Getting Your Genius in Print

            Let’s talk about publishing. That’s why you’re here, right? I mean, the blog’s titled “Publishing: Uncovered” so you must be wishing to uncover the ins and outs of publishing (…or you’re just a vociferous reader of blogs, which is okay too). That being the case, today’s topic will be on publishing your work. Now, there are many ways to get published, from large-run book publishing (which includes those on the New York Times Bestseller list and the like) to small-run book publishing (which includes books for niche markets or those with low-marketability: which of course doesn’t mean that they’re bad, just that the public-at-large isn’t ready for it), self-publishing (which the lovely Lyla P. has recently written on), and journal publishing (which publishes short fiction, poetry, short nonfiction, and essays in various zines, literary journals, and the like). For today’s post, I’ll be focusing upon journal publishing, and how to get your work into print.

  

New publisher offers BOTH traditional and indie publishing

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It used to be publishers were exclusively traditional or indie-friendly.

1. Traditional: These publishers will typically only accept submissions from literary agents. The smaller ones will sometimes let you send your manuscript, yourself. But either way, if they don't like your work, they don't publish it, and you move on. If they do want to publish it, you may or may not get an advance, and your books will appear in bookstores nationwide. These are your Random Houses, your Harper Perennials, and your Little, Brown & Cos.

2. Indie-friendly (whether "vanity" or POD): they print what you send them and you pay to have the book distributed through online bookstores. (There's a little more to it than that, but the point is, there's no acceptance necessary from a publisher to use any of the self-publishing methods. No gate-keeper is stopping you from releasing your book to the virtual shelves.) These are your Lulus, your Xlibrises, your iUniverses, and your AuthorHouses.

Traditional publishers: Pretty books. Quality books. Professional books. Edited books. Good distribution.

Indie-friendly "vanity" or POD publishers: Not really edited (you can opt to pay for editing "services," but ... well ... ). So-so to really bad paper quality and flimsy, curling covers. Little to no bookstore distribution.

It used to be authors had to make a choice, but one new company, Foghorn Publishers, offers both models. (Visitors to the under-construction website will notice a predominance of self-help, Christian, and African-American history books. That's how Foghorn began, and it's how they plan to continue, but they've also recently made the exciting decision to expand and will soon feature an even wider selection of categories.) 

Traditional: Foghorn accepts submissions from both agented and un-agented authors in the categories of fiction (mystery, sci-fi/fantasy, and literary only, and preferably with a unique - but still marketable - quality), creative nonfiction, and natural health and wellness. While relatively new, Foghorn has established a reputation with booksellers across the country and distributes nationwide. Those who have their work selected for traditional publication receive a standard publishing contract.

Indie-friendly:  Independencia Press, an imprint of Foghorn Publishers, offers its professional services to those who prefer to have more control over the creation and distribution of their material. The same skilled and experienced editors (professional writers and graduate degree holders in English, writing, and/or literature) and innovative graphic designers who create the traditionally published books for Foghorn are paid to proofread, edit, and design those submitted by indie authors, which means the aesthetic quality of the independently released book will be indistinguishable from those published traditionally.  Note: the printing press used by Independencia is the same one used by HarperCollins, Random House, Hachette, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster.

So, if you're an author who feels like  a) you've exhausted all of your options in the traditional publishing world, or b) you're going to have to choose the least of all self-publishing-company evils, there's another option.

- Lyla P.

Nobody cares what your book cover looks like.

Keep telling yourself that as you, self-published (or "indie") author, create your title in Comic Sans with drop-shadows, inner glow, and some contouring to make it "pop," plopping it dead center on a free stock-photo image you found online.


"Ew," they'll say. "That book looks self-published."

Book Blurbs: Worth the trouble?

Every book has a back cover, which means something must be written on that back cover. What you'll usually find is a brief synopsis and some nice blurbs (unless you're Chuck Palahniuk, in which case, who needs a synopsis?), but how much do those blurbs mean? Should you take the time to write authors or reviewers you respect to ask them to blurb your book? (Or should you just ask anyone who'll say yes, and who cares who they are to you as long as someone else knows them?)

Stephen J. Dubner writes in his 2007 New York Times piece "How Much do Book Blurbs Matter?" that he used to give some credence to blurbs until, one day, he received a letter in the mail "along with the manuscript for a business book by two authors I don’t know. The letter was written by the book’s editor, another person I don’t know. Here’s the key paragraph:

If you find [redacted] and [redacted]’s ideas as compelling and inspiring as we do, a quote from you that we could print on the jacket would make a world of difference. I would be happy to help craft a quote if you prefer. My contact info is below."

Dubner writes, "I’ve come to believe [blurbs] really don’t matter at all, since most readers see blurbs as having about the same level of integrity as a used-car salesman’s personal promise that the car you’re about to buy is A-OK. But that might be an insult to used-car salesmen."

Getting Some Distance

You have just finished your brilliant work—a piece that combines the wit of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman with the social commentary of Midnight’s Children and the style of Finnegan’s Wake—and you are soaring in the clouds. Your long-awaited goal as finally arrived and you are ready to pack your baby off to the nearest publisher and wait for the money and Pulitzers to roll in. But, before you do, there are some things you need to consider that, if they catch you unawares, could cause you to stumble and fall from your great heights in angsty, writerly frustration (Be honest, you’re a writer and thus have a slight tendency towards the melodramatic).

Write what you know. And don't.

"Write what you know" generates a lot of discussion, some arguments, and even some anger.

WRITER 1: What do you mean, "Write what you know"? If I wrote what I knew, I'd write about sunken couches and empty cashew tins.

WRITER 2:  Yes. Do that. Because you have felt the couch. You have eaten the cashews. You know the taste of the salt on your fingers, the corduroy rub of the flattened cushion under your buttocks. That is real. That is pain. Write it. Write!

WRITER 1: I'd rather use my imagination and write what I don't know, thank you very much. I want to write about angels.

WRITER 2: Are you an angel?

WRITER 1: No. I mean, I'm not not an angel. Like, I'm not a bad person, or anything, but I'm not--

WRITER  2: How can you write about angels if you don't know what it's like to be an angel?

This isn't what "Write what you know" means.

Are You Being Followed?: Self-Promotion in the Web 2.0 Age

            Self-promotion of your new book has begun, you’ve printed advertisements, told your friends so much about your book they’ll buy it just to shut you up, and you’ve set up a blog, a Twitter account, a Facebook page, you’ve even set up a MySpace page and a Friendster account, you name it, you’ve set it up on the tech front. But, now that you have all of these accounts opened, activated, and ready, you’re in sore need of something to fill your endless gigabytes of message board. I mean, you can’t just keep spamming “LOOK FOR MY BOOK ‘FLIGHT OF THE SALAMANDER’ AUGUST 24, 2011” for an entire year. This forward attempt may have worked with your friends and family, but the internet is a different beast altogether, one who is not above leaving a nasty comment on your wall and cutting off all further contact.

So, what do you do? Well, that’s a big question and requires different answers tailored to the specific social networking formats you’re using. Today’s post will center on the newest social networking site to hit the net; you’ve guessed it: Twitter.