THE LOST CROWN - A New Novel by Sarah Miller.

[GrandDuchessAndrea]

An audio drama would be cool! 

[Olga Bernice]

It's possible to get published without an agent, but it's usually MUCH more challenging.

Don't know by you, but here, even if you manage to convince an agent to publish you (or to work to make you been published) you first have to PAY the agent. So, in the end, if you want to be published, you MUST PAY A LOT OF MONEY!!!
It seems here publishing it's only for rich people!

Do you have to pay the publisher, too?

[Robert_Hall]

You could self publish. meaning you pay for it all; the print, the marketing and such. Otherwise,  seek  out  folks like Arturo or Paul Gilbert to assist.

[aleksandr pavlovich]

  Correct, Robert, re "self publish."  If I'm not mistaken, these would be the so-called "Vanity Press" publications, and quite obviously, one has to agree to a specific number of copies to be printed at the initial run, absorbing ALL the involved costs!  
  If you can't sell them, then you are stuck with boxes of copies (unless one wishes to give VERY personalized holiday presents). An expensive alternative indeed!                                                          Regards,  AP.

[Olga Bernice]

Aleksandr or Sarushka - if you were to get a book published by a well-known publisher, how much would you have to pay them (or would they pay you for the manuscript)?

[aleksandr pavlovich]

Sorry! I haven't the foggiest idea. Without specifics, I should think that there are too many variables to attempt an answer, at least on my part.  Regards,  AP.

[Suzanne]

Hi Sarah,

Just finished reading the Lost Crown I think it's one of the best works of historical fiction concerning the Romanovs. (Tied with Janet Ashton's "The German Woman") I was really impressed by the depth of your research and how you manage to create four distinct voices for the Grand Duchesses. In my opinion, one of the best elements of this book was the way you portrayed the Grand Duchesses making decisions - deciding as a group how to care for Alexandra and Alexei, which sister would go Ekaterinberg first etc. There are too many accounts of the last Romanovs that portray the girls as "the children" and do not pay enough attention to their agency as individuals from 1917-1918. I also thought you sucessfully avoided both the tendency to portray OTMA as overly angelic and exaggerated accounts of extreme tension within the family and presented a balanced account of relationships between the sisters. I'm eagerly looking forward to your next book.

[Olga Bernice]

Hi Sarah,

Just finished reading the Lost Crown I think it's one of the best works of historical fiction concerning the Romanovs. (Tied with Janet Ashton's "The German Woman") I was really impressed by the depth of your research and how you manage to create four distinct voices for the Grand Duchesses. In my opinion, one of the best elements of this book was the way you portrayed the Grand Duchesses making decisions - deciding as a group how to care for Alexandra and Alexei, which sister would go Ekaterinberg first etc. There are too many accounts of the last Romanovs that portray the girls as "the children" and do not pay enough attention to their agency as individuals from 1917-1918. I also thought you sucessfully avoided both the tendency to portray OTMA as overly angelic and exaggerated accounts of extreme tension within the family and presented a balanced account of relationships between the sisters. I'm eagerly looking forward to your next book.

What a lovely description, Suzanne. I think all of this on this Forum are eagerly awaiting her next book!

Sorry! I haven't the foggiest idea. Without specifics, I should think that there are too many variables to attempt an answer, at least on my part.  Regards,  AP.

That's fine, aleksandr-I just thought if you knew of the self-publishing, you would know of "real" publishing. But that's okay - I don't know the answer either 

[Sarushka]

I also thought you sucessfully avoided both the tendency to portray OTMA as overly angelic and exaggerated accounts of extreme tension within the family and presented a balanced account of relationships between the sisters.

Thank you very much, Suzanne. That's pretty much exactly the effect I was aiming for.

Aleksandr or Sarushka - if you were to get a book published by a well-known publisher, how much would you have to pay them (or would they pay you for the manuscript)?

They pay you. Similarly, a reputable agent will never charge you any reading fee, and will not collect any commission until he/she makes a sale on your behalf.

[Sarushka]

I'd love an audiobook with four different narrators! It'd be even better if voice actors were hired for everyone's individual voices, like Nicholas's, Alexandra's, Aleksey's...but of course that's too awesome to happen.

It does happen sometimes! There's a company called Full Cast Audio which specializes in exactly that kind of recording.

[Sunny]

They pay you. Similarly, a reputable agent will never charge you any reading fee, and will not collect any commission until he/she makes a sale on your behalf.

It seems in the USA it's easier than here...

[Alixz]

Just a short note on book publication.

It can take a very long time to get an "unsolicited" manuscript to an editor to have it read.  My co-author and I didn't have an agent, but we did have a connection who got our manuscript to Dell Publications. 

The manuscript was read twice by the editor and once by his assistant.  The editor got it and the assistant didn't (she didn't understand the point of the story at all).  It was returned to us for editing and changes, but what was wanted was never made clear.  We did some work and sent it back to the Editor, but it sat for a long time and we eventually requested to have it sent back.

That was almost 25 years ago.  We still have the manuscript but have never done more about publishing it.  I believe that the editor we dealt with is no longer with Dell, so if we had the stamina we could begin again, but neither of us does.  In fact, I haven't even seen or spoken to my co-author for over 15 years, I don't know where she is.

This past year, I decided to hire a lawyer who deals in intellectual property so that I could do some work on the manuscript and not have all of my effort benefit my co-author who, it would seem, doesn't care anymore.  I am sure, though, that she would care if any money was made from the manuscript whether she worked on it or not.  So far, I haven't gone any further with the project.

If a publishing house likes your manuscript and decides to publish it, they will pay YOU.  But you may need "the usual folks" to proof read and fact check (if it is non fiction) and it is probably a good thing to have an agent who will take a percentage of the profits for payment for the services that an agent provides.

It would be great not to have to pay an agent, but "unsolicited" manuscripts sit in large bins in the offices of editors all over the world and if yours is in that bunch, it may never get read at all.  Fiction is probably the hardest to get published but I have a non fiction manuscript (in addition to the historical fiction that Dell saw) that I have never submitted, so I truly can't say.

[Sunny]

It would be great not to have to pay an agent, but "unsolicited" manuscripts sit in large bins in the offices of editors all over the world and if yours is in that bunch, it may never get read at all.  Fiction is probably the hardest to get published but I have a non fiction manuscript (in addition to the historical fiction that Dell saw) that I have never submitted, so I truly can't say.

Like always, you have managed to say what i wanted to but didn't manage, Alixz, so thanks again.
This is exactly how it work here: getting published here is very difficult unless
1) You have a strong connection to an editor or someone who works in the field of editing = that means they RECCOMEND you (call it nepotism, if you want. I call it MAFIA!)

2) You pay an editor = here is very expensive, and, for an example, i earn ca. 500 us dollars a month, so i couldn't effort it.

I know for sure because my best friend tried to publish her novel; she is braver than me and started the battle. She has'nt won yet.
But for me this topic was just to chat a bit!

[Alixz]

But then there is always the case of those few manuscripts that are rejected and rejected but the author keeps trying and 26 tries later "Jaws"  is published and Peter Benchley is a household word.

So one never knows.

[Sunny]

But then there is always the case of those few manuscripts that are rejected and rejected but the author keeps trying and 26 tries later "Jaws"  is published and Peter Benchley is a household word.

So one never knows.

That's right - and that's what i repeat to myself daily: keep trying!