Tick Press
You know how I have a profound animus as regards vampires, how I will happily call the undead out for the manipulative leeching bastards they are. Mindless parasitic poisonous miasmas and all that.
It seems like Undead Press is aptly named.
Hark ye, aspiring writers, to the tale of Mandy DeGeit, whose story was accepted by an anthology from aforesaid publisher and thereupon royally fucked. A gobsmackingly moronic typo introduced into the title itself. A non-gendered character turned male. The utterly spurious insertion of material suggesting animal abuse -- with an undercurrent of bestiality -- and rape.
Wow.
Note that the anthology was non-paying, that the writer received "not even a contributor's copy."
The desire to simply see one's name in print is understandable, but the minimum -- let me repeat that, THE ABSOLUTE MINIMUM -- you should be getting is a contributor's copy. Getting a single contributor's copy is a non-paying market. Getting more than one copy is... arguable. And there are notable exceptions of respected indie press zines where the editor's inability to pay is made up for by the respect for those zines within the field, the fact your story will be read by Year's Best editors simply because it's in that mag. Generally though, you are selling yourself short in submitting to a non-paying market. I know, I know, you think you're not ready for the big leagues yet, that you have to pay your dues, serve your time, as an aspiring / new / beginning / novice writer.
See my first rule of writing: You are not a new writer.
Your writing is a service. You should be looking for payment for it. You should be expecting payment for it. If you don't think it's good enough to deserve payment, make it the fuck better. And crucially, remember that the minimum -- THE ABSOLUTE MINIMUM -- required to constitute even a non-paying market is that you're getting a contributor's copy.
Otherwise, that is not even a non-paying market. It's a market requiring payment from you to see your name in print. In which case, we're not talking about a market at all. We're talking vanity press. We're talking parasite press. We're talking Tick Press.
Nuff said.
It seems like Undead Press is aptly named.
Hark ye, aspiring writers, to the tale of Mandy DeGeit, whose story was accepted by an anthology from aforesaid publisher and thereupon royally fucked. A gobsmackingly moronic typo introduced into the title itself. A non-gendered character turned male. The utterly spurious insertion of material suggesting animal abuse -- with an undercurrent of bestiality -- and rape.
Wow.
Note that the anthology was non-paying, that the writer received "not even a contributor's copy."
The desire to simply see one's name in print is understandable, but the minimum -- let me repeat that, THE ABSOLUTE MINIMUM -- you should be getting is a contributor's copy. Getting a single contributor's copy is a non-paying market. Getting more than one copy is... arguable. And there are notable exceptions of respected indie press zines where the editor's inability to pay is made up for by the respect for those zines within the field, the fact your story will be read by Year's Best editors simply because it's in that mag. Generally though, you are selling yourself short in submitting to a non-paying market. I know, I know, you think you're not ready for the big leagues yet, that you have to pay your dues, serve your time, as an aspiring / new / beginning / novice writer.
See my first rule of writing: You are not a new writer.
Your writing is a service. You should be looking for payment for it. You should be expecting payment for it. If you don't think it's good enough to deserve payment, make it the fuck better. And crucially, remember that the minimum -- THE ABSOLUTE MINIMUM -- required to constitute even a non-paying market is that you're getting a contributor's copy.
Otherwise, that is not even a non-paying market. It's a market requiring payment from you to see your name in print. In which case, we're not talking about a market at all. We're talking vanity press. We're talking parasite press. We're talking Tick Press.
Nuff said.
Labels: Writing Business
posted by Hal Duncan | 5:55 pm
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