I'm an editor for a literary magazine. Ask me anything about publishing or whatever.
>I won't say what publication I work for.
>I won't read your stuff.
>I won't tripfag.
>>7792786
/pol/ and /r9k/ self-identified redpilled conservative white male here:
Are you Jewish?
Are you under company policy to only publish female SJW writers who are trying to subvert Western civilization through degeneracy and the propagation and valorization of interracial relationships?
Do you hate white heterosexual male writers of the conservative bend?
>>7792795
Go back to whence you came from.
>>7792786
Quickest way to get thrown out?
>>7792797
Why am I not allowed to ask questions?
If you want you safe space then go back to youknowwhere, sweetheart
>>7792795
Despite what this faggot says, I am interested in your response to the two recent pandering articles written by Marlon James and Claire Vaye Watkins, and a general opinion regarding the huge bulk of female /lit/ vs the tiny tiny amount of decent "male" /lit/. Do men read that much less than women? Does that come into business decisions in the industry?
>age
>salary
>career trajectory thus far
>future career plans
how senior are you/what do you overview and decide on?
education/career background that got you to this point?
happy with your job?
pay/hours? location?
>>7792795
not OP, but white heterosexual males of the conservative bent are pretty publishable. i mean, they're never going to be as good at prose as dykes and deviants, but they're miles ahead of everyone else. the ones that aren't closeted faggots included, though there's not many of them. any jew worth his salt would recognise they're a viable product.
Does your magazine use Submittable?
Generally speaking, is it a good thing when a magazine takes a long while to respond to a story?
>>7792801
I didn't mean to make you feel unsafe to ask questions.
<<<hug>>>
How do you feel not getting credit for anything?
Do you ever feel like posting on an anonymous message board for a morsel of attention?
>>7792795
No I'm not.
We don't strive for diversity, but I do work with a lot of liberal arts educated types.
No, white heterosexual male writers are my favorite. But if Faulkner, Poe, and Milton are gay then I guess white gay male writers are my favorite.
>>7792798
Mention in your cover letter that your piece has already been published online or self published. Alternately, start a story with a horrendously sloppy run-on sentence or a multiple misspellings.
>>7792805
Women actually read more than men, or at the very least, they make up the majority of sales, but the idea that women would only be interested in reading only women writers is flawed thinking. While men do read less than women, they send more submissions than women writers at a ratio of 3:1. The pandering to minority writers is very real though in the industry. I care very little about the Hugo Awards but what happened last year was a fucking travesty.
>>7792807
mid-twenties, 50k, I've taken things as far as I can, leaving the country to teach English in Asia and possibly start my own publishing house for bringing Asian writers to English audiences.
>>7792811
Not very senior. I read and reject submissions, collect cover letters, copy edit, write articles and book reviews for our website, attend publishing conventions, release parties.
BA in English/American literature. Got an internship from a professor because I asked for it.
It's a great job. Very flexible hours, I can show up and leave whenever, and everyone's a total bro. Located in New York.
>>7792874
>self-proclaimed editor
>"women writers"
It's 'female writers'
0/10, bait.
>>7792874
>It's a great job. Very flexible hours, I can show up and leave whenever, and everyone's a total bro. Located in New York.
Fucking hell that sounds like a sweet gig.
how hard is it to get into publishing?
>>7792786
Where can I find informations about self-publishing? I wanted to publish a web novel series though I don't know where to start (on the legal side I mean). To be precise, I wanted to know about the licenses that I should use for this kind of publishing (and how to apply said licenses); let's say I want it to be non-profit, what would you recommend?
What comes to your mind when you see this image?
>>7792786
You must read a fair amount of literature journals, right? What are some you would recommend?
>>7792786
When did you realise you'd never be published?
>>7792874
>mid-twenties, 50k
>leaving the country to teach English in Asia and possibly start my own publishing house for bringing Asian writers to English audiences.
Korean-American undergrad majoring in English at a NY university here. This is where I want to be in a few years.
>>7792874
>possibly start my own publishing house for bringing Asian writers to English audiences.
can you hire me as a translator/editor when that happens?
>>7792828
No, we use something else, the name escapes me at the moment.
It's neither good nor bad if they take a long time to respond. If it takes a long time to respond to your story it's probably because they're swamped with submissions and haven't read it yet. Before we went digital I would open a packet and see it was submitted over a year ago.
>>7792837
I get credited in every issue I work on.
>>7792898
It's probably 100x easier to start your own publishing house than it is to get into one that's already established. Otherwise it's all connections.
>>7792900
I would advise against self publishing. It could become a stigma for you if you try to get published more conventionally in the future (unless you make millions off your web novel like The Martian or 50 Shades).
You don't need licenses to self publish, you just throw it up on Lulu or Amazon and it's done. If you're talking about business licenses, like you want to start your own publishing company, check your local state's website on business incorporation. I don't understand how or why you would want to incorporate a non-profit business for something that's going to be distributed online for free, though. It's not necessary.
