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D

deerslayer

Milforum Swamp Dweller
I'm about to start the long process of bringing a book to market. I have at the most about 80 pages left to write, maybe a little more, but by and large it's an almost completed work. I've got the synopses finished, and I was wondering if anyone here besides stevenpreece (I've hit him up for advice) has any suggestsions about increasing my odds at profit with a publishing company.

Thanks,


"Evil"

Author of The Malachi Papers

will have the main synopsis up in a bit.
 
There are a zillion books on how to get published. There's even a "dummies" guide. You may want to visit your public library a pick up a few of these books for your advice. Contacting a literary agent isn't a bad idea either...although lawyers tend to have a slightly better reputation.
 
that's kinda good news, because I live with two lawyers:) A sixteen year old author needs representation these days... especially if the material may be sensitive to society.

"Evil"
Synopsis- "The Malachi Papers"
Overall summary- Main synopsis
"The Malachi Papers" (henceforth "Malachi") chronicles the misadventures of the world’s Special Operations community. It is set between 2004, just after the military events in Chechnya, to 2008. "Malachi" begins with the arrest of ex-Russian special operations specialist Alexei Petrov, who has been trafficking marijuana and cocaine for an as yet unknown purpose. The novel progresses rapidly to the explanation of Petrov’s last firefight and his rescue by comrade and fellow dealer Nikolai Kulikov. In the wake of Alexei’s arrest, Kulikov has become disillusioned with the scheming of his friend (still unknown) and has become a functioning alcoholic.
The plot recesses from the Russian scene shortly after the daring escape of Alexei from a high-security facility. It reopens in present-day Iraq. U.S. military presence is still high in the war-torn country. A group of American Delta Force operators (here simply "Delta") led by Captain Harold Othic deal with the travesties of everyday life in a combat zone, until they are called for an operation- Clive Hammond, a bumbling embedded journalist, was abducted by a militant Islamic group after a drunken carousal in Baghdad. Othic’s team of eight men botches the rescue, and Hammond is killed.
The press is out for blood. Othic’s immediate superior, Delta Colonel James Marion, sends the team back to the United States to take the heat off of himself and sweep the accidental killing of Hammond under the rug.
Petrov, during this time, has become quite busy. He has trekked across the brutal Russian steppe to Moscow, where he regroups with friend Nikolai Kulikov. Under the pen name "Malachi" (Hebrew for "my messenger" and a also book of the Old Testament giving the shadier accounts of a God’s wrath), he threatens the Russian government through former contacts in the special operations community he was once a part of. He has reached the conclusion that capitalism is a failed effort, and intends to rectify the problem through mass bloodshed. There are no demands- simply a warning of impending doom.
Russia, torn by civil and political strife, cannot bear the thought of a hardline movement, and the hunt is on for the two soldiers-turned-criminals. Petrov, having accumulated enough funding through his illegal activities to set in motion a plan to destabilize the Russian system long enough to strong-arm his way to power.
Alexei contacts an old friend in the Italian special-operations community- Vincent Gepetto, a hulking, psychotic retired soldier with a taste for senseless violence and easy money. Gepetto is willing to contract for him as a soldier of fortune- provided the conditions are right.
The Russian military is gaining on Petrov. A double team (eight men) of eight Russian Spetsnaz "Vitaz" commanded by Captain Dmitri Pavlov elite operators narrowly misses Alexei in an assassination attempt. However, they find papers taunting the current administration and giving further warnings, as well as a travel log for Kulikov, and records of transactions between a big-time German politician and Gepetto. There are also reports on German weapons manufacturer Heckler and Koch, as well as the Austrian munitions firm Glock. The evidence is mounting. Pavlov calls the operation a success and documents these ties.
His superior does not share the sentiment. Wanting to cleanse his hands of the intelligence foul-up and failure to capture Petrov, he sends them to cross-train with American operators. By sheer chance, the eight Russians land with Othic and his men.
Marion still isn’t satisfied with his attempts to get the press off of his mens’ backs. A mysterious former Neo-Nazi, Hans Jödel, has been elected as the new Chancellor of Germany by a small margin. His unease grows as reports of increased German war-spending coincide with the election of Jödel. The US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) is still furious with the botched reporter rescue attempt and wants the eight Americans and Pavlov’s men off of their hands. They also want to control the spread of the German rearmament movement. An H&K munitions plant on the Rhine presents an easy target. Russia, paranoid with the German activity, gives the all-clear for Pavlov to assist Othic’s men in leveling the facility.
Unbeknownst to the American operators, Alexei Petrov has maneuvered Vincent Gepetto into the hot seat as Jödel’s personal security. Gepetto has been tasked under the table with removing Jödel from power to allow Petrov to gain temporary access to German forces in Silesia. Jödel has his own plan- drive the Bundeswehr (German police/home army) through Poland quickly and mount a temporary offensive on the Russo-Polish border. Gepetto begins his preparation for Petrov’s work as Jödel maneuvers his hand to launch his offensive.
At this time, Othic’s team is attempting to gather information on Jödel. The Americans are oblivious to the threat of Alexei or his hired Italian henchman that is lurking as Jödel’s bodyguard. Distrust of the Russians is high- Pavlov is confronted by the American Delta operators and tells the tale of Alexei Petrov and his work against the Russian state. They decide that they have a common enemy in both Jödel and his Russian consort.
Gepetto contacts and murders a local cocaine dealer on a whim, then uses the cocaine stolen from the crime to kill Jödel as he conducts his current military operations from a basement room in the newly erected Munich Archives- a preplanning and military intelligence vault masquerading as a records depository.
As Gepetto is leaving the scene, Othic’s team is infiltrating the facility. Sergeant Paul Jackson, the infiltrator, uncovers Jödel’s body and enough evidence to give the team the story on Jödel and Petrov. However, police have been alerted to a breakin at the Archives.
Polizei (police) apprehend sergeant Jackson and attempt to detain him; the sergeant attacks his captor with a K-Bar knife and flees to meet the rest of his team. From there, a running gun battle ensues until the sixteen operators strongpoint a convalescent home and spend a harrowing night awaiting rescue.
Marion commandeers a flotilla of AH-6 Little Birds and UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters on a training exercise outside Berlin and flexes some of his JSOC muscle to reroute them to the combat zone, where the operators are evacuated back to Berlin. The toll- one operator lies dead, and nearly are all wounded.
Knowing that Alexei is linked to the Munich incident, the detective work starts again. Petrov is found to be living in a villa on the Rhine. Othic’s surviving members from Munich take down the villa early in the morning and manage to capture Nikolai Kulikov and Vincent Gepetto- the latter has to be beaten into a coma and cannot bear testimony to the conspiracy. Kulikov has been largely absolved in the crimes at this time because of attempted collaboration against Petrov.
Alexei, on the other hand, is interrogated on site, executed, and thrown from an AH-6 Little Bird into the Rhine river.
The dead operator’s parents have kept the body for funeral services until the Petrov operation is over. Othic delivers the eulogy, and is physically confronted by the operator’s father. The novel closes with Othic’s chief sergeant and confidant joining him by the grave of the fallen soldier and saying their final goodbyes to the man who was the savior of the foiled Munich action.

