September 21st, 2009 / 2:47 pm
Random

Performance art & ‘everybody has a book’

above via Matt Bell

‘Everybody has a book.’

I’d like to know, by a show of hands, who here as a longer manuscript(s) (novella-to-novel length) either in submission or on your computer.

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75 Comments

  1. cari

      Two completed novels. One on submission, one in the Drawer.

  2. cari

      Two completed novels. One on submission, one in the Drawer.

  3. Catherine Lacey

      Where is that newspaper clipping from? I love looking up stuff like this on Ebsco. Newspapers from the late 19th and early 20th century seem like they were actually worth reading. And yeah, I’ve got a book that is about to go into the world and fight for its life. Don’t we all?

  4. Catherine Lacey

      Where is that newspaper clipping from? I love looking up stuff like this on Ebsco. Newspapers from the late 19th and early 20th century seem like they were actually worth reading. And yeah, I’ve got a book that is about to go into the world and fight for its life. Don’t we all?

  5. Matt Cozart

      neither

  6. Matt Cozart

      neither

  7. joseph

      I have several 1/2 to 3/4 abandoned aforementioned somewhere on my computer.

  8. joseph

      I have several 1/2 to 3/4 abandoned aforementioned somewhere on my computer.

  9. Ben Spivey

      I have a finished novel on my computer… some excerpts are published…

  10. Ben Spivey

      I have a finished novel on my computer… some excerpts are published…

  11. darby
    • darby

        one novel

    • darby

        one novel

    • davidpeak

        does a thesis count?

    • davidpeak

        does a thesis count?

    • davidpeak

        and also: this sailor made a punk of GG Allin

    • davidpeak

        and also: this sailor made a punk of GG Allin

    • Mike Meginnis

        Several manuscripts and another on the way. One was in submissions, but I can’t be bothered right now, with MFA school and all.

    • Mike Meginnis

        Several manuscripts and another on the way. One was in submissions, but I can’t be bothered right now, with MFA school and all.

    • Schulyer Prinz

        Two novellas (~130 pages) in the drawer. One novel (544 pages) about to make the rounds.

    • Schulyer Prinz

        Two novellas (~130 pages) in the drawer. One novel (544 pages) about to make the rounds.

    • Lincoln

        No :(

        I’ve got more than a collection’s wroth of stories, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable publishing it all. Maybe 50% of it.

    • Lincoln

        No :(

        I’ve got more than a collection’s wroth of stories, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable publishing it all. Maybe 50% of it.

    • Ben Boykevich

        I’ve got two: one memoir of my life-changing trip to Italy, and one bildungsroman about a pregnant 15-year-old named Amy and her sensitive boyfriend Ben.

    • Ben Boykevich

        I’ve got two: one memoir of my life-changing trip to Italy, and one bildungsroman about a pregnant 15-year-old named Amy and her sensitive boyfriend Ben.

    • Caleb J Ross

        Guilty.
        3 completed novels, 2 of which are in submission. 1 novella in submission.

    • Caleb J Ross

        Guilty.
        3 completed novels, 2 of which are in submission. 1 novella in submission.

    • ryan

        3 in submission,

        had more before i lost most of my shit to a dead hard drive

    • ryan

        3 in submission,

        had more before i lost most of my shit to a dead hard drive

    • Matt Jasper

        One yellow footlocker of scrawled acid-trip pages (about a thousand) partially stuck together by kitten urine. I thought it was a novel when I was living in and out (during planned metabolic “washout” periods) of Medical Technical Research Incorporated of Jamaica Plain earning About $60 a day plus room and board for being a human guinea pig, taking experimental levels of theopheline etc. and then getting pricked until my veins collapsed. It’s a disaster as a novel so I decided to make a 55 to 65 page prose poem that sort of tells a version of the story I was trying to get across. It should make me even less popular as a poet.

    • Matt Jasper

        One yellow footlocker of scrawled acid-trip pages (about a thousand) partially stuck together by kitten urine. I thought it was a novel when I was living in and out (during planned metabolic “washout” periods) of Medical Technical Research Incorporated of Jamaica Plain earning About $60 a day plus room and board for being a human guinea pig, taking experimental levels of theopheline etc. and then getting pricked until my veins collapsed. It’s a disaster as a novel so I decided to make a 55 to 65 page prose poem that sort of tells a version of the story I was trying to get across. It should make me even less popular as a poet.

    • Janey Smith

        I do.

    • Steven Trull

        I do, too.

    • Janey Smith

        I do.

    • Steven Trull

        I do, too.

    • drew kalbach

        two manuscripts shelved, one in the world.

    • drew kalbach

        two manuscripts shelved, one in the world.

    • Mike

        Yeah, chalk me up for a novel in submission. Sadly, being an “indie lit mag editor” doesn’t make the process go any faster.

        Also, I seem to have picked the worst time in recent history to finish a novel. Sometimes I suck at life.

