The vacation is over, and life is back to (somewhat) normal, which means it is time for another progress update. There is not much to report just yet – one of my novels is currently being evaluated by a prospective publisher after my query submission resulted in a request for the manuscript sample; there are no news on two more novels; a couple of rejection notices came about; few more prospective publishers lined up for submissions for the works currently not under consideration elsewhere.

In this manner, having a number of works completed prior to actively seeking publishing is a two-edged sword. As a father of two, I can say with certainty – it is not like children. Yes, you spend a good amount of time and energy on every novel you write, and you feel very strongly about their quality and merit, but you do not feel the same way about all of them. Some novels have topics that resonate better with certain moods, or have parts you have stronger attachment to than others. And while I stand behind everything I wrote and saw fit to promote, I have my favorites, and hope that those works will be the ones that get noticed first.

Herein lays the bane of many aspiring writers. It is good to have multiple works fit for publication – in fact, the old saying about putting all of one’s eggs into the same basket is very apt. At the same time, it also creates much extra work, because not every novel will be a good fit for the same type of publisher, and an author will have to research publishers in the genres he or she might not have considered if the author was pushing only a single work. And this is the dilemma of many writers (and, I suspect, many publishers): quality versus quantity.

A writer who spends all his or her time on a single project may eventually get that project as close to perfection as possible. The problem with that is simple: it takes time and limits opportunities. Opportunities like having multiple works under consideration by different publishers, who tend to dislike simultaneous submissions. Opportunities like attempting to access several different markets that a single novel may not appeal to.

And then, there are writers who are capable of churning out novels very quickly, and who work on the premise of quantity first, hoping that if they have a dozen or so novels under consideration, something will finally get noticed. Such writers may not be able to spend as much time on each single project, but they will have more opportunities available to them on the basis on sheer number of works they are producing. This is not to say that fast writers will invariably write bad fiction – far from it, as the ultimate quality of a novel will depend more on writer’s talent than writing speed. That said, while quantity has quality all its own, an unagented writer may end up spreading him- or herself very thin by pushing too many projects.

Enter yours truly, with five novels written, revised, edited, and improved over the period of several years. As I do not depend on my literary endeavors to make a living, I can afford to create a first draft over a fairly short period – anywhere from three weeks to two or three months, depending on draft length, time available, and other pertinent factors. Then, I tend to hold off on starting a different project until I have had a chance to evaluate my current one, incorporate the input of my beta readers, and perhaps do significant rewrites. “Flight of the Locust” was originally one of my shorter novels; when I did a rewrite, I had eliminated pretty much the entirety of the first draft, taking concepts from it and writing the second draft almost from scratch, getting almost twice the length of the first draft. The second draft of “All is Dust” added another subplot, expanded on a previously minor character, and added significant depth to the universe and the actors within it, increasing the novel length by a sizable amount and developing themes that can lead straight into a sequel. All of my other works had similar edits, revisions, modifications and so on.

Thus, my answer to the dilemma was to spend time crafting several unconnected books that may appeal to different segments of the marketplace, to spend significant time on perfecting each book, and to work on promoting them at the same time. With publisher and agent response times being anywhere from several days to many months, it gives me a chance to solicit several prospective publishers or agents at the time by having several novels under consideration instead of waiting to hear back from one publisher/agent before being able to submit the sole project elsewhere. It avoids both simultaneous submissions and long times of inaction while waiting for a singular reply.

That said, my answer is far from the only one, and just because it works for me (or, rather, because it will hopefully accomplish its goal) does not mean it will be the best way for someone else. For all other aspiring or published writers reading this, what are your thoughts on the matter?

It’s Monday, and things are proceeding quite nicely. All five novels and a short story are currently under consideration by either an agent or a publisher, and the list of potential places to submit my works to is growing. While “under consideration” means little other than “they did not say no as of this writing”, it is still more than what I did with my writing since, well, ever.

Which brings me to today’s topic, perseverance and humility.

Every aspiring writer in the world probably has a rather inflated opinion of his or her skills. In some cases it is warranted; in others, not so. This belief in one’s writing acumen is both a blessing and a curse – a blessing, because it does not let rejections deter one from trying; a curse, because it can lead one to overlook real issues with his or her writing. It can be at least partially mitigated through the use of friends, family, and writers’ groups as proverbial sounding-off boards, but there are some issues with that. Friends and family will rarely bluntly tell you that your writing leaves much to be desired. Writers’ groups may be hesitant to provide harsh feedback in order to secure more lenient feedback for themselves. A professional editor will not be free, and may have ulterior motives (especially if such editor is associated with a vanity publisher or an agent, and is involved in trying to get you to sign up with that publisher or agent).

