Adapting a Lit story into a Mainstream novel

[Phantom300]

So, I've had the idea to try and turn one of my stories (It Happened in Vegas) into an actual novel.

I know there are some some mainstream authors in our crowd, so I'd be interested to know if any of them have any advice.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

If you plan to self-publish, almost anything can be transitioned from a story here to a marketable commodity on sites such as Smashwords or Amazon. If your desire is to find a publisher to handle your work, they tend to shy away from works previously published on a free site (or anywhere else for that matter). Here is a link to a good article on the subject of finding a literary agent.

At 18K words, you might want to reconsider calling your story a "novel". It's too short to meet the standard definition of that type of work.

You have some good stories here. My suggestion would be to hold on to your next story and try sending out a few queries to publishers before posting it here or anywhere else. If someone bites at that, they might be more willing to then take a look at your earlier works here.

 

[oneagainst]

Here is a link to a good article on the subject of finding a literary agent.

Eye-opening. Did you utilise an agent @BobbyBrandt ? Wouldn't know where to start tbh.

 

[Phantom300]

If you plan to self-publish, almost anything can be transitioned from a story here to a marketable commodity on sites such as Smashwords or Amazon. If your desire is to find a publisher to handle your work, they tend to shy away from works previously published on a free site (or anywhere else for that matter). Here is a link to a good article on the subject of finding a literary agent.

At 18K words, you might want to reconsider calling your story a "novel". It's too short to meet the standard definition of that type of work.

You have some good stories here. My suggestion would be to hold on to your next story and try sending out a few queries to publishers before posting it here or anywhere else. If someone bites at that, they might be more willing to then take a look at your earlier works here.

Probably self-publishing for now. I will be checking our that linked article

I do realize it is too short as is. I cut out quite a bit during my editing process, and I have a couple of ideas to expand the story. From what I gather, a typical novel is around 100K words, and I think I can get in that ballpark

I appreciate the kind words on my previous stories. I don't currently have a WIP, (One is scheduled to go live here Monday) I just really liked the characters and even after publishing, I find myself thinking about adding to the story.

 

[gunhilltrain]

As you mentioned above, if you have extra material and ideas, you might consider putting some of those in to make a longer text. I've heard different definitions for a novella, but the upper limit of words seems to be 40,000. Usually I look at the number of pages in a book because I can't determine the word count, but 100,000 words seems about right if you can do it. It doesn't have to be one of those 1,000 page monsters like Infinite Jest. I haven't attempted to read that one because the sheer length is intimating. Updike's Rabbit at Rest is ambitious with the number of characters and settings it contains, but it is pretty good at 512 pages in the hard cover edition.

 

[alohadave]

As you mentioned above, if you have extra material and ideas, you might consider putting some of those in to make a longer text. I've heard different definitions for a novella, but the upper limit of words seems to be 40,000. Usually I look at the number of pages in a book because I can't determine the word count, but 100,000 words seems about right if you can do it. It doesn't have to be one of those 1,000 page monsters like Infinite Jest. I haven't attempted to read that one because the sheer length is intimating. Updike's Rabbit at Rest is ambitious with the number of characters and settings it contains, but it is pretty good at 512 pages in the hard cover edition.

Figure about 250 words a page in print.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Figure about 250 words a page in print.

Thank you. I assume you mean a hard-cover edition?

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Eye-opening. Did you utilise an agent @BobbyBrandt ? Wouldn't know where to start tbh.

QueryTracker is a good place to check out agents and publishers to see what genres they are looking for new material in. You should do some research on what constitutes a good query letter and keep sending them.

For me, the hardest part is writing a compelling synopsis of the story. It was easier for me to write a 150K-word novel than it was for me to write a brief but concise summary of the story to grab the attention of an agent or publisher.

 

[SamScribble]

The thing that really got me 'on track' (and it was a long time ago now) was finding a good agent. Ray was the friend of a friend, and we met in person, over a coffee. I can't stress how important a good agent can be when you are starting out.

Good luck.

 

[Zenith77]

I'm also interested in this topic.

I just published part 8 of my latest series, and when I've finished the next part the series will be concluded - at about 110k words. Seems like a good number to 'novelize'. Thinking I might pull it from Lit and drop it onto Amazon, just to see what happens.

My expectations are that absolutely nothing will happen. The chapters here have scored around the 4.8 mark, which is gratifying, but I'm also well aware that Amazon is flooded with 'raunchy' titles of varying quality so new authors can easily get lost in the noise. The way I understand it is that, if I want that story read on Amazon, I have to publish about 8 more novels of similar length in the next 2 years in order to build my brand.

I think readers prefer a series, too - something that grows over time and adds further books to a theme. I believe stand-alones tend to be less popular.

You also need a decent cover. I have no idea how to make that happen. Any tips?

Blurb is also critical, but if you can write a good story you should be able to manage a click-bait two-para enticement.

Just the impression I have from talking to some folk and doing some reading on the subject - more than happy to be corrected by those with RL experience.