    • Mike

        Yeah, chalk me up for a novel in submission. Sadly, being an “indie lit mag editor” doesn’t make the process go any faster.

        Also, I seem to have picked the worst time in recent history to finish a novel. Sometimes I suck at life.

    • Shya

        Got a few. Somehow–though for completely different reasons–both manuscripts that will be published soon (one poetry, one novel), were completed roughly three years ago. Is that how long it takes? Does that mean I should just stop even trying to place the books I’ve written in the last couple years, or does it mean that it takes a long ass time for those placement efforts to pay off?

    • Shya

        Got a few. Somehow–though for completely different reasons–both manuscripts that will be published soon (one poetry, one novel), were completed roughly three years ago. Is that how long it takes? Does that mean I should just stop even trying to place the books I’ve written in the last couple years, or does it mean that it takes a long ass time for those placement efforts to pay off?

    • JosephScapellato

        One novel in submission (remission?), accumulating polite passes; one skinny novel draft, very drafty; two novellas in wild states.

        Nobody has said “in-progress.” That phrase is poison, yeah?

    • JosephScapellato

        One novel in submission (remission?), accumulating polite passes; one skinny novel draft, very drafty; two novellas in wild states.

        Nobody has said “in-progress.” That phrase is poison, yeah?

    • Nathan (Nate) Tyree

        putting my hand in the air twice

    • Nathan (Nate) Tyree

        putting my hand in the air twice

    • alan

        two, plus half of one I’m working on

    • alan

        two, plus half of one I’m working on

    • sasha fletcher

        novella coming out,
        poetry manuscript doing the rounds,
        poetry manuscript that may take two years for it to not suck.

    • sasha fletcher

        novella coming out,
        poetry manuscript doing the rounds,
        poetry manuscript that may take two years for it to not suck.

    • Dan Wickett

        Sorry, but this was fucking hilarious, all the way down to the pseudo-link.

    • Dan Wickett

        Sorry, but this was fucking hilarious, all the way down to the pseudo-link.

    • Ken Baumann
    • Ken Baumann
    • HaydenDerk

        One novel, now in drawer after a record fourteen rejections.

    • HaydenDerk

        One novel, now in drawer after a record fourteen rejections.

    • Robin

        One novella, gathering dust and irrelevance

    • Robin

        One novella, gathering dust and irrelevance

    • l.w.l.

        two novels, one being pared down to a short story as of this week, one in need of much revision.

    • l.w.l.

        two novels, one being pared down to a short story as of this week, one in need of much revision.

    • Matt Bell

        I’ve got a “finished” novel in the drawer (three drafts), but that’s not something I’m working on or something I’m planning on sending out. I’m 30,000 words into a new novel and halfway through a new novella, switching back and forth between the two.

    • Matt Bell

        I’ve got a “finished” novel in the drawer (three drafts), but that’s not something I’m working on or something I’m planning on sending out. I’m 30,000 words into a new novel and halfway through a new novella, switching back and forth between the two.

    • Matt Bell
    • Matt Bell
    • christopher ryan

        Two.

    • christopher ryan

        Two.

    • S.S.es Ark I. Scanner

        aye captain, at least unfinished. More than I can count on one hand. And yes, a few by an alter ego.

    • S.S.es Ark I. Scanner

        aye captain, at least unfinished. More than I can count on one hand. And yes, a few by an alter ego.

    • Adam R

        I just threw away 20,000 words of a novel and it felt great! Immediately afterward I put together a 25K word short story collection. And that felt great too!

    • Adam R

        I just threw away 20,000 words of a novel and it felt great! Immediately afterward I put together a 25K word short story collection. And that felt great too!

    • Michael James

        all of the above.

    • Michael James

        all of the above.

    • Tim Horvath

        Got a novel of over 100K, much of which has been revised. The ending rots, though, rots in a sort of contagion that spreads, not only through the rest of the book but causes nearby milk to spoil, cellphones to drop calls, the innocent to become corrupt and then corrupt others in turn, causes a gurgle in perfectly still water.

    • Tim Horvath

        Got a novel of over 100K, much of which has been revised. The ending rots, though, rots in a sort of contagion that spreads, not only through the rest of the book but causes nearby milk to spoil, cellphones to drop calls, the innocent to become corrupt and then corrupt others in turn, causes a gurgle in perfectly still water.

    • Matt Jasper

        Yes. The other Matt Jasper emailed you but the real Matt Jasper is here:

        mattjasper555@hotmail.com

        Pretty much anyone reading this can email me and claim that I promised to mail them a free copy of my book and I’ll send it.

    • Matt Jasper

        Yes. The other Matt Jasper emailed you but the real Matt Jasper is here:

        mattjasper555@hotmail.com

        Pretty much anyone reading this can email me and claim that I promised to mail them a free copy of my book and I’ll send it.