>>7792917
Morrissey
>>7792949
Zoland Poetry, New York Quarterly, Sycamore Review, Shimmer, to name a few.
>>7792971
>>7792969
I'll be sure to make a post on /lit/ when I'm hiring.
>>7792993
>You don't need licenses to self publish, you just throw it up on Lulu or Amazon and it's done.
>I don't understand how or why you would want to incorporate a non-profit business for something that's going to be distributed online for free, though. It's not necessary.
Well, I don't really plan on commercializing my works in the future, I just wanted to start a blog where I could post a few pages of the novel every now and then; I was worried about abuses or blackmailing, I mean, if I just post it without any license attached to the text, anyone could claim to be the original author and sue me or get my blog deleted, I wanted to avoid this kind of issues. I read that the law protects the work for 95 years if I publish it under a pen name (which is what I was planning), but I doubt it applies to web publishing, that's why I was looking into cc and its sub-licenses, like cc by-sa which so far is the license that reflects my vision the most. I'm not very familiar with ebook stores like Amazon and similar but, I'll check 'em asap, thanks a lot for the suggestions.
>>7793045
>but I doubt it applies to web publishing
It applies to everything.
>>7792822
>i mean, they're never going to be as good at prose as dykes and deviants,
is this a joke
>>7793045
Oh, copyright. Copyright applies automatically and instantly to any created work. You can just throw a copyright symbol and your name on anything if you want. All those god awful Sonic the Hedgehog "original character do not steal!" things you see online are technically copyrighted, even though they never officially filed for proof of copyright.
One easy thing you can do is snail mail your work to yourself and never open it. The post office stamps the date it was processed, and that's proof that you owned the work at that date (so long as you don't open it). It's not ironclad, but it's better than nothing, and people who are paranoid about getting their work stolen do it often.
Otherwise, just mail your shit to a copyright office with something like $18 and they'll give you a proof of copyright.
>>7793086
Sounds neat, this is very helpful, I can finally feel at ease when I click the "Publish" button in wordpress kek.
Best large and small publishers to send YA sci fantasy to?
(Yes ended with preposition)
>>7793144
>YA sci fantasy
No offence intended, but why would someone choose to write YA over something more rigorous? I'm not even trying to be a prick or a snob, I'm just genuinely curious as to what motivates you.
>>7793077
no, faggots have better stories than just drunks.
>>7793144
I don't deal with YA so I wouldn't know.
Usually I would say "go to a bookstore and look at who publishes YA sci fantasy" but I bet you're just going to find the big five, who don't accept non-solicited manuscripts. Or I would tell you to use duotrope to find the small publishers who do accept non-solicited manuscripts, but with YA I think your best bet is going to be finding an agent. The market is so oversaturated your submission is just going to be white noise without an agent campaigning for you.
>>7792786
Do you ever hire journalists?
And how did you become an editor? Education, career path, hobbies even, etc
What % of submissions are publishable? What % are actually good?
how much do you feel like "objective quality" impacts whether something gets published? what are the other factors - well known agent, marketing dollars, marketability of author, subject matter, etc. that influence it, and what's the most/least important?
>>7792993
>I get credited in every issue I work on.
Have you ever been on a list of great editors?
has anything you read for your job ever made the shortlist or won a pushcart? how many stories does your journal nominate each year?
Do you publish stories that you see as safe for publication or do you prefer originality?
>>7793192
Nah, we're a literary publication. I said earlier I got an internship by asking one of my professors. Other than that, reading a lot and being able to critique things cohesively prepared me for this job.
>>7793199
Very few submissions are publishable. We probably reject more than 95% of what we get, and we get a lot.
As for what percentage of submissions are "good" is hard to say, because a lot of submissions are "good" but not good enough to publish. They're not bad, but they're not engaging or thought provoking and they don't have particularly good prose or memorable characters or leave an impression on you. We don't publish "good" submissions we publish "wow, I have to show this to the other editors" submissions, and those are very very rare.
>>7793232
Where I work we strive to publish quality stories. I think one time we got a submission from an author who had some pull in the industry, so we were a little more lenient when judging it, we gave it a second chance, passed it around the office, but we still decided not to publish it because it just wasn't a good story regardless of her reputation.
>>7793297
I've never nominated anything myself.
>>7793317
We don't judge stories based on how marketable they are or how original they are, but how well they're written.
How many editing awards have you won?
Why are you on a shitty website like this. What other places are there to discuss literature?
An editor is a critic who actually enforces their opinion on art before it is released.
>>7793322
>We don't publish "good" submissions we publish "wow, I have to show this to the other editors" submissions, and those are very very rare.
Your standards must be really low. Even TPR, Granta, etc. are filled with complete garbage, and they get to skim the cream off the top.
>>7793184
Sorry, not YA. teen,middle grade, space opera series with multiple female protagonists.
(Harry potter with jetpacks built on the "Heroes Journey" framework.)
>>7793333
Truthful digits of truthdom.
