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valarltdI've followed the "fanfic vs. original" debate through ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
metafandom for a while now.
I keep coming across two phrases that make me go "'Tain't So!" in the best Poul Anderson Fashion.
1) It's really really hard to get published.
2) There is no market for short fiction
'Tain't so, folks.
E-publishers are the way to start. You like your slash, try Torquere Press. Ellora's Cave is HURTING for good m/m writers, and good SF writers in general. Cobblestone, Samhain, Phaze, Freya's bower, Loose ID, they all want your stuff. If you write the darker stuff, the stuff mainstream folks don't touch, Circle Dark Publishing is just getting going.
So, how'd it all start for me?
I knew a certain someone from the Master_Apprentice mailing list back around 98. I added her to my LJ. And I caught the call for stories for the Torquere Monsters anthology.
I had a little idea, played with it and let my characters talk. "Prey" came out in Monsters. At first I only wrote for anthologies, then a call for a single shot (10-15K words)--ASAP--came across the mailing list.
I had an idea, wrote the story and sent it. And I was off and running.
My first novel is out this year. My second is contracted. My third is being polished and will go to my editor next week.
Not hard at all. You just have to brave the first step off the cliff and write something then send it to an editor.
I understand trying to get published in paper, by a major publishing house, is a nightmare. But getting e-published is not.
The short fiction market is big and growing. Most places require at least 10,000 words, which to someone used to writing drabbles or 1000 at a go looks HUGE. It's about 20-25 pages. Anthologies go shorter, 3000 or so. That's about 8 pages.
I've sold 13 short stories and 2 novels in the last 2 1/2 years. Getting published--if you have a good story--is not as difficult as everyone says. You just have to know where to look.
I compare it to job hunting. I could have kept looking at clerical jobs and fought with a little pink collar paycheck. Or I could step outside my training, become a trucker and make a living wage.
I could keep submitting work to New York publishers and keep collecting rejections from people who can't afford to take a chance on new authors. Or I could go the e-route and begin building a name.
metafandom for a while now.I keep coming across two phrases that make me go "'Tain't So!" in the best Poul Anderson Fashion.
1) It's really really hard to get published.
2) There is no market for short fiction
'Tain't so, folks.
E-publishers are the way to start. You like your slash, try Torquere Press. Ellora's Cave is HURTING for good m/m writers, and good SF writers in general. Cobblestone, Samhain, Phaze, Freya's bower, Loose ID, they all want your stuff. If you write the darker stuff, the stuff mainstream folks don't touch, Circle Dark Publishing is just getting going.
So, how'd it all start for me?
I knew a certain someone from the Master_Apprentice mailing list back around 98. I added her to my LJ. And I caught the call for stories for the Torquere Monsters anthology.
I had a little idea, played with it and let my characters talk. "Prey" came out in Monsters. At first I only wrote for anthologies, then a call for a single shot (10-15K words)--ASAP--came across the mailing list.
I had an idea, wrote the story and sent it. And I was off and running.
My first novel is out this year. My second is contracted. My third is being polished and will go to my editor next week.
Not hard at all. You just have to brave the first step off the cliff and write something then send it to an editor.
I understand trying to get published in paper, by a major publishing house, is a nightmare. But getting e-published is not.
The short fiction market is big and growing. Most places require at least 10,000 words, which to someone used to writing drabbles or 1000 at a go looks HUGE. It's about 20-25 pages. Anthologies go shorter, 3000 or so. That's about 8 pages.
I've sold 13 short stories and 2 novels in the last 2 1/2 years. Getting published--if you have a good story--is not as difficult as everyone says. You just have to know where to look.
I compare it to job hunting. I could have kept looking at clerical jobs and fought with a little pink collar paycheck. Or I could step outside my training, become a trucker and make a living wage.
I could keep submitting work to New York publishers and keep collecting rejections from people who can't afford to take a chance on new authors. Or I could go the e-route and begin building a name.
