faqs

Questions and Answers

GENERAL QUESTIONS:

What is Nouveau Roman Publishing?

Nouveau is French for New and usually refers to a new idea or concept. Roman is also French and means Novel. Hence New (Idea) Novel, though the French sounds more impressive J And of course Publishing is publishing, only Nouveau Roman Publishing steps outside the normal publishing realm. Yes books are made available to readers, but by using a new medium and method to accomplish the deed.

What is Nouveau Roman Publishing trying to accomplish?

The idea for Nouveau Roman came about for many reasons, mostly as a means for a writer to reach Readers. Being an author is a very solitary endeavor and yet a storyteller needs an audience. Normally reaching an audience is the most difficult aspect of writing and only comes through publishing, but the Net has cured that problem. Writers now have a medium that can reach across land and oceans to reach people; touch a reader.

Computer technology is also reaching out to authors. Everyday more and more writers join the net and discover a worldwide audience never before available. Nouveau Roman Publishing would like to become a service/mediator that brings both worlds together.

This is all fine and good, but how can you do this and not charge?

Maybe we can't, but for as long as possible there will be no charge to either Readers or Authors. If the demand calls for expanding, then other avenues for continuing the service will have to be investigated and decided upon. Nouveau Roman Publishing is not, what is referred to as, a Vanity Press. Yes, it could be considered self-publishing and probably will be by many skeptics in the industry, but it isn't. The difference is in the objective. Our authors would be using this service as a means of establishing a reader base. The current trend by publishers to cutback book printing has increased the difficulty for an unpublished writer to be discovered. Many very talented writers are overlooked for a published writer already under contract with a particular publishing house. The fortunate few that do manage to obtain a contract put in many long and frustrating hours to see their books in print, only to have them yanked from the store shelves in just a couple of weeks. Hardly enough time for new writers to establish themselves.

Nouveau Roman Publishing hopes to give an unpublished writer a bonus to take to a major publisher by establishing a Readers' Base. If an author becomes discovered in the process so much the better. This is the Word Wide Web and the possibilities are endless J

READER QUESTIONS:

Are these the same kind of books I would find in the bookstore?

Yes, in every way. The only difference is in the medium. Instead of holding a paperback or hardback book, you can read it off your computer screen or print it out. One major advantage to electronic publishing is that it is mobile, much more so than a book. Say you are on a plane and have your laptop with you, just insert the disc that you saved our chapter file on and start reading, so much better than the in-flight movie. Or take the disc to work with you, oh but please only read it during your lunch break! And let's not forget the fonts, when you read on the screen or print out the chapters, you can choose the font size and make the printing as large as you like for ease of reading.

There is also an added bonus that you will be reading fresh new voices. So many new authors have wonderful stories to tell but they don't fall within the guidelines of the publishing houses. Oh yes the publishers keep saying, "we want new, innovated stories . . . press the limits! Write the story in your heart and touch ours." Hmm, sounds great doesn't it, only problem is the editors may want this but they don't seem to be getting these great stories past their bosses and in print.

There is also Word Count to consider. Each publisher has specific word counts for their lines. Trouble is a new author writes from the heart and isn't always aware that their 130,000 word novel will never find a home until they cut 20,000 to 30,000 words out of the heart of it. One of the wonderful aspects of the net is that word count doesn't really count J Oh, there are the lines of reason, but the story is more important than paper, and can prove it by establishing a strong reader base.

Hmm, I like the sound of that, but can I really talk to the author?

This is one of the main reasons for this service. Authors want to hear from you! Hey, without readers we have no audience. Only you can tell us if we are doing it right. Some areas that an author is concerned with could be, did you feel the character's emotions? Did you like them, love them, hate them? Was the story exciting? Were you able to follow which character was speaking? How about the dialogue, was it natural? Was the writing strong enough to carry the plot? Was the story believable and the conflicts strong enough to hold your interest?

Believe me when I say there are so many questions you as a reader can supply answers to. Your input could become a vital part of the creative process that helps polish the novel. When you sign up as a member and pick out your novel you will receive the email address of the author, they in turn will receive yours. You can email them with your comments on each chapter or wait until you have read the whole book. The author will want to hear from you. In fact, they will probably be watching the email everyday until you do tell them your reaction to their work.

What if I don't like the book?

Criticism is never easy, but to an author it may well be that one piece of information that will turn the book around and make it a great story. We are not talking about commas versus semi-colons, but content, good writing versus poor, something only a reader can convey. So yes, send your comments on even if you didn't like the book. Try to tell the author where the book fell short. What it lacked or needed more of? It may be easier to explain this to the author if comments are given when each serial is read.

Do keep in mind how you phrase your words, criticism when given properly can be invaluable. If given in rude or harsh manners they will only come across as given and no one will bother to look any further for the hidden benefit. Who ever said words can't hurt, never dealt with writers J

What is the Reader's Promise?

Your promise is that you are signing up for these novels for YOUR personal enjoyment and not to profit or exploit the author's work in anyway. The novel is protected under the Copyright Laws of United States and we expect our readers/members to respect that ownership.

So, if your friends what to read the novel, and we hope they do, please inform them how easy it is to sign up. You see, sharing defeats the purpose of our service and will not reflect the true reader base for that author. Sometimes we will run into special circumstances where a friend or family member only has access to the net/email through you, that is not a problem, just send us an email explaining and we can register more than one reader at the same email address J

Can I start more than one book at a time?