>>7793325
Zero. I cry myself to sleep every night. What's the point of being an editor if I don't have any awards to show for it? I should just kill myself.
>>7793330
Force of habit, don't need to make an account. I'm pretty sure there are no good websites to discuss literature, anyway.
>>7793333
An editor prevents you from finding stuff like this image on bookshelves.
>>7793338
Oh well that changes everything. You need an agent.
>>7793359
wtf is this OP?is he schizophrenic?be carefull,he might come in your office with a katana.
>>7793377
>is he schizophrenic?
Worse. He's self published.
>>7793359
Plus it's all done and ready to go. Recommend an agency?
>>7793384
lmao jesus christ
>>7793359
>Zero. I cry myself to sleep every night. What's the point of being an editor if I don't have any awards to show for it? I should just kill myself.
If you say so.
>>7793359
>An editor prevents you from finding stuff like this image on bookshelves.
Same thing a critic does--advices what to consume, what not to consume. You just have more power, even though the artist does all the work.
Editors are the Donald Trump of art: Make literature great again!
>>7793384
You don't have an agent still? I thought you had a book deal?
What are a couple of the biggest names you've published?
If you show me yours, I show you mine.
>>7793384
Oh my god. Keep this a secret. If you go to them with a completed series of eleven phonebooks they'll think you're nuts. They'll tell everyone you're "that crazy guy who wanted me to sell an encylopedia set of fantasy." Don't be that guy. I don't know any agencies that deal with YA stuff, either.
>>7793415
Editors can actually help artists achieve greater focus with their writing and help them find a market and success.
Luckily we're in the age of digital self publishing, so all the downtrodden, genius artists that I snub can circumvent me and achieve glory on amazon.
What editor(s) inspired you to become an editor?
What would you say is your editing style?
>>7793449
>all the downtrodden, genius artists that I snub can circumvent me and achieve glory on amazon
This has never happened.
>>7793449
>Editors can actually help artists achieve greater focus with their writing and help them find a market and success.
That's what critics do post publication. Even after you've done your "job".
>>7793454
I think he was being sarcastic, friend.
>>7793454
He's saying that his genius could have protected us from Fifty Shades of Grey.
>>7793086
It's way more than 18 bucks now. Also, while you're technically right, there are circumstances in which you'll be asked for proof that you're the real copyright holder. There's a scam some people pull on self-published Amazon authors that involves challenging their copyright and demanding a fee to back off. From what I've seen, Amazon asks for proof that you're the copyright holder if you're challenged that way.
So, editors are basically censors?
>>7793454
>>7793384
lmaogasautist
Weren't you going to start self-publishing it? You might as well just do that. Your autism will definitely prevent you from landing an agent.
>>7793486
His autism is preventing him from self-publishing it.
>>7793495
RIP in pieces.
>>7793511
one of the few people on this site is actually creating books and the others tear him down.
>kekerrino
>>7793560
but the only actually legit published author in that thread was treated very nicely (even if he was writing adult urban fantasy or sum shit)
its just all these self-publishing autists that get shit on and rightly so
>>7793569
>bashing artists
continue.
>>7793560
But we support our Asian posterboy Tao Lin, I thought.
>>7793596
>that major corporations tell me I should
el oh el
go back to poland fucker
>>7793449
opinion about self-publishers who hire independent editors? The output of it and the self-publishers who aspire for quality in general. Maybe you have acquaintances or experienced it first hand.
I was planning to avoid shitty time response from trad pub as much as possible.
Thoughts on Alt Lit and what happened to it?
>>7794520
The term you're looking for is ghost writer.
>>7792874
>I care very little about the Hugo Awards but what happened last year was a fucking travesty.
can someone explain this?
>>7793474
Pretty much. That and an old boys club.
>>7794530
a conservative bloc was able to vote in their slate of nominees. there was backlash and almost all of the categories resulted in "no award"
>>7793474
Unfortunately, publishing houses can't publish every submission they get. Not only is it economically infeasible but people would ignore us once they realized we had zero quality control.
>>7794520
At the end of the day you're still self publishing, and what's worse is you're paying for an editor who would traditionally be paying you. As for "acquaintances" who have done this, I'm don't know anyone personally, and I'm sure some people do it, but it doesn't really separate them from other self publishers. They all have the same stigma. You say you want to "avoid shitty time responses" but what's the rush?
>>7794523
The word incestuous comes to mind. It's just the same tightly knit group of writers sucking each other's dicks, reviewing each other's works, thrusting each other crappy works into the public eye. McSweeny's certainly played a role in it.
>>7794530
Some people accused the Hugo Awards of having a SJW bias because works like "the rain that falls on you from nowhere" were winning awards, and they claimed it was impossible to win a Hugo Award if you didn't pander to the lgbt community or were a minority writer. So a group of people tried to nominate non-lgbt pandering works. So the SJWs who claimed they totally had no bias or influence over the Hugo Awards stuffed the ballots and stopped all the white men from winning awards, instead "no award" was given in a number of categories.
