Writing Blog

20230908 My Writing Journey/Personal Publishing Notes

September 8, 2023, 9:15am

Questions…

JJ Robinson II recently posted "Note: Can anyone share observations and experience about..." asking about people’s experiences in the publishing sphere.

Why not look back at my journey and perspective?

Now, first and foremost, I don’t “do” self-publishing. There are a number of reasons which I don’t go into because it creates arguments and abuse, but it does mean I do not have a personal perspective on this. I have friends who have done it, but that is not my story to tell.

I have a few friends who publish online and I do feel that I can say there are two major issues with that avenue: First, the T&Cs of these platforms indicate that they have ownership over your work. If you sign the T&C page, you agree to it. Stupid Facebook posts saying you refuse to acknowledge this mean nothing – you already agreed. Second, their payment models are often not looked upon well. Even Medium, which is seen as one of the better ones, uses a payment system that the Australian Taxation Office is not a fan of. And partnerships make this even worse for the writers.

So… that leaves traditional publishing.

First, I cannot find an agent. I have tried, and continue to try, but to no avail. However, I understand that I have two things going against me – one, I’m Australian, living in Australia, and our previous right-wing government made it a real headache to get paid; and two, I write what is essentially pulp fiction. But if you can get one interested, you’re doing well. Make sure you are submitting a work to an agent who suits it, follow all their rules, be patient, and good luck!

Having said that, I’ve had 5 books, 90 short stories, 42 poems and 5 essays published. A lack of an agent just means the big 5 publishers are probably not yet open to me. They tend to only go for agented writers.

Here’s my journey in a nutshell:

I had my first poem published in 1986 in Dolly magazine. I had my second poem published in 2011. 25 years later…

I had my first short story published in 1988 in Knave magazine. I had my second published in 2004. That was only a 16 year gap.

I had my first book published in 2010. I finished my first novel in 1986. 24 years to get that first nod. It was a competition winner, I got royalty money for about a year… and then the company went bust.

Anyway, having looked at my history, I will say that it is actually so much easier to find somewhere to publish nowadays than it was “back then.”

I mainly use Duotrope  , and, yes, I pay the annual subscription fee. Their weekly newsletters have themed calls that are closing soon, and when I have a novel ready to go, I use it to find publishers. They have been invaluable to me… and the subscription fee is tax-deductible (in Australia, at least).

I also use Authors Publish, https://rk.groups.io/g/writerop/topics, and Horror Tree (though that last one is becoming less and less relevant, and I have an issue with the owners) to find open calls. These are free to subscribe to and I have found some successes there as well. I do rely on these websites and their newsletters because Google and Bing are useless for searches in this regard with the fact dodgy and hybrid publishers pay for higher rankings and bots push useless sites up the SEO rankings.

I should point out that I also don’t “do” writing competitions any longer. I used to, but no more. This a mental health thing on my behalf and I know a number of authors who swear by them. However, a rule of thumb I was told by the local writer’s centre is to be careful of how much you pay. If the entry fee is more than 10% of the lowest prize, then it might be a scam or might not be what it is claimed. For example, if third prize is $50, do not pay more than a $5 entry fee. Rule of thumb; not always the case. Just be careful. And if you decide to enter a competition – good luck! Hope you do well!

Back to publishing.

Before submitting, check out one of the Writer Beware blog sites to make sure the publisher is legit. Too many hybrid publishers hide their fees and make you think they are a proper trad publisher, and they keep on changing their names. Always check. Duotrope is pretty good at doing their own checking, by the way, and indicate if a publisher wants money.

Next, make sure you follow all of the publisher’s “rules” on a website. Some may seem silly or useless, but they serve two purposes. One, they indicate how easy you will be to work with, and two, they generally make their job easier as you do not know what software they are using to collate an anthology or set up a book.

In general, though, most want submissions done in the same format. As such, find a website explaining Shunn manuscript and learn it. Use it. It is very important.

There are some caveats, and I now do not use new or small publishers after being done over by a few. I tend to submit to medium-sized publishers (Dark Ink/AM Ink was great to work with) or those who have been around for a minimum of seven years. Why 7? Arbitrary, really, but I had to set a time. Magazines are the same.

On a tangent, online magazines also pay nicely nowadays and if you don’t mind e-publishing only, they can be a decent source of income and exposure and look fine on your writing CV. Pre-COVID, I would have avoided online magazines, but they have really come into their own and are even more stable than print magazines in some cases.

When I started, I also submitted to “for the love” anthologies. These don’t pay you for your work, but also do not charge you any money, and are a good way to get used to having external editors and are still fine for your writing CV. I don’t do them any longer, but I found them a good way to break into the horror writing market in the 2000s.

I said you need to submit to an agent that wants your work style. Same with a magazine or anthology. I mean, don’t submit your erotica work to a hardcore scifi magazine. That may seem like it is obvious, but when I was doing editing and reading work for Static Movement Press back in the early 2010s, you would be surprised how many writers did not care and just sent their “baby” out to whoever had an open call. Smaller publishers talk to one another; this is the best way to get black-balled by them all. Also, do not submit fan fiction unless you have made it really transitive. Save your fanfic for ao3 or fanfic.net (or WdC); don’t submit it, as it will be rejected. And self-publishing fanfic can see you get sued. Parody is different, as is completely changing the source (remember 50 Shades… started life as Twilight fanfic). I have had 2 pieces published formally on a website, one where I took WWE wrestlers and made them superheroes, and the other where I set WWE wrestlers in a crime noir setting. Both still pay me to this day, more than a decade later.

So, all of my stories have appeared in anthologies or magazines or on paying websites, and my five books were published by small to medium sized publishers. My essays have all been in magazines. My poetry has been in books, magazines and the local newspaper (they pay a little, but they pay and it is a good CV addition). None were self-published; I have never paid for publication anywhere.

And that is my perspective/advice on publishing and my journey!