What's a pre-pubbed author to do? The news is all doom and gloom, what with imploding imprints, editors on the dole, and acquisitions at the big houses at a standstill. And as with all economucs, there is trickle down; author LARRY McMURTRY bemoans the lack of foot traffic, particularly youngish foot traffic, in his Florida bookshop. (But it IS Florida, the state graced with the highest mean age and the lowest educational ranking...)
But perhaps there is hope... TIME and the NYT weigh in, telling the tale of Lisa Genova and other self-pubbers who make it out of their veritable slush and onto the NYT Bestseller List. The odds are slim - pegged at 2 out of 1000 - but undubitably fatter than getting an agent's interest (let's NOT get into the odds of placing said agented manuscript with a publisher).
And check out GAWKER'S irreverent view.
All hail iUniverse?
Not my route...
Peace, Linda
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 in a thousand sounds like terrible odds, but it's a heck of a lot better than the odds we'll get in the lottery. ;)
ReplyDeleteMy theory is, keep writing, keep submitting, and keep improving. Start with the highest paying markets and work your way down. Sooner or later a good match will turn up.
Good luck. Try 5-7-32-37-40-42. I hear he's a pretty good agent.
~jon
All hail iUniverse? Not my route...
ReplyDeleteI agree. I've seen too many stories lately--the latest of which Micheal J. Vaughn reported down in the EU Forums--that suggest self-pubs are not the way to go. Like Jon, I'll stick to the tried and true, which Stephen King recommended in On Writing: submit, submit, submit. Build a reputation in the mags (including the e-zines) and then you're more likely to be considered by a reputable publishing house.
Sure we want our stuff out there to share it and get a little green for it, but you do this for the joy for the excitement and adventure too. Keep plugging away, the worse that can happen is someone may say no.
ReplyDeleteGood advice, all, and what I'm trying to do. Thank goddess for the chain-mail I got for Christmas this year... and thank you, Paige; yes, joy IS why I write. And you, too... Peace, Linda
ReplyDeleteand remember-those 2 only succeeded because they had distribution and promotion (ie;hired private publicists). no easy feat, and can you say cha-ching?
ReplyDeleteI'm with you. different road...$$$ flows toward the writer.