I'm going to bed now but I'll check up on this thread tomorrow.
>>7794568
Sleep tight
>>7793322
So those are the biggest common traits that are shared by accepted work? Engaging, thought-provoking, good prose, and memorable characters? Anything else that really makes or breaks a work?
>>7794644
achieving all of that at once competently is pretty rare/hard
>>7794568
>Unfortunately, publishing houses can't publish every submission they get. Not only is it economically infeasible but people would ignore us once they realized we had zero quality control.
Implying editors publish accepted works as is, ever, without changing it.
>>7793322
>we publish "wow, I have to show this to the other editors" submissions, and those are very very rare.
any examples of this?
I've never had an ambition to write (never had much of ambition to do anything) but I read a good deal and the gig seems fun enough. What would you suggest someone like me do to get into that racket? Also, will being gay and writing about homosex give me a better chance?
The legacy editors have of astute judgment:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/stmartinspress/20-brilliant-authors-whose-work-was-initially-reje-7rut#.bmmDmWBGz
>>7794661
>linking to buzzfeed
fuck right off
>>7794568
>At the end of the day you're still self publishing, and what's worse is you're paying for an editor who would traditionally be paying you
At the end of the day, you still get most of the share from your sales. That's a counter-argument of it, though. It's just that I do not know anyone personally who had undergone an independent editing process so I asked your opinion about it.
>it doesn't really separate them from other self publishers.
That's just generalization. Nom de plume is a brand that you needed to uphold and make yourself distinct with other self-publishers. While other go through the route of making their brand known through traditional publishing, it’s also true on self-publishing. The downside is that there are people, like you, who look down on it. But I don’t care.
> You say you want to "avoid shitty time responses" but what's the rush?
I’m writing a series so I could write the next one by the time I finished the first book. Going through the process of beta-reading and other quality check before submitting it to an editor – I’m still doubtful about an independent editor, though, that’s why I asked. I don’t like to wait years going back and forth on the first book manuscript.
>>7794678
Self-publishing is only looked down upon because it threatens the business of big publishing. Their only real weapon is the idea that they're the gatekeepers of "high culture".
>>7794652
I'm sure a lot of the submitted writing is so bad that the amount of editing to make it good would render it virtually a different work.
>>7793560
People are treating each other well in that thread.
is OP still here?
what do you think of New York Tyrant and Giancarlo DiTrapitano?
>>7794683
self publishing is looked down on because it's trash
name some good self published books
what's that? fifty shades? the Martian?
top kek
>>7794688
>not all of it
Thanks for agreeing.
>>7795156
I doubt you've even looked for any that you'd consider good since you've clearly been memed into rejected the idea of self-publishing itself.
>>7795236
Any real literary person noes To the Lighthouse was self-published.
>>7794688
Editors aren't always--or even often-- good at their job.
>>7795232
??? Why do you have the tone of an asshole
I'm OP and this thread is gay
>>7795575
smell my finger
>>7794644
Usually just having good prose is enough to recommend another editor take a second look, but having a high concept helps too.
>>7794652
I dont get what your problem with editors is. Rejected one too many times? The thing is if an editor absolutely loves your work, they wont want to make a bunch of changes to it. Mostly what I do is look at things thematically and suggest things be emphasized or deemphasized to draw it out. Sometimes I spot symbolism that was unintentional and the author will want to develop it more. I know there are nightmare stories of editors suggesting enormous changes or no book deal, but those are from the big five, where profit is king.
>>7796002
Ironically, editors can't take criticism.
>>7796002
hows this prose
>>7796215
Not OP, but stop trying to sound like you've got a high and mighty stick up your ass. Nobody uses the word 'unbeknownst' any longer and moreover, you've used it incorrectly.
>>7796215
>as i stare into the dying abyss it stares into me
>for what purpose am i to be wont towards success if in doing so i fail from my own self
>ambiguous beginnings of the end
>the end of whom is of the mind
w e w l a d
this is actually awful LOL
>>7794658
Just read a lot and write a lot. Like any art or sport or craft you only get good with continual practice and trial and error.
>will writing about homosex give me a better chance
With some publishers, certainly. I know there are zines out there that only publish lgbt stuff. I dont know any myself but they should be easy to find.
>>7794661
>Buzzfeed...
>>7794678
Okay, I get what you're saying. I know some self publishers find success, but seperating yourself from the others and making a brand all by yourself is going to be easier said than done. As for an "independant editor" you can find one in the classifieds of writers magazines, but I doubt it would do much good. It's a lot easier to outright reject a story than it is to workshop it until its publishable. You're probably going to hear a lot of stuff you dont want to hear, and get a lot of suggestions you dont want to follow through with.
>>7794683
This is true. In a way self publishing has this "I dont need no industry insiders" vibe, so then when you do try to rub elbows with us it's like: get the fuck out of here, man.
>>7794688
On the nose. This is why editors just reject stuff instead of critiquing it. That and the sheer volume of submissions.
>>7794945
Can't say. They're unfamiliar to me.
