15 August, 2008

It's been a great month for Resources, with lots of updates and excellent news articles for writers. The not so excellent news is that `GeneratingHype has left the GD team; the good news is that he has a great new promotion and that he promises to stick around and keep hosting projects when he can. We wish you the best, Bill!

^StJoan will be taking care of Projects and I will make sure the Forums are running smoothly. For more lit news (and believe me, there's a lot), try Literature Gallery Update (12 August) and make sure you watch the account for further updates.

What you will find in this news article: To publish or not to publish -- A list of resources on publishing | Recent finds | Resource news | Read this | Literature Daily Deviations: July 2008 | I need your feedback

To publish or not to publish

For the past year or so, talk of publishing has increased quite a bit: many deviants are asking how to get their work published. My own experience with publishing is limited, and I'm approaching the subject with a considerable amount of trepidation. If you have something important to add or correct in this article, please let me know. Also, many of my comments are personal ones, so consider them as such.

The first step to getting published is this: write well. Simple enough? For most of us, it really isn't. This is why, for me, the question is not whether one should or shouldn't publish, but to consider when to start trying (that is, if you want to).

Two things to consider while working on your prose and poetry is genre and audience. While you may feel your writing doesn't need labels, publishers need labels. They cannot market poetry the same way they do novels, nor can they sell erotica to little kids who want to buy a book from their favourite fantasy series. Understanding genre incorporates understanding audience. Who do you want reading your books? Five-year-olds, professors and research students, people who like romance novels for their bus journeys? Once you identify your genre and audience, you need to do two things:

Learn your craft and learn it well.

Find the right publisher for your kind of writing.

This article will not deal with step one, but I will suggest that you do a lot of reading, writing and critiquing, if you're not alreadly doing the above. Not everyone can study Creative Writing at university, but non-fiction books can be very helpful. In addition, make sure you read a lot of books of the same genre that you write in. Try to join online workshops to get feedback on your work, and offer some critiques yourself because it is one of the best ways to learn. (Oh! And don't stop doing any of these just because you got something published!) If you need recommendations for any of the above, please note me.

Finding the right publisher is often hard, but with some practice, you'll learn to get it right. And if you know what genre your writing belongs to and what kind of audience it targets, it will be easier to find the right publisher.

Ten Publishers and Editors Answer Questions by *TheWritersMeow

Submitting to magazines/journals

The process of getting published for poets and novelists is usually different. You can be relatively unknown and still get a major book deal if you're a novelist; but a poet must necessarily demonstrate his/her talent through a long list of publishing credits in magazines or journals. So let's begin there. Personally I think sending your work to (good, respectable) magazines is the best way to get your name out there for both poets and prose writers. Here are a few tips:

Find a magazine that you like to read. Familiarise yourself with the kind of work that the magazine publishes. Read the editorial mandate, if available. E.g. Mission of Umbrella Journal Try to subscribe to the magazine as well. Finding magazines online is easy enough. I recommend Duotrope's Digest, a database of over 2250 current markets for short fiction, poetry and novels/collections.

Read the submission guidelines carefully thrice. Thrice, because you're bound to miss something. The submission guidelines are usually found on a separate page on the magazine's website, or can be found at the "About" or "Contact us" page. Some magazines have few guidelines, others have many (e.g. Submissions page at The Chimaera). Either way, follow them because it makes it easier for the editor to read your work. At the very least, do not send them work that exceeds the prescribed limit. If they say they want 3-4 poems, don't send them 7. Other things to look out for: formatting style, deadlines, theme/style/form restrictions, whether multiple and simultaneous submissions are allowed, whether they have guest editors, whether they accept postal or electronic submissions, etc. Please don't make payment a criterion. Most magazines don't make any money for them to pay contributors.

Be patient. It takes time for editors to read your work and decide whether it's right for their magazine or not, so don't send them emails every two days asking them what they think. Some magazines specify their reading time, and if they exceed it, you can send a polite email enquiring about your work.

Don't expect your work to get accepted every time, even if you do everything else right. When faced with rejection, don't send angry emails (or letters) to the editor. If you're too upset, don't reply. If not, send them a line thanking them for considering your work.

Here are some detailed resources that talk about submitting to magazines:

Rough Guide to Submitting Poetry to Literary Journals (by Email) by `PoeticWar at ~PoetryLibrary
Resources for Young Writers (Part 2) by `WineWriter, with inputs from `PinkyMcCoversong and ^lovetodeviate

The above articles focus on poetry, but most of the advice is applicable to submitting prose as well. Here is a list of (prose and poetry) magazines run and/or edited by deviantART users: 365tomorrows, Bottom Of The World, CRAM, Fuselit, Mimesis (dA account: ~mimesispoetry), Read This Magazine (dA account: ~ReadThisMagazine), Renegade Magazine, Semaphore, Soundzine (dA account: ~Soundzine) and The Guthan.

Submitting to contests

Most writing contests promise publication of some sort, and then there's the added bonus of money and sometimes, fame. However, since contests usually mean paying a fee, you have to be sure that the contest isn't a scam.

