Thom: I have followed you for years, and you have inspired me to write. I follow you here and on Medium, but my question is about publishing my own work: I've spent the past few months working on a three-part series about our nation that makes more sense as a book, so I have yet to publish it anywhere. I need some smart advice on the nex…
Thom: I have followed you for years, and you have inspired me to write. I follow you here and on Medium, but my question is about publishing my own work: I've spent the past few months working on a three-part series about our nation that makes more sense as a book, so I have yet to publish it anywhere. I need some smart advice on the next step. Would you be willing to look over my work, and perhaps suggest who I might show it to for publishing consideration? I value your work as a human being, always trying to help us be 'one thought smarter' than we were the day before. I'd like to think I can contribute in the same way, with this educational and historical/political work. As a writer, I have no experience actually getting a work published in book form, and would greatly value any guidance you could provide. Tim S.
Hey, Tim. My best advice is to persist. I’ve been writing for publication since I was 15 years old and you just have to persist. Nothing beats persistence. I have self published, I’ve published in magazines, I’ve published with obscure publishers and major publishers, I’ve had an agent, and I’ve published without an agent. There are no easy answers, and there is nobody who can magically open doors for you. You just have to persist. The other big lesson I’ve learned is that, as Arthur C Clarke said, your first million words are practice. I wrote four terrible novels before I had anything that was worth publishing, and it wasn’t that good. writer is right. Keep writing. There are a number of people who are having good results publishing even book length works on Medium and Substack; I suspect that is this generation’s entry point and you might want to consider it.
Thom: Thank you for the response and advice. I have finished the work, and have gone ahead and published it all on Medium. I may publish it here on Substack also at some point, but as you suggested, I am persisting. So...will you give it a look? Here is a link to the publication: all the work is there within the publication. Thanks again, Tim S.
Thom: I have followed you for years, and you have inspired me to write. I follow you here and on Medium, but my question is about publishing my own work: I've spent the past few months working on a three-part series about our nation that makes more sense as a book, so I have yet to publish it anywhere. I need some smart advice on the next step. Would you be willing to look over my work, and perhaps suggest who I might show it to for publishing consideration? I value your work as a human being, always trying to help us be 'one thought smarter' than we were the day before. I'd like to think I can contribute in the same way, with this educational and historical/political work. As a writer, I have no experience actually getting a work published in book form, and would greatly value any guidance you could provide. Tim S.
Hey, Tim. My best advice is to persist. I’ve been writing for publication since I was 15 years old and you just have to persist. Nothing beats persistence. I have self published, I’ve published in magazines, I’ve published with obscure publishers and major publishers, I’ve had an agent, and I’ve published without an agent. There are no easy answers, and there is nobody who can magically open doors for you. You just have to persist. The other big lesson I’ve learned is that, as Arthur C Clarke said, your first million words are practice. I wrote four terrible novels before I had anything that was worth publishing, and it wasn’t that good. writer is right. Keep writing. There are a number of people who are having good results publishing even book length works on Medium and Substack; I suspect that is this generation’s entry point and you might want to consider it.
Thom: Thank you for the response and advice. I have finished the work, and have gone ahead and published it all on Medium. I may publish it here on Substack also at some point, but as you suggested, I am persisting. So...will you give it a look? Here is a link to the publication: all the work is there within the publication. Thanks again, Tim S.
https://medium.com/the-big-bigger-and-biggest-lies-of-all-time