 

[SamScribble]

... but if you can write a good story you should be able to manage a click-bait two-para enticement.

I'm going to disagree. I am officially old. I have now been writing and publishing for more that 60 years, and yet I have never mastered the art of the 'two-para enticement'. In the early days, I usually left it up to my agent. Later, it tended to fall to my editor. Interestingly, it was often only when I read what they had written that I knew what my book or piece was all about.

 

[Zenith77]

I'm going to disagree. I am officially old. I have now been writing and publishing for more that 60 years, and yet I have never mastered the art of the 'two-para enticement'. In the early days, I usually left it up to my agent. Later, it tended to fall to my editor. Interestingly, it was often only when I read what they had written that I knew what my book or piece was all about.

I can well imagine there is a skill to such things. But in lieu of editors calling me up twice a day begging for me to work with them, I'll have to give it a go myself

Do you publish on Amazon? Share a link to your stuff?

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I'm going to disagree. I am officially old. I have now been writing and publishing for more that 60 years, and yet I have never mastered the art of the 'two-para enticement'. In the early days, I usually left it up to my agent. Later, it tended to fall to my editor. Interestingly, it was often only when I read what they had written that I knew what my book or piece was all about.

I'm right there with you. I prefer to let someone else write the enticement piece because, for one thing, it comes from the perspective of someone else who has read the story besides me.

 

[PennameWombat]

Probably self-publishing for now. I will be checking our that linked article

I do realize it is too short as is. I cut out quite a bit during my editing process, and I have a couple of ideas to expand the story. From what I gather, a typical novel is around 100K words, and I think I can get in that ballpark

I appreciate the kind words on my previous stories. I don't currently have a WIP, (One is scheduled to go live here Monday) I just really liked the characters and even after publishing, I find myself thinking about adding to the story.

Depending on genre, 100K is long. For speculative fiction it’s more or less a middle to low average, but for others it’s on the high end. This chart isn’t meant to be authoritative, but it’s well within the numbers usually given.

And, genre. I’m not really sure what mainstream genre you see it fitting in, you have it in Erotic Coupling, which is a catch-all, and when I read it I didn’t really get a key theme. Whether you aim for an agent/publisher, you’ll need to ‘fit’ it into some genres they‘re interested in. For self-publishing, like the Categories here, it’s a key way readers search. Most of your stories are in I/T, which can be a seller in various marketplaces, but it can limit where you can market or sell, not sure if you plan to add that as a theme here.

Also, this: How to Publish a Novel in 2023. Take the repeated entreaties to sell you something with a grain of salt, not a perfect article but glides over the key points.




average,.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I'm also interested in this topic.

I just published part 8 of my latest series, and when I've finished the next part the series will be concluded - at about 110k words. Seems like a good number to 'novelize'. Thinking I might pull it from Lit and drop it onto Amazon, just to see what happens.

My expectations are that absolutely nothing will happen. The chapters here have scored around the 4.8 mark, which is gratifying, but I'm also well aware that Amazon is flooded with 'raunchy' titles of varying quality so new authors can easily get lost in the noise. The way I understand it is that, if I want that story read on Amazon, I have to publish about 8 more novels of similar length in the next 2 years in order to build my brand.

I think readers prefer a series, too - something that grows over time and adds further books to a theme. I believe stand-alones tend to be less popular.

You also need a decent cover. I have no idea how to make that happen. Any tips?

Blurb is also critical, but if you can write a good story you should be able to manage a click-bait two-para enticement.

Just the impression I have from talking to some folk and doing some reading on the subject - more than happy to be corrected by those with RL experience.

​

A cover for an e-book doesn't have to be that challenging. It took me less than half an hour to generate the image from AI and then add the text. For a paperback or other format, the cover requires more.

 

[Zenith77]

View attachment 2226798​

A cover for an e-book doesn't have to be that challenging. It took me less than half an hour to generate the image from AI and then add the text. For a paperback or other format, the cover requires more.

Ok.... how the hell did you generate that with AI?! It's awesome!

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Ok.... how the hell did you generate that with AI?! It's awesome!

I used Lexica.

I started by searching their existing images for "three attractive, half-naked women" and modified the search until I got something that I liked. I then copied the prompt for that image and modified it to meet my exact criteria (Hispanic women) and generated my own images from that.

It's not always as quick and easy, but this time it worked out in my favor.

 

[Zenith77]

I used Lexica.

I started by searching their existing images for "three attractive, half-naked women" and modified the search until I got something that I liked. I then copied the prompt for that image and modified it to meet my exact criteria (Hispanic women) and generated my own images from that.

It's not always as quick and easy, but this time it worked out in my favor.

Just chucking 'prohibited content' at me, and I'd call my image description rather bland tbh. Can you share how you got your output? Happy to take this to PM if others aren't interested and we're de-railing.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Just chucking 'prohibited content' at me, and I'd call my image description rather bland tbh. Can you share how you got your output? Happy to take this to PM if others aren't interested and we're de-railing.

Here is a link to the image. You should be able to copy the prompt and then modify it to your own needs.