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[Pub] The Great Void Books

InkFinger

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This one came to me through a writing group. I don't know much about it, but it's here for you to have a look. Aditya Deshmukh appears to be an independent, but his books do appear online and on Amazon, so real enough.

Details can be found at his website.

The basics are submit according to the guidelines at [email protected], selected authors share a 30% take of profits from the sale of the anthology they are selected for.

Here are the anthologies with openings:
  1. 20 September - Blood Crown, 4K - 15K wordcount stories of Sword & Sorcery
  2. 20 October - Shattered Evil, 4k to 15k Ghost Stories
  3. 15 November - Water Turns Red, 4k to 15k Crime stories
  4. 30 Nov - Taming Space - 4k to 15k Space Operas
  5. 15 December - Beyond, 600 to 2,000 wordcount Horror stories
  6. 31 December - Fall into the Abyss, 4k to 15k Weird Fiction and Cosmic Horror
  7. 31 January - Extraordinary, 4k to 15k Stories of Mythology

It seems a pretty aggressive publication schedule, but who knows. If anyone is familiar with this editor and has something to share, please do.
 

AW Admin

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I'm moving this to Bewares and Recommendations.

It's very non-standard.
 

InkFinger

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As a point of order, what is the likely issue? Treat me as a novice and an ignorant, since I obviously posted. I checked to see that the prior books were available for sale.
 

Helix

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One of the things that would dissuade me from submitting if this were my area is that 30% of profits shared between x writers could well equal nothing. Hollywood accounting and all that.
 

Cephus

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One of the things that would dissuade me from submitting if this were my area is that 30% of profits shared between x writers could well equal nothing. Hollywood accounting and all that.

That was my thinking as well. It's funny how profits simply cease to exist when someone else is doing the books.
 

InkFinger

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Helix and Cephus, thank you both for the perspective. When I read that I assumed that the actual compensation would be minimal, but there would be a by line and a publication credit. At this point in my writing career I'm still paying dues. Hollywood accounting is irritating though.

I may simply find another place for my stories, but I appreciate your comment.
 

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Helix and Cephus, thank you both for the perspective. When I read that I assumed that the actual compensation would be minimal, but there would be a by line and a publication credit. At this point in my writing career I'm still paying dues. Hollywood accounting is irritating though.

I may simply find another place for my stories, but I appreciate your comment.

Don't write for "exposure." That's meaningless, especially in an era of direct to reader self-publishing.

Where are the writers you like to read being published? Those are the markets to start with.

The idea of paying dues is designed to exploit writers. It's never been true. Write for commercial rates, or give it away and retain the rights.
 

InkFinger

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I think this is a legitimate discussion. Is it happening somewhere else on the boards? And what are commercial rates? I know that $5/$10 are not commercial rates, even $50 wouldn't be. When I started writing in the days before the internet, we were looking for $.05 to $.10 a word, where $.05 was average and $.10 was good. The first thing I sold was $450 for approx. 3,000 words, but then I went and got a "real" job to support my family and build a life. I dabbled on AbsoluteWrite from 2006 to 2011, actually completing a couple of novels, but stopped when I took a new job that would frown on what I wrote. It's only now that my son is in college and thinking about becoming a writer himself that I've begun again.

As someone who knows better, what should we be looking for. I've been a publishable author for 30 years, but I have not worked a writing room, I did not pay my dues on the obits or cub reporting for the local paper. Where do I get the credentials to be taken seriously when I really want to land a punch?

addendum: I made a choice to take a job that supported my new wife and soon to be child. We would have been poor either way, but a day job was the safe answer. My advice to my son has been that you are going to be poor anyway, pay your dues and do what you want with your life.
 
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Helix

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You've started a thread, so we can discuss this in detail there. But I thought I'd address this par.

As someone who knows better, what should we be looking for. I've been a publishable author for 30 years, but I have not worked a writing room, I did not pay my dues on the obits or cub reporting for the local paper. Where do I get the credentials to be taken seriously when I really want to land a punch?

Works are publishable, not authors. Even Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie probably had a piece or two spiked in their careers. There's no need to work in a writers' room or do the police rounds to be a writer. All you need to do is write something that someone wants to pay you for.