Writers Central

Off-Topic Forum for things having nothing to do with Twilight or the entertainment industry

Moderators: bac, cullengirl, una, Nena

Forum rules
Click for Forum Rules
Tornado
Member: LaPush Cliff Diving Team
Posts: 3610
Joined: Sat Jun 18, 2011 7:06 pm
Location: The Land Down Under

Re: Writers Central

Post by Tornado »

Amanda Beth, you don't need to worry about that. This woman is very honourable, and would never do something like that. This is the only area in which I disagree with her. In fact, I'm hoping to patch things up, as her advice about the rest of the book is (and has been) incredibly helpful. She is also a friend of my father's and a friend of my employer's, and I really need to make sure things are okay so that we can see each other in the future without there being any awkwardness.

I haven't heard back from her yet, but if she doesn't reply over the course of the weekend, then I will reply to try and start a reconciliation.
Image
alphanubilus
Learning to Love Green
Posts: 93
Joined: Thu Dec 03, 2009 8:54 pm

Re: Writers Central

Post by alphanubilus »

Amanda Beth wrote:What stops this reader from going and taking your idea and rewriting it? I mean, until it's actually published it can't be copyrighted.
Actually as soon as you have the rough draft completed you can copyright it. It costs about 35 dollars per manuscript. As long as you don't radically change your book (IE title, entire story and such) the copyright sticks. All you have to do is create an account via their website and copyright away. www.copyright.gov. Secondly most publishers keep an electronic paper trail to make sure their "readers" don't steal ideas for themselves. If the said reader is found guilty of stealing other's material it is a federal offense, of which includes jail time. Legit agents/publishers/ such have legit readers. It is very rare, in the publishing world, to have your material stolen. Most professionals believe in karma, and they don't want bad things happening to them.

It is incredibly easy now-a-days to find out of an agent is legit by checking their rankings. there are numerous websites like Predators and Editors, that post information in regards to an agent or publisher. If they are listed there, then they are probably bad.

All in all, in order for a writer to have any chance of selling their material, they have to get it out there. The professional the establishments are, the less you have to worry about theft.

On another note, a publisher-editor-agent, all can suggest major changes in regards to a book. They want to make money, and they want to make sure that this book they are putting money in, will make them money. There are also cases where the agent/editor/publisher has a personal agenda. I once had a friend who's contact at a publisher was an far left PC liberal, and requested that he remove any words that would link Islam with terrorists, as well as remove any sort of comments that could be deemed anti-Islam, such as using the word jihadist. As this book was about a general serving in Iraq... He requested another contact, as this one was putting his own "views" over the context of the story.

Again, you know your story better than anybody else. As long as the structure is sound, stick to your guns. If you can give a bit here and there... do so... if not. don't.


Tornado
Member: LaPush Cliff Diving Team
Posts: 3610
Joined: Sat Jun 18, 2011 7:06 pm
Location: The Land Down Under

Re: Writers Central

Post by Tornado »

I am happy to accept advice, and some of this woman's advice has been very sound. I was already putting it into practice before I received the full reader's report (as I had heard one of her suggestions through the publisher already). Some of it I'm unsure about, but I realise how inexperienced I am at this style of writing, so I am seriously considering all her suggestions, even though it would mean reworking the beginning of the book. It was only the demand of marriage that really caught me off guard. It just seemed so unreasonable! As my publisher said herself, if this is on another planet, they might not even have marriage, as we know it, anyway! So why is it so necessary? It seems because there is a textbook somewhere that says that this is the best ending for this kind of story. It is especially cheeky to back this view up with the opinion of another "expert" who hasn't even read the book, as this woman mentioned in her email to me.
Image
VirginiaMay
Has Caught Sight of Edward
Posts: 1040
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2010 11:02 am
Location: Sparkling in the Sunshine State
Contact:

Re: Writers Central

Post by VirginiaMay »

I just wanted to say that this is a fascinating conversation and I really appreciate you guys/gals sharing your experiences. I tend to feel overwhelmed at times by the thought of being just one of ten of thousands of hopeful-wannabe-maybe someday authors. The process seems daunting at times, but it's good to know there are still people out there willing to help and provide guidance to their peers. :)

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]
Tornado
Member: LaPush Cliff Diving Team
Posts: 3610
Joined: Sat Jun 18, 2011 7:06 pm
Location: The Land Down Under

Re: Writers Central

Post by Tornado »

Yes, it is daunting, isn't it? This whole business has taught me how much I don't know.

