Traditional publishing research - Crystal Spirit Publishing, Inc.

a guest post by Andrea Scovel (@AndreaScovel1) 

Vanessa S. O'Neal, Crystal Spirit Publishing

Lately,  I have been wondering what an author needs to be preparing for when looking to get published. Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing Vanessa S. O’Neal with Crystal Spirit Publishing, Inc. Vanessa was able to answer a lot of the questions that I had. I was also pleasantly surprised to hear about Crystal Spirit’s independent publishing practices. It really broadened my perspective as to what an author has to choose from when it comes to finding a publisher. She was also able to provide some general information about the publishing biz. 

Traditional publishing research: Big Fiction Magazine

This month my learning about traditional publishing takes a new turn in this interview with Heather Jacobs, editor of Big Fiction Magazine. I met Heather at Wordstock this year and was impressed not only with her authenticity but also with the quality and beauty of the magazine. After only a few minutes of conversation I was able to bully her into agreeing to do an interview for the blog - yay! (And by "bully," of course I mean, "I asked if she'd be interested, and she said yes.")

Big Fiction publishes two issues a year and specializes in novelettes (7500-15K words) and novellas (15K-30K words). The magazine also hosts the Knickerbocker Prize contest each year, judged by a guest judge, with publication and cash prizes for first and second place winners. This year's guest judge is David James Poissant. You can find out more about the contest, including submission guidelines, here.

And now, before I slip into any folderol, here's the interview.

*trumpets & applause*

SHA: What got you into this business? Why run a lit mag, and why a print lit mag (as opposed to online) in particular? 

Market review: Cheap Pop

Ooooh! I just came across this brand-spanking new market that looks awesome and thought I'd share it with you. (Plus, I have not done a market review in, like, forEVER, so it's about time!)

Cheap Pop

• BRAND NEW online publication publishing on Tuesdays & Thursdays starting in January 2014.
• Non-paying market.
• Accepts micro-fiction, creative non-fiction and prose poetry up to 500 words; they want "stories that pop and stick with you for days."
• Currently accepting submissions. Submission period undefined, so I assume it's year-round.
• No multiple submissions (only 1 piece at a time), but simultaneous subs okay. Previously unpublished work only. Wait a minimum of one month between submissions.
• Submissions accepted via email only. Note the conventions re: email subject line.
• They require First North American Serial Rights. Copyright reverts to author upon publication.

Other notes:  Fun artwork on the site. Mag run by two published writers, Robert James Russell and Elizabeth Schmuhl. Russell has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Twice. Mag has both a Twitter & a Facebook presence. Love the idea of short, memorable pieces pubbed twice a week; am bookmarking this site for my own reading pleasure.

Go! Run! Submit! Do it now!

Traditional publishing research - University of Hell Press

This month I'm thrilled to bring you an interview with Greg Gerding, the founder and managing editor of University of Hell Press, whom I met at Wordstock earlier this year. Greg has been gracious enough to take some time out of his busy schedule (and around the holidays, no less!) to candidly answer some questions about his press, the publishing process, and selling books.

Welcome to the blog, Greg!

I think I remember from our conversation at Wordstock that you started the press to self-publish some of your own books. Why did you decide to expand to publish other people's books, too?
Yes, I decided to self-publish so I could represent my work the way I envisioned. I then came up with “University of Hell Press” to publish that work. As my books got around, I was often asked about “the publisher.” Who are they? Where are they from? There is a lot of enthusiasm surrounding the name.

It wasn’t until Eirean Bradley asked me about University of Hell Press and said to me, “I would kill to be published by a press with that name.” I told him that if he ever completed a manuscript and sent it to me and I liked it, I would publish it under University of Hell Press. He did, I LOVED it, it was the I in team, and the first book published by UHell Press not written by me. It grew from there.

It's here! INACCURATE REALITIES issue #1: FEAR

FEAR is here! In this first issue of Inaccurate Realities, a journal of YA speculative fiction, you'll find five stories related to the theme of fear, including "The Usual," a story about a 16-year-old girl named Callie who has grown up in a society where, about fifty years ago, someone invented the perfect haircut, and now everyone except people with deformities and anti-conformists get nothing except The Usual Haircut. But Callie has lost a bet and must ask for something different. It's a story about social norms, how people enforce them, and fear of people who break them.

PLUS the issue includes interviews with authors Gretchen McNeil (3:59, Ten), Kendare Blake (Anna Dressed in Blood, Antigoddess) and Katie Alender (Bad Girls Don’t Die, Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer) and reviews of A Midsummer Night’s Scream by R. L. Stine, Asylum by Madeleine Roux and Unbreakable by Kami Garcia.


A print copy of this issue can be yours for $7.50. An electronic version for your e-reader or in PDF format is only $3.50. Click here to find the purchase links on the Inaccurate Realities website. And tell your YA-loving friends!

Market research: LampLight

This week's market research features a market I found through my weekly Duotrope newsletter as an upcoming deadline. The submission deadline for their Winter issue was Oct. 15, but they accept submissions year-round. The deadline for the Spring issue is Jan. 15. 

(P.S. If you're a writer who's serious about submitting your work to journals and magazines, I highly recommend a Duotrope subscription as a great way to find markets and track your submissions. You can go month-to-month for $5/mo. or subscribe for an entire year for just $50.)

Market research
LampLight: A Quarterly Magazine of Dark Fiction

• Electronic and print publication - individual issues are electronic; annual anthologies in paperback.
• Paying market - flat rate of $50 for flash fiction; $150 for a short story.
• Accepts literary dark flash fiction (up to 1000 words) and short stories (up to 7000 words).
• Submission period: year round, with a hard deadline for each issue.
• Accepts reprints and simultaneous submissions. No multiple submissions.
• Submissions accepted via Submittable or as a .doc attached to an email. See website for requirements for email submissions.
• They request non-exclusive, worldwide serial rights for both electronic and print. "We want to publish it, we don’t want to own it."

