16MentalTempest website

[16MentalTempest]

My goal with my website was to put my literary work out for the world to see and possibly to attract the attention of publishers. After looking through the 'Books you finished reading' thread, I thought I could plug my website here without getting trampled.

The website is here (http://16mentaltempest.webs.com). It is hosted off of Freewebs.com, so I have little control over the layout. There you will find my stories, poems, and pictures posted.

Here are some excerpts from my favorites:
"As Kyle continued to chuck the rocks into the water, he noticed a small splash near where the rock landed. At first, he thought nothing of it, until another splash occurred, sending subtle ripples towards him. Now Kyle paid attention and realized that fish were jumping out of the water. “Great, target practice” he said indifferently. He kept throwing rocks, this time trying to hit the fish. It was not anywhere near shooting fish in a barrel, but it took his mind off what happened earlier."
-'Sleeping With the Fishes'

"As he climbed into his Buick, Kyle tried to make sense of what had just happened. He had been chased by a monster who used to be the lady behind the counter of the motel he just left. After running for some time, he sliced an ax through its neck, which turned out to be hollow and dry as a bone. Kyle needed something, anything to take his mind off of this terrifying series of events. He turned on the car; the revving of the engine soothed him somewhat."
-'Small City Entity'

"Max put a hand on Jared’s shoulder and replied, “It’s not your fault. It’s the games, man. Think about it, videogames are a drug. They aren’t much different from crack or pot or any other street drug. The only difference is anyone can use it, and anyone can abuse it. Austin, Alex, and James, they overdose. All three of them did, but Austin overdose big time on the wrong kind of games. He got addicted and let all those games get to his head. It drove him crazy, turned him into the kid we saw today. He must’ve shot at least twenty people today, Jared. No, its not your fault at all. All the kids that were fighting today were high on games, and most of them paid the price of a drug overdose.”"
-'Gamers' Warfare'

"I suppose it goes to show that, on our way back home through Sidewinder, we came across Quarrel Bridge, which was surrounded by officers and ambulances. At first I thought nothing of it until I saw what used to be a Civic being searched through by doctors. An arm was poking out the windshield and there were some dark red spots where it was cracked. Apparently he tried jumping the bridge in the already busted sedan. Apparently he was not wearing his seatbelt. And apparently, he did not quite make it. Instant, sweet, amazing justice was laying right there in front of me."
-'The True Brother'

Enjoy the site, the link is above or in my signature anytime you feel like taking a visit. Kudos and comments are well appreciated. :)

[pine]

This is like the third time you've plugged your site on here, that I've seen. No offense man, but if people aren't responding, they're probably not that interested. I wish you the best of luck and all, but if you need feedback, maybe you'd be better served getting it in a formal education type setting?

[16MentalTempest]

(sigh) true. Guess I've crossed that line to begging for attention, then?
Besides, sometimes I'll post something on here and then forget I did so and post the same thing again. I don't mind the tough love or whatever name they have for it, as it helps keep me in the scope of things here. Can't hurt to try at least, right? Thanks for letting me know.

[[SAS]Solid Snake]

Your website is pointless. The stuff you want people to look at isn't even web published. Don't make us do more work to read your stories in order to download it and then view it in a proprietary office application (not all of us use MS Office). Lastly, any publisher who sees a page with ads on it, would never really take it seriously.

[16MentalTempest]

Well, you are talking about a guy who has very limited access to a web design software, does not have a fixed regular income to pay for a custom domain name, and I don't even know how to web publish. If someone has a website on Freewebs, or something like Geocities, well yeah, they may not get noticed but it at least provides a platform for letting my work be readable without me mailing a bunch of copies to everyone who asks for them. I can just say, here's my website, go check it out. Now you could help me out instead of just complaining by telling me what the hell web publishing is, as I understand my work is copyright as soon as I finish it and I thought that posting it on the web was okay. Besides, I know I've overdone the website plugging, you don't have to tell me anymore that nobody cares. I've had better luck telling my family than this forum of people who never give a rat's ass about anybody else on the internet anyway.

[Latent Image]

I've had better luck telling my family than this forum of people who never give a rat's ass about anybody else on the internet anyway.

One assumes they don't care either, thats why you here?

[16MentalTempest]

I'm not sure what you mean, but here's my theory: When people argue on the internet, there is no chance to actually see the person you are arguing with. Most likely you are at odds with someone half-way across the planet who is either half or double your age. The chances of seeing that person just to continue a flamewar that took place on a forum are pretty slim. Because of this, you can say whatever the hell you want and act all tough and get people to believe what you want. But anything you say on the internet is like promises by a presidential candidate: there's hardly any merit to it.
If Latent Image is asking if I care, than I of course would say yes, but as I just said, I have no merit because I'm saying this on a forum where the only part of me that anybody sees is that avatar, and even THAT has no merit online. It's almost a paranoid way to look at things, but it is the truth and I tend to be more of a truth over tact person.

