Hurrah! Now if only I could finish writing my damn OC series instead of drawing loads of fanart. Congratulations! Are you almost ready to start sending it to publishers? (And if you need an illustrator I work damn cheap!)
Also now I shall start wasting your time with less productive things such as Gintama clips:
…if only I were not out of soy sauce. That sounds good right now.
Oh, I am nowhere NEAR to publishing yet. NaNoWriMo's draft is what I like to call a Zero Draft—the rough draft that you get from banging one's head against a keyboard until the end result of a rough novel has enough space to crawl out, mostly fully formed. But there's a few serious gems in here. Here's a part that I like that happens just before an "Oh Crap/This Is Gonna Suck" moment.
“Just one more quiver…” Marlon lifted his bow, nocked an arrow.
“You should stop now, child,” the man in charge of the training grounds said. “You don’t look well at all.”
“One more quiver,” Marlon insisted. His breathing was labored as he aimed his bow at the target. Sweat beaded on his forehead, threatened to blind him as he aimed for the target’s sweet spot. “One more, and I’ll rest.” He took several breaths, each deeper than the last—and on the final breath he held it, and loosed the bowstring.
The arrow plunged deep into the target, its fletched end vibrating wildly.
Marlon did not stop there. In rapid succession, he pulled arrows out of the quiver set at his feet, nocked them, and released. Each arrow hit a place close to the first one, turning a man-shaped target into something very closely resembling a pincushion. He stopped to breathe; one arrow remained in the quiver. He reached into the quiver, picked up that final arrow, nocked it, shot it.
Two things happened when Marlon loosed the final arrow from his quiver. First, the arrow not only hit the target’s sweet spot—it split the first arrow that had struck it. At the same time, Marlon’s shortbow snapped, sending sharp little splinters through the air. A searing pain shot through his body, driving him to his knees.
The first NaNovel from last year, Da'ath Genesis, is closer than this one, but it still needs a few edits to be great. (Not aiming for Perfect: according to every pro out there, aiming for PERFECT is setting oneself up for failure. You just aim for getting to get it to suck the least that it can, and then you start the process).
I wouldn't object to having another test reader in my arsenal, of course. *big shiny puppy eyes*
…what kind of rates we talkin' here? I would not object to having MORE people interested in my ladies and gentlemen. And I've seen your work…
Despite this being the ugly slow season this is relevant to my interests!
Well keep it up. I admit I'm not the best test reader due to not reading that much (I'm such an uncultured swine!) but if you need to throw test chapters my way then I'm willing to help out! ;)
Speaking of which, once you get close enough to ready to consult a publisher I highly advise that you send yourself a physical copy of the manuscript in the mail and LEAVE IT UNOPENED. That way it's date-stamped and you have undeniable proof that you produced the work at that point in time. This comes in real handy if anyone tries to swipe your work and you need to prove its yours in a court of law without blowing a load of cash.
And now let's talk legalise sleaze:
I'm willing to be commissioned to do three illustrations (one concept coloured cover artwork and two line arts of the most iconic scenes) for $300 which can be made in separate payments (so you can pay me $10 up front and the rest when you've found a publisher) though I will not sell my rights to the artworks. When you secure a deal with a publisher and if they're willing to go ahead with my illustrations then they can contact me (ideally I'd like this to go through them so that they're paying me which means I can charge more) and I will produce a further amount of artworks as well as allow them the rights to publish the illustrations already done. In the event that they are unwilling to use my artworks then all you need to do is pay me the outstanding fee (if there is one) and I keep the artworks. /attempts to sound professional
I should also note that the price can of course be negotiated - considering your financial situation at the moment and the fact that I'm still an unknown freelancer with limited experience the rate can be reduced. (This was an example based off the standard rates for that amount of work though I should mention I knocked the price down...)
And of course there is no rush for this commission or even a need TO commission me at the moment. Just let me know when and if you're interested.
