Seems like the small presses are being hit by the recession, then again who isn't.
Recently a publisher I had a few stories accepted with decided to cancel all but a few anthologies. While I did not lose as many stories as others, I did lost one that saddened me.
I hope to find it a new home though, or add it to a collection perhaps. It also reminds me, that for an anthology to sell you must promote it if you are a part of it. Many people are upset by presses that do not pay anything but a contributor copy, but what is the motivation to offer more? Once a writer gets paid, they rarely promote their work. At least from what I have seen. I have seen authors promote more for the love anthologies than I have writers's who got paid pro-rates.
Where is the logic in that? Of course it is going to affect the publisher, so I do not think people can really be mad when doors close up, anthologies get cancelled, or delayed. All people involved need to promote, the publisher, the editor, and the contributors.
Just my thoughts, and who knows what they are worth in this economy.
As for updates, Zippered Flesh I got a nice rejection and was told if I still had to story in a few months to submit it for a volume 2. Wolfology has been cancelled, and the other three I am waiting to hear back on.
Sad news for many this week and I feel for them all, but I do hope this makes writers more proactive in promoting their work.
It is sad when a member of our community hits some hard times financially. Most small presses are a hobby for their owners and as such are not necessarily run like a business.
ReplyDeleteI agree, and I also know how hard you work at Post Mortem to promote your writer's. A lot of other publishers could take a page out of your book.
ReplyDeleteAh-HAH! You have hit the nail on the head of a subject that is near and dear to my heart -- why some writers don't promote their own work in the absence of a "machine" behind them -- and I have been mulling this problem for a while now as I blog and reach out to people I think would enjoy reading the recent anthology pieces both I and my fellow writers have contributed. Being alone in this respect, even when I have an audience with rapt attention awaiting my words, is a strange feeling, especially when so many people continually ask why they haven't "made it" yet.
ReplyDeleteNo, I didn't make a buttload of cashola from the anthologies that published my work, but these brave souls were the first people to believe in and publish me for an audience wider than my circle of friends and family, PERIOD, and as such I felt like I would get more people to read the anthologies (and my upcoming memoir) if I put some effort into the publicity mix! Sure, there are larger companies with anthologies that should probably be doing more, but for smaller companies, it's up to the contributors to speak up. Maybe it's not "right" in terms of how we wish things were, but it's what we have to work with now, and as the 24/7 noise machine runs stronger or @ least as strong in many minds as much as basic survival these days, it's up to us to cut through the din sometimes.
Is it overall shyness (being better on the page, as it's been suggested), a feeling of imminent failure no matter what, or the thought that someone else should promote our soon-to-be-successful selves (like in the old days), or all of the above that keep some of us writers from helping ourselves?