Want to co-author my abandoned novel and actually get published?

[RepresentingCaution]

This thread gave me an idea.

I don't mention this often, but I am the lead editor for a small press. No, don't send me submissions. I'm on maternity leave, and we have a huge slush pile.

There is, however, a project that I abandoned back in 2014 that I'd like to resurrect. I wrote the first draft by hand and typed about 20,000 words before I lost my muse. However, I think it could be completed with some collaboration from a skilled author. Take what I have, whip it into shape, and I'll polish it. If we work well together, I'll have my managing director draw up a contract for sharing profits, and you'll get to hold the book in your hands.

"Scrolls of Stephar" is a historical fantasy about a female village healer in a polyamorous, matrilineal society. Men and women both have multiple partners. Men live in their mother's home but visit the homes of women whenever they desire sex. None of the men know if they are the biological father of a child, but the women know, or at least they narrow it down to two or three men, and they talk amongst themselves to prevent incest. The men bring gifts for their lovers when they visit and treat all the children of their lovers as possible sons and daughters, teaching them skills as they grow. See what I wrote in the thread for details about the plot.

I also have a vision for the cover based on one of my favorite books. Instead of a white woman, we'd have a Mediterranean woman. Instead of a shell, she would be standing on the bronze helmet of the antagonist. She would also have DNA twirling around her, and we can add another detail or two based on what you think would work well.

Spoiler: NSFW

I'm looking for an author who is skilled at writing combat scenes and sex scenes. If you are interested in collaborating with me, please reply with a sample of your writing, and we'll take it from there.

Additional qualifications:
Knowledge of biology or willingness to do some research on how the human body works.
Knowledge of Bronze Age technology or willingness to do research.
Knowledge of plants (healing herbs and food) native to the Mediterranean region or willingness to do research.

 

[DarkGodEM]

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Me likey

I'd honestly take this if I had the time to put into another book aaa
Good luck on finding someone to make this work! If you ever need some help and stuffs just gimme a call

 

[Agentt]

While I do qualify for
Knowledge of biology or willingness to do some research on how the human body works.
Knowledge of Bronze Age technology or willingness to do research.
Knowledge of plants (healing herbs and food) native to the Mediterranean region or willingness to do research.


I absolutely suck in writing combat and sex scenes.

 

[The_Everdistant_Utopia]

I'm not really up to quality for this, so I can only wish you the best of luck!

 

[Snusmumriken]

I would concur with @DarkGodEM here. The premise is interesting (especially since large parts of the setting are present in my own novel) but I am well-entrenched into my own story to even dare to have any side projects anytime soon.

Good luck with your undertaking, however. At most I can offer my knowledge in biology and history (albeit I am more versed in the iron age.)

 

[Xeoz]

Hmmm...

 

[Biggest-Kusa-Out-There]

I read the little bit of plot you wrote on the other thread, and some concerns popped up from a biology-evolution perspective.

If they're Humans like us, then I only have one word: Testosterone.

If the healers can 'manipulate the body on the cellular level', they should have realized the potential this little hormone has, which allowed humanity, and especially males, to dominate an entire planet before the first gun was invented in our history. Against Saber Tooth Tigers (extint 12k years ago), Mammoths (extinct 3700 years ago), and more megafauna we absolutely curbstomped thanks to our male ancestors being the chads they were.

This hormone also turns men violent when dealing with threats to their lives or the lives of those close to them. This hormone also affects the mind when dealing with partners and turns men violent to other men who try to interrupt their descendance. Also, the 'weaker semen' as scientists call, gets 'deleted' due to the 'chad' semen having stronger enzymes thanks to higher testosterone count.

Healers could have exploited this, increasing their own, and the men's, meaning they'd be ready and jacked af when it comes to facing the god-king.

Matrilinear succession is an amazing concept, but it can't be believable with our limited knowledge and understanding of humanity in the bronze age. Now, if the people were more amazonian, with women being in power due to being the stronger of the two... yeah, that'd be feasable.

The Bronze Age happened around 5000 years ago, where large predators ran rampant around the world, where humans were 'i hold strength, i rule' kind of society to survive the dangers. Strength didn't directly translate to power, it translated to security, to safety, to peace inside city walls ran by strong men defending it. That's why men had power. It'd need to be flipped, women are the stronger, and it's done.

You could even go the stretch of having dual leaders like the greek did, with both having equal political power in their sphere of influence. One would be a woman, a healer. And the other a man, warrior or hunter. These two would then bounce off each other (no pun intended) and set the grounds for an equalitarian society where women hold power inside the village, and men outside.
Thing is, you can't have one gender ruling and have polyamory when in the bronze age. Polyamory comes from a place of security for everybody. And cultural/social development does not allow that when having to hunt to survive.

