of 'Wars and 'Trek. You know what I'm like when it comes to technical debates, so it took a bit of effort to concentrate on the story itself and ignore the backdrop of technical parity that underpins it. If you want to go further, PM me - we're skirting versus territory as it is here.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

I'm guessing it's, "Why the bloody hell did you have Q send the Vong to fight the Daleks?!" or something along those lines.

On the contrary, that was absolutely cracking. One bit I think you could have done without was the Tenth Doctor's little cameo towards. While I can appreciate why you threw him in, it felt a little too in-your-face and jarring and pulled me out of the story, whereas the Dalek/Vong encounter worked as an interlude without really affecting the main story (besides removing the Vong of course).

Ah, okay. The tenth Doctor bit was put in as a request from a friend. But yeah, 'tis a bit silly.

If you have any specifics, I'd love to hear them so I may improve for the next round.

It's simply a matter of our relative, uh, interpretations of the relative technical strengths of 'Wars and 'Trek. You know what I'm like when it comes to technical debates, so it took a bit of effort to concentrate on the story itself and ignore the backdrop of technical parity that underpins it. If you want to go further, PM me - we're skirting versus territory as it is here.

I... I'm not good at math. I'll admit that. I don't think I'll go further because it'll fly over my head. It's one of the reasons I stay out of technical debates here, actually. But thanks!

[Graham Kennedy]

I'm talking about both. I do my damned best to proofread my fics, but I know mistakes seep in. Also, I try to maintain or strive for a certain quality of work. And i know what I write at isn't good enough to publish beyond fanfiction.

Technically, your writing is a damned sight better than much that gets "professionally" proofed. As far as the quality of your work, it's also better than much that gets published. Further, with the e-publishing that GK mentioned... who cares? Throw it out there and let the public decide!

I've written stories myself before and put bits and pieces up for public consumption - DITL itself is fanfic to a degree, for that matter. I know for me there is always a nervousness in exposing my work to the public eye. Criticism can hurt, more so if it's justified. It's very easy to write stuff and stick it in some back corner of your hard drive, convinced that nobody could possibly want to read it. I've been lucky to get a generally positive reaction, to DITL and other things, but even with that "Mega-Hyper-Iso-Phaser" guy, yeah he was being absurd but at least he had the balls to do something and show it around. That's not an easy thing.

I've been scanning around some of the ebook stuff on Amazon, and some of it really isn't that far removed from the better fanfics around in quality. With publishers no longer acting as a filter, I think we're going to see a flood of this kind of thing - why put stories on here for people to read for free when you can stick it on Amazon at a dollar a time and collect 70% royalties? Okay, maybe only fifty people will ever buy it but that's still money in your pocket isn't it?

[Mikey]

I think the only issue would be intellectual property toe-stepping. Other than that, as I said, throw it out there!

[Varthikes]

Just curious, but with people writing stories here has anybody considered publishing their stuff as an ebook?

Amazon, for example, has self publishing. You simply upload your stuff, set a price, fill in some forms regarding how much to charge, how it's paid, etc, and that's it. Your work is available for sale. There's no checking or approval process, like you'd go through with a publisher.

Course you couldn't do it with fanfic based in an existing universe. But for original work, why not?

You would also have to do your own artwork. And, that may not be a problem if you know your way around Photoshop or Paint, or some other good (and possibly expensive) art program. My best work of Photoshop is amateurish at best. While an ebook doesn't need a cover like a real, paper-bound book, it's still a good idea to have good cover art for marketing purposes.

[Graham Kennedy]

I've had that thought myself. But a plain cover with a title and author name on it would be easily doable for many people for free - I could certainly run something like that up in a couple of minutes.

[Tsukiyumi]

Lucky for me, my best friend does all of my illustrations.

Now, to finish anything more than a short story...

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Lucky for me, my best friend does all of my illustrations.

Now, to finish anything more than a short story...

I'd look forward to anything you put up.

[Tsukiyumi]

I have one copyrighted; it isn't my best work, but I can post it.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Go ahead.

[Graham Kennedy]

I'm actually biting the bullet and trying to write a book... 54,000 words in and counting. Just might be the first thing longer than a short story that I ever actually finish.

[alexmann]

Awesome, what's it about?