These seem like quite reasonable prices to me, and my situation is kind of—what's the word I'm looking for right now? Oh yeah, FAIL. Once I got a draft to satisfaction and am actively shopping around, though…
I'll be closing in on that point where my draft's good enough to print and ship to myself. …I think I'm gonna have to ship it to a friend's house. I DON'T think a manuscript that IS going to grow during the editing process (because boy did I do a lot of timeskipping that I now realize on edit #3 was a BAD IDEA) is going to fit in my apartment's mailbox. I mean, I've seen bigger shoeboxes. For baby shoes.
Take your time; we all have to deal with the current RL situations first and so for me that means clearing my way out of these outstanding commissions, freeing myself from all that fanart and then applying for unpaid work experience at a publishing company nearby. (What? I need the EXP in order to earn GP...)
That reminds me...I really need to finish my OC stuff and start hurling it at publishers. I need the cash and what's more I need to make a name for myself. (Even though I'm going with a penname because for some reason I don't like using my real name in public.)
Indeed. Heck, I've got a beta to finish for someone on DA (RL came up there, too), and other stuff as well. (You have a publisher nearby? HACK WRITER IZ JELLY, YO. That would be kickass experience.)
If you ever want a test reader…DRAFT TRADES? =D
…I can't focus enough to answer which to be sure. Tiny baby shoes are giggle-fit!A'dawwable.
Yep, but they won't actually take your written work unless you have a reference/recommendation from a literary agent first. Illustrators looking for work experience are a different matter though.
Well I'm basically writing crack with a thin excuse for a plot but if you're interested then sure!
Speaking of not focussing I have got to stop having this sort of stuff on in the background. (I can't help it; it's literal audio porn! Even if Ishida only alternates between angst and orgasm whilst Morikawa purrs like the magnificent seme he is - my ears are shallow!)
Aaah, agents…I've heard horror stories about that bit of the puzzle, but the first part of the puzzle is throwing this draft into a rock tumbler and knocking all of the jagged ugly edges off of it. Of course, I could freelance, but one day I hope writer is on the FRONT end of the profession tag (as in Writer/Insert Day Job Here instead of Insert Day Job Here/Writer. Why the IDJH? Because all a housekeeper is is a maid and Maid/Writer or Writer/Maid makes me see a chibi!me in a French maid getup wielding an oversized fountain pen. Which is just silly.)
Let's see…what I've got going is basically a story set in a post-apocalyptic world in which THE BOMB has gone off long ago, altering the face of the planet and throwing humanity's evolutionary arc into a strange direction, splitting them off into three distinct groups/races. There's been reversion to 'heathen' ways, partially fueled by the emergence of said races. Technology's being redeveloped, the nations are run on a theocracy, and—what am I forgetting? Ah yes—the Illuminati. (Not like you think though…me saying more is a spoiler.)
That…IS distracting. Between It's A Wonderful Life being on and now THAT, I'm feeling quite improved in the mood, even if I AM going to be up all night baking bread.
Indeed so. Hopefully I'll learn a few things if I'm able to get some work EXP at the nearby publishers and jot them down for when I actually try to get something published. (With any luck I may establish a few connections.)
My main story focuses on 3 layabout teenage alien ladyboys. They're pretty much an apocalypse waiting to happen thanks to being the result of an ancient conspiracy involving pre-natal experiments, an evil tycoon's underage daughter and a war between deities. Do they give a damn about this? Well they might've done in the past but after so many years of being a tyke bomb, their sanity has pretty much vanished. Now they take odd jobs and use a...bizarre form of work ethics. WHILST IN DRAG. (As disjointed as it sounds...it does make sense when all the pieces are stuck together...)
