Write a book and be a millionair!

Arts & Culture Culture, Arts, Literature & Linguistics
21

Thanks. I will be delighted to help in any way in the realization of your dream.

22

Re: Write a book and be a millionair!

lolssss at basic skills....

i think if u have read 'my feudal lord' ... you would know that you dont even need to know the basics to write a book like this.....

Ye tum achhaa nahe Kartay.
23

I have read 'My feudal Lord'. Firstly, it is not a work of fiction, but an autobiography by Tehmina meant to be read also as a biography of Khar. Lot of people these days are interested in learning about the inner lives, specially the darker side of the lives of famous people. 'My feudal Lord' has little or no literary substance but still made good reading because people already knew about the story in bits and pieces and wanted to hear from the horses mouth. It is a classic case of exploiting ones socio-political position to ones advantage and cashing in on an oppurtunity to gain name, fame, money, recognition and sympathy.
A very recent example of the same kind is Barack Obama. In the last one year he wrote 3 or 4 books and made $4.2 million. Obviously, this would not have been possible had he not been a strong contender in the presidential race for the first black President of the USA. The point is, to be able to write a succesful book, you don't need anything more than the very basic skills if you got married to Khar or if your Kenyan father migrated to the US and married a white woman. If you are not so lucky, you need a lot more than basic writing skills even to merit a fleeting glance at your work.

24

Sorry, redvelevt, I have tried to reply to your PM but am not allowed to post it because I don't have 25 posts on the forum. PM me again if you want the reply posted here.

25

Re: Write a book and be a millionair!

I met this Australian guy yesterday. He lived in Kabul and Kandhahar for more than 6 months as a traveler with local peoples and he made me happy saying 'Kite Runner is a s*** book'!

26

Hmmm, get the 25 posts first, lol!

27

Re: Write a book and be a millionair!

not so fast amnd not that easy, book writing is an endeavour to be undertook. it is never so simple, and a well written book demands, long distilled life experiences and observations.

dedicated to MUQWAWEE
28

we are not talking about 'well written' books anyways!

29 

Publishers normally don't lie to you; whether negative or positive, their comments are usually sincere but mind you, commenting positively and accepting your work for publication are two entirely different things.

Again, if the publisher speaks good about your work and does not ask you to resend a revised manuscript, it can mean any of the following:

  1. People in the West generally avoid writing where someone has to read between the lines; they normally make no bones about it tending to be forthright and straight in their talk. One thing is for sure, if he is not asking you to resend it, he is not interested in publishing your work.
  2. Sometimes, but not always, the publisher doesn't want to break your heart. He deals with so many writers every day and understands how touchy people can sometimes be about their work.
  3. Literary substance of a work and its marketability are two entirely different things. Quite often, a publisher may like a particular work but may decline to publish it because in his opinion, it may not be profitable for him to publish in that particular genre/in that region/at that time.
  4. Honestly speaking, the kind of comments you have received from publishers only mean, "You are a good writer but unfortunately, we are unable to accept your work for publication. This does not mean in any way that your work is not worthy of publication. There are a number of agents/publishers available and you must keep trying. We wish you the best of luck in finding somebody who publishes your work"

Going directly for a publisher or routing through an agent is a matter of personal choice but the reality is; the agent does take the entire headache away from you. The bleaker side is of course there; along goes a sizable chunk of your money. He looks after everything starting from manuscript submission, editing, revision, cover design, working out the contract and the marketing plan, keeping track of number of copies sold and calculation of royalties etc. Many renowned publishers do not deal directly with the authors; they do it only through the agents.

30

Thank you, Guru.

31

Wouldn't it be something? To become a writer and be able to earn enough money so you don't need any other job? Most writers say it's difficult to only live from writing, because you don't earn enough.

32

It is very much possible but then you have to be real good. Actually, there are few people who start off with writing as a career. How many young people have you ever come across who said,"I am going to become a professional writer when I grow up?". Generally, it is at some stage in their lives, while pursuing a profession of their choice/compulsion, that they feel this urge to start writing and when some of them achieve success, they gradually shift to full time writing. Success here does not necessarily mean making a lot of money; rather, being read and appreciated by a lot of people. There are others, who for reasons other than monetary, continue to work in their first profession and simultaneously write too.
All those who reach somewhere as writers are the people who started writing not to make money but to answer that call from within, that compelling urge to say something, to share their inner voice, to make their thoughts understood and to make their feelings felt, read and known far and wide. Writers may LIKE to make money but they ADORE to be read.
Creation is an act of God. Creative writing carries a certain holiness, an aura of divinity with it. For such a noble act, earning money may be one of the end products, certainly not the sincere aim. A person doesn't write to become a writer; he becomes a writer when he writes.

33

I am planning to write a book and for that I am collecting the material necessary for the project. Hopefully I will have something by the end of this year. I used to be in printing and publishing and I know it is not as easy as it sounds.

34

I think kite runner and moth smoke are good books, you said that these were average literary work, **

By the way what are good literary works according to you?

Can you give me some examples of books from east which are good literary works in English and ignored by west ?**

35

I said Kite Runner is a 'commercial book' and not representative of the situation on ground nor literary sound. I base this on comments from a lot of friends who know the people and places in Afghanistan well and are much better critics of literature than I am.

Examples of good books from our region:

I think "God of Small Things" is good... although not ignored by West.

"Ice-candy man" is fantastic.

"A suitable boy" ... although very loooong.

"A fine balance" .. lovely!

"Salt and saffron"

'crow eaters' (not excellent.. but still good)

I can remember these of the top of my head... which reminds me that I should start reading again!

36

Thanks for sharing these books, I'm also thinking about looking into some of them, some of them are quite popular books i don't see them all being neglected.

I have an advise for you, i hope you don't mind, you said about kite runner.

"I* base this on comments from a lot of friends who know the people and places in Afghanistan well and are much better critics of literature than I am.*"

It is always better to provide grounds for your opinion about something rather then just relying on someone else who you think is a better literature critic, specially when you are raising your opinion in a forum. Since i don't know those people so how do i know they are better critics. So you know what i mean, You should have the basis for your own opinion. I think it will serve you intellectually, I assume you will take my comment in good spirits.

In my opinion it is not necessary that a literary work represent the true picture of reality, its a piece of art, not an effort to depict reality. It is a kind of an effort which could satisfy your aesthetic and literary senses, by giving you a kind artistic and emotional experience.

I'm very disturbed
I'm very disturbed
37

I couldn't agree more with your last paragraph. That is why some of the greatest books of all times were works of fiction; their value being in their literary essence and substance and not in their depiction of facts or reality. Fiction has to be literary, not necessarily true, wheres nonfiction, which is based on inference and analysis, is generally based on facts.
Literary fiction is an expression of feeling, non fiction is a statement of facts.

38

Re: Write a book and be a millionair!

I agree and I also agree that literature is an art, which cannot be measured objectively.

What I said about 'kite runner' is my personal opinion and I do not expect others to agree. Some people like pulao, some like biryani :)