Back to Ongoing Thoughts
Ongoing Thoughts Four:
By William E. Steinman:
About Publishing:
I do not accept manuscript or queries from other writers. I
never have. Still it happens. Queries come to me from people who has never
looked at my website and sometimes from people who have. Recently I even go a
query from one of my relatives. She thought she had an uncle in the publishing
business. She told a friend she could intercede for her. I had to disappoint
her.
Considering that, I think I need to make the point that I do
not want and cannot consider queries or manuscripts. I do not publish other
people work and never have. To make that point, I have placed a message on my
home page. I hope that will dissuade the solicitation, but I suspect some
people will still ignore it.
One query I got in the mail recently came form someone in
another state. How he got my name and address I have no idea, but he addressed
his query to me personally rather than editor or Topguy. At any rate, I replied
to him because he did include a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE). If he
had not he would have received no reply. Sometimes, I also get unsolicited
manuscripts. Those I will not deal with at all. They go in a stack in the corner
of my office, unopened. If that stack gets too high, they will go in the trash.
The truth is I would have to reject most of these queries
even if I wanted manuscripts. Even the synopsis reveals bad writing. I have
given up tying to understand this. A person will invest half a lifetime in
learning to do something well, for example engineering. Then, this same person
after he or she is successful will decide, with no background for it whatever,
to sit down and flip off a book in their spare time. Of course, they expect to
become rich and famous overnight. I assure you, it does not work that way.
Writing is a very tough business. Even most of the people who make money at it
have day jobs.
As to my reply, I post it here. Perhaps others will see it
so they will not waste their time and postage in a dead end.
Dear Mr. X:
Thank you for your interest in Wesoomi Publishing. I regret
to inform you that I am not equipped to accept queries or manuscripts. In fact
I do not publish other peoples work at all. Wesoomi Publishing was founded
solely for the purpose of publishing my own work. That is all I have ever done
or expect to do. At one time, I thought I might expand, but that has not
happened. I publish my own books simply for the pleasure it gives me.
If you are seriously interested in putting your work before
the public, you may want to consider that route. To that end, I have written a
series of essays about my experience in the writing and publishing arena. You
can find these essays on the Wesoomi Publishing website at
http://www.wesoomi.com. The essays are in my archives under the title “On
Writing and Publishing.” I wrote most of them several years ago.
Although the message of the essays is generally still true,
I have noticed one new development. That is the fact that the entire publishing
industry has evolved from a non-receptive attitude toward new writers to open
hostility. As far as I can see, they consider new writers to be a nuisance and
do not want to deal with them at all. It turns out that the only way to reach a
publisher at all is through an agent.
As to agents, there are a large number of these parasites
who have evolved to fill the gap left by the publisher’s abdication. They
seem to come and go like popcorn. Although every one of these agent and
agencies claim to be looking for new talent, that is simply not true. They will
not look at a manuscript from a new writer. They reject queries out of hand. I
have considerable experience in that.
It’s really simple. Each of these outfits has a stable
of hacks that can be relied on to produce the twaddle you see in the bookstores
now. They would only seek a new source if one of their hacks died or quit. The
twaddle is what the publishers want. They want stuff to titillate and pander to
the rabble. Hemingway or Steinbeck would not get a hearing in this market. That
is why I became my own publisher. I lose money of every book I publish, but I
have a great deal of fun doing it. The other caveat is, no one can tell me what
to write.
So, consider self-publishing if you wish. You may find
yourself in a wonderful adventure. In retrospect, that is what it has been for
my. I do not regret any part of it. An advantage you will have is you will not
have to suffer all of the cuts and bruises I ran into. You can take advantage
of my experience. Whatever you decide, good luck to you.
William E. Steinman:
Back to Ongoing Thoughts