PATRICIA NELL WARREN
STARTER KIT FOR NEW GLBT WRITERS: Honest Answers to Burning Questions
| It
has been a few issues since The
Independent Gay Writer ran an article about writing from
Patricia Nell Warren's extensive body of work on the subject. So I
can't think of a better article to feature in this issue than this
"Starter Kit for New GLBT Writers." When you have read it, please come
back to this sidebar and take a look at PNW's "Personal
Statement." As a writer, I think you will be newly fired up; as a
GLBT person, I think you will agree... "Our country is in trouble. We see a steady erosion of human rights, and a steady encroachment of big government and big censorship as defined by religious right-wingers." |
| STARTER KIT FOR NEW GLBT WRITERS: Honest Answers to Burning Questions I first wrote on this subject in 2001 and am updating it in 2004. During the last three years, there have been big changes. Unfortunately, some changes have not been for the better. Gay bookstores continue to close. And the GLBT book world is still somewhat lacking in professional support and infrastructure for new gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered writers. So our newbie writers have to work harder than heterosexual newbies to find out what's where, what's good -- and what's to avoid like the plague. For example, there is still no GLBT equivalent of the Authors Guild, or the Writers Guild of America, or the National Writers' Union. Most successful community writers who feel they need that kind of national and professional "technical support" might choose the appropriate mainstream organization, which are mostly gay-friendly. Here are some questions I get from new writers: Where can I find more information about publishing book-length fiction and nonfiction? Today, much of the best information can be found online. Indeed, the Web is a vast library of publishing resources of all kinds, for any new writer who has the patience to comb search engines and ask the right questions. This includes information about self-publishing and e-publishing, which have developed strongly in the last few years. Unfortunately, if you're trying to use a school or public-library computer to search the Web for resources, most of these are now using anti-porn blocking software that may filter out GLBT information. So you're better off searching with a home computer. For new GLBT writers, one of the best resources is the monthly Independent Gay Writer Newsletter. It is created and published by bestselling author Ronald Donaghe, as a result of his personal commitment to help fill the need for writers' information. The Newsletter contains tips and reviews, and is free. It can be found archived at http://www.rldbooks.com/. You can get on its mailing list by emailing Ron at ron@rldbooks.com. Another new online publication is Books to Watch Out For, with more info available at http://www.btwof.com/. Here, two well-known book figures—Carol Seajay, formerly of Feminist Bookstore News, and Richard Labonte, formerly of A Different Light Bookstores, team up to provide an inexpensive subscription service with reviews and news on GLBT books. Among the old hard-copy standbys are Lambda Book Report and Gay & Lesbian Review, though these tend to focus on books already published, and on trends in "literary politics", not professional information. In the mainstream trade press, late every spring, Publishers Weekly devotes a feature article to their roundup of trends and personalities in GLBT publishing. ForeWord Magazine, which covers independent publishing, also covers gay subjects from time to time. For live in-person excitement and education, nothing beats the Saints & Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans, which just celebrated its second edition. S & S fills the void left by the demise of OutWrite, and focuses on providing vital creative and marketplace tools for both authors and publishers. Supported by the City of New Orleans, sponsored by the NoAIDS Task Force and organized by Paul Willis, formerly head of Lambda Literary Foundation, S & S is a three-day event where a new writer can attend master classes and panel discussions, and network with agents, publishers' reps and other authors. The third S & S will happen in May 2005. More info at http://www.noaidstaskforce.org/. To get on the mailing list, email Willis at pjwillisnola@aol.com. Other writers' conferences: Pink Ink, aka the Queer Book Expo, sponsored by New York's Publishing Triangle, with more information at www.publishingtriangle.org/pinkink.html. Also the Lambda Literary Festival, held in Provincetown, MA and sponsored by the Lambda Literary Foundation, with more info at http://www.lambdalit.org/lam_lit_festivaled.html. To put together your own personal list of who is publishing what, you can go to your favorite search engine and rake around the Web under "gay lesbian publishers." The gay world being the economically and politically volatile thing that it is, there is a constant stream of companies going into—and out of—business, so make sure you get the most updated information possible. You'll find everything from the long-established publishers (Alyson) to the new faces among small presses (Bywater Books, Amazing Dreams Publishing and others), to the major nongay independents like Haworth and Kensington, who publish many GLBT fiction and nonfiction titles today. And of course there are still a few big publishers like Simon & Schuster who also publish