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- Jun 5, 2013
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I've not self-published, but from what I can see, it's becoming a very valid way to build a following if you know what you're doing. I gather the Kindle boards are a good source of advice on that from people actively doing it - don't know if you've looked at those.
I think the pro mags are great - I'd love to be accepted by one - but they're still a limited marketplace. The world is so much bigger than that.
One thing I've been thinking about later, is how some of the novelists I enjoy reading often didn't go through the rounds of short story markets, honing their work to suit. Instead, they wrote the novels they wanted to write, the way only they could write them. (Lucky for them, they also found agents and sold their stories.)
For me, the short story markets are a good way to go because they give me goals to aim for, and teach me about the submissions game. I learn a bit about the expectations for genre stories, stuff that the writing course I took the last couple of years wouldn't teach me.
I'd like to find a place where I could learn about the different expectations of literary vs genre markets, and the different tools for each. <snip>
I'm overdue for another visit to the Kindleboards. I've been inspired by success stories and practical advice there. I correspond with someone who sells well on Amazon.
Yes, the world is bigger than the pro venues. I wanted to publish more short stories, yet there's no point holding up other projects. If I'm not completely delusional, I probably have a better chance of gaining an audience by self-publishing novels and novellas -- and the process is far less time-intensive than trying to hawk short stories to editors.
Thanks for the link. I'll check that out - I'm due for a happy story.
Good thought about exploring literary vs genre expectations. I haven't seen anything on that specifically. Corsera is a quality resource for classes on a huge array of topics relevant to writing and it's free. https://www.coursera.org/
Novelist Janet Burroway's Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft remains an excellent intro to the craft of fiction, valuable for working in any mode. Her novel Raw Silk was a runner up for the National Book Award.
I get a charge out of writers who aren't constrained by marketing categories. The finest fantasists are literary writers: Poe, Harlan Ellison, Joyce Carol Oates, Shirley Jackson, Angela Carter, Dan Simmons, Peter Straub, Ray Bradbury -- I'm going to stop before I write an essay.
Newer writers including Kelly Link defy limiting categorization.
http://www.kellylink.net/biblio.htm
I look at the major short story anthos to find breakthrough speculative works and see where they first appeared.
Lately I've been reading essays by editors -- all kinds of editors -- they're a rich source of insights into what works and what impresses the people with the power over who gets published via the traditional route.
One of the few things I've seen on a general difference in craft in genre vs literary was a greater attention to plot, in general, in genre work, as a positive aspect of genre fiction.
That may have been in a Randy Ingermanson newsletter many months back. His newsletters are the only ones I read every word of as soon as they arrive. The subscription is free:
http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/