The writing market?

Question

The major publsihing houses have grown fewer; smaller presses are doing well, but very niched or regionalized; the hardback has given way to the soft cover in popularity; the internet has changed the market; and every writer needs an agent now.

What do you think is making things more difficult for writers to find success these days?

As a side question do you think finding success as a magazine writer lends itself to doing better in book writing?

Answer 1

What a great question!

One thing that makes it difficult for new writers to break into the market: The bottom line. Publishers want to make money and they'd rather dig up old previous published novels from established authors (whether those books are any good or not) and re-publish them. I've noticed this trend a lot and it's hard not to feel a bit frustrated as a writer trying to get established. Those writers have dominated the market and every time their old stuff is re-published, I truly believe it means new writers are denied their chance.

Because of the pressure to turn a buck, editors are less willing to take chances on new talent. They want guaranteed success.

As for magazine writing, I think if you can get your name out there, get recognized, get published, it can't hurt. Many novels were originally published in magazines as serial stories where they were broken into sections, published over several months.

If you're one of my fellow writers, I wish you the best of luck. Thanks for a thought-provoking question.

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Answer 2

It is sad to say, but I think what is making the market so hard is every person out there who thinks they are the next great American author and flooding agents with true junk. Agents spend more time rejecting manuscripts than they do working for their clients. As a result, agents are having to hire more help which costs more money and that money comes out of higher commissions that they have to charge to their clients. So, basically the good authors are paying for the bad authors to be rejected. It is sad and unfair. There are just so many fantasy novels and other stuff that is total junk stuffing the mailrooms of literary agents that I see more and more agents who are temporarily not reading because they are so bogged down. I understand that many people show their manuscripts to friends and family who gush all over them and say they should be published, but I seriously recommend authors showing their work to unbiased readers before they send it to agents. The only answer is that in the future, it would only be fair for agents to charge a reading fee so that authors who are rejected share some of the financial burden too. It's only fair. Pax - C

Answer 3

I hate to say it, but people don't read for recreation much any more. I only know about a dozen folks that even HAVE books. Of course, some of us make up for it, I have 19 boxes full, and still buying; my best friend in Texarkana has a set of shelves built in all around her living room, and they're full, and she's still buying, too...but most of the young folks I know expect things to be abbreviated for texting, or read only for information.

I think it's very possible to move from magazines to books - I've read several things in magazines that made me go look for a book by the same writer.

I have a tendency to read mostly for fun, not for info; I get my info from the net or the newspaper, so my books are mostly fiction and biography.