What’s the future of publishing? We are living it. It was already bad if your dream was to break into the Big 5. The audience for books is small, but fierce. Still, during a pandemic, many people are watching their luxury spending (like money for new books) dwindle or dry up.
The upshot? Agents are going to be even more selective than they already were, which was already pretty damn selective. Their focus will be on one question: What is guaranteed to sell?
This will not be much of a time for nurturing new talent unless you are lucky enough to somehow have created something that’s guaranteed to sell.
Much like Hollywood is much less willing to take a chance and has almost become a source of anti-innovation (new Marvel movie, anyone?), the Big 5 in publishing is going to become even more cautious.
What that means for literary art… I don’t want to know.
I do know that just like independent film festivals are a way for indie filmmakers to get their work in front of audiences, independent presses (small presses) are doing the work of publishing worthy books that might not otherwise have a venue for release.
The small presses might be the last bastion of hope for a democratized literary art scene rather than a monetized entertainment scene.
Have you looked at all into small presses? I have all of my work out from small presses. I have written previously about what it’s been like to work with small presses (read it: here).
The experience has come with both highs and lows, but I am committed to working with small presses. My experiences with Joel Van Valin at Whistling Shade Press have been some of my best. Larry Smith at Bottom Dog Press has been great, too. When my novel, American Poet, found itself with the opportunity to be considered for a Stuart and Vernice Gross Award for Excellence in Michigan Literature, Larry moved the publication date up by two months so we could get a copy to the committee for consideration.
The book won the award, and that wouldn’t have happened without Larry’s flexibility.
Also, the late Robert Bixby was one of the best editors I ever worked with. Though March Street Press was mostly known for poetry chapbooks, Bixby took a chance on my novel, Into the Desperate Country. It was my first novel and theirs too and, with a shoestring budget, we managed to sell over 500 copies (took two years!)
So, just do it. Google “small presses”. There are so many. So many. And not all of them, but many of them, will take queries and submissions without an agent.
As you decide between self-publishing and traditional publishing, it doesn’t come down to self-publishing or Big 5. There are many valid possibilities in between.
I’ll admit, when I started querying agents this spring about my novel manuscript, Falling Sky, (written in the first 5 weeks of quarantine), I wasn’t optimistic. My pessimism proved accurate. Not one agent asked for the entire manuscript. I received a handful of carefully worded emails about how the agent “wasn’t the right fit”. I just recently did a blog post on subtext (read it: here), so I’m fully aware that there’s more to “wasn’t the right fit” than its surface message.
What I heard? “It’s not you, it’s … well, honestly, it’s your story idea and your writing. THEY WILL NOT SELL.”
Not long after the last of the rejections trickled in (and many non-responses that will never trickle in)… I turned to where I knew I was going to turn from the beginning: small presses.
But, for me, it’s not enough to just submit to them. I need to support them. You should too. They might be the only place where the New Literature will arise. But nothing can rise out of nothing.
Small presses need support too… in the form of sales. So, I’m doing my part, and buying only small press books for the foreseeable future. And the best way to do that is to go to the press’ website.
Just recently, I submitted a book to 11:11 Press. First thing I did was check their catalog and buy a book. I did the same with Stalking Horse Press… purchasing and then reviewing Duncan Barlow’s A Dog Between Us (which you can read: here). I also purchased and reviewed a book from Alternating Current Press.
Am I feathering my nest a bit with these purchases and reviews? Perhaps. Although I would never shine up a review just for the press’ attention. And, I seriously doubt that any press would publish my book simply because I purchased and reviewed one of their books.
No, what I’m doing is supporting the venues that I hope might someday support me. We need small presses to be viable, so others might look at their success and say, “Hey, that’s possible. I’m going to start a small press too.” I might be supporting individual presses, but I feel like I’m supporting the Small Press mission in general. A victory for any small press is a victory for all small presses.
And, going to their websites before going to Amazon goes a long way toward supporting the press financially (no middleman taking a cut).
So, if you’re a writer, you might consider small presses before you get jammed up by the Self-Publishing versus Big Five dilemma.
But, more importantly, as you search the small press websites, be sure to purchase a book… it will go a long way towards keeping literature original and richly diverse.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.