Re: Horror Tales of Publishing

Since I’m only now getting my first novel published, I don’t bring much experience to the question, and what I do bring is fairly limited in point of view. But my first novel has shown me how precious a book can be to a publisher. Whole teams have been used, to some degree, in the creation of mine: editorial, design, publicity—and probably a few I’m not even aware of.

In my case, editing my novel into a “page-turner” has been job one, which tells me almost everything about what a publisher can be most afraid of—the reader not turning the page. In getting this editing done, I’ve overheard terms like “low-budget novel,” “banned books,” and “low-sales status authors,” these added to axioms I’ve heard for years: “Agents are the editors” (promoted up from the gatekeepers); authors have to do the outreach on their books themselves; and, most recently, being at cross-purposes, or duplication, with your publicist is fatal.

I’ve heard the horror stories about first-time authors, but horror stories are like wallpaper patterns—they go on and on and shouldn’t be looked at too closely. So I’ll answer my own concerns and hopefully contribute to this blog by putting forth the following belief: Whether selling books or boots, I believe that even the most jaded in the business are susceptible to good old-fashioned enthusiasm, and word-of-mouth is still a true and reliable word.

In many ways, the state of publishing is like the state of the economy. There’s too much talk about it that says nothing. Just do your job, I tell myself. Create a taste in your writing that will stay on the menu.

But I’ll be honest. I live every day with the fact that my rejections outnumber my acceptances by the hundreds. The hundreds. In the case of my first novel, I must have tried a thousand times with it, in some form, before I got a bite.

There’s really no way for any one to be prepared for this. You will either put up with it, or you won’t.

Re: Horror Tales of Publishing

I'm not a novelist, have never tried to market or sell a novel. (I do write poems and have published some books of poems about my parents and their experiences in Nazi Germany. Please buy one through Amazon.) So I don't know much about the business side of doing a novel.

What I do know is that there are fewer readers for good fiction. For that matter, there are also fewer readers for bad fiction! There are fewer readers.

It's hard finding stats for this kind of information, but the ones I've found on the internet (suspect perhaps) suggest the number of readers is down.

Anecdotal evidence suggests the same. I read an article by Philip Roth a couple of years ago in the New Yorker, and he was comparing the number of copies of a book by a "literary author" like Bellow or John Barth or Roth himself published in 1965 and the number of copies published in 2005. In '65, that literary author could expect to sell a half a million copies. In 2005, about 75,000.

Roth's point was that the number of readers is down. The way he put it was that every year more and more readers die, and their places aren't being filled by new readers. Soon, he concluded, there would be maybe 40 or 50 readers left, all of them novelists themselves.

I taught American Lit for 30 some years. In that time, I talked to a lot of students about the books they were buying and reading. When I started teaching, I could expect my students to have books they bought and loved. When I stopped teaching, I could expect that my students didn't buy or own books, didn't read much beyond the books they had to read for class.

I taught at a medium size college in Illinois (Eastern Illinois Univ). I've heard the same comments from my friends who were teaching at bigger schools.

Where did the readers go?

Twenty years ago, I would have said they were watching movies or TV. Today, I would say they are playing computer games, play stations, etc.

What can we do?

I think I have to agree with John Michael Cunningham. You keep writing.

As a poet, what I've learned is that there aren't a lot of people interested in poetry. That market dried up about 80 years ago.

So why write?

It's a form of meditation, a form of interacting with the world and knowing my soul and my heart.

That seems to be reason enough to keep writing.

Re: Tales of Publishing, taking out "horror."

I'm afraid I am in a depressed mood about publishing and books, especially among the smaller presses. I have so many friends who are struggling to find publishing outlets and being treated badly by the ones they find. Plus the loss of Teresa Weaver at the AJC and now St John Flynn resigning from GPB has me in a funk about the state of the Arts. So let the blogging begin and maybe someone can cheer me up.

Re: Tales of Publishing, taking out "horror."

Cant' cheer anyone up, I'm afraid. But I do agree with the two blogs above that urge us to keep writing, no matter the readership or state of publishing. A few readers will always be out there and reaching them is key. My two youngest children love to read, even though my son plays his of video games and my daughter will surely be the youngest known female to develop carpal tunnel syndrome due to complications from text messaging. I worry, though, that as they grow through their teen years and twenties, they'll lose the habit of reading, not because they don't want to read, but because they won't be able to find good stories written with a deft hand amidst the piles of drivel the media will try to convince them is good reading. Somehow, "literary" children's literature seems readily available and widely read. I'm not sure why this no longer carries over into adult fiction, but I suspect the nightmare that is the NY publishing world has a lot to do with it.

Re: Tales of Publishing, taking out "horror."

I've seen a lot of children over the years turn from reading to non-reading. I'm not sure why it happens. I taught Amer Lit for years and was always coming across students who hadn't read for pleasure since they were 12!