GLBT books. You can also use the Web to find small online writers' support groups out there. For hard-copy resource books to put on your shelf, there is The Harris Guide 2003, published by author Paul Harris of Upstart Press. It's an invaluable and updated listing of all kinds of GLBT media that an author might need. Available for sale at http://www.bookmasters.com/marktplc/00836.htm. And there is still Putting Out: The Essential Publishing Resource for Lesbian and Gay Writers, edited by Edisol Dotson (Cleis Press). Though the most recent edition of Putting Out was issued several years ago, and its resource lists are a bit dated, there is still some good basic information in this book. An important new factor on the GLBT publishing scene is the launch of Insightout Book Club. More information at http://www.insightoutbooks.com/doc/homepage.jhtml. The club is part of Bookspan, which also owns Book of the Month Club and Quality Paperback Club. Editor David Rosen is a forward-looking spirit who saw the need for such a book club, offering a full range of the best in GLBT titles, from major publishers to self-publishing authors. The above listings are not meant to be complete and exhaustive. But hopefully they will help you get started. What about professional associations and networking for women who want to publish? In the last few years, women's publishing has been hit hard by the closing of many women's bookstores. In a domino effect, this forced the closing of the long-popular Feminist Bookstore News. Some old standby lesbian and feminist presses like Naiad and Firebrand have gone out of business. But there's good news too. The national women's issues haven't gone away—they are still out there in the headlines, whether it's the right to choose, or the earning power of women. There are new faces on the women's small-press scene, proving that the lesbian/feminist book marketplace is not gone, just changing, and the vital need for women's and lesbian material is still there. Women who have not yet published can find some good professional support, guidance and information through the International Women's Writing Guild—more information at http://www.iwwg.org/. I used to belong to IWWG—it sponsors regional writing conferences, has a newsletter with marketing tips and agent contracts, and does some good work. Other resources include the Women's Presses Library Project at http://www.litwomen.org/wplp.html and Women in Print at http://www.litwomen.org/WIP/. You can also benefit from reading Carol Seajay's Lesbian Edition of Books to Watch For (see above). Consult your favorite search engine for woman-supportive publishing resources on the Web. Are there similar professional resources for transgendered authors and publishers? Absolutely. This newest area of writing and publishing is growing rapidly. Search the Web under this subject to look for publishers, magazines, support groups, calls for submissions and papers, etc. According to the transgender reviews at http://www.alchemist-light.com/fantasyl.htm, the fastest growing genre here is fantasy fiction. But there is also an urgent need for sound scientific nonfiction in this field, as highlighted by the controversy around J. Michael Bailey's book, The Man Who Would be Queen, published by Joseph Henry Press, an imprint for the National Academies. Says the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition: "Respected members of the medical and scientific world as well as transgender activists have decried as worse than junk science a publication that is long on intuition and devoid of original research data." The Lambda Book Awards had announced Baily's book as a finalist, but was compelled to withdraw it from consideration owing to widespread protest. What about publishing journalist type writing? This is a huge area, covering everything from features and investigating journalism to editorials and commentaries, so I can't cover it exhaustively here. But a good place to start is the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Assn. It's a national nonprofit that concerns itself mainly with writing for the mainstream press, but you can learn a great deal here that will benefit your developing relationship with the gay press. Contact them at http://www.nlgja.org/. NLGJA has an annual conference with all kinds of events and resources. Another journalist resource is PRESS PASS Q, an e-mail newsletter about the GLBT press that is published by Rivendell Marketing and distributed free each month. To get on the mailing list, contact QSEdPaula@aol.com. New journalists will encounter some pitfalls in this field, around issues like work for hire and (very important) getting paid. GLBT publications aren't necessarily any "nicer" to deal with than mainstream publications. You can run into a few "brother and sister" editors who will treat you like dirt and try not to pay you. So it's important to know what your rights are, and how to watch your back. Where can I publish poetry and short fiction? In a number of LGBT publications out there. You will have to scour the Web and the bookstore shelves and find them, to put together your own list of where you want to submit They range from Lodestar Quarterly at http://www.lodestarquarterly.com to the James White Review at http://www.lambdalit.org/jwr.html. A few of the bigger GLBT magazines do publish short fiction and the occasional poem. There are also numerous GLBT anthologies out there, which are excellent opportunities for new or lesser-known authors to publish. These, too, can be found through tireless searching. If you have a piece accepted by an anthology, make sure you have an accurate legal understanding of the contract terms you're offered. For example, do you give up all editing rights? Do you give up ownership of the piece, including the copyright, film rights? If you don't understand something in your contract, get a lawyer with publishing experience who can interpret it for you. You will have to tirelessly submit your short fiction and poetry. The more you submit, the greater your chances of scoring. Study publications before you submit. Make sure you know their submission guidelines. You may or may not get an answer from them—many are understaffed and underfunded, so they may only send a brusque postcard or acknowledgment. Payment is most likely in copies of the mag. You'll probably average one acceptance for every 20 submissions. A growing list of poetry and short-fiction credits may help you land an agent or a book sale with a gay or lesbian small press. How about publishing erotica? Here again—search the Web. There are many small presses, magazines and websites that publish GLBT erotica in all its variety. Most of them can be found online. You just have to look for them, and put together your own list of resources. What about publishing commentaries and editorials? It's wonderful to sell these to the national magazines, but don't forget about the many regional GLBT magazines and newspapers around the country...as well as publications on the Web. Some of them publish excellent material, and are great to work with. They are a good arena for beginning writers, and are always looking for quality material. Some of them even pay their writers. If you have an unpublished book manuscript, some community publication might be interested in a "first serial" excerpt from your book. (First serial is prior to book publication, while "second serial" is after book publication.) This, in turn, just might spark some interest with a book publisher. Where are the best places for GLBT youth to publish their writing? The Web is so geared to youth that it's a great place to search. One good listing can be found at http://www.queertheory.com. Unfortunately there are a few GLBT editors and publishers out there who try to take advantage of young writers' ignorance of the legal and business side of publishing, and who might try to exploit young writers in various ways. It's a good idea for a youth writer to ask a lot of professional questions and be wary of any publishing "opportunity" in which sex turns out to be one of the "terms." Go to column two |
continued
from column 1... How can I, as a new author, benefit from participating in book fairs, expos and other events? Book fairs and gay expos are proliferating across the country, and unpublished or newly published writers are discovering that these are good venues for networking. You don't have to pay several thousand bucks for a booth at BookExpo America—you can get into the BEA on a media pass and walk the floor with your portfolio, and make a lot of good contacts. Ditto the Los Angeles Times Book Festival and the West Hollywood Book Festival, where you can just walk in free and network like crazy. All you need are sensible shoes, your portfolio and resume, and a handful of business cards. There are all kinds of book fairs, from the most general and trade-y to the most highly specialized, including fairs for used and rare books. Pioneering author Ann Bannon, who was publishing lesbian pulp novels when I was in college, can be found every year at a big California antiquarian book fair where vintage editions of her paperbacks are celebrated. Just about all the book fairs worth attending can be found by searching online. Also in the "fair" category are the growing numbers of "authors' rows" that are held at Pride festivals. Probably the best example is the author's row at Palm Springs Pride, held the first weekend in November. It's coordinated by Q Trading Bookstore in Palm Springs, and typically features a row of booths for 15-20 authors, plus a day-long fest of readings, workshops and panel discussions in a nearby tent. More information at http://www.pspride.org/. For a complete listing of Pride festivals around the world, consult InterPride's global calendar for 2004 at http://www.interpride.org/global_calendar.htm. If there isn't an author's row at a festival near you, you can help start one. Offer your local gay bookstore the chance to coordinate it—they will appreciate the extra sales and exposure. When I sign a contract, how do I know I'm not being taken advantage of? This is a good question, and it's another huge subject that I can't cover in detail here. But there's no time like the present to start educating yourself about contracts. Because nobody can watch your back better than you. If you search by subject on Amazon.com, you'll find a number of books about negotiating book contracts. I review a couple of them elsewhere in "Secrets of Writing and Publishing." Another excellent source of information is the Publishing Law Center online at http://www.publaw.com/. It's run by publishing/ entertainment attorney Lloyd Rich, who knows that people like you need tons of life-saving information. To put it simply, you can protect yourself in two ways: (1) before you sign any contract, have it scrutinized by a lawyer who is familiar with publishing practice and