Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Publishers, When You Say Something...

Awhile back, I wrote about the fates of two of my poems.  The second one ended up without a publication to call its own after all contributors were released from their contracts this spring because the press wanted to be completely "book-focused".  I get it, it happens.  I accepted it.

Five months later...

I find out the novel-loving press is starting up (*gasp) a new magazine!  They had an active call for submissions just last month and the crew seems really excited.

But they just closed down their magazines this spring... after buying a bunch from a different company... after condemning the owner they bought them from... and jerking former contributors around for a year...

I would like to say the press is receiving negative coverage for what it is doing but I haven't found any.  So, either no one cares or, like me, detractors speak without divulging names.

Either way, poorly played and horribly managed, ladies and gentlemen of the company. May less and less people get caught by your web, your mismanaged bear-trap of farce, until you can get your act together and stop trying to bedazzle people with sock puppets and peanuts.

The sad part is, some will stand for it, even reach up and beg for an opportunity to be noticed by anyone in publishing.  Peanuts still work on those starving for a chance...


2 comments:

  1. I'd say the publishing industry is a tough one to be in right now and many publishers are going to die off if they aren't capitalized by the bigger players. Trying to get published via the traditional means is going to get more and more difficult as time goes by. Self-publishing, especially e-books, is the salvation and the curse for all of us. Some might do okay, but most will struggle along as writers have often done in the past. Luck or ingenuity are probably the biggest players for those who aspire to success as writers while occasionally persistence and hard work will count for something on the road to success.

    Good luck!

    Lee
    Wrote By Rote

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're right.
      I know poetry never suffered from the self-publishing stigma novels did but I still hold out for the hope of a "traditional someday". This isn't bias, merely that poetry tends to be for a less mainstream audience and presses can tap into those more efficiently.

      Delete