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Getting There. The
first time novelist or short story writer is up a certain well known creek
without even a canoe. If you're a politician, a film star, or a model
(you don't even have to be able to write), the big publishers will
provide you with a nice fat cheque and a power boat. The catch for a new author
is that they might publish you if you're known and as a new author you'll only
get known if they'll publish you. It is also a sad fact that the likes of Harper
and Collins receive two to three hundred manuscripts a week out of which they
might publish two or three a year. Many large publishers freely admit that they
will not even look at work unless it is submitted through an agent. It would
also seem that these publishers are now run primarily by accountants and
financial directors. Editors wanting to take on something new have to present
this work to these people to justify the expenditure. As such justifications
usually begin with, "Well this is like ... " the chance of anything
groundbreaking being taken is minimal. The fact, I think, that all writers
should be aware of is that these large publishers are not out to make books;
they're out to make money. So what other options are there? There are,
thankfully, the small presses, and through them a gradual struggle up the ladder
in the hope that you'll reach a point where you can no longer be ignored. Small
press publications range from illiterate productions of stapled-together A4
sheets to some magazines indistinguishable from what you'll find on the
newsagent's shelf. There are presses that produce paperback books of a quality
that exceeds that of the mainstream publishers (How often have you had one of
these mainstream paperbacks fall apart in your hands as you read it? How often
has the cover picture and blurb born no relation to the contents?) It is worth
noting exactly what 'small' means in the latter cases. It usually only refers to
circulation, editor's bank balance, and advertising. They are not necessarily
small on enthusiasm or professionalism. Don't be fooled into thinking that you
can get any old crap published here, but also be aware that if you are good, you
stand a better chance here than with one of the lumbering giants that has a
stranglehold on the the news stands and bookshops. Unfortunately
the SF F and H (magazine) small presses are pretty much a closed circuit and it
is quite possible for you to be very well known in them but not known outside.
Very often the magazines published have a circulation that can only be numbered
in the hundreds and not very many of them. The closed circuit is due to a large
proportion of their readership being writers and by the mags only advertising in
each other, (no doubt due to cost). What are you after though? If it is money
then forget it. Payment ranges from a free copy of the mag your story is in to,
if you're really lucky, ten or twenty quid. The most I have achieved for short
story publication was £60 from a magazine called Scheherazade and that was was
ten thousand words divided over two copies. If it's an audience you're after
then the most you can hope for is that for ten or fifteen minutes you will have
the undivided attention of each of those hundreds of readers. Better than
nothing. A
problem you'll face, writing for these small circulation magazines, is their
proliferation and their swift demise. I have frequently had stories accepted by
magazines that have then folded before publication of said story. There is no
fault here in the enthusiasm or even financial acumen of the editors. It is just
that a circulation of any more than a few hundred seems a tough barrier to
break. Some have managed to, but for every one that does it seems that twenty
others go to the wall. That barrier I think is ultimately heart-breaking for
many editors. Another
problem can be the lengths of time involved. In some cases you will not receive
a reply for a few months, thereafter, if your work is accepted, it can be months
and even years before you see your work in print, and see any cheque that might
be involved. This is because small press editors have to work for a living and
that job ain't in publishing. They have piles of stories to read through and
reject before they find your gem. And often they might only bring out their
magazines quarterly or even yearly. You'll often notice when looking at these
magazines that they'll have an issue number, but that the editor has not been
brave enough to put on a date. In one case I had to wait three years from
acceptance of one of my stories until publication. But let's face it, if you're
a writer, you should be thinking about your next story on the way back from the
post box. Why
write for the small presses if your ultimate aim is big time publication? To
begin with the small presses are a superb training ground for the wannabes. Very
often the editors of these magazines will take time to offer some criticism of
your work (remember, if that criticism is 'this is drivel' that's more than
you'll get elsewhere). You'll also get a fair amount of feedback in the letters
pages and even in other magazines. In this sense the closed circuit will work
for you; many of these magazines have review columns and as well as reviewing
films, and large circulation books and magazines, they review each other. Also,
because of that proportion of writers in the readership, you'll know that if you
do get published it is not because of a lack of submissions to the magazine. The
small presses are essentially a proving ground for the wannabe. To
break into the small press market you do have to buy magazines. Some magazines
will only publish stories written by subscribers; a form of nepotism brought on
by a desperation to get subscribers. Once you've bought a few magazines you'll
have a feel for them and from adverts in them you'll find other mags to which
you may send your scribblings. Each time you send something off (with an SAE and
covering letter) you'll quite probably get fliers from yet more magazines with
your rejection or acceptance. It is quite easy to build up one hell of a list of
possible markets. If you want to increase that list then get hold of
publications like Zene, Light's List, or Dragon's breath. In the fifteen years
I've been writing for the small presses I've felt no need to submit work outside
the UK, but then I'm not someone who produces a story a day. Once
you've broken into the small press market (meaning that you have proven your
worth to yourself, not that you have learnt the funny handshake) it's worth
looking at the small press book publishers in the hope of having something
longer published. As you do these things take note of your achievements and
utilise what leverage they might give to get you
higher up the writing ladder. Unfortunately though you'll find that small press
book publishers face similar difficulties to those of the magazine publishers.
So far I've seen three of them get into difficulties. Club 199, a publisher
aiming to produce cheap paperbacks (£1.99, hence the name) had the printing
side of things organised but not the advertising side. New Guild, whom I was
under contract with, made the same mistake. Tanjen, has recently ceased taking
on any new work. Sadly, these small publishers are up against the huge
advertising machines of the large publishers, the clout they have with the likes
of W H Smiths and Waterstones, and the spreading of costs over huge print runs. For me my writing has been a gradual struggle up that ladder,
the small presses being the first few rungs. Too often we hear of someone
getting the x-thousands advance on their first book and hearing this lose sight
of the fact that they are the exception. There is a lot of truth in the image of
the writer struggling away in his garret then drinking himself to death. The
reality is that writing is hard, getting published is hard, and that if you want
easy money your best option is to become an estate agent.
It
took me five or more years to get my first short story accepted and then that
magazine folded before publication of my work. After that slight boost (and it
was a boost; someone had actually wanted my work) I got more and more stories
published, the occasional novella serialized, and a one-off novella published
for a single cash payment. For my short stories my reward was a copy of the
magazine and some complimentary letters (mostly). After another five years I was
getting the occasional cheque - about enough to pay for a toner cartridge a year
- then in the following five years finally gained some notoriety through the
publisher's Tanjen, with the production of another novella (The Parasite) then a
short story collection (The Engineer). My story, I warn you, has been one of
relative success. |
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