Are there any credits that look bad on your list?

audibob1

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If the quality of work a magazine is publishing is so-so, would it look negative to have them as a publishing credit? Or is a credit a credit no matter what?
 
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tnfalpha

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Damn. I feel this comes off harsh on DSF, especially for being an SFWA recognized pro market. Your writing will speak for itself. I can't really see how making pro sales, getting your name out there, building a readership etc can be seen as negative.
 

audibob1

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Sorry, that wasn't my intent. I read back through my post and realized that the way it was worded made it sound as though I was bagging on them. I didn't mean to, and I'm editing the original post to clarify my question. I had judged them based on some of their stories I read--only a couple out of their hundreds and probably should've just kept my mouth shut until I'd really dug deep into their archives.

This aside... are there any markets that publishers/agents frown upon? Or, as you've said, tnfalpha, are they really just looking at your current writing and not as worried about the past stuff?
 
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CameronJohnston

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I don't think there is a 'bad' publishing credit unless you have been writing something particularly problematic that might get you arrested in certain countries. Which doesn't mean all credits are actually worth much either of course - pro-level credits will be noticed way more than one from a magazine only a few people read. But even if it's a story in a market few people have heard of, it's still good to show you've had things published and you are not entirely new to writing, that you have staying power and other people have liked what you've written.

Ultimately most editors don't care about past success. If a story is good then it's good.
 
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Pisco Sour

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When I was a newbie author I published a book with a digital house that turned out to be an author mill. They went bust shortly after. I didn't include that book on my credits when I was querying agents because it would reflect badly on me, almost as badly as being vanity published. I think where you published does matter-not all publishing credits are created equal.
 

dawnjstevens

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I've been pondering this question myself. Years ago I had a short story published, but the anthology is long gone from the face of the internet (I still have a copy!), so I just don't mention it. No big deal.

Flash forward to now, I have a pending short story that's (maybe) about to be published, but the anthology and editor is a hot mess. I have my doubts it will see the light of day, and if does, is that going to reflect badly on me at some point if the publication/editors go down in flames? I knew the editor was new to the game, but didn't realize until I started digging that she had ZERO publishing credits, had only been writing for a year, and seemed to think she could take on publishing without ANY experience whatsoever (claims her degree in economics and a year's worth of writing was all she needed). I was willing to give a new publisher the benefit of the doubt, but I don't know any more. And I just saw a tweet asking 'how do I market a book?'. :Shrug:
 

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Being published isn't like getting a degree, where you have to amass so many units and credits and points: each time you send your work in, it's assessed all on its own. Where you've published in the past won't affect your chances at any point until you reach the point where you're a guaranteed number one, major seller.

When agents and editors see a list of publishing credits against your name they might look at them to see if they recognise any of your previous works, but that's about it. If you've had a short story in the New Yorker that will attract attention; but if you've been published in a series of publications the agent has never heard of they'll note that you're widely published and be glad. But it won't make them offer you representation if they don't like your work.

Dawn, if the publication you've been accepted into is a horrible mess then consider pulling your work. It's better not to be published at all than to be published badly.
 

dawnjstevens

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Being published isn't like getting a degree, where you have to amass so many units and credits and points: each time you send your work in, it's assessed all on its own. Where you've published in the past won't affect your chances at any point until you reach the point where you're a guaranteed number one, major seller.

When agents and editors see a list of publishing credits against your name they might look at them to see if they recognise any of your previous works, but that's about it. If you've had a short story in the New Yorker that will attract attention; but if you've been published in a series of publications the agent has never heard of they'll note that you're widely published and be glad. But it won't make them offer you representation if they don't like your work.

Dawn, if the publication you've been accepted into is a horrible mess then consider pulling your work. It's better not to be published at all than to be published badly.


Kinda thinking about it. Especially because a few authors have already pulled their work (which the anthology has been 'split into multiple volumes', mine was suppose to be in the next one), and the editors are trying to convince those that are left that we would just be stupid to leave now, that any publishing credit is good. Uh huh. The more someone has to defend the terrible job they are doing and try to convince others they are wrong, the more leery I get. Your work should speak for itself and you shouldn't have to defend anything.
 

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Kinda thinking about it. Especially because a few authors have already pulled their work (which the anthology has been 'split into multiple volumes', mine was suppose to be in the next one), and the editors are trying to convince those that are left that we would just be stupid to leave now, that any publishing credit is good. Uh huh. The more someone has to defend the terrible job they are doing and try to convince others they are wrong, the more leery I get. Your work should speak for itself and you shouldn't have to defend anything.

My bold.

They are wrong. And if they're telling you this, then they are also demonstrating how little they know about publishing.
 

dawnjstevens

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I pulled the story, or at least, emailed them to pull the story. Saw this comment from an editor under the post where we can email them to request they pull our story:

"We're not dealing with people that know what they're doing when dealing with amateurs who have usually gotten really bad advice."

So, apparently this message board is bad advice. :roll:

On the bright side, now I have a flash piece to submit elsewhere. (Oddly enough, the piece is called "Train Wreck". HA!)
 

frimble3

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"We're not dealing with people that know what they're doing when dealing with amateurs (snip)"
Funny that they didn't mind working with amateurs who don't know what they're doing, as long as that ignorance works in the publisher's favor.
 

cool pop

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There is absolutely a such thing as a bad publishing credit. For example if your credentials consist of being "published" by PublishAmerica or Tate Publishing, it's best to not ever bring that up because it definitely won't open any doors.
 

WeaselFire

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If the quality of work a magazine is publishing is so-so, would it look negative to have them as a publishing credit? Or is a credit a credit no matter what?

Dear Agent;

I've published nineteen articles in "The Raging Conspiracy," which is put out by a guy in the woods near Ketchum, Idaho and has over eleven mail-order subscribers, so I'm obviously qualified to write an in-depth profile of Martin Luther King's death-defying speech on the South Lawn of the Whitehouse in 2007.

Nope, there's never a bad credit. :)

Jeff