I can't claim to be an expert at that kind of thing. One advantage of going with a small-press publisher is that they probably will know how the business works - and how to work it. They also sometimes "share" a table with their writers, which is a cheap way to get into some cons. A couple of writers I know carefully do cost/benefit assessments to determine whether its worth travel and accomodation to be at certain cons. Windy City seems a popular one.







That's also where an external eye comes in. Some one who honestly says "This was good, except for that bit" can be invaluable to help determine what to chance and what to keep.







I'd say that filler is anything that's not needed to serve the story. A space-wasting fight that doesn't do anything but take up pages is as much filler as some downtime stuff. On the other hand, if the downtime stuff establushes something we didn't know about the characters, or sets up situations that are going to be relevant later, then that's not filler.







It might be helpful to visualise it as a six-issue comic series that then gets collected for trade. Each episode has to have a punch and a point, each one leaving you reeling for the final haymaker.

I would say: figure out what the bad guy is doing. Work out some intermediate steps that our heroes can clash with/interrupt/fail to stop. Introduce some sub-baddies to get taken down mid-plot. Work out how the bad guy's plot is personal to the heroes backgrounds or interests - what makes this personal? Look for four or five "mini-climaxes" with their own resolutions. List the secrets each character is keeping that need to come out in the course of the story, and then work out when they'll get exposed, confessed, or otherwise revealed. Plot three occasions where the reader thinks they know what's happening and then the whole thing curves and defies their expectations. Stick all this on one piece of paper, possibly with boxes and arrows. then write the story you want to write anyway, but keep the paper in the corner of your vision and work in what bits of it seem good at the time.