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perrybond
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I'm trying to decide whether to put my manuscript on authonomy. Anyone have any opinions on the site? For instance, do good books, rise to the top, or do you have to work at it (I mean work the site, not the manuscript) I'm not looking at self-publishing. but looking at ways of attracting an agent or publisher Also,would you recommend uploading the whole book or just some of it (unless of course you recommend steering clear of it)?
This post was last edited by perrybond, 06 Jun 2010, 19:17
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mkrobinson12
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Quote: perrybond, Sunday, 6 Jun 2010 18:49I'm trying to decide whether to put my manuscript on authonomy. Anyone have any opinions on the site? For instance, do good books, rise to the top, or do you have to work at it (I mean work the site, not the manuscript) I'm not looking at self-publishing. but looking at ways of attracting an agent or publisher Also,would you recommend uploading the whole book or just some of it (unless of course you recommend steering clear of it)? I tried it. Don't want to rubbish another site, but it's hard work. If you like to chat and message people all day, then your work will rise and not always on the standard of the writing (except maybe the standard of writing emails). I had other writers 'back' my work without reading it, simply to get me to 'back' them. I read other work, but got bogged down in the 10-20 'backing' requests a day. No one has that kind of time on their hands (reading all 10-20 stories or even part of them). There seems to be an inherent flaw in any system which works on a popularity premise. Of course, this is my personal opinion...maybe I didn't give it long enough or scratch enough backs or discover the nuances of the system. I put work on Authonomy, it rose to number 1000 after a couple of weeks and then dropped back down. On YWO it went to number 1 for a couple of weeks and then ended up at number 2 for March 2010. Got a pro crit from a Random House editor, had agents ask for the entire ms and won a small literary prize with it. Go figure that one out.
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sulcus
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It's a popularity contest of personalities rather than literary merit. Think Britain's Got talent or Pop Idol and you'll have an idea. You have to read loads with no guarantee of ebing read back, and then publicise your general wonderfulness and need to be read for the good of their souls by hanging out on the forums which can get quite spiky. Nobody there reads a whole book, a couple of chapters only if you're lucky and then they expect reciprocity. You won't get an agent or publishing deal from there. Even the Chart toppers there haven't been picked up unless things have changed in the last year since I was on it.
This post was last edited by sulcus, 07 Jun 2010, 10:25
"A,B&E", "Not In My Name" and "52FF" (flash fiction anthology) all available on Amazon Kindle"How a psychopath makes sweet love. I can get you ringside. Royal box even."
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demolinero
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I was on Authonomy from the beginning until a couple of months ago. You get out of it what you put in, which is basically your whole life if you want your book to rise to the top. It used to work well enough, in the beginning, but then people started 'gaming' the site and that destroyed my faith in it. Cheats got to the top, no matter how good or bad their books, and if you didn't do the same, you had no chance. I've given up on it now and I've got my life back. In my view, Authonomy was a good idea but the ethos of the side eroded away without Harper-Collins doing much to moderate the bad behaviour of some members, or to fix the worst problems.
Elizabeth Jasper Find me at at http://www.elizabethjasper.com
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NickP
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I had a terrific time there a-galloping to the desk. You get lots of comments and some of them are good. I agree that you get back what you put in. Remains to be seen how helpful a Harper Collins review is. But overall I think the "voting" is fairer there and you get quicker feedback. But it will eat up a lot of time.
"...the likes of NickP can rant on if they like"
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pam123writing
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I just bought and read a book by Miranda Dickinson - Fairy Tale Of New York - saw it reviewed in Words With Jam and thought I'd give it a go. She was on Authonomy and thanks the community there for the support she received. Her book was entitled Coffee at Kowalski's originally, so may be familiar to some of you. She appears to have been picked up by an agent from there. Her book is published by Avon, a division of Harper Collins. Although it was a light-hearted chick-lit type read, not my ususal genre, and was okay, I can honestly say I have read stories on here that are far superior and written much better. So if you've got something you want to place on Authonomy, go and try it. See what happens and the best of luck. 
This post was last edited by pam123writing, 07 Jun 2010, 13:51
"And, in the end, the love you take / Is equal to the love you make." Lennon and McCartney 1969
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dancingsue
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Quote: NickP, Monday, 7 Jun 2010 12:28But overall I think the "voting" is fairer there How is it fairer if people back the book without reading it? Or is 'the voting' another stage in the process? I genuinely don't know, as shorts aren't valid currency there. I looked at some of the stuff surrounding your book, but there were too many references that I couldn't penetrate. It looked like bloody hard work.
the long and the short of itTriclops: a collection of forty short stories by Avery Mathers, Susan Howe and Lee Williams.
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perrybond
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Thanks for the feedback. I logged on a while ago, but haven't uploaded anything, already got some 'I'll read yours if you read mine' requests. You all seem to be saying exactly what I feared, that it's not the writing that brings a book up, it's the effort you put into the site. I haven't the time or inclination to enter a popularity contest, reviewing on this site takes time away from actual writing, but at least here I'm learning things (including statistical analysis!) Also I have my own unique concept for advertising my work by re-creating the science experiments from my books in the garden. www.hexult.com/science.html- Next I'm testing ice reinforced with sawdust! Not sure it helps, but at least it's fun!
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sulcus
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Quote: perrybond, Monday, 7 Jun 2010 14:24Thanks for the feedback. I logged on a while ago, but haven't uploaded anything, already got some 'I'll read yours if you read mine' requests. You all seem to be saying exactly what I feared, that it's not the writing that brings a book up, it's the effort you put into the site. I haven't the time or inclination to enter a popularity contest, reviewing on this site takes time away from actual writing, but at least here I'm learning things (including statistical analysis!) Also I have my own unique concept for advertising my work by re-creating the science experiments from my books in the garden. www.hexult.com/science.html- Next I'm testing ice reinforced with sawdust! Not sure it helps, but at least it's fun! I salute your enterprise. This is exactly the sort of marketing one needs to do to try and move a book - but I understand you haven't got one yet? Is this uploaded to YouTube?
"A,B&E", "Not In My Name" and "52FF" (flash fiction anthology) all available on Amazon Kindle"How a psychopath makes sweet love. I can get you ringside. Royal box even."
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perrybond
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Yes it's on youtube but no I haven't got a book yet, I want to exhaust the possibilities of agents and publishers before going for self-publishing My book is called Hexult parlty because I like the name, but partly because it was a short word that was still available ie hexult.com So if you type Hexult into google, you get the books web site and the couple of youtube videos I've posted.  (If you're really bored, you can find the small island called Jakir Chine on the map and click on it to get a pile of illustrations to go with the book) It's all fun stuff, but to date has failed to pique the interest of an agent
This post was last edited by perrybond, 07 Jun 2010, 16:38
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authonomy: Any thoughts
06 Jun 2010, 18:49