>>7796230
>He read as far as "unbeknownst" before spotting an error
>>7796215
You misused way too many words in that. Your semicolon use is atrocious as well.
>>7796270
By your standards, what makes a submission bad? Please go into as much detail as possible.
Also, is it a bad idea to submit things close to the deadline? Like, do you guys start screening submissions before they're all in or do you wait till the deadline passes to start?
>>7795236
>still unable to name a good self published book
K E K m-m-muh self publishing
>>7796270
Do you think poetry gets published more easily than prose does (prose poetry notwithstanding)? I was thinking of cranking out a bunch of poems as an easy in to publishing.
>>7796317
William Blake self-published before he died
>>7796317
Behead All Satans
>>7796270
>Buzzfeed...
I tried to find a source that said editors were never wrong but couldn't.
was the best thing you ever read published?
did you ever want to publish something that in the end wasn't published?
>>7796270
show us some examples of good writing that you would publish
also how do you go about getting published?
>>7796215
>Elizabethan English
Are you serious?
>>7796299
Aside from the obvious stuff like run on sentences, misspellings, or just being idiotic (formatting wrong, going over word count, submitting shit we don't publish, etc), bad submissions tend to be these things:
>tone deaf. Lots of writers, especially beginner writers, tend to write pieces with no tone. Their stories sound indifferent, boring, and flat.
>cliches. Beginner writers tend to write naturally in cliches. "I've faced countless dangers... I promise to love you and protect you with every fiber of my being... you need to be stopped, and I will help see to that."
>melodramatic.
>submit a long boring story with no conflict because "it's true to everyday life."
>pretentious
We read things in the order they're submitted now that everything's digital. It's not a bad thing to submit near the deadline but the sooner you get it in the sooner you'll hear back.
>>7796318
Certainly not. There are lots of zines that publish poetry but poetry collections are more dead than short story collections. As for cranking out a bunch of poems as an easy in: you wont fool anyone. Sure, you can put on a cover letter "I was published here, here, and here," but if they're a bunch of no-name publications you won't impress anyone with those credentials.
>>7796550
Yes it was. When I first started working here my standards were pretty low, partially because I had never rejected hundreds of stories in a row before and I felt like I should have found something worth publishing. So there were two pieces I thought were "good enough" to be published, and the other publishers told me "good enough" isn't good enough. I wasn't upset about it, though, because they weren't really anything special, they were just the first two competent works I came across after working there for a few months.
>>7796683
Check out Playboy's College Fiction anthology. Any one of those stories would be enthusiastically accepted. For getting published: research small presses that accept non-solicited manuscripts or get an agent. Probably the easiest way to get published, though, is to find a small press that specializes in a certain genre, read some of their books, and write something specifically for that publisher and submit it to them.
When I read stuff like The New Yorker and The Paris Review, it seems to me that these days a lot of writers are writing in what I might call a 'workmanlike' prose. That is, there is no huge flourish. It's competent but not brilliant.
Is there room in modern literary fiction for someone writing more deliberately artfully? Without collapsing into purple prose, could McCarthy or Nabokov have their work published today?
>>7796270
>seperating yourself from the others and making a brand all by yourself is going to be easier said than done.
It's a challenge I'm imposing to myself with all that work that a trad pub should have done. I have plans for traditional if self-publishing really doesn't work.
>>7796832
Is Elizabethan English wrong? Is there no market for it or niche?
Owls are funny but pretty darn stupid
>>7796832
>formatting wrong
Can you go into this in more detail? I've read a bunch of crap about what "good" formatting looks like from supposedly "professional" sources and some of it sounds downright retarded. An example of one of those things was this one guy saying that you have to put like 4 spaces after each paragraph or something.
>>7796860
There are certain trends that come and go. The New Yorker has the luxury of being able to have insanely specific in the types of material they accept because they're seen as the gold standard. I like to think that all good work will get recognized eventually, if not by The New Yorker than by someone else. McCarthy and Nobokov do not have purple prose. Their prose is very deliberate. You want to see purple prose, try looking at Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine. And of course McCarthy and Nobokov would have their work published today.
>>7796940
It's not wrong, it's archaic. You can get away with using archaic English if your story calls for it, like McCarthy's Blood Meridian, even Lovecraft used archaic spellings on occasion. But if you come out the gates like you're Shakespeare or Milton nobody's going to take you seriously. And it's not like that's the only thing that's wrong with your piece.
>>7796991
Owls are vicious.
>>7797022
There's a book called "The First Five Pages" that goes into detail about properly formatting submissions. One inch margins, double space, page numbers, your last name on the header, zero staples, zero paperclips, clean, non-wrinkled paper, don't write anything in pen on the paper, not double-sided.
>>7794945
https://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/he-offered-me-cocaine-an-interview-with-giancarlo-ditrapanao-of-tyrant-books
Is it just me, or did the writer of that article get roofied and raped at the end?