It's like the writers just knew all they needed to do to get the fangirls to buy it was have Morikawa and Ishida moan into a mike constantly. Heck, I think there are at least 5 different BL series where they've been paired together, it's that good a dynamic. (Probably because both are talented seiyuus who exemplify their respective roles so well.) I need to wait till Christmas till I can listen to the Morikawa/Ishida CD I bought off amazon.jp but I already know it'll be worth listening to. They never play the same two characters twice so it's interesting to hear the difference between each new couple. (I still say that fluffy one was my favourite; it may have had no H scenes but it was very cute!) It's also impossible for me to take any scene in an anime where their characters interact seriously because my brain is busy weaving some inane history of a messy break up between them. Actually I do that for pretty much every seiyuu I'm vaguely aware of now...
I wish you luck in this! I have no such lucky 'in' in my area. I'd have to pound the pavement and build my platform once I got out there. …on the one hand, that could be fun. Though a long-in-the-future plot point does make me wonder if I should be looking toward a specific kind of publisher. On the other hand…oh well, no one said it'd be easy, right?
That sounds like a fun read to me! Even though I DO specialize in It Got Worse, I like total crack.
That sounds like an interesting CD. Ooh, was the fluffy one you're talking about the one you showed me a few days ago? *listened to as much of it as possible before the connecting speed crapped out* SUCH A PRETTY PRINCESS.
I think you've got the first case of Yaoi/Slash Earmuffs I've ever seen. They're like Yaoi/Slash Goggles, except you don't necessarily need to be able to SEE.
…speaking of Slash Goggles, I have half a mind to write a standalone where the lech!healer in my NaNovel SUCCESSFULLY beds the entire cast. Including the women. He's not picky. …funny thing is he wasn't the original manslut in the cast.
I am very good at getting my foot stuck in the door - mostly because I'm such a unique candidate. Cloudcoocoolander is best to describe it but it gets people to remember me; that and I will pester them afterwards.
I have my fair share of It Got Worse but the main characters are pretty much crack incarnate. They used to be pure woobies in a horribly dark and angsty story before this point in time.
Yep the fluffy one was Catch Me and it was only a one shot but it was a very cute Highschool BL. You can also listen to two other BL series they did together Double Call and the Endless series (this is the one with the rape and Ishida sounding like a girl during the H scenes) online but so far I haven't been able to track down any of their others without a download. The BLs I'm getting for Christmas are another Morikawa/Ishida (Gin no Requiem), an Ishida/Ishikawa (AKA: Kuja/Squall) and a Morikawa BL where Ishida is playing an actual woman.
Yaoi Earmuffs are essential in these troublesome times. They make the harsh chill of reality so much easier to bear by barricading my ears with such melodic moans.
Hehehe, I wanted to make my characters mansluts but then they'd end up somewhere near Gary Stu status so they LOOK pretty but everyone acknowledges them for the lazy losers/sleazeballs that they are and so it's just left at terribad flirting.
no subject
Date: 2011-12-01 12:07 pm (UTC)Also now I shall start wasting your time with less productive things such as Gintama clips:
RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.
no subject
Date: 2011-12-02 01:40 am (UTC)…if only I were not out of soy sauce. That sounds good right now.
Oh, I am nowhere NEAR to publishing yet. NaNoWriMo's draft is what I like to call a Zero Draft—the rough draft that you get from banging one's head against a keyboard until the end result of a rough novel has enough space to crawl out, mostly fully formed. But there's a few serious gems in here. Here's a part that I like that happens just before an "Oh Crap/This Is Gonna Suck" moment.
“Just one more quiver…” Marlon lifted his bow, nocked an arrow.
“You should stop now, child,” the man in charge of the training grounds said. “You don’t look well at all.”
“One more quiver,” Marlon insisted. His breathing was labored as he aimed his bow at the target. Sweat beaded on his forehead, threatened to blind him as he aimed for the target’s sweet spot. “One more, and I’ll rest.” He took several breaths, each deeper than the last—and on the final breath he held it, and loosed the bowstring.
The arrow plunged deep into the target, its fletched end vibrating wildly.
Marlon did not stop there. In rapid succession, he pulled arrows out of the quiver set at his feet, nocked them, and released. Each arrow hit a place close to the first one, turning a man-shaped target into something very closely resembling a pincushion. He stopped to breathe; one arrow remained in the quiver. He reached into the quiver, picked up that final arrow, nocked it, shot it.