y'know... I'm glad I'll be able to get this thing done before my junior year.
 
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If you're going with the SOF theme, you might want to change that UH-60 to an MH-60 or an HH-60.

Good luck with your book, looks like you're well on your way.
 
I've got 420 pages written (too bad that was late for marijuana day- woulda been a great coincidence:) ) and probably have about 80 to 100 more to write. I generally write 5 to ten pages or 1000 words when I get down to it at a time, and I wanna get it out of the way by the end of this summer so I can finish my series of papers on doctrine. I'll make the changes you suggested. I'm here for technical advice just in caswe I missed something.

So, do you think this type of stuff is possible?
 
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Sounds good.
Put me down for a copy when its published but you might want to be careful(if youve already got this covered then sorry for grannys eggsucking lesson) about using real firearms manufacturers in the novel.
Even though what you write might be considered harmless you dont want a lawsuit from one of them.
Good luck and keep us up to date.
 
Y'know, since I have a great respect for Heckler and Koch, I really wouldn't want that:) Really, it's also a lesson in all the things that are fundamentally screwed up in humans. Some characters represent the ideal soldier, others represent the innate voyeurism and absolute evil that humans are capable of.

Bottom line- to be human is to be empowered. What other species can bring itself to commit the greatest acts of honor, or be at the heart of the worst attrocities imaginable? As a human, I can make the conscious decision to invite you into my home or shoot you on my doorstep. These core dilemmas and also some of the core problems within Western military and society as a whole are reflected- the latter is what I was aiming for after I became aware of stuff like fourth generation warfare.

I'd post a sample or two here, but the language remains rather coarse throughout and probably wouldn't contribute to a family forum.
 
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