It's much harder than it used to be. When I finished my MFA, and was still in my opinion a real neophyte, I only had to query agents to get a lot of interest. Bad as my work was, lots wanted to read it and give me detailed comments. No longer! Now that I consider myself quite an accomplished writer (obviously perhaps wrongly!) agents rarely reply to me at all, and I almost never get a full MS. request. So I suppose I'm still struggling with how to unfuck myself. It's not that you necessarily want fame or money--honestly, I no longer care--but an audience would be nice, however small! But as for selling yourself--I still have too much pride to do that. I've seen people prostitute themselves, sometimes spiritually, sometimes physically, and I don't think that's ever a good bargain for the person who does it, regardless of the reward (which in any case is usually proffered then snatched away.) I'll be interested to read part 2, anyway.
So, I combined part II with my own origin story regarding loans / debt and how it destroyed my hopes in my youth, but I will have more to say in part III that's less about me and more about some of my thoughts on what's happening now.
One thing that I've been seeing on Substack - with certain Substackers (some who have actually been publicly cancelled) is that they have large audiences now and many of them are paid subscribers. There is a poet on here whose work is beautiful. He's an accomplished poet. He's not someone who is just getting started in his craft. But he no longer has easy access to publications because he was publicly #MeTooed in such a way that it destroyed his social standing in the literary world (at least in the US). He just announced recently that he has over 5000 subscribers and he has a much larger and more engaged audience than he ever had when he was publishing in literary magazines. I'm not certain if this is just Substack's halcyon days (most likely) but I think all effort and energy right now should be going to building up an engaged subscribership to your writing on this platform (but always back up all your writing that you publish here just in case). Self-publish it all and see what sticks / doesn't stick.
Part III is coming soon.
Also, I'm envious that things were so much easier back in the day. But I kind of remember this. I did send out one of my first poems to a British poetry magazine called Magma in the early 2000s and it was immediately accepted. Can you imagine? The first poem you send to a literary magazine and it's accepted. Wow. And the magazine isn't just some little thing that isn't read by anyone. Now, it's nearly impossible to get published in any literary magazines. So, I completely understand what you're saying.
I think you're right that Substack in its Golden Age--which I hope will continue. Thanks for the advice, which I think is good, to start publishing bits of my work on here. (I mean, and suppose you also mean, my fiction.) I've been thinking of that. Excerpts, obviously. Though I see some novelists are serialising entire books on here now, just as Victorian novelists used to do in magazines. There has to be a way to beat this stupid closed system.
As for the literary magazine scene, I haven't tried to publish anything there for years, but it was certainly easier. You did get rejections, but I ended up publishing pretty much every story I submitted, at least the ones that were worthy, and in some cases in quite prestigious magazines like McSweeney's. I even had a Canadian magazine call me to ask for second serial rights on a story that had already been published in the USA--which I think would be virtually inconceivable now. They were paying, too. Anyway, good luck with your work, Autumn, and I take heart at your words. I feel like a real community is forming here.
Thank you! I just put some more edits on it. Every time I re-read it I see another typo! Better to read the updated version on the website than the one in the email.
It's much harder than it used to be. When I finished my MFA, and was still in my opinion a real neophyte, I only had to query agents to get a lot of interest. Bad as my work was, lots wanted to read it and give me detailed comments. No longer! Now that I consider myself quite an accomplished writer (obviously perhaps wrongly!) agents rarely reply to me at all, and I almost never get a full MS. request. So I suppose I'm still struggling with how to unfuck myself. It's not that you necessarily want fame or money--honestly, I no longer care--but an audience would be nice, however small! But as for selling yourself--I still have too much pride to do that. I've seen people prostitute themselves, sometimes spiritually, sometimes physically, and I don't think that's ever a good bargain for the person who does it, regardless of the reward (which in any case is usually proffered then snatched away.) I'll be interested to read part 2, anyway.
So, I combined part II with my own origin story regarding loans / debt and how it destroyed my hopes in my youth, but I will have more to say in part III that's less about me and more about some of my thoughts on what's happening now.
One thing that I've been seeing on Substack - with certain Substackers (some who have actually been publicly cancelled) is that they have large audiences now and many of them are paid subscribers. There is a poet on here whose work is beautiful. He's an accomplished poet. He's not someone who is just getting started in his craft. But he no longer has easy access to publications because he was publicly #MeTooed in such a way that it destroyed his social standing in the literary world (at least in the US). He just announced recently that he has over 5000 subscribers and he has a much larger and more engaged audience than he ever had when he was publishing in literary magazines. I'm not certain if this is just Substack's halcyon days (most likely) but I think all effort and energy right now should be going to building up an engaged subscribership to your writing on this platform (but always back up all your writing that you publish here just in case). Self-publish it all and see what sticks / doesn't stick.
Part III is coming soon.
Also, I'm envious that things were so much easier back in the day. But I kind of remember this. I did send out one of my first poems to a British poetry magazine called Magma in the early 2000s and it was immediately accepted. Can you imagine? The first poem you send to a literary magazine and it's accepted. Wow. And the magazine isn't just some little thing that isn't read by anyone. Now, it's nearly impossible to get published in any literary magazines. So, I completely understand what you're saying.
I think you're right that Substack in its Golden Age--which I hope will continue. Thanks for the advice, which I think is good, to start publishing bits of my work on here. (I mean, and suppose you also mean, my fiction.) I've been thinking of that. Excerpts, obviously. Though I see some novelists are serialising entire books on here now, just as Victorian novelists used to do in magazines. There has to be a way to beat this stupid closed system.
As for the literary magazine scene, I haven't tried to publish anything there for years, but it was certainly easier. You did get rejections, but I ended up publishing pretty much every story I submitted, at least the ones that were worthy, and in some cases in quite prestigious magazines like McSweeney's. I even had a Canadian magazine call me to ask for second serial rights on a story that had already been published in the USA--which I think would be virtually inconceivable now. They were paying, too. Anyway, good luck with your work, Autumn, and I take heart at your words. I feel like a real community is forming here.
Brilliant, both in its parts and its entirety. I am still rereading and letting it expand in my mind, heart, and life.
Thank you! I just put some more edits on it. Every time I re-read it I see another typo! Better to read the updated version on the website than the one in the email.
Let's not even talk about editing. I've learned the hard way that publishing a book is 25% the writing of it; 75% editing editing editing editing...