Two things happened when Marlon loosed the final arrow from his quiver. First, the arrow not only hit the target’s sweet spot—it split the first arrow that had struck it. At the same time, Marlon’s shortbow snapped, sending sharp little splinters through the air. A searing pain shot through his body, driving him to his knees.
The first NaNovel from last year, Da'ath Genesis, is closer than this one, but it still needs a few edits to be great. (Not aiming for Perfect: according to every pro out there, aiming for PERFECT is setting oneself up for failure. You just aim for getting to get it to suck the least that it can, and then you start the process).
I wouldn't object to having another test reader in my arsenal, of course. *big shiny puppy eyes*
…what kind of rates we talkin' here? I would not object to having MORE people interested in my ladies and gentlemen. And I've seen your work…
Despite this being the ugly slow season this is relevant to my interests!
no subject
Date: 2011-12-02 08:28 pm (UTC)Speaking of which, once you get close enough to ready to consult a publisher I highly advise that you send yourself a physical copy of the manuscript in the mail and LEAVE IT UNOPENED. That way it's date-stamped and you have undeniable proof that you produced the work at that point in time. This comes in real handy if anyone tries to swipe your work and you need to prove its yours in a court of law without blowing a load of cash.
And now let's talk legalise sleaze:
I'm willing to be commissioned to do three illustrations (one concept coloured cover artwork and two line arts of the most iconic scenes) for $300 which can be made in separate payments (so you can pay me $10 up front and the rest when you've found a publisher) though I will not sell my rights to the artworks. When you secure a deal with a publisher and if they're willing to go ahead with my illustrations then they can contact me (ideally I'd like this to go through them so that they're paying me which means I can charge more) and I will produce a further amount of artworks as well as allow them the rights to publish the illustrations already done. In the event that they are unwilling to use my artworks then all you need to do is pay me the outstanding fee (if there is one) and I keep the artworks. /attempts to sound professional
no subject
Date: 2011-12-02 09:10 pm (UTC)And of course there is no rush for this commission or even a need TO commission me at the moment. Just let me know when and if you're interested.
I meant to reply yesterday but godsdamned DDOS hit our side this time around
Date: 2011-12-03 11:50 pm (UTC)I'll be closing in on that point where my draft's good enough to print and ship to myself. …I think I'm gonna have to ship it to a friend's house. I DON'T think a manuscript that IS going to grow during the editing process (because boy did I do a lot of timeskipping that I now realize on edit #3 was a BAD IDEA) is going to fit in my apartment's mailbox. I mean, I've seen bigger shoeboxes. For baby shoes.
Them darn dirty DDOSs...
Date: 2011-12-04 12:45 am (UTC)That reminds me...I really need to finish my OC stuff and start hurling it at publishers. I need the cash and what's more I need to make a name for myself. (Even though I'm going with a penname because for some reason I don't like using my real name in public.)
...For regular babies or premmies?
We hateses them DDoSes!
Date: 2011-12-04 01:39 am (UTC)If you ever want a test reader…DRAFT TRADES? =D
…I can't focus enough to answer which to be sure. Tiny baby shoes are giggle-fit!A'dawwable.
Smeagol, is that you!?
Date: 2011-12-04 01:50 am (UTC)Well I'm basically writing crack with a thin excuse for a plot but if you're interested then sure!
Speaking of not focussing I have got to stop having this sort of stuff on in the background. (I can't help it; it's literal audio porn! Even if Ishida only alternates between angst and orgasm whilst Morikawa purrs like the magnificent seme he is - my ears are shallow!)
Well THAT was distractingly hot.
