I may want to write one. Does anyone know the process

Yes! You WRITE! Everyday!

You want to "Sell" a book?? That's the whole 'nother ball-game!

I have a friend who has published one book. He's working on three others and has one completed: 99,000 thousand words. He emails inquiries to publishers, telling them in 25 words or less what the book is about. (Many publishers take only short inquiry emails.) He also sends out the first three chapters to book editors. He sends them out 5 - 10 at a time. (He is also always looking for an AGENT!! You have to SELL yourself to the Agent. Why should the Agent invest his time and talent in YOU???) Again, about the multiple sending out of manuscripts to the editors... this is not like the old days when it was not 'ethical' to send to more than one publisher at a time. Nowadays send as many as ink in the printer and postage on hand will allow.

Know your market.

But first... know what you are writing about. According to book editors, many ms. are rejected because writers do not know how to form correct sentences. They do not know how to carry an idea thru the chapters. In Los Angeles this weekend, editors and publishers and writers are colliding for a book bonanza. That's where "deals" are made!

My friend, believe it or not, writes about 8 hours a day, at least 3 days a week, at Starbucks. The rest of the time at his apartment. He found a Starbucks that is reasonably quiet and lets the coffee buyer extend their time over the cup (and laptop computer).

And then...
...if all else fails...
try..
http://www.Lulu.com

Here's how it works:
Send in your manuscript. Put a price on it. They print a complete book everytime someone orders it. They take a cut. You get the rest. Three people order the book? Three copies are printed. Incredible? Yep!
Probably the best thing that's happened to writers...!

thanks... how does this sound for making a book? a twin brother and sister go to london england on a history field trip. while they are gone, America boycotts all products from china, due to rising prices, building up tension between the two countries. without warning china drops a chemical bomb that has no actual explosion but releases a chemical with parasites that form the sickness of anger, madness, and hate. The parasites of the sickness needs a human host in a short amount of time. Some evacuations left some towns empty. The sickness spreads througout the nation leaving most of the humans zombie-like creatures but filled with hate and the ability to run and spread the disease quickly. Only few survivors remain througout the country due to being sheilded from the infection by unanimous materials. Meanwhile, right after the bomb drops, mixed up in the chaos and forgotten, the twins airplane arrives in New York at their scheduled layover before they get to their hometown of minnesota. Unaware of the incident due to the plane never recieving any news about the situation, the class and the other passengers exit the plane to find themselves at a deserted airport, while the plane they were on and the crew were never seen again. The class enters the town and finds out something is wrong because of the emptiness of the city. they then wrongly discover the horrors of what the chemicals have done to the U.S. while they were just arriving.
Anyone please leave feedback, i would greatly appreciate it.. by the way im only 16 and just recently thought of writing this book for some reason.. i have never written a book before but i would like to have this come true someday

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud,

1) Why twins?
2) How long are they gone? Years? Boycotting all products from China, due to rising prices, building up tensions between two countries, doesn't exactly happen overnight. More like many, many months. Years perhaps.
3) Without warning China drops a chemical bomb! Why? That just destroys all their potential market place. Boycott or no boycott. Rising prices started the whole thing? What, China raising the prices? Hmm? Sounds funny to me.
4) Also, there would be dire activity aboard the plane if communications were all cut off. You make it sound like they are all in a fog as to what is happening. Not so. And exactly what happens to the plane and crew anyway?
5) No one has to enter the town and find out something is wrong. They already knew aboard the plane when communications were cut off. Didn't they figure something was wrong the moment they stepped into the terminal, when no one is at the terminal. And the, we got the crew and plane disappearing. Duh?
6) Wrongly discover? What does that mean?

Sounds like the first 2 minutes of a bad disaster script to me. I'd say start with a nice short, short story and see if you can make it hold together, for starters.

well then... i have an update...

China raises stock prices due to the increasing price of fuel angering Americans into boycotting Chinese imports. A war starts with China as they use the threat of a nuclear fallout against the refusing Americans. China then drops a chemical bomb that has no actual explosion but releases a chemical with parasites that form the sickness of anger, madness, and hate. The parasites of the sickness need a human host in a short amount of time. Some evacuations left some towns empty. The sickness spreads throughout the nation leaving most of the humans zombie-like creatures but filled with hate and the ability to run and spread the disease quickly. Only few survivors remain throughout the country, most of them in bomb shelters or basements. Two twins and their dad, with the mom most likely at her work place shelter, return from their basement to find their house and most of the city empty, so they think. The horrors that wait for them in New York, their hometown, are around every corner. As the parasites that are still airborne are completely gone due to the lack of hosts, the infection can still be spread by the infected. The twins set out to find any remaining survivors while still trying to live themselves.
.

Nothing new. Just about a bunch of frenzied, struggle for survival movie. So what? Irwin Allen made a fortune on that type of movie decades ago.
Lately there has been movies like Volcano and such. So what? In 1968 (thereabouts) we nearly went into nuclear war over the downing of the spy submarine, Scorpion. In 1962/3 (?) we were less than 30 minutes away from nuclear war. Over Cuban threats. But in each of these scenarios there is a story(s) far more compelling than simply telling of brute survival. That's where the rubber meets the road.

there is a story far more compelling... the break out of infection with no known cure for the parasites.. have you ever seen 28 days later... its along those lines

28 days! Along those lines?
Aha! Like I said. Nothing New! Come on. Be original!

Carapace:

Bradbury often says the first draft of something is written in a burst of passion. Then you go back and revise it. You obviously have a book in mind. Do what Nard said and just begin writing it. You'll flesh out the story as you go.

As to comments like, it has been done before: I would set those aside and ignore them. Yes, there are a lot of disaster, end-of-the world stories before. Many are mundane. But "Earth Abides," "Lucifer's Hammer," and "I am Legend" all stand out as examples of books that have exceeded mediocrity by being well-written, putting a new twist on an old story, or creating a better sense of drama or thought.

Write your story. If it ends up not being that good, learn from it. Don't sit around saying, "This isn't good enough". That's a guarantee that you'll never write a book in your life.

Read the books above to see how a similar story is told in different ways. Another idea: Two volcano movies came out at the same time: "Volcano" and "Dante's Peak". Both had good points and bad points, but there were real differences in pace, story, characters, etc. Watch both of them. The same with two asteroid-hits-the-earth movies: "Armageddon" and "Deep Impact". Watch them and see how different they are in the same story. For fun, two movies also came out about bugs. Watch both of them and do the same: compare and see how different they are. "A Bug's Life" and "Ants".

Most stories have similar components. What do you bring to the story/myth/genre that is new or original.

thanks mr dark.. you live in mckinney.. i live in red oak which is next to waxahachie

I wrote a short collection of poetry. But, I never did anything with it.


That really has nothing to do with anything

quote:

Originally posted by Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud:
without warning china drops a chemical bomb that has no actual explosion but releases a chemical with parasites that form the sickness of anger, madness, and hate. The parasites of the sickness needs a human host in a short amount of time. Some evacuations left some towns empty. The sickness spreads througout the nation leaving most of the humans zombie-like creatures but filled with hate and the ability to run and spread the disease quickly.

that sounds like 28 days later.

I've been writing and sending out MSs for about 5 years, three years of it has been pretty constant. I've yet to sell a thing. It can be a heartbreaking thing. Keep your day job. LoL