It's Dangerous Out There

Publishing is changing and with it, some of my favourite places have announced big new changes today.

Absolute Write has been struggling financially for some time now, and it's hoped that its new association with Twilight and the accompanying merchandising deal will raise enough money to fund it in the months and years ahead. While this new deal should allow it to continue to operate at full speed, it does come at a price: the forums have been renamed Absolute Bite, the Office Party area of the forum has been renamed the Twilight Party, and vampires are running rampant throughout.

In an effort to improve its scam-busting capabilities, Writer Beware has teamed up with the FBI. I'd be grateful if someone would explain to Victoria that speaking sternly to big blokes with guns is not likely to make them stop what they're doing, because last time she tried it the powderburns ruined her hair.

Finally, I've decided to self-publish my first novel, Ambush of Shadows. I'm well aware of the many limitations involved in self-publishing, but the book isn't achieving anything by sitting unread on my hard drive, and with this blog getting around 10,000 visits per month now I like to think that a few of you might buy it. I'm in the process of editing it now, and will let you know when it's available.

Now. What news have you read today about publishing? Anything good?

Tainted By Association

A little while ago I read a post on the Authonomy message board in which information was requested about a particular London-based publisher. Was it a legitimate publishing house? I did a little digging and realised I’d already checked out the same publisher for someone on the Absolute Write message board last summer.

On reading the publisher’s website I got the distinct impression that they were a pay-to-play publisher, although prices weren’t mentioned. Most of the site focussed on advising writers how to submit, and how to prepare their work for submission: but surely a publisher should focus on promoting the books they’ve already published? I emailed the publisher to find out more and their reply confirmed to me that they were, in fact, a vanity press. I posted this information at Absolute Write and thought no more of it until a few weeks later, when I received by email a threat of legal action against me. The person who made the threat worked for the publisher concerned, and was upset that I’d put his name up at Absolute Write.

I was happy to edit his name out of my original post: my objection wasn’t directed at him, but at the publishing company he worked for, which was charging writers to publish them; and I do prefer a quiet life. However, I did find it intriguing (and still do, hence this post) that while he asked me to edit his name out of my post, he didn’t make any objection at all to my identifying the company he worked for as a vanity press.

Now, why do you think that might have been?

The Bookseller Blog: How Self-Publishing Really Works

I have another piece up on The Bookseller blog today called "How Self-Publishing Really Works" (catchy title, don't you think?), in which I discuss the differences between self-publishing and vanity publishing. I'll be posting something similar here in a week or two but I'd really like it if you'd comment over at The Bookseller in the meantime.

YouWriteOn and The Bookseller Blog

Last week, I was invited to write a response to a piece on The Bookseller Blog about YouWriteOn's publishing scheme. My contribution has just gone up, and you can read it here.

Many thanks to all of you who provided information and helped with the research: naturally, I'm not going to out any of you here but you know who you are and your help is much appreciated.

I have two more pieces due to appear there over the next couple of weeks: they which discuss vanity publishing, self-publishing, and the growing involvement of mainstream publishers in such schemes. I'll provide links when they appear.

Andrew Lownie, Literary Agent

If you’re keen to discover exactly what a literary agent does, take a look at Andrew Lownie’s website.

He’s a fabulous agent and has written several very candid articles about his work, in which he discusses his reasons for rejecting submissions, details his daily routines, and reveals his submissions statistics. It’s funny as well as informative: I laughed out loud as I read his descriptions of his slush pile. He regularly invites other publishing professionals to contribute (although quite what he was thinking of when he requested this piece I cannot imagine); and if you subscribe to his newsletter you don’t even have to visit his website to read all of this wondrous information as he’ll send it straight to your inbox.

Just remember to come back here when you’re done with him, because I do want you back.