I have decided that these two posts will be the last of the ImagiCon inspired posts.   I learned so much while I was there, and was exposed to exciting new ways of looking at many topics I love, but the past two weeks have been too busy for me to even remember half the details.  I’ll take it as a lesson learned, and try to prioritize my time a little better so that I set those ideas down on pixels before life intervenes.  Most of the topics are inspiring and interesting enough that they’ll be relevant later, so I’ll just pick them up then.

Most of the panels I attended were in the Literary Track, so most of my time was focused on hearing people speak about writing, web technologies, and publishing.   In my notes there are pages of links to check out, books to be watching for, and ideas on how to become a better writer.  Not surprisingly, since ImagiCon was packed with SF, horror, and fantasy authors trying to sell their upcoming books, a big focus in almost all of the panels was on how to get published, types of publishing, and marketing strategies for written materials.  The energy and enthusiasm made it evident that this was the point in the process where the writers were currently embroiled.

Trade Publishing

The traditional route for writers is to go with a well known, established publisher.  These are often referred to as big house or trade publishers.  Getting their attention has historically been difficult, with good reason.  They have thousands of manuscripts coming in every week, and they must triage mercilessly.  With the market on paper becoming more expensive, this process has gotten even more ruthless.  New authors are risky, and already established favorites of the house make most of the money for these publishers.   If the first paragraph doesn’t grab the reader’s attention, there’s a good chance the manuscript will be returned, unread, with a form letter rejection attached.

If a manuscript makes it through a full read, but is rejected, the writer (and agent, if applicable) should dissect the personal rejection letter with careful attention.  No matter how tiny the adverb is, it is feedback, and that is manna to a writer trying to force their way into the marketplace.  To get published by the trade houses, an author often must compromise with ruthless demands, accept page restrictions, be willing to cut out their most precious characters or add new story arcs.  Style often is totally revised to fit in with the feel of the trade publisher’s other books.  It’s an incredibly competitive market, and many brilliant pieces of writing simply will not make it past the several steps required to conform to a publisher’s standards.

After getting a book through the rigors of rewrites, edits, and re-edits, the publisher prints a certain number of copies to be sold.  Traditionally, a book was given six months to move off of shelves before the extras were sent back to the warehouse.  Now, with rising publication costs and competition, that time has been shaved back to closer to six weeks.  Luckily, an author with a big house does not have to do all the work promoting their new book alone.  By signing with that large, well known publisher, the author has ensured that a built in marketing house will be backing their work.

Small Publishers

One alternative is to get published by a smaller house.  Most of the well known publishers have many smaller companies under their umbrella, but I’m not referring to those. Rather, I’m focusing on the independent publishers.  There are many reasons that these independent firms get a good share of real talent that will never be exposed to the mainstream.   Trying to sell a manuscript can meet with repeated dead ends.  Writers often prefer more creative license, and will not alter their art simply to fall in line and conform with the trade houses’ ideas of marketable product.

Independent publishers can be more flexible about words per manuscript and often will take more risks, but they are not the established powerhouses the big conglomerates are.  Besides employing editors, copy editors, and other employees to make sure that the finished product is clean and worth reading, there are the same issues of the cost of creating the physical product.  Paper costs mean that independent publishers are often turning to a “Print on Demand” model.  This is exactly what it sounds like.  Instead of printing a set number of copies ahead of time, books are printed as demand dictates. Often an independent publisher has only a regional market, and limited marketing.  The artist has a lot more marketing to do, and of course many writers cringe at this prospect.   There is also the risk of being taken advantage of by predators who will steal your work.  The author has to be prepared for these pitfalls.  Realizing there are still responsibilities to your work far after the book is printed is crucial.

To be honest, I already had a fair amount of familiarity with most of the information I’ve written here before attending Imagicon.  Tomorrow, I plan to write more about different avenues of publishing, and more fresh information.  Alternative media, especially ebooks and self-publishing as options are becoming increasingly viable in today’s market.