[dragonfliet]

I hope you're paying attention because I'm going to teach you a few things.

I will title this lesson: How to get your work noticed by publishers.

Step one: Read more. You mention the book reading thread. You mentioned some very past reading, and have posted not a single book you've recently read. READ MORE. Go subscribe to a few literary journals (My current favorites are Ninth Letter, Paris Review, Tin House and Alaska Quarterly Review, but there are TONS of great ones). Subscribe to a few genre journals (don't know any off the top of my head, tbh, but there are dozens of them out there). See what people are writing. you'll be inspired. Since you like mystery and whatnot, read The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon. It's brilliant. Go away until you have accomplished this, then come back and move on to step 2

Step two: No one is going to look at your website. Correction: No one other than your family, your friends and a who poor souls from the internet will look at your website. Editors are BUSY. They're busy reading the piles of manuscripts that are SENT to them (btw, there is nothing that says "Please blow me off because I'm not really serious" faster than telling people to look at your website rather than going through the minimal cost and effort of sending it in)--I, for example, have gone through about 300 pages of unsolicited manuscripts in the few weeks. When editors aren't busy with work, they're busy doing their own personal reading that they've been looking for, or they're busy with their own writing.

Step three: Now that we've established that your website is worthless in your efforts to get published, we need to move on to what will. SEND YOUR WRITING TO LITERARY/GENRE (whatever you write) JOURNALS. That means making copies (with your name and contact info on it), including a very short cover letter (that says thank you for reading my enclosed story) and a SASE; then you are to mail these copies out. With any luck, if you're any good at all (and I can't be bothered to read your stuff, sorry), then someone will notice, and publish you. Then, you may use your list of credentials to find a good agent to shop around your FINISHED book manuscripts lying around (what? you don't have any FINISHED manuscripts? More writing, less website pimping!).

Step 4: Don't expect to make almost any money. Especially not with poems. Excluding rappers, there is not a single poet alive today who makes a living from their poetry. Sorry. There are few novelists who manage it either.

IN THE MEANTIME: Stop pestering people on the interwebs and sign up for creative writing classes at your local university, or perhaps attend some writers workshops and conventions.

~Jason

[16MentalTempest]

Reply to...
Step One: I am consistently reading everyday, mostly novels by Stephen King, but I have branched out into classics like Frankenstein and Dracula, among others.
Step Two: What I meant by telling other people about my website is not necessarily editors and the like, but people at school or family members who have access to the internet.
Step Three: I'm always a bit confused as to how an editor wants my work laid out in the first place, and I am always working on a new story. How good it is usually depends on the time I have to write it and the more the idea 'fits' in my head.
Step Four: I realize I'm not going to make much money, as they always say, 'Don't quit the day job.' I'm not writing to make a living anyway.
I am assuming by your comment about the unsolicited manuscripts that you work for a publishing company, so I will take your post as very good advice and say thank you for helping out.

[pine]

You seem pretty young, so if you really want to write as a serious endeavor, don't rush yourself too much. Very few people actually publish any books before they're at least 25 years old (most of the time, more like 30) so keep that in mind. Get a university education, read a lot more books, keep practicing, etc. :)

[dragonfliet]

First:
"There is no greatwriting, only great rewriting." -Justice Brandeis

Don't bother sending out a story until you've revised it at least 3 times. I would rather you revise it at least 10 times, however. It will certainly be better for it. New writing is good, but make sure to take some time out for revision.

How to structure your story to submit to a journal:

1) Cover letter. Include your name and contact information (including email and phone number, but excluding your website) in the top left. Have a brief statement that reads:
Dear Editor (Please use editor's name),

Enclosed is my short story "Name" for consideration in your magazine. I have been published in...(if nothing, don't mention anything, just axe the sentence).

Thank you for your time (or all best, or whatever)

~You

2) On the first page of your story, include your contact information in the top left (yes, again). Start your story halfway down the page. Seperate your title from the body of your story. Use Times New Roman 12pt (or something VERY similar) and double space the entire manuscript. Include page number (top right or bottom right typically) as well as your name on EVERY PAGE.

Some readers and editors prefer pages to be stapled, many prefer than just be paperclipped. I personally hate non-stapled pages, but I'm in the minority for some reason.

Do not use a weird font, do not single space, do not print on both sides of a page, do not use any weird formatting.

3) Include Self Addressed Stamped Envelope (keep in mind the cost of postage) for them to send either your rejection slip or acceptance.

4) again, everything should be held together by a single paper clip (and use a normal one (decent size, not small), not one of those big, black clip thingies--unless your story is like 40 pages long (and generally, dont' send people things that are 40 pages long unless you KNOW they publish mss of that size).

~Jason

[16MentalTempest]

Thanks very much, I really do appreciate it.