As someone who used to be a new writer -- though it's been a few years now! -- I think it falls to me to pass on the really unwelcome news that new writers have to deal with at some point early in their careers; I certainly did.
It's quite simply this: there are tens of thousands of really bad writers out there busy pushing their own work on all and sundry, and by and large, the more loudly they demand that someone, anyone, read their fiction, the worse said fiction turns out to be. You may be the exception to that rule, but the more you sound like a bad writer trying to badger people into reading your novel, the more certain it is that nobody is going to invest the hours necessary to read your work.
I know, it's unfair. Life is that way.
If you want to find an audience as a writer, you're facing a steep uphill climb. It's not insuperable, but if this comment of yours is an example of how you're going about it, you've embraced a strategy that almost always fails. I encourage you to rethink your approach.
Specifically, I encourage you to:
- Get some short pieces published in genre magazines; - Start a blog, and post regularly; - Consider doing some genre pieces as 99-cent e-books; - Consider trying some field of nonfiction, where the competition is much less fierce and it's easier to build an audience.
You need to get some name recognition for your writing, and posts like this one -- where you come across as demanding that people read your novel whether they feel like it or not -- will not help. I know how frustrating it is to write and be unable to find a market; I finished my first novel in 1978 and finally got published for the first time in 1996. This is something that most writers have to go through, however. If you want a writing career, it's one of the burdens you have to face.
Re: A follow up to last week's magic/fantasy books discussion.
As someone who used to be a new writer -- though it's been a few years now! -- I think it falls to me to pass on the really unwelcome news that new writers have to deal with at some point early in their careers; I certainly did.
It's quite simply this: there are tens of thousands of really bad writers out there busy pushing their own work on all and sundry, and by and large, the more loudly they demand that someone, anyone, read their fiction, the worse said fiction turns out to be. You may be the exception to that rule, but the more you sound like a bad writer trying to badger people into reading your novel, the more certain it is that nobody is going to invest the hours necessary to read your work.
I know, it's unfair. Life is that way.
If you want to find an audience as a writer, you're facing a steep uphill climb. It's not insuperable, but if this comment of yours is an example of how you're going about it, you've embraced a strategy that almost always fails. I encourage you to rethink your approach.
Specifically, I encourage you to:
- Get some short pieces published in genre magazines;
- Start a blog, and post regularly;
- Consider doing some genre pieces as 99-cent e-books;
- Consider trying some field of nonfiction, where the competition is much less fierce and it's easier to build an audience.
You need to get some name recognition for your writing, and posts like this one -- where you come across as demanding that people read your novel whether they feel like it or not -- will not help. I know how frustrating it is to write and be unable to find a market; I finished my first novel in 1978 and finally got published for the first time in 1996. This is something that most writers have to go through, however. If you want a writing career, it's one of the burdens you have to face.