Advice for new author

Discussion, background, reviews, and critical analysis of works by Feldgrau.net members who are published authors.
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sgriffin383
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Advice for new author

Post by sgriffin383 »

Hello all:

I am not published yet, but I an finishing up a novel here in next couple of months. My work is fiction and set in WW2 in Europe. I have the following questions:

1. Do I need to get an editor?
2. Do I need to get an agent?
3. Is there still a market for this genre?
4. Do you recommend any publishers?
5. Do you recommend any editors or agents?

sgriffin383
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Tom Houlihan
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Re: Advice for new author

Post by Tom Houlihan »

I have the following questions:

1. Do I need to get an editor?
You should have someone at a minimum, proofread it. Depending on how "authentic" you are making it, and how much detail you are putting into it, you should have a 'resident expert' look it over.

2. Do I need to get an agent?
Can't help you on that one

3. Is there still a market for this genre?
Geez, I hope so!! The Forum Hero Tales should be coming out in a few months, and those are definitely fiction!!!

4. Do you recommend any publishers?
5. Do you recommend any editors or agents?
Can't help there, either. Haven't done any fictional work.

As a last resort, there is always the option to self-publish.
TLH3
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phylo_roadking
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Re: Advice for new author

Post by phylo_roadking »

2. Do I need to get an agent?
Can't help you on that one
If you want to get on the bestseller charts, yes you do :shock:
"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." - Malcolm Reynolds
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sgriffin383
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Re: Advice for new author

Post by sgriffin383 »

Thank you for the advice. I have been searching the internet and had come up with those questions.
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Alex Dekker
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Re: Advice for new author

Post by Alex Dekker »

I assume the book is in English? If it's in Dutch, i can give some tips.
Always in need for info about: Dutchmen in the NSKK, HJ and TeNo.
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sgriffin383
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Re: Advice for new author

Post by sgriffin383 »

It's in English.
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sgriffin383
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Re: Advice for new author

Post by sgriffin383 »

My work is fiction based on stories that I have heard from my relatives that are American and German. Regretably, I should have started this research 20 years ago when these vets were in their sixties instead of their eighties; my work would have been non-fiction based on my family's experience on both sides of the war. Sadly, only two of my relatives are alive today out of the six that would have been alive twenty years ago. My grandfather was an American soldier in WW2 and my the rest are German relatives who were soldiers.
German relatives:

Uncle: Luftwaffe pilot shot down over Kiev 1943
Uncle: Survived war but died in 1995, served in Russia and France
Uncle: Survived war, but died in 1989 Survived Soviet POW camp returned home missing one eye died in the 1969. his wife was still alive until 1990.
Uncle: Survived war. Suffered from open frostbite leg wound sustained in Battle of Minsk. Lived the frsotbite wound his the rest of his life, died in 1999.
Uncle: Survived war. Lost left leg in Poland, died in 1996.
Uncle: Survived war, lives in Canada. I talk to him on the phone from time to time and he has given me bits and pieces of his experiences fighting in western Europe. I have offered to come see him, but he is unwiling to receive guests, he is 89 years old.

I have missed the boat for any non-fiction work. So I take what facts I do have and fill in the rest to the best of my knowledge. I know how painfaul it can be to relive combat experinces, I am an Iraq war vet myself and was injured in an IED explosion and survived many other attacks. No matter how long ago the war was, when a vet relives those days it is as if it just happened. But I hold a bachelors degree in History and I would do nothing jeopardize or discredit the experinces of those brave men in any army. So my fictional account will be as close to reality as best as I can make it.

This site has been a godsend to me in my research. I look forward to reading new posts everyday, keep up the good work!
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