>>7796991
>oh fuck, I'm late for work
>>7797197
>thinks Corncob "Tortillas" YeCarthy's toilet paper is worth the printing costs
Would this be acceptable to publish?
>>7797197
Why are 99.99% of stories in mags so pointless/uninspired? Give me some names of living writers that are worth reading other than Saunders/Pynchon/overhyped author.
Do you think your doing a good job of choosing the future classics?
>>7797592
Give me some names of living writers that are worth reading other than Saunders/Pynchon/overhyped author
Someone asks this in every contemporary thread, and every response is met with overhyped/middlebrow/muh obscure lit/pandered sjw. Go read the 2015 Man Booker, Neustadt and Nobel lists from Ladbrokes and I'm sure you will find something you like, and if you dont consider that it is possible that you have no taste. Ishiguro at least seems to be batting .800 since the 80s.
>>7797632
I was asking the editor for his specific favorites since it's his job to discern quality.
>>7797651
My apologies, there are so many shitposts I cant filter correctly anymore.
>>7797632
Ishiguro is another overhyped author passed around a lot. Nobody that's hyped these days will be read in the future I think. None of it comes close to Joyce/Greeks/anything good.
>>7797679
Watch, in the (highly unlikely) event that books are still a thing 100 years from now, only books by self-published authors you've never heard of will be considered 21st Century classics.
>>7797768
Sad but true. There's aught to be something good in the billions published. The problem is vanity in modern authors and haughty gatekeepers like OP.
>>7797841
Exactly. Traditional publishing is too outdated, incestuous, profit-oriented, and vain to produce anything of worth or lasting importance these days. The mere idea of such a thing is looked down upon.
>>7797849
That's the sad thing about commodification. Writers are forced to compete for the attention of editors (who have shit tastes and judgement).
>>7792786
I have ten short stories that I've written over the last couple of months and yesterday, I began to submit to what magazines I thought I could get published in.
Do you have any recommendations regarding the cover letter and where to find a list of literary magazines--the one I'm going through now won't last me much longer.
Also, I've read that I shouldn't submit to those who charge reading fees but have come across many that ask for 2-3 dollars. Does whether they charge or not reveal anything?
Thanks for doing this, you've already been incredibly helpful.
>>7797893
>Do you have any recommendations regarding the cover letter and where to find a list of literary magazines--the one I'm going through now won't last me much longer.
I'm not him but
For the cover letter, something very basic like
Dear editor (use their last name if you can find it on their site and you think you know who you're submitting to),
Please find my short story "(title)" in this email/submission form/letter.
(one or two sentences about yourself. include your past publication history if it's worth noting or you even have one.)
I enjoy reading (insert publication here) and hope my story will be a good fit. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Anon
As for magazines I use duotrope. If you don't mind paying like 50 bucks a year, it's pretty good. There probably are free alternatives out there, but I don't know anything about them myself so you'd have to do some googling.
>>7792874
>Located in New York
now you have to tell me. I'm in Brookyln.
>>7797917
Thank you brother, that is so similar to the format I have been using that I think it was you who recommended it to me a few weeks ago.
Once I exhaust the list I am going through now, I will look into duotrope, thanks again.
>>7797632
So the problem is if I recommend authors that I've published you'll find out where I work or even who I am because I've reviewed them personally, and if I mention authors I haven't published you'll find out our sister publishers who I'm loosely affiliated with. So I'm going to have to abstain from dropping any names.
I never pick a book thinking "this is going to be a future classic." That's a tall order and highly unrealistic. When I choose something for publication, I pick it because I think it would be a disservice if other people didn't get a chance to read it.
>>7797893
Keep your cover letter short and professional. Put the title of your piece, the word count, and one sentence on what it's about. Mention why you chose the publication you're submitting to. Mention previous publications you have, if you went to any MFA programs, or whatever. Mention you've enclosed an SASE for their reply. If you've spoken to someone who works at that publication in person, mention that too.
For literary magazines check out independent book stores and duotrope, and actually read the issues before you submit to them.
Generally speaking you shouldn't pay for reading fees, but most places that have them aren't scams, they're just overburdened with submissions. If you like a publication and think your story is a good fit, pay the two bucks. You're supporting the arts.
I've learned nothing in this thread that wasn't available elsewhere, easily.
OP works at UTNE
>>7796991
Is it stuck in the cup (or whatever that is) or something?
>>7798005
Nobody reads a story expecting a "future classic." But it's disappointing that it isn't any good every single time.
You could just name any of your favorite living authors, not affiliated to your mag.
>>7798026
it's called bathing
>>7798012
it is an AMA. did you even ask anything?
Hey OP, would starting some kind of blog thing where I post my short stories ruin my chances of getting anything else traditionally published later on?
Is there a market for experimental literature?
Do you have any advice for someone who might start their own publishing house?
>>7793455
>Critics help artists achieve greater focus with their writing and help them find a market and success
Unless the work they're critiquing is bad and their review reflects poorly on the writer's ability, in which case the critic simply diminishes the writer's reputation and future marketabiliy, all without having any stake in the writer's development, as opposed to the editor, who profits from the writer being good, and thus does work to guide and shape the work BEFORE it is released.
