That's what I figured. I sold some work to extremely small-press magazines back in the 90s, when I was still following the advice of some creative writing teachers who believed in the 'start small and get street cred' approach. I also still believed in start-up companies.
How did that work out? I had one or two articles in a local science fiction organization newsletter. I 'sold' poetry for contributor's copies to magazines barely heard of today. An anthology sale in 1999 never earned royalties because the publisher went belly-up a year later, and the editor still has copies in her garage. In the fine-art field, I lost money to start-up design companies with bankruptcies and poor business models in their past. So I learned the hard way: trust but verify, and give new businesses a chance to fail with someone else's money and products.
Flash forward to 2009 when I got back into writing. The markets opened up so much it no longer made sense to go with anything but the most prestigious venue possible. This doesn't have to be a pro-rated magazine, as many literary and academic journals offer serious credentials to their authors. For hobbyist authors who just want to see their work 'out there' self-publishing plans completely side-step the middleman publishers.
When it came time to research a very narrow genre for my debut novel, I didn't even bother to query some lovely small presses because they showed averages of double-digit annual sales, virtually no advertising in larger markets, and they relied on Print-on-Demand through B&N or other catalogs. I've known POD in the art market: I have two posters that netted me $29 in POD royalties last year. Big whoop.
I will not work with a publisher, no matter how kind or lovely, who wants me to subsidize operating costs. If they don't have enough capital to fund their business plan for at least a couple of years, they're too unstable for me to risk.
As James and many other AW folks have said: "A story that's publishable by one is publishable by many. A writer should aim high."
I hope Iconic treats you and your book well, Christina, and that they buck the trend of so many other small publishers we've seen come and go in the last decade.
How did that work out? I had one or two articles in a local science fiction organization newsletter. I 'sold' poetry for contributor's copies to magazines barely heard of today. An anthology sale in 1999 never earned royalties because the publisher went belly-up a year later, and the editor still has copies in her garage. In the fine-art field, I lost money to start-up design companies with bankruptcies and poor business models in their past. So I learned the hard way: trust but verify, and give new businesses a chance to fail with someone else's money and products.
Flash forward to 2009 when I got back into writing. The markets opened up so much it no longer made sense to go with anything but the most prestigious venue possible. This doesn't have to be a pro-rated magazine, as many literary and academic journals offer serious credentials to their authors. For hobbyist authors who just want to see their work 'out there' self-publishing plans completely side-step the middleman publishers.
When it came time to research a very narrow genre for my debut novel, I didn't even bother to query some lovely small presses because they showed averages of double-digit annual sales, virtually no advertising in larger markets, and they relied on Print-on-Demand through B&N or other catalogs. I've known POD in the art market: I have two posters that netted me $29 in POD royalties last year. Big whoop.
I will not work with a publisher, no matter how kind or lovely, who wants me to subsidize operating costs. If they don't have enough capital to fund their business plan for at least a couple of years, they're too unstable for me to risk.
As James and many other AW folks have said: "A story that's publishable by one is publishable by many. A writer should aim high."
I hope Iconic treats you and your book well, Christina, and that they buck the trend of so many other small publishers we've seen come and go in the last decade.