Self-Promotion for Authors

[C.W. LaSart]

I think the guys pretty much covered it, but your frustration is understandable. Look at it this way-you are the kid showing up at the ball park with nothing but a glove. Games are already in session and you want to join. So pick a game. But you are coming in late, so you have to play by their rules. You don't like the rules? Try a different game (publisher). It's their field. You're the rookie. Do you have to kiss a little ass? Yep. If you consider following the rules to be kissing ass. I don't. Making an anthology is a lot of work. Selling an anthology WELL is even harder. But many writers have walked this path before you and many will after. If you just can't stand it, there's always self-pub. These are the laws of the career we have chosen. But if it was easy, would you want it as much?

[Randy D. Rubin]

Thank you my friends for the feedback. It soothes the savage beast within me. Some of these people get under my skin sometimes. We deserve better. Good advice everyone. You're right Richard, wrong thread for this. Back to work on Runner's High.

LOL (Lots of love!)

Radar

[Nik Houser]

Randy,

Sorry for your angst. For what it's worth, here's my take:

Becoming a professional writer is about as painful as becoming a professional surgeon, if the only way to learn surgery was to perform it on yourself with no anesthetic.

I can't tell you anything about creating your own anthology, but I CAN tell you that with VERY few exceptions, anybody creating an indy anthology is probably an amateur, or semi-pro at best, and is certainly not doing it for the money. And if someone isn't being paid a professional wage to do a job, chances are, they aren't going to do a professional-grade job.

Think of the small business owner. Most of them don't go into business for themselves because they have a totally unique idea and great business acumen. No, they do it because they don't work well with others, they think they've cornered the market on the right idea, and can't to put up with anybody else telling them what to do. That's why 9-out-of-10 new businesses fail. And that's why 9-out-of-10 indy editors aren't great to work with.

Especially indy genre editors. Come on, when was the last time you said to yourself "Wow genre fanboys are the cream of society"? And make NO MISTAKE. Every indy horror anthology editor is first and foremost a rabid horror fan. Otherwise, why would they put in the work, you know? That being said, some of my very best friends are crazed fans of one thing or another, be it horror, sci-fi, movies, comics, whatever. But (most) indy genre editors are fanboys at heart. Treat that as a given. The flip side to that coin, of course, is that if without the ardent love/obsession of fanboys, there would be 90% fewer indy genre venues to submit to! So don't think I don't appreciate 'em.

What's can be even more frustrating than indy editors is that many -if not most- professional editors aren't that professional.

Here's some examples:

I've had a novel with a senior editor at TOR for about five years. For ages he said how much he wanted to publish it and how this or that was getting in the way from his personal life, etc. I've given up. He's never going to publish it. He's never said he won't, but I know he's never going to do it.

An editor once hung onto a story of mine for a year before deciding to publish it (they'd read it and told me so, they just hadn't decided if they WANTED it until a year went by). Then it was another six months before it was published. And that was one of my best sales ever. Cash in hand and a prestigious masthead.

I was once rejected and accepted to and from the same anthology on the same day. (I've mentioned this story before) The acceptance was intentional, the rejection wasn't. I had simply sent my manuscript to two different email addresses. One of them got through quickly and was accepted, filling the rest of the anthology word count, which meant that all the other authors' stories in the other inbox I'd sent my story to, stories which hadn't even been read, got rejections that sounded like they'd been read and kindly rejected. I'm not complaining. I got in. And the editors of that one were wonderful AND professional, and yet weird stuff can go on behind the scenes that you don't know about.

Here's your best bet:

Keep your short stories SHORT. The shorter the better. Novellas and longer short stories are great (it's what I prefer to both write and read) but the longer your work is, the exponentially harder it will be to get published. Large word counts are like well-worn plots: they automatically create a bias against them in the mind of an editor. So unless you write something that has an unbelievably awesome opening line, and stays unbelievably awesome until the end, assume long work won't get accepted, let alone read quickly. Go ahead and write long stories and submit them, just work under the assumption that they'll have to get tucked away in the trunk until you've cut your publishing teeth on a bunch of shorter stories and have made people sit up and take notice of you (once they do, they'll be more willing to read a longer work from you with an open mind). And you never know, you may be surprised by an early acceptance. Also, even if an anthology SAYS they accept long work, it doesn't mean they want it. Weird, I know. But trust me, the shorter the better.

Have a ton of short stories in "rotation". Meaning, have twenty stories that you're always sending out to the next publisher as soon as they're rejected from the last one. Richard here has a huge wonderful list that he's been kind enough to compile and share with the rest of us. That way, you're ALWAYS submitting. And that feels good. It keeps you distracted and optimistic. As long as you're submitting stories, the waiting to hear back (or being rejected outright) isn't quite as painful. Plus, the more you submit, the better your odds. Like covering as many squares on the roulette table as possible before you place your bet.

So, basically, do your best to write SHORT short stories with a simple, fun idea at their core. Does this mean you have to jump right into the story with a headlong graceless plunge rather than beguile the reader with great prose alone? Does it mean you can't develop character as well as you'd like? Does it mean you have to focus more on the vignette than a whole story arc with a clearly delineated beginning, middle and end? Does it mean you have be a merciless butcher of your own story and cut off whole beautiful passages that made you weep in the telling? Yup. Does it mean you'll radically improve your odds of getting read quickly and publishing more often? You bet you ass!