That's the fundamental difference. If you can't tell the circumstantial differences between critics and editors, in terms of motive, quality and qualifications for the job, fuck off
>>7794678
>At the end of the day, you still get most of the share from your sales.
Which is nil. Negative if you spend some on marketing.
>>7798215
Having a blog is no big deal, however any stories you post there will be unpublishable. When publishers buy your story, they're buying the FNASR, and if you've published something online they cant buy the FNASR and wont want it. But if you have no intention of publishing it, put it online.
>>7798385
You can register a copyright if you want but it's really unnecessary. The publisher will register it for you if they want to publish it.
>>7798545
Yeah, there is a market for it. The problem is a lot of beginner writers jump head first into experimental shit and no one wants that. Only established writers have earned that privilege. Joyce's first book wasnt Ulysses it was Dubliners. If you're starting your own publishing house look into getting an arts grant from your city and look to China for printers.
>>7798620
Yeah. And if you self publish you dont get an advance either.
>>7798620
>no one has made money self-publishing, ever
You're retarded
>>7798808
The problem with bringing up Joyce as an example of how to play by some arbitrary set of rules is that he never did. Dubliners was highly controversial at the time he tried to put it out, took years to print, and was a complete flop.
In fact, Joyce might just be the worst author to bring up if you're trying to make a case for the publishing industry as a good thing, because his experiences with it were largely terrible.
>>7798849
Editorfag BTFO
It's both hilarious and entirely appropriate that an editor would know so little about Joyce that he'd actually bring him up here. It goes to show that the average editor is a smarmy fraud who has no idea what they're doing or even talking about.
Literature is doomed.
>>7796215
holy shit
>>7797679
>he thinks ishiguro is overhyped
>he probably only read never let me go if even that
>>7792786
Since you get so many submissions, have you noticed any trends rising or falling the subject matter or style of the pieces you receive? Do your superiors advise you to select pieces specifically because they go with or against the grain?
Just came here to see the gaskun posts and leave.
>>7797197
>even Lovecraft used archaic spellings on occasion
Lovecraft even made fun of himself for his archaic tendencies in a funny little short story called "A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson".
>>7792797
and there you shall remain
until you are complete again
When an author receives an award, say a National Book award, why is the editor not included?
That would be like Oscars only recognizing the actors.
An editor is responsible for at least 50% of a published work yet hardly anybody even pays attention to the editor's name on a book.
>>7798152
Yes.
>>7798609
Some artists pay attention to critics.
You know, like school, when you got grades on papers?
>>7799128
>Literature is doomed.
look behind you
You've already said that connections are the best way to a job like yours, but what if one isn't well connected? What are the second, third, etc. best qualifications to getting a foot in the door?
>>7798849
You're so eager to show off your knowledge of Joyce you missed the point of what I was saying. If you're a brand new writer with zero accolades editors will recoil when they see 'bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunnt-rovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk' in your story. Am I saying Joyce played by "some arbitrary set of rules" when he wrote Dubliners? No. I'm saying Dubliners is much more down to earth compared to Joyce's later, more experimental novels. Now you can go ahead and be cranky all you want.
>>7799325
The biggest trends these past ten years have all been related to YA lit, which we don't deal with at all. At the height of Twilight's popularity we got a lot of really bad romance submissions from lonely old women. As for trends in style: I notice a definite trend but it never changes. A lot of beginning writers tend to write in the same exact style: like they're flatly describing the events of a movie. That's really the only consistent trend among submissions.
For your second question, sometimes we do issues that have a theme. When we do that we put out a call for submissions which fit that theme. Other than that anything is fair game.
>>7800305
Connections aren't impossible to obtain. You can go to a publishing convention and talk about books to random people, before you know it you'll have an in. Otherwise I'd say starting your own zine would be a good in. It shows initiative and business savvy, and if you're real good at it you might get some employers coming to you.
>>7800410
It was too "down to earth" by the standards of the time and place it was written in, which made it just as objectionable as Finnegans Wake would've been if it was his first work. Nice try, but no, your point is a nonpoint.
>>7800444
Give it up you shitter
He had prospective publishers often but they either dropped out or wanted changes he wouldn't make. Some of the stories were also published separately in local newspapers and the collection DID get published eventually. If he were some no-name by the time he was writing Finnegans Wake he'd never have gotten anywhere. You earnestly think some morally ambiguous passages in Dubliners had the same effect on publishers/editors that Ulysses/the Wake would have had? Sorry the publishing world isn't what you wanted it to be, cry to OP some more, maybe that will change things
>>7800570
Wow. The greatest writer of the 20th century publishing in local newspapers.
This is why nobody respects editors.
Joyce would send his shorts to top magazines and be snubbed for some friend of the editor garbage. You're not doing any service by defending hacks like OP.
>>7792786
What genre is hot right now? What genre do you foresee as being the next big hit?
