Hi Yakir,

I am doing very well, thank you!

You’re not alone, I’ve actually seen this a couple of times. A lot of editors are super expensive. It can be tough even when you see ones that are like $0.05/word, that adds up to a small fortune with larger works!

My advice would be to either go to Goodreads and either check their community for beta reading groups, or beta readers willing to work within your price range (some on goodreads do work cheaply.) Another thing you can do is visit a college in your local area and post a request with your contact information for an English major to do some editing work for you. Typically, college students will read/edit and they usually only charge $100-300 for it.

Your best bet is one of the groups. You’ll have to help by reading someone else’s work and doing edits there, but it will be well worth it.

Readers, how do you find beta readers for your books?

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

Hi Sallie,

Sometimes. Writing styles are fluid. They’re always changing with the more we read and write.  As time goes on, one of our older works are likely to begin to look like they were written by a different person all together. However, there is good news. Many publishers, especially self-publishing, gives you the option to update your work as you see fit, though I would recommend a round of editing if you do decide to do this. Also, you may void your copyright registration if you’ve gone this route. Just be prepared that there is a lot of work that may need to go into doing something like this.

To your second question… actually yes. Gravestalker was definitely the most fun to write and it’s a book I revisit regularly. I always keep a copy nearby just in case. It always helps to get reintroduced to an old friend whenever I’m having trouble writing.

This came after the hardest story for me to write, ‘Tears of the Fallen’ because admittedly direct sequels aren’t my thing. However even then, the ideas for Gravestalker were flowing, but I had to set the stage for everything that happened in Gravestalker first. The characters had to be hurt and terrible things had to happen before the redemption story can take place. It was a labor of love, but it was a labor nonetheless. Thankfully the payoff was more than worth it and Gravestalker remains my favorite of all the books I’ve written.

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Also, if you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

Hi Yakster,

It can be tough. Not only the price, but you’ve also got a lot of charlatans out there that I’ve talked about before. People who say they’ll edit it and then do a half assed job as quickly as possible of the first chapter before asking for money… and then there’s the places that charge like $.15/Word, which doesn’t seem like much… until you do the math: $.15/word becomes thousands of dollars when we’re talking about a novel-length story (80k words on average).

Luckily you do have options. Goodreads, among others, have message boards with students who are looking to jump into the field, are quite scholarly, and will do the work for usually $100-200. They’re young, but they’re quite scholarly and I myself employed one or two in the past.

The other option, as my friend Eric alluded to in his comments is to join a writing circle. This will occasionally take you away from your own writing, but it is worth the time as you have the opportunity to experience other writing preferences, styles, and strategies, which in turn will help you improve your own.

Readers, do you have any other recommendations for getting around the hefty price tag?

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

Hi James,

I’m starting on writing my first story. I’ve never really done more than a short story that only spans a couple of pages. What do you feel is the biggest hurdle you have to overcome in order to get a satisfactorily publishable book and how do you deal with them?

Thanks,
Jan

Hi Jan,

Congratulations on taking that first big step into novelization. Creating a whole new world with dynamic characters! That first step is a huge deal, because you’ll be dedicating months to possible years on your first book. (Divinity took me 3 years to get right and was the 4th book to be published!)

So there are SEVERAL major hurdles you’re going to need to overcome… which ones are the biggest hurdles is subjective to the writer. So you may have an easier time with some over others. For me, they are as follows:

1. Time management.
2. Avoiding Burnout/Writer’s Block.
3. Editing.

Let’s address each one, shall we?

1. Time Management:
   This is no joke. Setting aside the proper amount of time to work is absolutely crucial. You can’t spend all your time working on your book. You need to make time for your family (if you have one), as well as other responsibilities and just self-maintenance in general. Personal well-being, including exercise, socializing, etc. is a must. I say this because too many writers, myself included have to fight the temptation to just keep writing and let all else fall to the back burner. You can’t let this happen. Which brings us to #2.
2. Avoiding Burnout/Writer’s Block:
   As I said above, don’t spend all of your time writing. You will experience this if you do, and even if you don’t, you may experience it. You may become disillusioned with the book, feel like the story went in a direction you didn’t want it to, or feel like it’s laborious just to get the good parts that you want to write about. Be prepared for this. This can be tempered if you really develop a relationship with your characters. Write out a set of questions and have them answer them. Get to know your characters before you start in on them. Once you do that, you should be able to get through almost anything. If that doesn’t help, there is plenty of great music out there to help you get the creative juices flowing again. I have included a massive playlist on my blog where I post (usually) daily songs that I use and where I use them.
3. Editing:
   So this one is tough. For one, you’re working with another person. DO NOT RELY ON YOUR OWN EDITING! Yes go through and fix mistakes, but don’t just assume that this is all you need. Allow another set of eyes to go through your book and make sure they’re impartial. No family members or people who won’t be painfully blunt with you. I told my editor to rip the book apart and be as blunt as possible. I wanted it harsh so that I could fix anything and everything that came up.
   Boy did I get schooled.
   So this is why editing is a hurdle… because what makes sense and sounds right in your head, doesn’t always translate to the written word as well as we may want. You have to be open to the idea of having to change scenes, perspectives, and even cut rather massive amounts of story. It’s not going to be easy and you may not want to do it, but you’re going to need to be prepared for that. This is especially the case if you want to release it to the public.

So I hope this helps, but let’s open it up to the general forum:

Readers – What are your biggest hurdles and how do you overcome them?

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

Hi Jim,

I’ve been writing for some time now and was actually wondering what made you decide to give out writing advice on your blog. Isn’t that like giving away all of your secrets? Couldn’t you wind up giving advice to someone who may wind up outperforming you?

Just wondering,
Craig

Hi Craig,

Just kidding. Honestly, if that happens, great! If honestly I give someone advice that helps them become the next Stephen King, I’ll be happy! (Though a little recognition for it wouldn’t go unappreciated *hint, hint*)

Honestly, I don’t worry about it. No matter what happens, you’ll always have people who enjoyed your work and will always come back to read more as long as the writing keeps up. It’s not like you’re giving out advice to help them write exactly like you do, far from it. You’re just giving them a push in the right direction.

Finally, what is knowledge if it isn’t shared? Of what benefit is it? I struggled through the writing/publishing world with no foreknowledge of the industry because I didn’t know anything about it. So if I can help someone not make the same mistakes and experience the disappointments that I did early on, then why not help?

As to your other question ‘why’? Well there are a few reasons. For one, I like receiving emails from my followers/fans… though I may have shot myself in the foot by promising a personal response to all of them, but I feel I must also admit to a more selfish reason as well.

One of the few pieces of advice I was given when I started trying to get published was to get my name out there. Join a blogging community and contribute heavily to it. That’s how you get notoriety. So I figured the best way was to write about things I knew. I wrote about history, writing, social commentary (which i’ve now stopped unless it pertains to writing, because the world is already saturated with politics.), and fantasy. Before long, I started getting questions about my writing and decided to make an email to accept and respond to fanmail/ questions.
That’s when I found my niche; writing advice. I’ve been doing it ever since.

So while I’ll admit that my motives haven’t always been altruistic, and are a good way to promote my books, I’ve come to really enjoy answering questions and offering my opinion.

Readers, do you have any follow up for Craig? What are other ways you get your name out there?

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim