I am quite obsessed with low temperatures, fogs, lack of sunlight and everything that accompanies the brief and flitting Winter season that graces tropical countries. Although my country is diverse geographically and therefore it is a mixture of the tropics. the Mediterraneans and even the temperate climes, Calcutta, the city that I live in experiences very brief Winters. This time of the year Winter seems to have swept across the city in her full bloom. We are going through one of the coldest weeks of the year. While the rest of my countrymen (and women) are shivering under their coats and mufflers, I am enjoying the crisp morning air accompanied by Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Vivaldi and last but not the least, Mozart, This is also the season for planning my future writing projects and to wait for the old ones to get approved. Every writer must wait for approval from the publisher or the agent and the only thing he can do to spend or save time (as he sees fit) is to write another book. 🙂 That is precisely what I am doing at present. Therefore, I have decided only to write something over here once I finish each important segment of my book. This exercise will allow me to focus more on my book and maintain a regular schedule so that I am able to complete the first draft by mid 2024. In the meantime, I will be posting some of my most cherished music pieces from the Great Masters of Western Classical Music.
Till we meet next time once I finish a particular segment of my novel. Au revoir folks !
And do not forget to enjoy the Winter 🙂
I love your choice of music there! Some of my favourites, too.
Good luck with the writing – I wish you every success! But tell me, please, how easy (or otherwise) is it to find a publisher or agent there? It’s next to impossible in my neck of the woods, unless you have a track record (and how you achieve that without a publisher or agent is a puzzle to me!) or contribute towards the publishing costs and take care of the sales and marketting yourself)…. A perfect Catch 22.
I write, I have completed stuff, and it all sits on my hard drive, unseen and unread except by its author, who has neither track record nor spare funds to commit.
my poetry books were self published. As far as my novels are concerned, I have sent them to several literary agents and have waited in vain for their response. Yet, I have not yet given up hope. Keeping my fingers crossed, I agree with you that it is indeed a Catch 22 situation. Why don’t you think about self publishing? 🙂 And thank you for your wishes. Wishing you a productive year ahead too.
To add to the conversation if I may, even the published writers I know who have both agents and publishing houses, their work still sits on websites unnoticed, un-promoted, and unread. It seems that unless the writer him-, herself promotes their work, no one else will. I believe we are in the middle of a great shift in the book publishing world. And I believe everything is shifting towards self-publishing and possibly the rise of a raft of writer cooperatives or guilds who become their own publishers. Right now, everything is bad for the writer, but I believe soon the present industry model will collapse and something new and better for writers will emerge. This is my belief and why I continue to write.
Peace to you both this new year; and do keep writing.
That’s quite a positive spirit ! In India the problem is with too few readers of the English language. Most people prefer regional languages. Thus, I have been trying to get my books published from the UK or the USA.
Peace to you too 🙂
Lopamudra, I have considered self-publishing, specifically through the Amazon service: I went as far as to set up an account there. I had a completed book in pdf ready to go, but figured I needed a follow-up of some kind, on the off chance my book was successful, and started work on a collection of short stories, a memoir and a travel book. Then I retired and my income fell off a cliff, with the little savings I had needed to support me until my pensions kicked in. Then came Covid, and everything ground to a complete halt as I focused on getting mind and body health back to something approaching normal. The book of shorts is done, subject to perhaps writing another couple to flesh it out a little – but my Muse seems to have gone walkabout again. The travel book is partially done but there is a huge amount of editing needed to pull it together how I want it, and the memoir is still in my childhood and a lot more is needed. Bottom line is I don’t have the immediately available capital to self publish, and that is unlikely to change anytime soon.
Dale: I agree, the current publishing model does seem to be broken right now! A while back now I bought a huge book containing all the short stories of Kurt Vonnegut, with a detailed introduction and a smaller one for each section (arranged by story type). The intro’s themselves are really interesting, and the tales speak for themselves. But the thing that sprung out to me, re-reading the main intro, was the sheer number of outlets to publish there were back in the 40s and 50s when Vonnegut wa starting out. Dozens of magazines, agents and publishers willing to take a chance on an unproven, unpublished writer, and almost invariably adding a note to the inevitable rejection slips with advice on how to improve (both the story and writing generally). Would that were the case now! Certainly in the UK there are hardly any magazine outlets, and agents and publishers tend to dump anything by a new writer in the trash can without comment. It’s very difficult to get anywhere.
My immediate aims for the year are to add at least one, preferably two, stories to the collection and then publish it and the novel via Amazon Publishing – unless it’s changed its modus operandi there is no upfront cost but a bigger cut taken as royalty by Amazon, but it would be a start at least. I also aim to make some progress on the memoir and travel books as well. It will come down to time and effort, and my continuing good health…..after the last few years, especially with 2023’s cancer , thanks be to God I feel better now than I have for years, so I’m hopeful. In any event, I’ll keep writing for my own pleasure, both on my blog and my books, and if other people read and enjoy it then that’s good (whether I become aware of it or not is immaterial). I might even publish some excerpts here – once I figure out how to set the blog up as a personal website, with sections to advertise and (perhaps) sell my work….
Thank you Dale for sharing your experiences with the publishing world. I had earlier published via Amazon but later on decided to move to various other sites. However, my books are also available on Google Play. This year I plan to finish 1 novel and 1 book of poems. Trying to get both of them published traditionally. I’ve often heard of writers being rejected 30 or 40 times before they get selected by a publisher. Keeping my fingers crossed ! In case nothing really works out, I may venture towards self publishing once again. It is indeed a sad scenario for us writers in this excessively commercialized world. Good luck to you 🙂 Glad we can exchange our experiences on a regular basis. Take care and stay in touch 🙂
Although your winters seems to be regular, but here in northern India, especially J&K, the winters this year have not came in full colours and we are left without the best of season’s. No snowfall and very less rain and no fun at all. I think this is the first time I have experienced such a winter in my life.
Looking forward to listen to your recommendations. Good luck for your books and publishing.
Wonderful to come across a fellow Indian 🙂 I’ve never been to J&K but do intend to some time. Sorry to hear about the weather there. Maybe a lot depends on the global warming and climate change. Places that should have proper winter are being denied of the same and cities situated on the plains like Calcutta are experiencing immense cold. Thank you very much. Looking forward to reading your blog 🙂