Spout Press

[Celia Cyanide]

Does anybody here know anything about Spout Press? They publish a magazine, and they have a few book titles, but I asked for one at Borders and couldn't get it. Here is their site:

http://www.spoutpress.com

They published an anthology called "Blink" and I am interested in submitting for their new book, "Blink Again." Jonis Agee is published in the first book, which is pretty impressive, at least to me. It is an anthology of "sudden fiction," which I am interested in. Sudden Fiction basically means stories that are under 1200 words, usually experimental writing.

It says that payment will be in copies of the book, and that is fine by me. I don't really expect to get paid 10-12% for writing 3-4 pages, when there will be 50 other authors doing the same thing.

I just wanted to hear what some of you thought about this before I submitted my story. I would love to have some of my sudden fiction published in an anthology book with other writers who love it like I do, and it's hard to find places that want stories like this. I was just a bit worried that I couldn't get it at Border's. I was just wondering if anything seemed fishy about this to you, or if this is exactly the way it should be for a tiny little press.

 

[James D. Macdonald]

This looks like a micro-regional press.

Pays-in-copies is one legitimate way that small presses work, though it's more common among magazines (especially small, new, and highly-specialized ones) than in books.

If they can't pay in money they should pay in prestige. Are stories from their magazines and anthologies regularly in Year's Best collections or finalists for major awards?

 

[Aconite]

Celia, you may want to check into periodicals that publish sudden fiction (also called short-shorts or flash fiction). Many of them pay money, not just copies. (If you write SF, try http://www.ralan.com.) Not being able to get the books through B&N and such means the press has no good distribution.

Also, don't be so quick to give your work away for copies. I was published in two anthologies with many other authors. One of the books was published by a small press, one with a major publisher. In both cases, we all got an advance and royalties as well as copies in our contracts; for the small-press anthology, each author gets a pro rata share of 50% royalties. Authors are providing the material for the publisher; the publisher had danged well better be able to pay in more than copies, or you might as well take your own stuff to lulu.com and self-publish--especially if the press has no distribution to bookstores.

Good luck!

 

[Celia Cyanide]

Thanks so much for the info, both of you. And thanks for the link. (I prefer the term "sudden fiction," because "flash fiction" rhymes with "slash fiction.")

 

[CaoPaux]

Updating link: http://www.spoutpress.org/

 

[CaoPaux]

Since '15, their submission page has read:

Change is good. After publishing a print journal for 25 years, we’re rethinking our approach. We’re excited to roll-out something new soon! Watch this space for updates.

They've continued to publish a couple books a year, though (last, Sept '17).