Hey Fellow Writers,
I have some questions about Small Presses that's been bothering me, and I'd like to invite a discussion about it.
First, up until recently what I thought of Small Press was an actual publisher who wasn't one of the Big 5. My best example, because I don't know too many current small presses, is when Frank Herbert got DUNE originally published in 1965 by Chilton who was primarily an automobiles manual publisher.
Now over the years, of course there are plenty of small presses that are legitimate businesses out there to publish writers' works. One of my books even made it as far as their acquisitions department before getting axed.
However, something has happened as of late that is causing me to wonder about small presses, or more specifically what the term small press is now being co-opted for.
Here it is:
Oh, and I'm not looking to offend anyone, I just want to get some thoughts and opinions here.
Last year, as a journalist for a local arts and entertainment magazine, I covered Rhode Island Comic Con—all 3 days from beginning to end.
I talked to a lot of people from cosplaying fans, vendors, artists, to celebrities, and of course writers. Most of the authors there were Independent (as they call themselves)/self-published authors, as I have frequently found at these comic cons.
Here's what I discovered this time around (I actually have been doing this for years but 2015 was the first year this dawned on me—whoops!):
A lot of Independent/Self-published and Non-Agented/Represented writers were selling their books, that looked great and professional, under the auspices of being published by a small press.
When I inquired further about these small presses, I was surprised to discover this:
That the author themselves were the owners/publishers of the small press that their books were published under!
I was like, what?
So I asked one of the authors, who wrote a series of witches and magic books, how her small press worked. Did she have an actual printing press in her basement? Employing graphic artists, editors, and binders?
She said no. She outsources all of that like you can do with Lulu.com (which I have done) and other 3-party print-on-demand self-publishing entities.
But she owns the ostensible small press on paper and in name only!
So what does that mean?
By the way, she's not the only one, I actually knew a Gothic author who writes for the same magazine that I do, who was also at that convention selling his books under his small press.
Whoa!
So my first reaction to this new-fangled publishing strategy (at least new to me) is that, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that this is a creative work-around to the self-publishing stigma.
Okay, before anyone gets upset, I too have self-published books, so I'm in the boat as many, many writers here. I think this stigma thing is a ridiculous too but here's my problem.
Literary agents and, I guess, Big Press publishers don't like self-published authors/books. Now I know that that is an arguable point of view here at AW but that's what I've experienced trying to get my books published.
My question here is wouldn't any literary agent and actual publisher see right through this so-called "small press" facade and write off the author as a self-publisher?
I applaud the resourcefulness of these small press author/publishers, and hope that their strategy is a winning one.
In fact, there was something else I discovered about the small press thing that I'm discussing here.
So one of the aforementioned authors with their own small press also published (through their small press) an anthology of short stories contributed by other mostly unpublished authors.
And the interesting thing that I find about that is that if I too had one of my short stories published in this small press anthology and I say to New York City literary agent, "Well, I was recently published in 'so and so small press'."
Wouldn't their response be, "Really? You mean to tell me that you're trying to sell me on you being actually published in some rinky-dink self-published anthology/small press trying to pass themselves off as a real publisher? Is that what you're trying to tell me? Pass!"
So part of me was like, "Darn! I need to set up my own so-called small press imprint!" Then a writer friend of mine was like, "Don't bother. Just concentrate on the writing. Let the business side sort itself out without gimmicks after your work is polished and ready to go."
What do you all think?
Is this small press/self-publishing tactic a real and effective way to get yours and other people's writing out there, or just a gimmick that literary agents and real publishers are going to see right through as smoke and mirrors?
I have some questions about Small Presses that's been bothering me, and I'd like to invite a discussion about it.
First, up until recently what I thought of Small Press was an actual publisher who wasn't one of the Big 5. My best example, because I don't know too many current small presses, is when Frank Herbert got DUNE originally published in 1965 by Chilton who was primarily an automobiles manual publisher.
Now over the years, of course there are plenty of small presses that are legitimate businesses out there to publish writers' works. One of my books even made it as far as their acquisitions department before getting axed.
However, something has happened as of late that is causing me to wonder about small presses, or more specifically what the term small press is now being co-opted for.
Here it is:
Oh, and I'm not looking to offend anyone, I just want to get some thoughts and opinions here.
Last year, as a journalist for a local arts and entertainment magazine, I covered Rhode Island Comic Con—all 3 days from beginning to end.
I talked to a lot of people from cosplaying fans, vendors, artists, to celebrities, and of course writers. Most of the authors there were Independent (as they call themselves)/self-published authors, as I have frequently found at these comic cons.
Here's what I discovered this time around (I actually have been doing this for years but 2015 was the first year this dawned on me—whoops!):
A lot of Independent/Self-published and Non-Agented/Represented writers were selling their books, that looked great and professional, under the auspices of being published by a small press.
When I inquired further about these small presses, I was surprised to discover this:
That the author themselves were the owners/publishers of the small press that their books were published under!
I was like, what?
So I asked one of the authors, who wrote a series of witches and magic books, how her small press worked. Did she have an actual printing press in her basement? Employing graphic artists, editors, and binders?
She said no. She outsources all of that like you can do with Lulu.com (which I have done) and other 3-party print-on-demand self-publishing entities.
But she owns the ostensible small press on paper and in name only!
So what does that mean?
By the way, she's not the only one, I actually knew a Gothic author who writes for the same magazine that I do, who was also at that convention selling his books under his small press.
Whoa!
So my first reaction to this new-fangled publishing strategy (at least new to me) is that, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that this is a creative work-around to the self-publishing stigma.
Okay, before anyone gets upset, I too have self-published books, so I'm in the boat as many, many writers here. I think this stigma thing is a ridiculous too but here's my problem.
Literary agents and, I guess, Big Press publishers don't like self-published authors/books. Now I know that that is an arguable point of view here at AW but that's what I've experienced trying to get my books published.
My question here is wouldn't any literary agent and actual publisher see right through this so-called "small press" facade and write off the author as a self-publisher?
I applaud the resourcefulness of these small press author/publishers, and hope that their strategy is a winning one.
In fact, there was something else I discovered about the small press thing that I'm discussing here.
So one of the aforementioned authors with their own small press also published (through their small press) an anthology of short stories contributed by other mostly unpublished authors.
And the interesting thing that I find about that is that if I too had one of my short stories published in this small press anthology and I say to New York City literary agent, "Well, I was recently published in 'so and so small press'."
Wouldn't their response be, "Really? You mean to tell me that you're trying to sell me on you being actually published in some rinky-dink self-published anthology/small press trying to pass themselves off as a real publisher? Is that what you're trying to tell me? Pass!"
So part of me was like, "Darn! I need to set up my own so-called small press imprint!" Then a writer friend of mine was like, "Don't bother. Just concentrate on the writing. Let the business side sort itself out without gimmicks after your work is polished and ready to go."
What do you all think?
Is this small press/self-publishing tactic a real and effective way to get yours and other people's writing out there, or just a gimmick that literary agents and real publishers are going to see right through as smoke and mirrors?
