Any writers and authors on here?

NEVER EVER pay to have your book published. There are sharks out there such as Austin MacAuley who will charge you thousands and never sell any of your work. It is better to publish on Amazon than pay thousands for nothing. My niece has self published about 10 books on Amazon and they look wonderful! She has quite a following too.

I have been writing for years with nothing published. I find it a good way to relax and go into another space. I belong to a writing group and we regularly produce a self published collection of our short stories. Our membership is a mixture of fairly eccentric individuals of all age groups writing in different genres so meetings are interesting! Many have published. I have written a novel but have never had the nerve to try and get it published. Mostly I write short stories. My friends and family read and praise them but they would, wouldn’t they!

I have just started writing a children's book. It is for my grandchildren and set on the river where I live.

It's well worth joining ALCS if you haven't already. It's free for me as a member of the Society of Authors. They collect digital royalties. I suspect it's from magazine stories which are also published online and digital versions of my books but I don't understand how they do it. However, I'm very happy to receive the extra money they collect each year.

I too have self-published on Amazon, Kindle Direct Publishing, and while it does take a bit of IT skill to do, it is very satisfying to hold the finished book in your hand. I've had good reviews but there are a lot of self-published books out there and sales go in dribs and drabs. I have avoided paying Amazon to advertise my book, instead, I do free promotions from time to time.
You have my sympathy over the loss of your daughter, to lose a child is heartbreaking.

ValerieF

My 12 year old granddaughter wrote this in response to a “story” about kindness. I thought it was beautiful

“Best Shortbread in Scotland”

Tamzin Parker was a bright, bubbly 26-year-old woman who ran a café in her home village of Cullen. Situated on the North Sea coast of Scotland her café overlooked the beach. As she was cleaning up crumbs from her last customer, she looked around at the empty tables and sighed. At lunchtime on a lovely, warm spring morning, she would usually expect more customers but the covid-19 pandemic had taken its toll. With people staying at home more often and others working from home, many of her regulars had stopped spending their money on her lunchtime specials.
Tamzin slid open the till drawer and scooped out today’s takings. Fifteen pounds and 27 pence was not going to pay her bills.
The café bell rang as a man wearing a blue tailored suit entered. Tamzin couldn’t help but notice his rather expensive looking car parked in the bay outside.
“Can I have a large coffee and one of your shortbread please?” The man asked kindly. Tamzin prepared his order and brought it over to the table in the window, where he had chosen to sit.
The man smiled and said “I love shortbread and I hear that you do the best in all of Scotland”
Tamzin smiled and replied “Aye, we do a great shortbread in here but you should enjoy that piece because I am going to be closing on Friday………….. This pandemic has really affected my business. Its sad but there you go”
The man looked thoughtful and replied “I’m sorry to hear this, maybe things will get better for you soon?”
Tamzin smiled at him and said “as my mum always used to say, what will be will be”
The man turned his attention to the shortbread and polished off every last crumb before drinking down his coffee. He opened up his briefcase, and shuffled about some papers before busily scribbling something down. “can I have the bill please?”
Tamzin passed him the bill, placing it next to his empty coffee cup and next to this she placed a paper bag with a rectangular object inside. “Have a free piece of shortbread on me, to take home. And never forget the café that sold the best shortbread in Scotland” she chuckled.
The Man stood up and after collecting his belongings, waved goodbye “thanks for everything” he said.
Tamzin went to collect the bill and dirty dishes. As she scooped up the money left on the table, something caught her eye. On the table was a Cheque and as she read it, her eyes widened. It was for her!! The Cheque was made out to Miss Tamzin Parker and was signed by a Mr. Lachlan Gibson. Lachlan Gibson? Where had she heard that name before?…..
Tamzin searched her memories and it didn’t take her long to recall his face. Lachlan had been a child at her school. They were just 8 years old when Lachlan moved from a school in Glasgow and joined their class. Lachlan was a small boy with timid brown eyes and messy dark hair that looked as though he had never thought to brush it. Tamzin had remembered that Lachlan had been sat next to her at lunchtimes in the school canteen. He seemed to bring very little in the way of food with him to the canteen. He would finish off his sandwich and still seemed hungry. His eyes would follow every bite that Tamzin took. Tamzin was only 8 years old yet her heart told her that she felt sorry for Lachlan. Each day she would push some of her lunch over towards him. A banana, an orange, a yogurt but Lachlan was never happier as when she would halve her shortbread and give him the biggest half. “I make this with my mum” she said.
Lachlan’s family had been struggling since his dad got fired from his job but even as things did improve for them Tamzin would always bring shortbread to share.
Tamzin held the cheque in her hands. There was more than enough to pay her bills and to keep her café running and to maybe make it through the pandemic. Under the empty coffee cup was a piece of folded paper. It read
“To Tamzin
Thank you for the best shortbread in Scotland.
This is for all of the times you let me have the bigger half.
Kindness never goes unnoticed!
Your old friend, Lachlan”

Tamzin stood in disbelief, holding the cheque feeling excited and overwhelmed all at the same time. Could this really be happening? Had her business really been saved? This is exactly what happened and Tamzin would go on to serve many a shortbread for years to come.
Her favorite customer was the man in the blue suit who always got the bigger half.
By Emma-lee Loveday
Christ the King school- 7D

Awwww what a wonderful read. That's just made me cry! Good luck to your grandaughter.