Ultimately, the hardest part for any aspiring writer is to decide if the feedback you receive is honest, unbiased, and has no ulterior motivation. And with this in mind, submitting your works to publishers and agents provides a good gauge for where you really stand.

We have all read stories about J.K. Rowling and Dr. Seuss, both of whom were rejected time after time before finally finding success (I bet some of those publishers had an “egg upon their face” moment). Stephen King was not an overnight success, and did not hit it big until “Carrie”. Almost any writer, unless he or she is extremely lucky, will accumulate a pile of rejection letters (or a collection of e-mails) until that one affirmative answer. That said, the stories also send a wrong message to many aspiring authors – try submitting your stories for long enough, and you will eventually find success.

The truth is, getting published is easy. With the advent of the Internet and e-readers, anyone can publish his or her manuscript for relatively little cost. Getting published without having to pay for it, where you compete against hundreds or even thousands of other would-be authors, each convinced he or she is the next (insert name of your favorite popular writer here), that is much harder. And while much of the acceptance process is bound to be guided by the publishers’ or agents’ subjective opinions, after a certain point one cannot help but wonder, what is wrong?

Now, in my case I am at the very beginning of the submissions process, and while I hope that it will bear fruit soon, I do not expect overnight success. With five novels that are quite diverse in terms of genres and writing styles, I believe I have increased my chances of eventual acceptance, but I am also prepared to play by the rules and to wait as long as necessary, allowing prospective publishers to evaluate my works and decide if my novels are right for them. As such, a degree of persistence and thick skin are mandatory. But if sufficient time passes and my works gather no real interest, I have little issue with going back to the drawing board, doing additional editing and writing, and trying to craft new stories incorporating what works.

This is almost certainly one of the most important things for an aspiring writer. Self-confidence is a great thing, and positive comments from select test readers are encouraging, but in the end, one must always accept the reality that writing is an evolutionary process, and that the only opinions that matter are those of a publisher and those of a final reader. If a publisher is willing to put their resources into producing a marketable copy of the book, and someone is willing to pay money for it, it is the author’s obligation to put forth his or her best product. And in order to do that, a certain degree of humility is absolutely necessary.

Very few things are great from scratch. Every story should be re-read several times, all inconsistencies removed and all grammatical, spelling, punctuation and other errors corrected. The final product should be the best the story can be, and should be promoted as if it is the most important literary work in the history of mankind. An author who does not believe in his or her story’s potential enough to fully support and promote it has very little chance of convincing anyone else of that story’s potential. But if the story fails to solicit interest after sufficient effort was put into promoting it, if it cannot find its market and its reader base, then an author should not be afraid to return to the drawing board.

Hello, my name is Alex, and welcome to my little corner of the web!

That sounds about right, if a little on the corny side. This blog is my attempt at permanent Internet presence outside of Counter-Factual.Net forums, and will be dedicated to my writing, with occasional forays into all sorts of topics I find relevant, curious, quirky or amusing.

So, about that writing thing…

Getting on the wrong side of 30 made me evaluate just what I wanted to do with my life. Don’t get me wrong – I have a successful career, a great family, and no real reason to complain. That said, I’ve always fancied myself a creative individual, and while my teenage dreams of “making it” as a musician had slowly transformed into something decidedly more part-time, my writing aspirations gained a new and unexpected boost.

You see, I have always enjoyed writing, and have amassed a number of novel-length works written over the last few years. While at first I had treated it as an amusing hobby, one thing became very clear with time – I would really like to give it a shot as a professional author.

What it ultimately boils down to is this: I have stories to tell, and would love to share them with the world. And if I can turn doing what I love into a writing career, then my goal will be accomplished!

With those lofty aspirations in mind, I had found myself with five finished original universe novels and a hodge-podge of short stories written over the years. Two of the novels are science fiction of space opera variety; one is supernatural horror; one is an existential dark time travel novel; and one is a post-apocalyptic tale of mad science, immortal assassins, messiahs, debauched former Emperors and Gnosticism. Two of the novels are written as first (and largely self-contained) entries in their respective series, while the other three are completely stand-alone (although one of those can be turned into series if desired); the novels range from as little as 63,000 words to around 120,000 words in length, and introduce a wide variety of characters, worlds and concepts.

So there. The initial set of offerings, submitted to publishers and literary agents for the first time, with care to avoid simultaneous submissions. First steps on a journey that will hopefully lead to professional publication and writing career. And while I don’t expect to consider quitting my day job any time soon, it does not hurt to aim high. After all, every successful novelist was once a no-name shmuck like yours truly, sitting tight and dreaming big.

Still with me? Good. Stick around, and you will see the entire journey unfold, from here to… well, wherever it will go!