How Much Does E-Publishing Count to Publishers?

DavidMcMurdo

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I couldn't adequately state the question in the title. Basically, long I ago I tried to plan a strategy for my writing career. I looked into every available option by which I could get my stories out there. For a long time I considered self-publishing with Lightning Source, and it's still an appealing option to me. However I am eager to get some of my work published the old fashioned way, and ultimately decided that what I'd do is submit my short stories to e-zines (whether paying or not), and gradually build up a résumé for myself.

Now that I'm here amongst writers, and other professionals, I'd like to ask whether or not that will actually help me when it comes to getting myself published. I had the impression from what I'd learned that past credits were a good thing, and it's certainly something that most e-zines emphasise on their "Submissions" page. On the other hand, I'm thinking now that surely all that will matter is how good the work that's put before a publisher is.

So is my strategy a legitimate one, or are there better ways to go about this? The logic was that if you have some writing credits to your name (in my case from e-zines), then a publisher is simply more likely to give your work the time of day. Have I overestimated this factor?
 
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veinglory

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The number of ezines that are impressive to editors is fairly small. I would suggest aiming for those ones, not the low hanging fruit.
 

Mr Flibble

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My FWIW, YMMV answer, from what I have gleaned.

Credits are nice

They won't get you a sale if the work you are presenting now isn't what they want. Good credits may make an agent more likely to look at your writing sample, but a killer query can do that too. Not so good credits will do nothing, or may even be a detriment.

Unless your story was a runaway hit or whathaveyou, the most it will do is say 'This writer is good enough that someone paid them for their work, and probably has experience with working with an editor (making them less likely to have golden word hissy fit syndrome) which puts them ahead of 90% of the slush'

However, if you've pubbed in several prestigious mags - the ones that agents and editors probably read - and they have read a story of yours and remembered your name, that might help you get read quicker. If you're novel isn't up to par, all that means is a quicker reject.

Basically - if you've pubbed in top flight mags, and the agent/editor liked them, these credits may do more for you - nudge you to the top of the slush, get pulled out of slush for a reading. But the main thing is to have a bloody good novel.
 

Nonny

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It depends a lot on the individual editor, actually.

Some editors have said that they are likely to pay a little more attention if the author mentions being with a credible publisher or magazine. Other editors say that they don't care, and what matters is whether or not the story grabs them.

It used to be a truism that if you wanted to be published, you would go the route of submitting stories to magazines and work your way up. This really isn't necessarily true anymore. Credits are nice, but they aren't the end-all, be-all.

If you already have short stories that are written, or ones that you want to write, by all means, submit them. Credits are never bad (well, as long as it's not PublishAmerica :p ), and sales are nice for getting your name out there, plus a little extra money never hurt anyone. ;) But if you don't really like writing short stories, then I wouldn't spend the time doing it. I'd focus on what you want to be writing.
 

Deirdre

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For SF/F, I'd look up the 'zines that had works nominated for Nebulas, Hugos, and World Fantasy awards -- those are the ones with prestige by definition.
 

shaldna

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For a long time I considered self-publishing with Lightning Source, and it's still an appealing option to me.

From what I know LS don't deal with an individual author, just companies.

However I am eager to get some of my work published the old fashioned way, and ultimately decided that what I'd do is submit my short stories to e-zines (whether paying or not), and gradually build up a résumé for myself.

This is a good plan if shorts is the way you want to go, and it can definately help to build a portfolio.

Now that I'm here amongst writers, and other professionals, I'd like to ask whether or not that will actually help me when it comes to getting myself published. I had the impression from what I'd learned that past credits were a good thing, and it's certainly something that most e-zines emphasise on their "Submissions" page. On the other hand, I'm thinking now that surely all that will matter is how good the work that's put before a publisher is.

Yes, but at the same time, past credits show that you are capable of consistantly producing publishable work.

But it's not the be all and the end all, and people with no past publishing credits get accepted all teh time.
 

DavidMcMurdo

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Thanks everyone. Maybe the fact that I'm not committed to a particular form is complicating things. At the moment I'm writing short stories, because that's what I want to write. However all of my stories are set in the same fictional world and feature the same characters. Although I'm currently writing short stories (which are glimpses into certain times in their lives), I will ultimately be working on novels to deal with major events in their lives. While my short stories are submitted to e-zines, or put on my website for free (don't care about the money), I do want the novels to be published, when they're written.

So what I have is a few novels and many short stories, all set in the same world and featuring the same characters. They aren't being written in chronological order (and don't need to be). My main objective is simply to get my work out there, but as I said, I do want my novels published, and I don't know if the way my series is/has been presented would be a deterrent for a publisher. In my mind, they'd just be looking at a novel that just so happens to be from a series which also includes several short stories that are already out there.
 

kaitie

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I think the biggest question might be what else could you get out of the experience that will then help you?

The fact of the matter is you don't need any credits to snag an agent or editor (I didn't have any) because if the work/story is good enough, it doesn't really matter. On the other hand, you can pick up some valuable skills. Short stories can help you learn to be more concise because they're such a limited form. They will help you improve your writing and they're good practice. You'll get the hang of getting rejected and shrugging it off (which is invaluable to have). Of moving on to the next work and trying again.

In some ways I think the short story market is harder than novels because the few really good magazines are very difficult to get into, but that's just my observation and there may not be any truth to it.

As for the structure, etc., I don't think it would really hurt much. I've heard of several cases where authors write novels and short stories in the same world. The biggest thing to pay attention to here is contracts to make sure you aren't violating anything if you publish them in different arenas and that sort of thing.

As for novels, you would only need to query the first novel in the series without even mentioning the rest (though if I had credits I'd add that in the query and include that they were set in the same world) initially, so that wouldn't really hold you back. You would just want to avoid querying something like, "This is the first in my six part series."

The other thing submitting short stories will do is give you a better idea of whether or not your writing is quite up to par yet. You might even get some good feedback if you're lucky. Obviously you should run work past beta readers and what not before you submit anything anyway, but you can often tell from rejections (and the type of rejection, personalized or not) how close you really are. It might help you not query a novel too early.

If you do consider self-publishing, keep in mind that short stories don't sell as well as novels. On the other hand, it might be a useful tool once you had a few novels under your belt to use for marketing. Self-publishing well is very difficult, however, so you'd have to make sure (like with anything else, really) that you researched well and had a good handle on what you were doing before you started so you don't shoot yourself in the foot.

Anyway, just my random thoughts. Particularly random considering I just woke up. :tongue
 

LIBGirl

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I agree with what many people said above. Credits only help in the sense that some agents might look at the writing sample if your query doesn't totally spark their interest. But, that's it. If the work is sub par no amount of credits will help... well, unless your name is Justin Beiber. Then that is credit enough ... if you want to consider that a credit :) I love the beibs!