Now, if you also add an 'unsurmountable evil' to the world, it's a little... well, that's what happens if you don't have people prepared for war. This could even portray the danger better when those prepared and meant to protect fail. Because really, if there's a god-king that conquers a peaceful village, it's not that 'evil', more like... 'natural' if you get my meaning. Like, you don't expect Dodos to really last that long if they don't run away from predators.

With that, if you have women be the stronger of the two sexes, then it becomes even more of a hook, because it's them fighting and failing their society when it gets conquered, so the reader sees the protagonist rather than a tragic victim, and more like an underdog fighter, who has to reclaim their land and revitalize their society, something a reader may devour regardless of age (bronze or otherwise) or gender.
Xena worked so well because she was a warrior just like all the women in her society, instead of 'a woman that happens to know how to fight'.

Now, if genders matter more, then I'm sorry if what I said didn't help you. I tried to bring up a few points I felt a bit 'handwaved' in a sense. Men ruled for a reason, and it'd be juicy to have an equally understandable reason for women to rule.

I would love to help you, but I'm currently full with my fiction. Wish you the best of luck, and the concept is amazing. Keep it up!

 

[Snusmumriken]

I am not sure I would agree with most of that, especially since high testosterone actually leads to low sperm count and outright sterility. Hormonal balance is very precise and more=better doesn't always work and quite often yields opposite results.

 

[SakeVision]

I am not sure I would agree with most of that, especially since high testosterone actually leads to low sperm count and outright sterility. Hormonal balance is very precise and more=better doesn't always work and quite often yields opposite results.

Wdym, ancient ultra boof cavemen weren't fistfighting sabertooth tigers and mammoths naked? My entire life was a lie!

 

[Biggest-Kusa-Out-There]

I am not sure I would agree with most of that, especially since high testosterone actually leads to low sperm count and outright sterility. Hormonal balance is very precise and more=better doesn't always work and quite often yields opposite results.

Wdym, ancient ultra boof cavemen weren't fistfighting sabertooth tigers and mammoths naked? My entire life was a lie!

They weren't fistfighting them, they wrestled. That's where all the moves came from, didn't you know?

That excess you speak about is an outlier. It's like saying eating food is good, then you come and present overweight people and why it's bad for our health... between two healhy bronze age men, the one with the higher testosterone would biologically win the sperm fistfight/wrestlemania match.
And testosterone helps a truck load when acquiring the physique to outrun a mammoth/sabertooh. It doesn't mean direct violence, but evolutionary advantage.

 

[Zirrboy]

This idea sounded semi fun until it got to the demon lord part...

 

[CupcakeNinja]

While I do qualify for
Knowledge of biology or willingness to do some research on how the human body works.
Knowledge of Bronze Age technology or willingness to do research.
Knowledge of plants (healing herbs and food) native to the Mediterranean region or willingness to do research.


I absolutely suck in writing combat and sex scenes.

i qualify for everything but im also a lazy fucking degenerate who already has too many stories to work on that're backed up as is.

This idea sounded semi fun until it got to the demon lord part...

was good until the god king kills all the men and rapes all the women. Lol. She wants lots of sex scenes, too, which with that storyline will be mostly rape. And i do good rape scenes, but uh....i doubt that many people will appreciate that.

The whole "cauterize her fallopian tubes" thing was also weird and kinda disturbing. I mean i got an MC who'll cut off his dick and throw it at you "to give your wife something to remember me by"... but he can regenerate in seconds and pain matters fuck all to him, so its not exactly the same. I don't really like writing stuff like this unless its in a comedy setting. Gore-y stuff kinda grosses me out. Gives me goosebumps and shit. I can read it. I just don't like writing it.

 

[Zirrboy]

just to be clear:
this is from a reader perspective. writing something of publishing quality? yeah no, above my skill level

 

[Tropic_Panda]

From my perspective: this is an offer for a pro. Even for a dedicated amateur writer, the job would be to heavy to pull it off.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

From my perspective: this is an offer for a pro. Even for a dedicated amateur writer, the job would be to heavy to pull it off.

I mean the basic knowledge requirements aside, it's just fighting and sex scenes.

A bit of biology knowledge to be able to use her power creatively is basically the main thing to know about. A bit of surgery, some herbology maybe. Nothing too hard. Like maybe I sound arrogant, but it's really not. You can probably just make up some stuff, too, and it works because it a different world so the knowledge of herbs and whatnot can be made up.

Medical knowledge during time periods like that werent even very advanced, so it's not like you gotta write how to do a endoscopy.