Reading is a solitary occupation, and perhaps we're increasingly losing the gift of solitude.

Re: Tales of Publishing, taking out "horror."

Janice - first off, thank you for initiating this blog. I had no idea of some of the issues above!

I had actually been thinking that readership was on the rise. Perhaps there are fewer big hits, but I do believe books have a broader reach in our lives. My techno efficient teenage daughter and elementary school son love to read and have quite a library of their own. (Okay, I will throw out the disclaimers here about my exposing them more to reading since I am a writer, and the possibility that I have created my own reality, as Deepak would say.) I see so many of my commuting colleagues clutching a book on flights (yep, I have kept the day job until that viable, financial hit comes along) and more (non writer) neighbors attend book clubs than I remember. So I think on a micro level, readers are reading more than ever and there are more (thank God for literacy programs!) readers. I am not so hopeful about the current state of the publishing.

I'm not sure where things are headed for any industry: film, music, publishing. There are fewer outlets, more bands/writers/scripts, consumers wanting content for free - pushing moguls to screen (i.e. reject!) anything that does not smell of 'big money'. Which brings us to the current industry appetite (in deference to John's menu comment - very nice, by the way) that Janice so aptly pointed out. I am in the draft stage of my third novel, fretting that I don't have siamese twins or Kabul exiles or even retired circus workers - how the heck am I going to entertain the demanding reader? If I don't have some new, exotic hook in my novel, how AM I going to get past the cover letter getting read. It has to be just as frustrating for agents and publishers, actually, to invest time and money on a hunch about consumer interests. Has it always been this way? I would say probably, but so many classics are just pure good story and fine writing.

Maybe we can create a reality show AMERICAN IDYLL in which writers offer a 355 page escape through talent and story, one chapter read each week, elimination by popular vote. Or, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN WRITE. Go on tour reading our 'also ran' novels at book signings and make a darned respectable living. Or perhaps we ourselves can starve the beast and seek out the smaller presses' offerings, refuse the NY TIMES or B&N's suggestions, encourage our friends to do the same. I do believe, sooner or later, the larger industry will start appreciating the micro audiences I am convinced exist: readers and writers of southern history, of family struggles. The list so wonderfully endless.

So I tell myself to hunker down, it's just a numbers game, even though it so often just feels numbing. For them. For us. And, because I have no choice really, I'll keep hanging in there...trying hard to create my successful reality.

Re: Tales of Publishing, taking out "horror."

Okay, Cia, all: I've changed my mind about today's publishing being at an all-time high horror level. In the latest issue of The Southern Review, Robert Clark Young, in "Death of the Death of the Novel," explores the history of those in the business bemoaning the downturn in publishing and reading. And too I recently looked at the NY Times Best Seller List and found 5 or 6 literary novels. Cia Dunn is right: we are in an age of reading. And I would add that in my lifetime I've never known a period of such idleness and leisure, such a focus on the arts. Truly, there is nothing new under the sun.

Re: Tales of Publishing, taking out "horror."

Maybe the numbers of fiction writers compared with the number of readers is out of proportion. I've heard speculation that Americans are reading less and spending more time with video games, the tube, internet, you know, screens that glow. Publishers are well aware of this and they're not in the business to bring great literature to the world, but to make money. They want books that can bring in the bucks with subsidiary rights for products they can sell to those glowing screens. Also, they want whatever they think will fit in with the hottest trend.

In the current market, with so many fine unpublished writers of fiction trying to land their manuscripts, it's somewhat unrealistic for unknown writers to hope they'll make much money, unless they are well established as someone whose books are proven sellers.

Re: Tales of Publishing, taking out "horror."

I am so pleased that I found your website and blog. I am originally from upstate New York, currently living in South Georgia. I thoroughly enjoyed reading "Dark of the Moon", "Paw Paw Patch" and "Like a Sister"... but I must admit it took me a little while to understand some of the vocabulary! In many ways I felt as though I was reading another language -- so yes, I can see where writers of Southern Literature could be considered "minorities." The story line was spectacular though and kept me "turning pages"... I enjoyed the stories and the lessons as well... one of my favorite topics of discussion was the phrase "water shelf" I'd never heard it before... and had to ask my neighbors. After a brief education on the subject they just nodded, smiled and probably thought - "Damn Yankee!" :)

My input for this topic is limited... since I've yet to be published! Or even read! Or find an agent! I can't get beyond the 'query letter' so I guess they are not actually rejecting my work so much as they are rejecting... me - without even reading my work. To that extent it is probably safe to assume that the ratio of writers to readers (not to mention agents/publishers!) is incredibly overwhelming.

My first instinct tells me that if someone of your caliber is having difficulties in this arena --- what am I doing here??? And then... I remember... because I love to write. I have all these stories running wild in my head and I can't get them down on paper fast enough!