Sorry to hear about your daughter Artemis1.
Good luck with your writing. Maybe you will feel like writing about your life looking after your daughter. I love reading real life stories (not celebrities). Take care.❤

@ValerieF, your daughter has real talent! I'm an author of several published books and have had a couple of stories feature in anthologies. I also work as an editor and teacher of creative writing. Please, please nurture that skill! She could go far!
To the op, many 'traditionally' published authors are now indie publishing. Publishing companies do very little to help new authors nowadays, you are expected to promote your own book and they very seldom offer an advance to newbies. If one did take you on, it could easily be a couple of years before it ever sees print.
Indie publishing (as previously mentioned by someone else) is rapidly changing the arena and some new authors do incredibly well going that route. One word of advice I would offer is to have an editor work on it after you've finished it, spell checked it yourself, and had a friend read it to see if there are any glaring plot holes. When you read it back to yourself, your brain will see what you intended to write rather than what is actually on the page. If you indie publish with those errors still there, your reviews will make it sink without trace. (I learned this the hard way, a long time ago!) There is also a handy 'read aloud' button in Word. Use that as it will pick things up that you've missed. Whatever you do, your first step is to have confidence in simply beginning to write. It's so easy to procrastinate and worry that nobody will read it. So what if they don't! You'll have written a book and the satisfaction that gives is second to none!

Lots of useful info on here. I've had a story published in an Anthology produced by Voice-Club. You can enter their monthly 350 word competition free of charge. They also run a 100 word monthly competition which really helps you to tighten your stories. You do have to be a patron for this comp but it only costs under £3 a month. The writers are a really friendly bunch and read each other's stories to offer their feedback. I wish you lots of luck with your writing. The main thing is to enjoy what you write whether published or not.

So sorry to read about your daughter.
I'm a hobby writer, too. I've written masses of stuff and had just a few items published in magazines over the years but not for a long time. In recent years I have written three novels of approximately 120,000 words each. I finished the last one just a couple of weeks ago and instantly started a 'Part 2' as I missed the characters so much. I also wrote a children's book in lockdown for my grandchildren. They politely said they enjoyed it! I would love to try self publishing but I am put off by how difficult it is. I am no technophobe but will admit to being impatient especially when the first hurdle is deciding what genre the novel is - I never can! I suppose I would like someone to do it all for me but I know from experience that finding an agent or a publisher is nigh on impossible. I do get cross when 'celebs' seem to get rubbishy books published at the drop of a hat.

ValerieF
What a fabulous piece of writing,your granddaughter must have a great future in front of her.
I really enjoyed her story, one would never has thought it was written by a 12 year old, brilliant ??????

had

I have written for years with NO success at all. I have sent my novel to 10 agents with no results, and my friend who is a nurse wrote a memoir about working through the pandemic with absolutely no success either. It is not about talent or hard work. I think you have to be either a celebrity or lucky. Alot of it is down to Lady Luck not talent.

songstress there's been lots of useful suggestions on this thread alone. The route via agents is not the only one. Luck helps but so does flexibility and perseverance. If you want to make your book available to the public then publish it yourself?

I wrote a novel about my travels to Cornwall over the past fifty years I took the self publishing road it wasn’t difficult but expensive I sold most of my books to friends and family the most difficult part was marketing on my own and selling as an unknown author. Don’t give up hope just enjoy writing you will be pleased with what you can achieve

ValerieF. I loved your granddaughter’s story. Like you, it made me feel quite tearful. It’s also beautifully written. I won’t forget it. Please tell her she should go on writing.

Hi. Yes, I’m a writer. I have one ebook published, a YA/crossover novel and just missed having another published. Currently working on another novel, in the editing stage. Also had one or two poems published (Mslexia) and in a forthcoming anthology.

it would be nice to start a dedicated thread on here to share writers things?

Again, enormous love on the sad loss of your daughter. X

Artemis1. How sad to lose your daughter so tragically. Deepest sympathy to you and your family.

The lovely ‘shortbread’ story was beautifully written. I hope that this young lady continues to write, and develop her talents.

I became an inadvertent published author, many years ago. As a new Guide Leader, with no experience of camping, I was invited along to join the camp of another Guide unit. By way of a ‘thank you’ I wrote a poem, in the style of Albert and the Lion’, jokily referring to various things that had happened that week. Imagine my surprise, on reading my Guiding magazine some months later, to see my poem in print. My hostess had enjoyed it so much that she had submitted it for publication,

obviously not....Oh well.

Valerief
Your granddaughter has talent for sure and I loved her short story.

I've been a published writer of fiction (mostly historical) for 40 years—now self-publishing since my 20+ titles went out of print. Self-publishing involves a steep learning curve, but helps keep the little grey cells active!

I wonder if I have one of your books on my Kindle curlewcall - does your username give a hint?