copyright law, and (2) always, always watch your back. Even if you think you have a good agent or a good editor or a good publisher, don't forget to watch your back. Some writers have the hopeful belief that a small press will treat them better than a big publishing house. Some small presses DO perform better on ethics and author relations. But some of them don't. If you are negotiating to sell your book to a small press, be advised that small-press dealings with authors often escape the scrutiny of watchdog orgs like the Authors Guild, which focuses more on big corporations. In the last couple of decades, the Guild has slowly, relentlessly pressured major trade houses into offering authors some better terms. But some newbie writers are so eager to break into print that they accept unfavorable terms from a smaller, more obscure house. Later on, they're sorry. I know this from the many authors who have cried on my shoulder over the years. For example—a few years ago, a prizewinning short-story writer asked me to review the terms that a gay publisher was offering him for a collection of short stories. For a $500 advance, and a tiny royalty, the publisher wanted him to give up all rights in perpetuity—hardcover, paperback, foreign-language, audio, first serial, film and stage, etc. etc. He would have no right to approve editing—indeed, he was expected to pay for the edit. Each of the 15 short stories in the collection was a potential treatment for a film, so you could see the dollar signs in the publisher's eyes. If the advance had been decent for a small press (it wasn't all that generous), I would have counseled the writer to give up only hardcover and paperback rights. He could have asked the publisher to agree to a 7-year license, not "perpetuity." And he could have reserved all other rights for himself—this is customary in mainstream trade publishing. However, because of the tiny advance and the publisher's attitude during negotiations, I advised the young author not to sign this contract. (Later on, he made a better deal elsewhere.) What happens if I have trouble getting paid for my work? Sometimes GLBT editors complain bitterly about the brain drain of GLBT writers to the mainstream. Well, there is a good reason for the brain drain. Some "community" media want to get good writing for nothing, and they treat "community" writers like dirt! Sad, but true. With magazines and newspapers, a beginning writer— even a high-school senior—can reasonably expect to be treated like a human being, and to get at least a tiny payment. For a student, $25 is better than nothing! As for adult writers who are trying to make a living writing for the gay press, an offer of $25 or $50 for an editorial or short feature is almost insulting. Some publications seem to take the attitude that they are actually doing you a favor to publish your stuff. After all, it's "for the cause." So here's what you do: get the publication's writer guidelines and payment rates ahead of time. Get it in writing what they are agreeing to pay you—preferably payment on acceptance, rather than payment on publication. Also get it in writing if you want to approve their edits, cuts and title changes. If the payment check doesn't show up, make as much legal noise as you can afford to, and don't write for them again, because it's now clear that they are jerking you around. (I say this because I've seen gay writers who are suckers for punishment—they go on writing for publications that welched on paying them.). Even bestselling authors like myself have strange experiences. Over the years, I've had to sink my fangs into the ankle of one or two homosexual editors over issues of payment and editing. The Authors Guild Bulletin and Publishers Weekly often reverberate with mainstream stories of this nature, while Writers Digest warns its readers away from specific publications who screw with authors. Yet the gay press is usually silent on this subject. That is unfortunate, because it has allowed abuses to flourish in some quarters. Fortunately, there ARE publications who do pay well and treat writers right. The trick is, to find out which ones they are. I make no recommendations here, because GLBT magazines and publishers change ownership often, and I may not know of a change in policy in time to post it here. A newbie writer is well-advised to seek opportunities for schmooze with published GLBT writers. This way, you can pick their brains on what publications are great to work with...and which ones should be avoided like the plague. Where book monies are concerned—if the publisher doesn't send you the royalty statements on time, or if the book is way long in "earning out" and you hear from GLBT bookstores that your book is selling well, then you can suspect that there's a problem. If the editor or publisher refuses to respond to your inquiries, don't hesitate to demand an audit. Today it's common for publishers to try and avoid paying royalties—indeed, I have seen a huge decay of business ethics on this front since the 1970s. Even some of the small publishers can be as prone as the big ones, to that temptation to lie about your sales figures, or to use your unpaid royalties for a year or two, before they finally, reluctantly pass them along to you. See my "Secrets" article on royalties. How do I deal with the hurt of rejections? Be prepared for the fact that GLBT agents, editors and publishers are just as inundated with submissions as mainstream editors