Other notes: I like the name and the cover images, which are understated but effective. Open to pretty much anything, but they "do not accept stories with the following: vampires, zombies, werewolves, serial killers, hitmen, excessive gore or sex." One featured author per issue and a serial novella each year. Assuming Kelli is a woman, they seem to be alternating between men and women in their featured authors, though both novellas so far are by men. Got the first issue free as an e-book from Smashwords, and the quality of work I saw skimming it gave me the impression that it's a magazine worth pursuing.

Market research: BOOTH & writing prompt 17

Today's post contains a review of Booth and the weekly writing prompt.

Market research
Booth

• Online & print publication since 2009. Run by MFA fellows & students at Butler University.
• New online content posted every Friday. Print issues in winter & summer.
• Non-paying market.
• Accepts poetry (up to 5 at a time), fiction (up to 7500 words), nonfiction (up to 7500 words), comics (up to 20 pgs), lists.
• Submission period: September - March.
• Accepts simultaneous submissions. Accepts multiple submissions for poetry; everything else is one submission at at time. No wait time between rejection & submitting again. No info on whether they accept previously published work.
• Submissions accepted via electronic system (Submishmash) only. No submissions via email.
• No info given on rights requested.

I. Love. This. Journal. I first heard about Booth a year or two ago when someone (maybe on Facebook?) posted a link to Alexander Lumens's "Phys. Ed. 112 Syllabus: You and Your Apocalypse." The majority of the work they publish is right up my alley - careful language, twisted humor and a different way of looking at the world. When I read it, it feels like someone has inserted a key into a lock in my mind I didn't even know was there. And it fits just right.

Traditional publishing research - Hawthorne Books

Last month I had the honor of stealing about half an hour of time from Rhonda Hughes's busy day to learn more about traditional publishing and Hawthorne Books, the press that published Jay Ponteri's memoir, Wedlocked. (If you haven't yet read Part I & Part II of my interview with him, check them out!)

 Though I didn't realize it at the time, I first heard of Hawthorne Books last summer when Dora: A Headcase came out. A Facebook friend of a friend is friends with Lidia Yuknavitch, so I saw a lot of the unique, interactive promo Yuknavitch did for that book. It wasn't until Jay Ponteri announced that Hawthorne Books was going to publish his memoir that the name started to register. And then it seemed like I started to hear about the small press or their books everywhere, including during my interview for VoiceCatcher with Trista Cornelius, who described Yuknavitch's memoir, The Chronology of Water, as an example of someone doing something really innovative and honest with their writing. "She invented a way to speak from the female body to express her experience and her choices in life," Trista said. "It was art. It didn't ask for forgiveness or pity."

Rhonda Hughes started Hawthorne Books about 13 years ago, after graduate school, with the vision of marrying form and function. "Books should also be beautiful," she said toward the beginning of our conversation, and they should last. Especially in this day and age, when readers have a choice between an e-book and a print book, she feels readers need an incentive to buy the print book. Which is why they take such care in picking the materials and work with Adam McIsaac, their graphic designer, to create beautiful, eye-catching covers.

Market research & writing prompt 12

I liked the idea of combining the weekly writing prompt with market research so much that I decided to do it again. Today's post also contains my weekly ROW80 update (only four weeks left in this round!).

Market research
Girl at the End of the World (a Fox Spirit anthology)

• "Fox Spirit is a small start up and works on a profit share basis in most cases. We publish ebooks, print on demand and some limited edition print runs." Based in the UK.
• Paying market - token payment of £10 for the story + share of profits for 2 years if the anthology covers its costs.
• For this anthology they're looking for 5-10K word stories about the end of the world (or near the end of the world) featuring ass-kicking female protagonists in SF, fantasy, horror & crime genres.
• Submission guidelines don't say outright whether they accept simultaneous submissions or previously published work, but based on the info provided on rights, I'm guessing no previously published work.
• Submissions accepted via attachment to an email only, and they have several guidelines around email subject heading, document formatting, etc. to pay attention to.
• If story's accepted, they require First World English (for print), First World Electronic (for eBook), & Anthology rights.
• Deadline - 31 August 2013.

Market research: Inaccurate Realities & Writing prompt 10

Fair warning: today's post covers a lot of ground. Not only did I go hunting for another literary magazine to review, but I chose one with an upcoming themed submission deadline to inspire this week's writing prompt. And finally, there's also a ROW80 update. I've used bold headings so you can skip ahead to whatever interests you most.

Market research
Inaccurate Realities

• Brand-spanking-new online and print quarterly publication. First issue scheduled to be released October 2013.
• Paying market - currently offering token payment of $15-25 per story.
• Specialize in short (2K-5K words) speculative fiction stories for young adults.
• Submission guidelines don't say whether they accept previously published work, but I tracked them down on Twitter & they said they do accept it so long as the rights have reverted back to the author. Simultaneous subs okay. Only one sub per issue, but can sub to more than one issue at a time.
• Submissions accepted via email only, and only in the body of the email (no attachments).
• If accepted, they get worldwide first print & electronic English-language rights and exclusive rights for one year.

Market research: The Citron Review

One of my writing goals this year is to submit poems and stories to literary magazines and journals (aka "markets"). I have a Duotrope subscription and love it, but the information listed there only gets me so far. In order to really figure out whether a market is a good fit for my work, I need to read an issue. Therefore, as part of my ROW80 goals this round, I've committed to doing some research on places to publish and to sharing my research on this blog with the hope that the information I share will be useful to you as well as to me.

Today's post also includes this week's ROW80 update.

Market Research