Well, the woman in question has answered my email. She doesn't consider any of the series I mentioned (including Twilight) as real romances, they are "menarche fantasy". So she disagrees with my comparison. She thinks that my book has too many difficulties, and for all I know, she's right about that. There are certainly problems that need to be overcome, and I'm not sure if they are able to be overcome in the storyline. This may be the sign of a poorly constructed book. Probably. I daresay my novel is very flawed. So it looks like it will be shelved.
Image
VirginiaMay
Has Caught Sight of Edward
Posts: 1040
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2010 11:02 am
Location: Sparkling in the Sunshine State
Contact:

Re: Writers Central

Post by VirginiaMay »

"Menarche fantasy"??? Is this a genre I am completely unaware of? I'm sorry, perhaps I'm ignorant, but I even Googled it and nothing relevant to publishing came up. As far as I know, menarche is the onset of a young women's mestrual cycle. So can I gather then that your reader must have meant that the series & books you mentioned harken to the fantasies of girls around that age?? Wouldn't we just call those "young adult" romances? And second to that, what is a "real" romance in her estimation anyway? Does she mean the kind of classic romance in the Harlequin style?

I don't mean to be obtuse, but I have to admit, this is one of the things I don't really get or feel educated about yet. I actually, embarrassingly, stuck my foot in my mouth during a conversation with another fanfic author one time who had ambitions of publishing what I would have called a Harlequin romance novel at the time. (Not realizing that even Harlequin has a bazillion different sub-categories under their banner.) Anyway, we were chatting one day before I was aware of the type of novel she was working on, and I made the mistake of telling her I didn't want to write a "cheesy" romance novel. OOPS. I hurt her feelings and embarrassed myself all because I was under the impression that anything categorized as a romance would be the fantasy/fairytale kind of romance novel where some male model with long hair appeared on the front cover. Again... OOPS. :oops:

So, that said, what does she mean by a "real" romance?
Amanda Beth
Has Caught Sight of Edward
Posts: 1075
Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 12:34 pm

Re: Writers Central

Post by Amanda Beth »

Unrealistic views on love would make sense since they'd be fantasies that young girls would have who believe in happily ever after etc etc. Though, in Twilight there are VAMPIRES and SHAPE SHIFTERS so nothing is really realistic in it. Most of the AH fanfics have that unrealistic love aspect to them, even with the problem the characters have TEF or CW&IA, the things done and said and the level of overly sappy love is just not realistic.

I tried to google it too but man...there are a lot of books on the female body :lol:
VirginiaMay
Has Caught Sight of Edward
Posts: 1040
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2010 11:02 am
Location: Sparkling in the Sunshine State
Contact:

Re: Writers Central

Post by VirginiaMay »

Amanda Beth wrote:I tried to google it too but man...there are a lot of books on the female body :lol:
LOL!! I happened to learn that Amazon has a feature where it searches books and highlights where the word "menarche" appears in the text. Yes, lots of interesting books out there. (Of both the fiction & non-fiction variety.)
Tornado
Member: LaPush Cliff Diving Team
Posts: 3610
Joined: Sat Jun 18, 2011 7:06 pm
Location: The Land Down Under

Re: Writers Central

Post by Tornado »

This is the actual quote from the email: "Twilight, to me, is more or less 'menarche fantasy' - that means it will automatically have a romantic factor but it is as much fantasy as romance."

I would have said the same thing about my book, but she thinks it has more romance in it than that. I am pretty sure, though, that she has never read Twilight, so probably has no idea that romance is about all you get until chapter 17!

Yeah, I don't get it either, but I'm sick of fighting. There's no point. I know some parts of my story definitely need fixing up, and I can't fix it by myself. I don't know how to. It's become painful to even think about it.
Image
Amanda Beth
Has Caught Sight of Edward
Posts: 1075
Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 12:34 pm

Re: Writers Central

Post by Amanda Beth »

I would consider Twilight a love story before fantasy, so I agree with you. That's what it is, first and foremost. Even with the Volturi and Victoria, everything revolved around Bella and Edward.

I think she made up menarche fantasy or something lol. Ask your publisher because that's just...weird.
Post Reply