>>7800570
Give what up, exactly? OP was the one who opened this can of worms by posturing as an authority on writing and attempting to use Joyce as an example of what writers "should" do. It's a fraudulent position to take, because Joyce was a total failure in his lifetime by industry standards, so turning around and saying he was a great author and you should follow his progression, as a member of the same institution that originally thought nothing of him and only posthumously jumped on the bandwagon, is downright disgusting and ignorant.
You and OP ought to be ashamed of yourselves.
>>7800936
U mad you don't nepotist? Get gud professor, he'll help you get inside job, no talent needed.
>>7793333
What are you on about m8?
You make it seem like editors are a bad thing...
If you don't want an editor, self-publish, or hope that you can find a literary agent that sees something good in your work.
Take a look at Naked Lunch, the book is schizophrenic, yet it became published.
An editor helps you craft a story that can communicate well with an audience, because that's the reason you're writing right?
If that's not the reason, then who fucking cares about editor's or publishing, gtfo.
It's not as if an editor must stamp your work before continuing, if your work is intelligible and communicable, and succinct, then there shouldn't be worries about it being received.
Only someone utterly delusional would consider editor's as an impediment to art.
Good art will emerge from the midden, good art is universal, and if enough effort is made, success can be found.
>>7801113
>Good art will emerge from the midden, good art is universal, and if enough effort is made, success can be found.
This is absolute bullshit that history has repeatedly proven wrong.
>>7801113
>thinks critics are "bad"
kek
Is it Pinecone Magazine?
>>7798808
>advance either.
are you serious? An advance you need to pay back if you don't reach quota?
I'm out.
>>7800677
Don't go chasing trends. By the time you're finished writing your derivative vampire romance, dystopian political thrillers will be the big thing, and by the time you're finished writing your derivative nazi allegory, John Green will be the next big thing, and by the time you're done ripping off John Green something else will be the hot ticket. I can't pretend to know what the next big thing will be, and neither can anyone else. You can only look at what's eclipsing everything else in sales after the fact.
>>7800936
>use Joyce as an example of what writers "should" do.
I stated what Joyce did. I just as easily could have used Faulkner's first novel Soldier's Pay and The Sound and the Fury as an example but I didn't because I know this place has a hard on for the fart connoisseur. You're acting like I personally rejected Joyce's writings 100 years ago and you're being ridiculous.
>>7801635
You know there's a poster counter in this thread, right? So every time you try to cause more drama I can tell you're the same person.
>>7801669
>I stated what Joyce did. I just as easily could have used Faulkner's first novel Soldier's Pay and The Sound and the Fury as an example but I didn't because I know this place has a hard on for the fart connoisseur. You're acting like I personally rejected Joyce's writings 100 years ago and you're being ridiculous.
No you didn't, because what he did was write a series of controversial stories that no one wanted to touch for nearly a decade. That's not "learning to walk before you run" or whatever retarded point you were trying to make about not trying to do anything too experimental right off the bat. He deliberately set out to shock and offend people with a level of realism that was still somewhat new and unacceptable for an unestablished writer at the time. In other words: he did exactly what you're saying not to.
And you are, in fact, perpetuating the same retarded ideas about publishing that your predecessors have for the past 100 years by doing this. You're just part of a cancer that's been metastasizing for that long, is the point I was making.
>>7801798
Yeah, whatever loser. Stay mad that no magazine will ever publish your work. If I see a Joyce I'll see it, and nobody here is qualified to write fiction.
>>7802034
No you won't. History has shown that editors are terrible at discerning talent and that hasn't changed.
>>7802922
I can not imagine being as bitter as you are.
>>7803468
>having your own opinions about things means you're bitter
Wew lad
>>7801669
>assumes there's only one
>>7803688
We've already established that he's a talentless fraud, so of course he can't read well enough to tell that more than one person is calling him out on his bullshit.
>>7803574
no it's the displays of incredible levels of butthurt
>>7803781
>caring about anything is "butthurt"
Stay autistic, droogy.
>literary magazine
I hope you like what you do because these won't exist in the next 20 years.
Do you print poetry, if so what are you looking for
>>7803794
>responding with more hurtbutt
maybe having a good cry would help you
>>7803812
>I can't think of anything else to say so I'll just keep repeating butthurt
autismspeaks.ogg
>>7803840
you're repeating >autism
>you still have a blasted booty
at least i'm mixing it up a little.
maybe this is why editors always rejected you?
>>7803848
>lel u mad bro?
How does it feel, being an autistic teenager?
>>7798808
>You can register a copyright if you want but it's really unnecessary. The publisher will register it for you if they want to publish it.
I'm just paranoid around the beta readers. Alpha is fine because I know them.
The reason why I've asked was because I've read a writer's beware whatever blog that registering a copyright makes the agent/publisher think twice about your manuscript. I think it's bullshit.
>>7803865
goddam, you are boring as fuck. people must flee from you at social gatherings. cya loser.
>>7803742
Unperceptive, s/he/it is.
