publishing industry
-
In Defense of Literary Agents
The rise of self-publishing and smaller independent presses has left many writers questioning the value of literary agents and their fifteen percent commissions. The collaborative nature of publishing depends on these middlemen though, warns Bethanne Patrick at Beyond the Margins: …agents…
-
White People Everywhere
White male editors still dominate publishing and white male authors still dominate bestseller lists. Writing over at Plougshares, literary agent Eric Nelson explores the problem: I have frequently presented books as an editor to a room full of only white people.…
-
Solidly Mid-List
So what happened? How did I get here? That’s really the mystery of this whole business, this amazing adventure we call writing.
-
From Writer to Realtor
Famed slam poet Maggie Estep passed away suddenly in February. Over at The Billfold, Rumpus contributor Sari Botton laments the decline of the publishing industry and the need for writers like Estep to enter into real estate: It was a little…
-
You’re Jonathan Franzen or You’re Nobody
“I write because I’ve always wanted to know what bankruptcy feels like.” John Winters gives his sobering reaction to the hotly debated “MFA vs. NYC: The Two Cultures of American Fiction,” in his essay, “Why I Write: 2014 Edition.” He details…
-
The Alt Weekly is Dead, Long Live the Alt Weekly
How valuable are print alt weeklies? Very, Baltimore City Paper senior editor Baynard Woods argues in the New York Times. Woods writes that alt weeklies are “connected to a city in the way that a website can never be” and that they “report on…
-
Want to Publish a Book? Here’s How
It’s quirkily written with lots of jokes, but don’t let that fool you: Delilah S. Dawson’s Terrible Minds guest post, “25 Steps to Being a Traditionally Published Author: Lazy Bastard Edition,” is thorough, professional, and extremely helpful. From advice to…
-
Is Penguin’s E-Galley Policy Hurting Authors?
When a book is ready to be marketed, Penguin will print loads of galleys. Great, important, standard. But what they won’t do is give out electronic versions of the book. Not DRM and watermarked copies. Not password protected copies. An…
-
Good News About Kids and the Future
There’s a series of articles published by McSweeney’s that is re-contextualizing the state of the publishing industry. These essays are set out to address the facts which are often obscured by the fraught and perilous language abundant in the publishing…
-
Considering the Short Story
For all the short story readers and writers out there—this Millions essay considers the ups and downs of short story publishing and their synchronistic decline with the mass market magazine readership. There are some illuminating stats on Americans’ short story…