Yes of course you can, at the present time we are offering two books. This is a new system and we don't foresee any problems, but it makes sense to work out any problems that might occur, before offering more novels.

Once I sign up how long will it be before I receive the first serial email?

Mailings will be done weekly, late Sunday night or early Monday morning. It takes a day or so to set you up on the system. If you are signed up by Thursday, you should receive your first serial chapter by Monday.

AUTHOR QUESTIONS:

This sounds so good, but why would I want to do this?

This is a decision only you can make, Nouveau Roman Publishing can only give you some very valid reasons to consider our service and some warnings. Yes you are reading this right, warnings…

Do not get confused here, Nouveau Roman Publishing is strictly a service. In the normal publishing world this would not be considered being published. Saying this isn't meant to scare anyone, it is stated so that you know what you are up against. Many of your fellow writers will think you are crazy or desperate. They might be right, but Nouveau Roman Publishing is more than that.

What you have to ask yourself is what is important here? This is sort of a shift of priorities. If seeing your book in paperback is like breathing, than this service is not for you. But if having people read your stories is the most important goal for your writing than Nouveau Roman Publishing would be an excellent method to accomplish the goal.

This does not mean that you won't still try to become published. But in the mean time you would be establishing a reader base and having your stories read. The feedback/comments you receive could answer so many questions. The biggest being that people really do enjoy your writing J

How would I submit my book to Nouveau Roman Publishing?

First be sure your work is ready to submit. This requirement isn't new, but will probably be the only one that can earn you a refusal L

Your work should be polished so it shines. It should be as perfect as you would want a major publishing house to receive. Hey, remember that they may very well be one of your readers.

If you haven't been active with a critique group get yourself established with one. Fellow writers are the toughest audience and if you can't get pass them you will become a Wall Banger to a Reader.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Our guidelines are basically the same as they would be for any publishing house, only submission will be through email attachments. To learn how to send attachments in your email, please read your program help files. We can only offer minimal help on our end as every program is a little different. This is a process you really need to become familiar with.

If you are interested in submitting your novel please email us a query that includes the following information: Genre, length in words and chapters, email and word-processing program you are using and short blurb about the storyline (see the Novels page for example of storyline blurb/pitch)

We in turn will ask you to submit a chapter, this could be any chapter: first, fifth, tenth, last, it is our decision. We will expect the chapter we request and a full synopsis to reach us within a couple of days. In other words, authors, if your book isn't ready you won't be able to email the requested chapter by the date specified. Therefore don't waste either of our time until your novel is completely finished and polished.

If your novel is accepted you will transfer the entire novel through email to Nouveau Roman Publishing for distribution to the readers. NOTE: The entire novel must be available at the onset or serialization can not begin. The author retains the copyrights to the work and gives written permission to Nouveau Roman Publishing for distribution of their work.

Sorry, but at the present time we are not taking submissions. Feel free to email us concerning your interest and when we are ready to expand we will contact you.

What is the Author's promise? Say that your novel is serialized to readers and you have many readers' signed up and reading your novel and then, WHAM a publisher wants your book! This is wonderful news and we will throw a cyber party for your good fortune! J Now comes the promise: you have readers in one stage or another of receiving your chapters, we ask that you make a promise to all readers that have signed up for your novel and have received at least one chapter, that they will receive the rest of the chapters.

The purpose of Nouveau Roman Publishing is to help authors establish a reader base and it would be very unwise and unfair to pull the novel from readers already into the story. Yes, your novel will certainly not be offered once you want it stopped, but do promise to let readers signed up, finish the story.

Okay, you are right that is fair to the readers. But how long should I leave my novel on the net?

This is a new process and how long a novel should be online is still an open question. At the present an agreed upon time limit between the author and Nouveau Roman Publishing will be discussed and set, say four months. If readers are continuing to sign up and we both agree to leaving it online longer, than that is a decision to be made at that time. Remember that one of the current problems for new authors is the short shelf life of their books, we don't want that to happen here.

We also need to be realistic, it is going to take some time to get Nouveau Roman Publishing established on the search engines and to get our name/site out there on the net for people/readers to find. And though our start may appear slow, it should pick up speed rather quickly.

Can Nouveau Roman Publishing pull my novel from the net?

We could, but it would not happen without prior notice to or from the author and for a very good reason. To say that a novel won't be pulled would be impossible, no one can say what can happen from one day to the next. There are reasons that come to mind: Readers are dropping like flies from a certain serial novel. Hmm, that would certainly indicate there is a problem. One, the writing is terrible and no one wants to read more than a chapter or two. Or maybe the author has fallen off the net and isn't communicating with their readers. Either of these could cause a novel to be pulled. Then there is that great reason, a book contract!

Another possibility that comes to mind is of course illness or some other disaster of life's ills. Our server or we could go belly up and then we would disappear! I have heard of servers dropping off the net without any warning to their customers, but I don't think that would happen with ours. So yes it may happen, but not without reason and attempts to communicate, though the final decision would rest with Nouveau Roman Publishing

Keep in mind that any one of you can do this yourself, from your own homepage.

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