Date: 2011-12-04 03:34 am (UTC)Let's see…what I've got going is basically a story set in a post-apocalyptic world in which THE BOMB has gone off long ago, altering the face of the planet and throwing humanity's evolutionary arc into a strange direction, splitting them off into three distinct groups/races. There's been reversion to 'heathen' ways, partially fueled by the emergence of said races. Technology's being redeveloped, the nations are run on a theocracy, and—what am I forgetting? Ah yes—the Illuminati. (Not like you think though…me saying more is a spoiler.)
That…IS distracting. Between It's A Wonderful Life being on and now THAT, I'm feeling quite improved in the mood, even if I AM going to be up all night baking bread.
I am so tempted to get an MP3 player and listen to it at the supermarket
Date: 2011-12-04 04:09 am (UTC)My main story focuses on 3 layabout teenage alien ladyboys. They're pretty much an apocalypse waiting to happen thanks to being the result of an ancient conspiracy involving pre-natal experiments, an evil tycoon's underage daughter and a war between deities. Do they give a damn about this? Well they might've done in the past but after so many years of being a tyke bomb, their sanity has pretty much vanished. Now they take odd jobs and use a...bizarre form of work ethics. WHILST IN DRAG. (As disjointed as it sounds...it does make sense when all the pieces are stuck together...)
It's like the writers just knew all they needed to do to get the fangirls to buy it was have Morikawa and Ishida moan into a mike constantly. Heck, I think there are at least 5 different BL series where they've been paired together, it's that good a dynamic. (Probably because both are talented seiyuus who exemplify their respective roles so well.) I need to wait till Christmas till I can listen to the Morikawa/Ishida CD I bought off amazon.jp but I already know it'll be worth listening to. They never play the same two characters twice so it's interesting to hear the difference between each new couple. (I still say that fluffy one was my favourite; it may have had no H scenes but it was very cute!) It's also impossible for me to take any scene in an anime where their characters interact seriously because my brain is busy weaving some inane history of a messy break up between them. Actually I do that for pretty much every seiyuu I'm vaguely aware of now...
I'd forget to shop with that going on in my head. I mean, sheebus.
Date: 2011-12-04 04:46 am (UTC)…on the one hand, that could be fun.
Though a long-in-the-future plot point does make me wonder if I should be looking toward a specific kind of publisher.On the other hand…oh well, no one said it'd be easy, right?That sounds like a fun read to me! Even though I DO specialize in It Got Worse, I like total crack.
That sounds like an interesting CD.
Ooh, was the fluffy one you're talking about the one you showed me a few days ago? *listened to as much of it as possible before the connecting speed crapped out* SUCH A PRETTY PRINCESS.
I think you've got the first case of Yaoi/Slash Earmuffs I've ever seen. They're like Yaoi/Slash Goggles, except you don't necessarily need to be able to SEE.
…speaking of Slash Goggles, I have half a mind to write a standalone where the lech!healer in my NaNovel SUCCESSFULLY beds the entire cast. Including the women. He's not picky. …funny thing is he wasn't the original manslut in the cast.
I listen to that in my head when I shop to prevent my brain switching off from boredom...
Date: 2011-12-04 05:57 pm (UTC)I have my fair share of It Got Worse but the main characters are pretty much crack incarnate. They used to be pure woobies in a horribly dark and angsty story before this point in time.
Yep the fluffy one was Catch Me and it was only a one shot but it was a very cute Highschool BL. You can also listen to two other BL series they did together Double Call and the Endless series (this is the one with the rape and Ishida sounding like a girl during the H scenes) online but so far I haven't been able to track down any of their others without a download. The BLs I'm getting for Christmas are another Morikawa/Ishida (Gin no Requiem), an Ishida/Ishikawa (AKA: Kuja/Squall) and a Morikawa BL where Ishida is playing an actual woman.
Yaoi Earmuffs are essential in these troublesome times. They make the harsh chill of reality so much easier to bear by barricading my ears with such melodic moans.
Hehehe, I wanted to make my characters mansluts but then they'd end up somewhere near Gary Stu status so they LOOK pretty but everyone acknowledges them for the lazy losers/sleazeballs that they are and so it's just left at terribad flirting.