Hence, yeah. Knowing how to write decent fighting scenes and sex scenes are essentially all you really need. It sounds like the majority of the plotline has already been planned out, if anything you just help fill in the details. I can already picture how it'd start.
[Everything past this is basically just my rant, you dont gotta read the rest of this reply]

A prologue chapter detailing the God king's first raid. A chapter detailing years later the MC having sex with her friend and impregnating her before her ceremony to become a healer because as a healer she cant let herself get pregnant so ues her power to make her friend bear her child. A chapter or two of peace and tranquility. Then someone goes "THE GOD KING IS COMING" and they got minutes to prepare and all shit hits the fan.

Boom, next chapter has the MC and her friends either get killed or raped and taken in as a slave.

I think it could be done in...30 decent sized chapters, depending on how well you fill it out? There wpul probably be a few time skips if you make it years before the MC learns of the antagonists weakness and is subjected to all kinds of tortures and rape for entertainment. Some chapters detailing that and the God king's land, how life is within his castle or whatever.

Yeah. Barring any adventures to other lands, it can be a pretty short and simple story. Self contained, kinda? World building wont be a very big factor, at least it wont be shown. I picture the main setting to be the village and the God king's castle

 

[Discount_Blade]

Sheesh. I can't imagine a worse story at the moment.

However, it definitely hits those sweet spots for people who want something different & unique.

Which is why I'm very surprised there are no takers yet.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

Wow, I didn't know I would get so many responses. Even if I don't find someone now, this is encouraging that I might eventually find the right person to work with.

This hormone also affects the mind when dealing with partners and turns men violent to other men who try to interrupt their descendance.

Humans who learned to cooperate with each other had more reproductive success than humans who did not. As a result, humans have an incredibly diverse range of mating strategies. As different groups of humans found different ways to cooperate, we developed different cultures. Here is one of my favorite videos on the diversity of human mating strategies:

Here's an article on some mating strategies in South America:

http://www.radicalanthropologygroup.org/sites/default/files/pdf/class_text_050.pdf

Other mammals have displayed variation in their mating strategies as well:

I can also speak from personal experience here. I'm polyamorous. Before my husband and I got married, we talked a lot about how we wanted our future to look. My husband expressed a strong desire to be a dad, even if that meant adopting. He told me that if I had an "oops baby" with another man, he would raise it as his own. Thanks to the pandemic, we know that my baby came from my husband, but otherwise, we would be 98% certain due to condom use with extramarital partners. Well, it would be pretty obvious by now since my boyfriends have more melanin than we do.

Different people will feel differently about these things. Often, our views on the matter are heavily influenced by the culture in which we were raised. However, some of us feel out of place. In America and other Western nations, individualism has allowed us to do as we please in the place we were born rather than leaving and settling in a village with customs we like better.

I am not sure I would agree with most of that, especially since high testosterone actually leads to low sperm count and outright sterility. Hormonal balance is very precise and more=better doesn't always work and quite often yields opposite results.

Indeed, biology is a balancing act!

Wdym, ancient ultra boof cavemen weren't fistfighting sabertooth tigers and mammoths naked? My entire life was a lie!

They weren't fistfighting them, they wrestled. That's where all the moves came from, didn't you know?

It definitely hits those sweet spots for people who want something different & unique.

Thanky :)

This idea sounded semi fun until it got to the demon lord part...

Every story needs conflict!

From my perspective: this is an offer for a pro. Even for a dedicated amateur writer, the job would be to heavy to pull it off.

Indeed! That's why I'm asking for a writing sample before choosing a partner. I wouldn't say I'm looking for a pro so much as a rising star who has had success with online publishing and wants to branch into more traditional publishing.

 

[Biggest-Kusa-Out-There]

Humans who learned to cooperate with each other had more reproductive success than humans who did not.

Obviously? I didn't bash polyamory. All I did was suggest how they could have taken advantage of a very powerful natural resource that you can name however you want in-world, while being a cooperative polyamorous society and make loads more sense when considering suspension of disbelief without seeming like a power fantasy.

I myself write polyamory in a non-patriarcal world, so I support that 1000%!

 

[AnnonBee]

Knowledge of Bronze Age technology or willingness to do research.

I am certainly interested in reading the work, so I offer my help. What I am knowledgeable about is the bronze age technology. From the beginning to the collapse, from the trade to war. I can help with the process of how they first produce bronze to how the manufacturing process developed over the course of thousands of years. How they produce a weapon, pottery, and everyday things. I can also help with transportation, hierarchy, society, and art.
So, if you need any help with the bronze age, dm me about the topic. I am happy to help. Good luck, with your work.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

I am certainly interested in reading the work, so I offer my help. What I am knowledgeable about is the bronze age technology. From the beginning to the collapse, from the trade to war. I can help with the process of how they first produce bronze to how the manufacturing process developed over the course of thousands of years. How they produce a weapon, pottery, and everyday things. I can also help with transportation, hierarchy, society, and art.
So, if you need any help with the bronze age, dm me about the topic. I am happy to help. Good luck, with your work.

Cool! So, is this an offer to be a beta reader?