November 12, 2008 @ 9:14 pm
First of all, congrats to Joseph Boyden for winning this year’s Giller Prize!
Joseph and I had the chance to talk about books and awards and what they mean (or don’t mean) when he was here in Peterborough a couple of months ago. A very honest and humble man (and funny!). It was a real honour meeting him, and I’m very happy to see him win this award.
On another note, I’ve received a few e-mails from people who said they have either ordered or are planning to order Shades of Darkness. It’s always nice to see people buy the books and mags featuring my work. I really appreciate the support, not just for me but for the various small press markets who have been kind enough to present my stories to audiences all over the world. Okay, to audiences in the U.S. and Canada. And Finland.
I don’t like to do the salesman bit too hard because it’s not really my thing. That’s probably why I’ve never felt the desire to buy a bunch of copies of the magazines or anthologies featuring my work and sell them on my own. I respect the people who take this approach, but it’s not something that interests me. I have no problem promoting the markets and doing any other kind of media-whoring – in fact, I like it – but selling the stuff door-to-door or out of the trunk of my car is not something I will do. No offense to those that dig that kind of thing.
Another reason I don’t like to pimp my stuff is that, in all honesty, I don’t really expect people to buy it. Correction: I don’t expect them to buy it solely for my stories. I don’t expect someone to pay up to $50 for an anthology just so they can read one of my stories. I hope that they buy it to read all of the stories. A lot of the markets I appear in are not available on the newsstand, and those are the ones that are harder to promote because people by and large don’t buy magazines off the internet with their credit cards. Distribution and promotion have always been problems for small press publishers because those things cost money. Therefore most of my work is only available via the publisher or at online marketplaces. A few of the markets I’ve been published in, like Broken Pencil and Cemetery Dance, have been available on newsstands, but they are few and far between. It’s a tough business to break out in, and it’s even tougher to build any kind of following, especially on short stories alone. But I’m trying.
I think my feelings on the subject would be different if I had a collection or a novel. Then I might be more inclined to put on my salesman hat. To a certain degree anyway. I’m still not comfortable with using this website to hawk my wares. If I did have a novel out, I think I’d run contests or post deleted scenes, alternate endings, or some sort of supplemental material to make it more fun and less like a bid to get y’all to buy my book. I do have plans for the future of this site in that respect. Exclusive content, free stories, etc.
So thanks to everyone who has already ordered a copy of SoD, and to those who are planning to do so. And thanks to those of you who have bought the other mags and anthos featuring my work. It’s not always easy to find them, but supporting these markets is supporting my work and that in turn drives me to pump out more tales for your amusement.
Okay, enough love, time to get back to work.
I’ve come to the conclusion as of late that readers of fiction can be broken into two camps: those who like short stories, and those who like novels. Plenty like both of course but I think everyone secretly knows which side they truly belong on.
If only we had a sorting hat.. then at least I’d know who’s team I’m on for Quiddich!
True enough. I just wonder if the short story lovers are actually hungry enough to go searching in all the obscure nooks and crannies where our stuff is getting published.
And you are so a Hufflepuff, Simon.
Sometimes it is hard with the postage and all too but I will definately be getting Shades of Darkness, especially for your story Ian, and the one by Simon.
Ally — Yep, once you add in the price of postage, especially these days, and the fact that some of these mags are kind of pricey, it tends to keep people from ordering them. And it’s just a pain in the ass to order stuff by mail anyway.
One of the problems with the small press, especially the American small press, is that the only people that read the magazines are the contributors to those magazines. If you step back from things you can see that the bulk of the SP movement is one giant circle-jerk — authors reading each other’s work but no real readers buying up copies. There are few reader-only people around. It’s amazing how inflated one can feel when he or she sells out his or her book, even though the only people buying it are other writers (and quite often only friends). The trick is to stretch beyond our circles and land the people who have never met us in any way shape or form (that includes blog comments and newsgroups). I suspect only a fraction of writers out there get that kind of attention; the rest of us are just fooling ourselves.
But, back to the point, no one wants to buy these things. After a certain amount of time, I think it’s pointless submitting to magazines. One is better off subbing to books; at those have a chance a stranger will read it.
That’s the exact same way I feel, Simon. I have always wondered what kind of breakout, if any, there is to an audience beyond the other writers and editors and artists in the business. Who is actually reading these magazines, and are there any people who do read them who don’t have any stake in the small press? I think the mags and anthos would have to be more readily available to get that kind of audience and the simple fact is that they’re not.
This has been my big dilemma over the past year, focusing on which markets to send my stories, and of course working on my novel. I love short fiction, and I’ll always write it, but it’s hard to find markets that people are actually reading. It does seem that everyone is just publishing each other, blurbing each other, etc., and it doesn’t really seem to be doing anything for anyone’s careers, because all of these people are still unknown.
And yes, when I see a small print run sell out, I wonder how many copies actually sold and weren’t bought up by other small press marketplaces, and the writers family and friends (and the writer himself/herself). Especially if the book is a super fantastic limited numbered lettered edition, then I really wonder because so many of these “collectors” don’t even read the books, because that would reduce the precious value. I like limited editions for the extra features, the same way I like special DVDs for their extra features, and I read every single one of them. I don’t worry about their value diminishing because I bought the thing to read it. But a large part of the small press market is the collectors and that’s why you see so many limited editions.
I think you’re right about stretching beyond these circles via blogs, newsgroups, cons, anything that can get your name out to the actual reading audience. I like the small press community, I think everyone is great, but it’s preaching to the choir isn’t exactly building me a readership.
Like you, I tend to stick to anthologies when it comes to sending out my short stories. I don’t know if the audience is any bigger, but the productivity arc is longer, and the product stays in print longer.