I agree with everything and would like to add that whatever feeds the muse, calms the beast, and can be lit with matches on an altar is worth the dough.
If you have to pay the publisher, it's not a real publisher it's a vanity press. They charge to format and dump your books on the same services you can self-publish on for free (KDP, Draft2Digital, IngramSpark). KDP & D2D will even format for free (D2D goes a step further and lets you download the file to take elsewhere). Some self-published writers swear by formatting software, but I haven't found that I needed to buy any.
Wonderful insights as always! Thanks, Parker. I had a different, more positive experience with conferences and conventions. The professional conferences (like World Con or World Fantasy) are great places to meet agents and editors. They are often there with the specific intent of looking for new authors. Connecting with other authors at all levels is super helpful, too. Skip the “media cons” like Comic-Con although big publishers often have booths there and send their authors there for publicity.
Finally, we differ on our opinion of Scrivener. I love it. 😛
That’s interesting to hear about conferences you’ve been to. The ones I’ve been to are usually geared specifically toward teaching writers, and they don’t usually teach enough to be worth the price tag. But I haven’t been to the conferences you mentioned. I have been invited to conferences just to socialize but I hate the thought of sitting through boring panels just to get to see people, which is why I have opted to “bar con” instead. :) But alas I usually can’t justify the expense of travel and registration for most conferences.
I agree with everything and would like to add that whatever feeds the muse, calms the beast, and can be lit with matches on an altar is worth the dough.
If you have to pay the publisher, it's not a real publisher it's a vanity press. They charge to format and dump your books on the same services you can self-publish on for free (KDP, Draft2Digital, IngramSpark). KDP & D2D will even format for free (D2D goes a step further and lets you download the file to take elsewhere). Some self-published writers swear by formatting software, but I haven't found that I needed to buy any.
Wonderful insights as always! Thanks, Parker. I had a different, more positive experience with conferences and conventions. The professional conferences (like World Con or World Fantasy) are great places to meet agents and editors. They are often there with the specific intent of looking for new authors. Connecting with other authors at all levels is super helpful, too. Skip the “media cons” like Comic-Con although big publishers often have booths there and send their authors there for publicity.
Finally, we differ on our opinion of Scrivener. I love it. 😛
And so many writers love Scrivener! Whyyy? Haha. I just don’t enjoy it.
That’s interesting to hear about conferences you’ve been to. The ones I’ve been to are usually geared specifically toward teaching writers, and they don’t usually teach enough to be worth the price tag. But I haven’t been to the conferences you mentioned. I have been invited to conferences just to socialize but I hate the thought of sitting through boring panels just to get to see people, which is why I have opted to “bar con” instead. :) But alas I usually can’t justify the expense of travel and registration for most conferences.