Think of an editor's job like you doing house work. Are you more likely to wipe down the counter first, or go out and repave the driveway? Are they more likely to quickly read -or even publish- a snappy 5-10 page story, or a beautifully wrought novella?

These answers are like a shot of penicillin. They hurt. But they'll help. Promise.

And, of course, as the answers of the fellows before me testify: you are not alone. Keep fighting the good fight.

[Nik Houser]

EARTH-SHATTERING NEWS:

I'VE BEEN ACCEPTED TO CLARION WEST!!! HAZZAH!!!

What this means:

For six weeks this summer, I'll be at a sci-fi/fantasy creative writing workshop, where my instructors will be (one each week):

George RR Martin
Connie Willis (winner of 11 Hugos and 7 Nebulas!)
Chuck Palahniuk
Kelly Link & Gavin Grant
Mary Rosenblum
Hiromi Goto

I am thrilled. I am humbled. I am intimidated. I am unbelievably excited. I have sunshine coming out of my butt.

[C.W. LaSart]

Hey! Point that butt away! I'm blind! Congrats Nik. How exciting! We expect many fun stories about the experience!

[RichardThomas]

EARTH-SHATTERING NEWS:

I'VE BEEN ACCEPTED TO CLARION WEST!!! HAZZAH!!!

What this means:

For six weeks this summer, I'll be at a sci-fi/fantasy creative writing workshop, where my instructors will be (one each week):

George RR Martin
Connie Willis (winner of 11 Hugos and 7 Nebulas!)
Chuck Palahniuk
Kelly Link & Gavin Grant
Mary Rosenblum
Hiromi Goto

I am thrilled. I am humbled. I am intimidated. I am unbelievably excited. I have sunshine coming out of my butt.

Wow. That's amazing. Have a great time and post up pictures or notes. Hell, start a thread. some great names on that list.

[Randy D. Rubin]

That was some great advice Nik. Thank you for taking the time for such a terrific pep-talk. Congratulations on your acceptance and hope you have a blast with this experience. Keep us all posted.

[Nik Houser]

Thanks for the well-wishes guys. Richard, I checked out Chuck Palahniuk's site and saw that you were associated with his online workshop? I think I recall you mentioning that, but I could be wrong. Do tell.

[Nik Houser]

Also, I'm trying Twitter again, if any peeps wanna follow/be followed. @nikhouser

[Nik Houser]

This is my passion project. It'll be a while before I have the time to put this together, but I've commissioned the art from my favorite cover artist, the amazing Vincent Chong. When I do put it together (Autumn maybe?) I'm going to try and publish it through Kickstarter.

sandcastle alchemy cover.jpg

[TerryE]

Great congrats on the workshop, Nik!! Have fun.

[RichardThomas]

It's official. I'm one of six authors (and six visual artists) to be selected by Flying House. I pair up with a painter, as it turns out, and we create a collaborative piece. We'll have a release party, gallery showing and reading all in one later this year. And then there will be a nicely produced coffee table book produced, as well. Check out the website for more details. I'm honored to be a part of this excellent Chicago non-profit. Should be a lot of fun. More info to come.

http://ourflyinghouse.com/

[Craig Wallwork]

EARTH-SHATTERING NEWS:

I'VE BEEN ACCEPTED TO CLARION WEST!!! HAZZAH!!!

What this means:

For six weeks this summer, I'll be at a sci-fi/fantasy creative writing workshop, where my instructors will be (one each week):

George RR Martin
Connie Willis (winner of 11 Hugos and 7 Nebulas!)
Chuck Palahniuk
Kelly Link & Gavin Grant
Mary Rosenblum
Hiromi Goto

I am thrilled. I am humbled. I am intimidated. I am unbelievably excited. I have sunshine coming out of my butt.

Wow. that's amazing, Nik. And that book, man, I let out a little bit of pee when I saw that cover.

Considering we're sharing news. My short story collection, Quintessence of Dust, is now available to buy or download. It has a couple of horror stories in there, a bit of naughtiness and a lot of humour. PLEASE - if you're going to read this book, download it (if you have a e-reader that is) because it's FREE. I'm not in this for the money, so it makes no matter to me if you buy it or download it, but because I value readers over cash, then yes, download. If you write a review, I'll fly over and lick you.

Here's the link for the FREE download: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/147029

If you prefer paperback, or don't have a e-reader, here is where you can buy it: http://kuboapress.wordpress.com/current-titles-2/

Thanks, and if you can help spread the word, I'll name by next child after you. That might be a lie, but I'll name something after you. Perhaps a banana, or sandwich.

[srboone]

Don't have an e-reader, Craig (well, I do hav PC kindle app, but the books on it are, for the forseeable future, stuck there in limbo because I don't like reading books on the computer) so I ordered a copy of QoD. Looking forward to it!

[Grant Wootton]

Thanks Craig, always good to see something new to view (although, unlike my compariot, Squire, I've downloaded the free version) ...