AngelaSStone

A lot. It's why I started this ama.

Most of her advice is really wrong.

Example: it costs a few pennies to self publish properly (not just sticking it up in Create Space). I have spent $500 on editing $1000 on cover art(for three books which is a steal, really) not to mention other fees for layout printing, ISBN and just time in general.

Yes you can go on create space and publish a book on 30 seconds. But think of it like this. Just because you can drive a car doesn't mean you should take your little Toyota and race against indy cars and actually expect to win.

How to publish a novel the traditional way:

Step 1: Write your novel/Short Story

Step 2: Edit

Step 3: Put it away for 2 weeks

Step 4: Edit

Step 5: Edit again

Step 6: Put it away again (for longer this time)

Step 7: Edit

Step 8: Give it to someone else to Edit

Step 9: Edit again

Step 10: Repeat steps 2 through 9.

Once you've polished, primed and changed everything about your story you're ready to sub. If you want to go the tradition route you have two options

1: Agent

2:Small press

For option #1

You find agents out there that represent you work. There are 100's (google is your friend). Make sure they are open to submissions. Look at their rate of sales, look at their client lists and start submitted. Follow their criteria to a tee. Expect to be rejected and be rejected a LOT. Always be nice and polite, agents know each other and they talk to each other.

For #2

Same process pick you small press(I will take a moment to pimp one of my publishers http://www.decadentpublishing.com/), make sure they are open to submissions, make sure they publish your book (Why are you submitting a children's novel to someone who only publishes erotic novels??) follow their submission guidelines to a tee. If they tell you to run around three times and do the chicken dance THEN YOU RUN AROUND THREE TIMES AND DO THE CHICKEN DANCE. And then wait and expect to be rejected.

LISTEN TO THE REJECTIONS

Then go back and do Step 2 through 9 AGAIN. They talk about how JK Rowling was rejected how many times? What they don't talk about is how she edited and changed (and with a stunning bit of luck!) got published.

I can't tell you what is right. You have to decide what you want to do but take your story, what ever your story is, edit the crap out of it, and then decide where it belongs.

Edit to clarify: This is a basic guide. I work with a lot of newbie writers and they all make the same mistake (Heck I made that mistake). Writing "the end" and then hitting send to agents/publishers/or to even self publish is the #1 way to get rejected. Editing is important, changing is important. Some people can do it in 3 edits and a re-write. Others need 6 edits, a re-write and a crit group to get it done. The only message that I want to project is that you have to "kill the baby" because your manuscript is not perfect, it's far from it.

So Vanity publishing and Self-publishing are two different things.

Vanity publishing you pay money for someone else to publish you. They are still out there and exist in two forms.

Form #1 You pay someone to publish your novel. Give them $100? $200? $1000? to make copies of your book. They don't offer much, if any, editing services and they basically just print what you handed them. They own your novel and they own the copyright on it as well.

Form #2 (Becoming very popular in the ebook circuit at the moment) Is that you sub your book to a publishing company and then they own your book/short story. To change however they like, then you get "Free copies" to make up for it. A really good case of how this happens (and how authors react) is from this blog post here: http://mandydegeit.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/when-publishing-goes-wrong-starring-undead-press/ .

Self-publishing can be vanity publishing in a way. Write a book and want it published, just throw it up on Amazon and boom you're a published author. Doesn't mean you're going to sell books, or that it's any good but there you go.

It is also a way to buck the system and sell good books that sell really well. I hate the book, but 50 Shades of Grey was a self-published novel. She did a lot of work (and had a lot of luck) to make the books sellable.

She is.... I am horrible at spelling and grammar. She edits everything I do. It's. $500 for just one project she makes a lot more than that trust me.

Yes! Exactly!stealing this article!