RE: gee whiz

--- Yocum Daniel GS 21 CES/CEOE <daniel.yocum@Peterson.af.mil> wrote:
> I guess I am old fashioned, I don't think I could ever 'publish'
> anything on the internet.

Well, it's an old argument among writers, one bandied about ever since the
advent of the internet. Also, it's one that is becoming less of an issue,
since many of the best web published pieces are making it into print.

Here's the deal. Unagented, a writer doesn't have much of a chance with
the big boys: Harpers, The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, Playboy. So, the
only available print route is literary journals. Some literary journals
have very large circulations, with terrific writers: Tin House and
Ploughshares are two that come immediately to mind. McSweeney's and
Pindelyboz are two young and hip mags with decent readership. Most
literary journals, however, have a miniscule circulation: ~300 is deemed
very good in some circles. Many are quarterlies (or yearlies) published
out of an university. (Story Quarterly, somewhat ironically, is a yearly,
but that one's worth the trouble, since it's so well-regarded.) Also,
it's something of an old boys' network: you publish me, I'll publish you.

Now, I'm not knocking literary mags, because some of them are excellent,
but web magazines, good ones, have circulations in the tens of thousands.
Literary Potpourri (which is probably not a good example, since it is both
print and web), the mag that published my story "Duck," has a circulation
of 34,000 to date, and it's only a little over a year old. (Its print
circulation is far smaller, of course.) In Posse, which has been around
for years, gets far more hits, as it's a part of the webdelsol
conglomeration. They're publishing good stuff, bad stuff, in between
stuff, but they're taking chances, which is more than I can say for much
of the publishing industry. The internet, some say, may be what rescues
publishing from mediocrity.

Also, there's a new anthology: The E-2-Ink Anthology
(http://www.mildhorsepress.com/buy.htm). It's a print anthology of
fiction published previously ONLY on the web. Print stories need not
apply. Also, the O. Henry Awards and the BASS Anthology began accepting
web-published fiction just last year.

My friend Andrew, who edits Linnaean Street, mentioned a few weeks ago
that an agent from the William Morris agency contacted him regarding one
of his authors. It's happening far more often, as New York publishing
houses realize that some of the freshest fiction is NOT being churned out
of MFA programs and MFA magazines.

I don't know why I'm even speaking on this, since I haven't sent out a
story in months. Have to break out of this submissions apathy.

> And I see you have UNIX experience.

Indeed. My first job out of college, one I landed through sheer
ballsiness, claiming skills I did not have. Yet. I learned, though.

I loved working on a UNIX box. I could always figure out what was going
on, and fix it. Cleanly.

Best,
Cecilia.

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Tax Center - File online, calculators, forms, and more
http://tax.yahoo.com
-
* Unsubscribing? Mail majordomo@roughdraft.org with the message
* UNSUBSCRIBE BANANAFISH
Received on Mon Apr 7 19:36:42 2003