are. They may be legitimately world-weary, having seen several other authors' version of the "inspiring personal life-story" that you believe is so unique. The fact that your book is "gay" or "lesbian" or even "shockingly honest," doesn't make it automatically publishable. In the current book-biz downturn, fewer GLBT titles are getting into print. This means fiercer competition for those slots in the publishers' catalogs. So don't wallow in hurt feelings. The rejection or brush-off is seldom meant personally—it's just a symptom of an overloaded, maxed-out industry. Just pick yourself up and move on. Professional courtesy is growing scarcer in the harried book biz of the 2000's. Twenty years ago, as a Reader's Digest editor, I wrote a personal letter on each and every rejection that I handled. As per company policy, I refrained from explaining why the book was rejected by RD—I merely said that the submission "didn't meet our editorial needs." Today I still think this is a good policy. At Wildcat Press, we respond personally on rejections. In rare cases, when the book has merit, and if the author is open to hearing constructive criticism, I offer it, so they might have a chance elsewhere. But some people in the business no longer even write personal rejection letters. You get a form letter, or a curt postcard. Sometimes you just get your ms. back—no letter, no nothing. No matter. It's not worth losing sleep over. What happens when I run into PC politics? Yes, sometimes the brush-off by an editor is deliberate and politically motivated. Some community brokers of literary opinion are pushing PC the way some churchgoers push the Bible. If you are not a PC writer, and you run into agents and editors who have political objections to your writing, well...just keep going till you find an editor or publisher who does like your writing. There are many wonderful and influential community folks out there who are not PC, thank the goddess. The Front Runner would never have sold around 10 million copies if the PC crowd had their way. Can I think about breaking into the mainstream? GLBT subject matter in mainstream print venues is still a sometime thing. What I hear from trade editors and agents is that the numbers of gay titles published each year is actually decreasing—in direct proportion to the trimming-down of their midlist titles that most major houses are doing. And unfortunately, most gay books are "midlist"—meaning that they sell in the thousands of copies, not the millions. And the mainstream publishing business is generally wading in deep waters these days. Last fall, book sales plummeted, according to the Association of American Publishers. "Only children's hardcovers, ebooks and religious books showed gains in what was a terrible month for booksellers," the AAP said at www.writenews.com/. Why are book sales down? The usual reasons, including rising book prices, waning reading habits by Americans, and competition from TV and other forms of entertainment. For authors and publishers, one major new threat is the huge expansion in used-book marketing. It used to be that used books were a quiet little backwater that threatened no one. But this market is now so highly organized online, such a deliberate extention of deep discounting, that "used" copies of any given title are usually available on Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Alibris, Bookfinder, Bibliofind, eBay et al just a couple of months after the title is out. To put it another way—why should a book buyer go to the local bookstore and pay $14.95 for a copy of your new bestseller when they can buy it "used" from an online retailer for four bucks? Not a penny of these used-book sales goes back to book publishers or authors—profits are kept entirely by retailers. I wonder if these purveyors of bargains realize what damage they're doing to the long-term sales of new books in backlist, which has traditionally been regarded as the backbone of the book industry? No wonder the book business is on its back these days. Paradoxically, even as our actual sales wane, our GLBT literary visibility is increasing in some mainstream venues across the country, while the nation debates homosexual rights at the top of its lungs in every city and state. The Oscar-nominated film The Hours put Michael Cunningham's novel back on the New York Times bestseller list. It is getting a little easier for a gay or lesbian writer to publish a throbbing editorial in non-gay papers and magazines. Columnists like Deb Price write for major mainstream papers. Even "letters to the editor" are an alluring new literary calling, as Dallas activist John Selig and others get their pithy, quotable missives published across the country. So don't just think of publishing some brilliant piece of gay fiction with Simon & Schuster, or scintillating literary criticism with Salon. Think commentaries in the Des Moines Register. Think letters in the San Jose Mercury. As I said above, this list of resources is not intended to be exhaustive. My apologies to anybody important who was inadvertently omitted. Suggestions for new inclusions are welcome. This list is mainly intended to get you thinking...and searching for more information. The bottom line is this: For survival in the GLBT book world, the alligator is not a bad role model for a new writer. Grow a thick hide, keep your fangs ready...and march steadily forward across the swamp. © 2001, 2004 by Patricia Nell Warren. All rights reserved |