Info on Poetry & Photo Scams by *salshep

Getting a novel published

I have little to say here, other than, read the following tutorials:

Getting Published: A Tutorial for Novelists by =mree
Getting a Literary Agent by =mree

Getting a poetry collection published

Poets don't usually go through literary agents if they want to publish a poetry collection. It is extremely hard to get published, or so I've heard, but if you are serious about it, the best advice I've found online is at the Mslexia website:

How do I get my poetry published?

Self-publishing

This aspect of publishing remains a mystery to me. Should one self-publish or shouldn't one? Does it make any money? Is it easy to market a self-published book? Question 3 isn't so hard: it's always hard to market products in a world that is so full of advertising, and more so for an individual with limited resources. You have to be very enterprising about marketing your book; you can't be shy or tentative; you have to be able to say, "My book is great. Buy it." Making money off it will depend on your marketing abilities, yes, but what's the point if it's a terrible book? As with any other kind of publishing, the quality of your writing is of prime importance, so revise and edit before you even consider publishing.

Tips On Self-Publishing by !suture

SAS: Starving Artists' Syndrome

As artists of one kind or another, we all know a story or two about an artist who starved for years before s/he got famous, or perhaps who actually died a pitiful death only to be recognised posthumously. These are wonderful stories and let's not discredit any of these people. Let's also not forget those artists who had ordinary jobs to make a livelihood: Franz Kafka worked as an insurance officer, for example.

Personally, I dislike the idea of suffering for my art. It's a romanticised view of the world and ultimately, not very pleasant. Besides, there are a number of things that you can do with your writing skills. If you don't believe me, read this:

So You Wanna Be a Writer? by *WordCount

Publishing is an exhaustive topic, and I'm sure I haven't covered all there is to cover. Do a bit of your own research as well and it will definitely pay off. Good luck!

Recent finds

Types of non-fiction

An Epic Battle: The Editorial vs. The Rant by `GeneratingHype
Writing Reviews on dA by `GeneratingHype
A Nose for the News by `GeneratingHype
A Brief Look at Feature Writing by `GeneratingHype

Resource news

The Resource Central was updated on the tenth of this month.

In case you missed it, I interviewed `MSJames last month. You can read the interview here. Also, look out for my interview with `GeneratingHype.

In news not related to resources, we have some brand new lit seniors: `MSJames, `RetroZombie, `WineWriter, `jade-pandora and `fllnthblnk Congratulations!

Read this

This space is for resources that are not on deviantART. However, I made the exception of included a few non-dA resources in the main article. Here are a few more resources that you might find useful:

Writers' Resources
I am Your Editor, Submitting Your Novel by Caro Clarke

Literature Daily Deviations: July 2008

Poetry - Open

People Die by *b1gfan (Narrative)
van buren st by *hell-on-a-stick (Urban)
.. , ..- -. -.. . .-. ... - . by ~ottersandsky (General)
Oscillations, aftershocks by *pardonM3 (General)
Letters Found Hidden by ~queenhrosie (Human Nature)
Death in the Boondocks by ~queenISH (Narrative)
Triskaidekaphobia by =rottenpeeches (Horror & Macabre)
Heart-boats by =SorrowBurn (Other Romance)

Poetry - Eastern

The Past by =almalobana (Philosophical)
Theraphy Haiku by =Keraness (Nature)
Haiku 38 by ~siragiku (General)

Poetry - Experimental

Skin Deep by *Laurence55 (Other)

Poetry - Fixed

The Dragons' Way by `Rushy (Children's)
Space-Farer by ~TheLightsWentOutIn99 (Mature Romance, Ballad)

Poetry - Spoken Word

She Says by ~Renegade-Boy (Human Nature)

Prose - Fiction

This Organized Life by ~are-bee-s (General)
regardless by *Barnaby (Transgressive)
they never quite do by =jimboistic (Horror)
The Cloud Seekers by ~Katieyangg (General)
never grow up by =Pretty-As-A-Picture (Children's)
The Indian driver by ~Remedies (General)
Sleeping Beauty by ~SadisticIceCream (Transgressive)
The Tempo by ~SlickFiction (General)
TRRS by =smoking-mirrors (Philosophical)
To Be A Woman Part Two by *starlightofdawn (Transgressive)

Prose - Non-fiction

Guide to Advanced Critiques by `cypher-neo (Reviews)
I heard you were a rose by *Ghost-of-Ink (General)
Iraqi Pilot Returns - Story by *HandBanana001 (Journalism)

Theatre & Scripts

Phone Play 1 by ~sovegna-vos (Script)

Resources

How to name your characters by ~Xancsia (Tutorials)

Some of these Daily Deviations were suggested by ~Amy--Louise, `Beccalicious, ~chugglepuff, ~Danteholic, =GaioumonBatou, ~Iscariot-Priest, =LittleLottexo, =livingcomforteagle, ~LtTechnical, ~Mechant-Loup, *Negated, *neonxaos, *RedDragonfly, ~ShinyCrown, *TheFavoritesProject, ~toad1 and `WineWriter.

_{Sorry if I have missed anyone out. It was not intentional. Let me know and I will rectify the mistake.}

Write #1: Proof it! | Write #2: Why haiku?

I need your feedback.

How can this news article be improved? What topics should I tackle next? Is my resource central missing certain articles? Have you a question or answer for me? Note me! -- ^lovetodeviate