So... I will keep submitting and adding to my pile of rejections... and hopefully... one day... someone will actually want to read something and then maybe... just maybe I will conquer my own tale of publishing - taking out the horror.

Thank you for your website and for this blog.

Re: Tales of Publishing, taking out "horror."

Janice,
I second the kudos for publishing your blog and setting up your web page! I'm in the position of writing the second novel and hoping to find an agent/publisher for the first time, as I set up a publishing company for my first novel, a historical fiction of early Atlanta titled "Abbeville Farewell." I didn't send it to enough agents, in the words of one of my writing friends. Thanks to your cover blurb (Janice, you shameless hussy!) and that of another well-known author, as well as a lot of hard work writing, researching, and marketing, it sold well.
These are indeed different times; I just received my Chattahoochee Review, and it is devoted to Japanese writers. Potentially, CR may join the Atlanta Review (of poetry) and focus on other cultures rather than its previous focus. I note that a very well known Georgia writer last novel was passed over by New York publishers and went to a more regional one; another has self-published her latest novel. These events give me pause, for sure! On the other hand, having self-published, I can see the challenges any agent/publisher faces; they are in competition with so many different media! I guess the secret is to keep on keeping on, and to find those other outlets--like your blog and web publishing venture. I still think that if we work hard to transport the reader to a different world in a seamlessly well-told tale, it will sell. Thanks for beginning the talk here!

Re: Tales of Publishing, taking out "horror."

I'd like to associate myself with the experiences reported here by Janice and others. Anyone today who chooses to dedicate him/herself to literary fiction must be prepared for a life of unremitting frustration. It is infuriating to witness talentless writers "earning" millions and capturing large numbers of readers while writers much more gifted cannot even find a publisher.
It's a strange thing. The best basketball players are the best paid. A fine engineer will do better than an incompetent one. A skilled lawyer will profit more than an unskilled. But in the matter of writing it is precisely the other way around. In my own case, my books are praised by critics and ignored by readers, which has caused me to move from publisher to publisher as no individual firm can afford to publish me twice. Thanks goodness for my fine agent, who has been willing to stay with me through thin and thin.
Recently I gave a reading at the South Carolina Book Festival. The section occupied by a certain pulp writer devoid of merit had an overflow audience. The section for literary fiction had perhaps five attendees. I am reminded of a cartoon that Janice reported to me - of a crowd of writers forming up in line to get the autograph of a reader. It may well be there are fewer "good" readers than good writers.

Re: Tales of Publishing, taking out "horror."

Janice, Thank you for providing a place for an exchange of views and thoughts. I admire anyone who keeps writing in a time like this when you have a better chance of winning the lottery than getting published by a New York house. It is sad what is happening to small presses (and big ones, too), just as it is sad what is happening to newspapers. But is it their fault or ours? We are the ones who buy the best sellers and ignore very good Southern novels. We are the ones who watch reality TV shows or become fixated on the death of Anna Nichole Smith. Publishers and the media are only serving up what sells and attracts readers or viewers. I don't how how to fix this other than to continue to write the best we can, teach our children to appreciate fine storytelling, and pray for more phenomenons like Harry Potter.
We are the ones who control the marketplace. "Cold Mountain" became a best seller because of word of mouth from booksellers and readers, not because of an expensive marketing campaign. Sure, the marketing campaign followed, but only after the publisher noticed the grassroots support.
So maybe what we need to do is not only write what is dear and important to us, but also to talk about other authors' books we have read and admire. And we don't have to do it over the backyard fence anymore. We have the Internet. Tell everyone what you've read and why you like it. (And it's perfectly fine to brag about your own books like you would your grandchildren.)

Re: Tales of Publishing, taking out "horror."

Janice and friends,
I came across a blog on NewPages.com that offered a perspective on reaching new readers--it involves getting into technology as the way to relate to young people who are all about technology. Quoting Ursula LeGuin and others, Denise Hill points out that reading was a form of social currency in the past; it's been supplanted by technology as a means of social currency, and that's the reality; the good news is that young people are wild to teach their elders about the technology. (Hope I never have to know it ALL!:) ) Here's the link (look for AWP Panel summary by Denise):
http://newpagesblog.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-02-15T17%3A06%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=2

Now if I can just find out how to get my name to show on this blog! Thanks, Estelle Ford-Williamson

Re: Tales of Publishing, taking out "horror."

Janice, this really refers to both topics you have submitted on the Blog. I am so tired of the fatalism expressed in movies and books lately. The attitude reflected in both "No Country For Old Men" and "There Wiill Be Blood" is that evil has triumphed. In "Into the Wild" the theme seemed to be if you try to march to a different drum nature will strike you down.

Trying to get away from these downer movies I turned to John Grisham's latest epic THE APPEAL. I won't give away the ending but will say it falls right in line with those movies I mentioned.

Maybe its the war and maybe its the economy but something has gotten the arts in a funk. I hope something comes along soon that will put an optimistic face on the world.