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Litopia wouldnt be. If you look at webrings I think those would be the basis of Pete's ideas of Constellations. So this would be a Litopia Webring. It could provide a platform where things happen. Where readers and writers connect. Have a look at the Apex Magazine Patreon and Kickstarter. See if it gives you any ideas.
www.patreon.com
Looking from the outside in, I see Litopia very much as a business and a business trying to establish its own roots in the too rapidly evolving publishing industry.... @AgentPete?
I disagree. Trad publishing is going through a difficult phase with all these mergers (or small press swallowings!) and increasing competition from the self-publishing world (but not all that world, only the very few very successful self-published authors who often end up signing with a trad publisher thereafter(platform and readership established). But trad publishing is not dead and never will be. This is the same argument that arose when ebooks first appeared, and trad survived. Trad publishing needs to evolve with the times. Authors who want success need to evolve their publishing strategy with the times and need to choose the best option for their needs and goals. For me, that is trad publishing. I know I am climbing a tall mountain, but there are already successful individuals up there, so I can get there too. (After that, the muscles in my legs will be great for running around the country promoting my book!)
And greedy. So, no change there. Seriously, I think trad publishing will evolve and survive – just as it did last time reports of its demise were exagerated. Too many big companies have too much invested in it – they'll find a way to get a bigger slice of the creative pie. One way they're already evolving is to offer the whole hybrid scheme thing, where they get writers to pay for some of the publishing costs. That's way too scammy for me, but some people are okay with it. Keep working those leg muscles!
And I suppose in my view that is dead.I agree, @Hannah F – it's not dead, it's just being very very stupid
I'm not sure. Like all dictators, its weakness is its ego.
I feel the Zon may have its own rude awakening one day – a bit like Rome did, way back. The world of technology is evolving at the speed of light, too. All it takes is one person with enough vision—and money—rich enough to offer indie writers what Amazon does but make it fair, equitable and with clearly defined rules (instead of the vague shit they prefer atm, so they can cover their arses) and writers would leave it in droves. Amazon loves Amazon, not its clients. And its clients know that. They have an immense PR problem and as soon as there's a viable alternative, the word comeuppance is going to bite them on the bum. I know it doesn't look like it'll happen any day soon, but ya just never know when some little upstart is going to put their new big idea into action. Absolutely agree. Story has survived for thousands of years, and will survive for thousands more, I think; it's only the means of sharing them that changes. And I don't think the big trad publishers will lose their grip entirely. They'll evolve, too.
If being dead means making billions of dollars pa profit, I look forward to it.
I think they're very interested in making new readers and new markets. And I don't think the appetite for books, or stories, is getting smaller, just as I don't think people's appetite for buying "stuff" has reduced because they no long visit the high street. They buy stuff online (and the companies adapting to that environment thrive). We buy books online. But we're still buying books – physical as well as e-books. The market for romance is staggering. And no matter what anyone may think of that as a genre (dessicated old crone that I am, it bores me ), it's still selling tonnes (or megabytes...?). The big trad publishers have figured that out, too. No, not dead, I think. Merely R&R. And again Pete is right. It is by producing extraordinary stories...
TCK is currently closed for fiction submissions.
Many of us have realised it is an easier choice than it appears. The manuscript however wonderful it may be will be seen as a mid list book-given you are not a celebrity. So even if they take the chance on you -you are going to have to do the publicity and selling. The best of both worlds is to get a hybrid publisher like Storm of Bookouture interested. But your dilemma is shared. That is why there is a constant debate on here on how writers reconnect with readers in the future. And think of this. English has an advantage in the world of publishing.
My advice is to get an agent. Once published you'll want a publisher/agent who sells foreign rights and understands the film and TV market. If you are brilliant at marketing and don't mind marketing your novel full time, then the self-publishing option is exciting. But if you want to get on with the next novel and focus on writing, then seek out an agent and use the lab here or join a Huddle (also here) and get @AgentPete to help you.
Yes, if you can afford it. Shortlist judges are often agents or publishers. Look them up and see if they would be a good fit for your story. Some (but very few) manuscripts are called in by agents at this point. Some competitions give feedback.
Hey Andrew!
p.
I think you misunderstand. My view would still be publishing industries are Shroedinger's cat. They are both alive and dead. Each year their role in finding new writers becomes smaller and smaller. In the future it is pretty certain there will be one publishing company to rule them all. That company may make billions, but it will still only be a zombie of it;'s former self.If being dead means making billions of dollars pa profit, I look forward to it.
Most self-published authors do not make money from being a writer, not enough to keep them from needing a full-time job. Only a very small proportion do just like, in the present book-climate, only a few trad published authors make enough to live on. The self-published authors must compete with the celebrities and the big names from the big 5 (or is it 4 now?) as much as the trad ones do. There are pros and cons to both approaches to publication. Each individual must choose what best suits them and their needs. In either case, you'll need to produce cream if you want to rise to the top. If you produce cream, you'll have a much greater chance of a publishing deal and/or a word-of-mouth fan base than you will of winning the lottery.
Kay, underestimating the publishing industry? Not likely.
I'm sorry but being in the position of having to make a thing of it - it looks like underestimating to me. Making a living at writing is for the very privileged and lucky. What is the point of saying "Everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds" when technology gives writers more power to change publishing than they ever have before.
Er - Kay… I don’t think you’d be able to spend it… unless there’s a wrinkle I hadn’t heard about. Of course, being dead probably makes you tax-exempt… brilliant! Maybe that’s why our lords and masters have such dead-eye expressions… because they really are deceased. From Goldman Sachs to Deadman Sachs, very tax-efficient…If being dead means making billions of dollars pa profit, I look forward to it.
You misunderstood. I should have said she doesn't gloat about her experience in actual publishing. She doesn't hang that out for all to see. Instead she modestly shares what she knows from years and years of working in the actual publishing side of writing to help people on here. Having seen how the industry has changed over they years, she understands the trends and what new tech can mean. There's nothing privileged or lucky about her.
I am responding to her words as a writer. She disagreed with what I wrote and I answered. I'm not sure why anyone needs to be defended. My argument is not ad hominem. In return, argument from authority has never been persuasive to me. It remains that unpublished writers are not in a position to be advised by Dr. Pangloss.
That’s nonsense. And ageist. A person’s age does not determine whether they understand the publishing world (a fact you demonstrate all too well) or not. I was firmly in the independent publishing camp well over a decade ago, long before it became the runaway bandwagon it is now. I don’t underestimate anything. Trying to earn a living as a writer these days is hard, no matter which route to publication one chooses. I have never said otherwise.
That’s offensive nonsense. And is how misinformation is spread. I have never said anyone can “become rich” by doing anything, nor have I ever championed the big traditional publishers. I believe their greed and narrow-minded stupidity has done more to destroy writers’ livelihoods than anything, and I don’t disagree with you or anyone else on the importance of indie publishing. The only thing I’m guilty of is daring to disagree with you a month ago that trad publishers are “zombies” and “dead”. You think you’re right. I think you’re wrong. That’s it. No big deal. I don't know why you've suddenly brought it up again.
There is nothing “privileged” or “lucky” about any writer who independently publishes a book and spends all their (usually spare) time writing or marketing their work in order to build a following and try to earn a decent living from it. Most independent authors I know work damn hard for every cent they earn. The traditionally published authors I know also have to work hard at it. And good luck to all of them, I say.
Damn. I forgot: no pockets in a shroud.
