If I want to publish a book, should I NOT publish in a magazine?
April 8, 2019 1:02 PM Subscribe
I've written a book and would like to find a publisher. It seems like publishing a compelling excerpt in a magazine or journal would be a great way to get fans and provide credibility to a publishing house. Would publishing an excerpt actually make it harder to publish the larger work as a book?
It's a sort of poetry essay - creative nonfiction about a relationship that is an ordered sequence of 20-ish short poems (not unlike The Lover's Dictionary).
Bonus questions:
Would publishing an excerpt actually make it harder to publish the larger work as a book?
Where would I even go to find a publisher for something like this anyway?
And where do I find people who do what I'm doing - writing things in a format that's a little out of the ordinary?
It's a sort of poetry essay - creative nonfiction about a relationship that is an ordered sequence of 20-ish short poems (not unlike The Lover's Dictionary).
Bonus questions:
Would publishing an excerpt actually make it harder to publish the larger work as a book?
Where would I even go to find a publisher for something like this anyway?
And where do I find people who do what I'm doing - writing things in a format that's a little out of the ordinary?
I can only answer one of your bonus questions:
Where would I even go to find a publisher for something like this anyway?
Self-publish! Totally fine and understandable if that’s not the way you want to go, but I am super happy with Amazon/KDP/CreateSpace. I own all the rights, I have all the control, and I make much higher royalties. Sure, I have to do my own marketing, but that’s par for the course these days anyway unless you’re a famous author already. My format is also out of the ordinary and self-pubbing meant I didn’t have to change my book to fit someone else’s conception of what could be done within a genre. Memail me if I can answer any specific questions about self-publishing.
Congrats on finishing the book, and good luck with publishing!
posted by bananacabana at 2:05 PM on April 8, 2019
Where would I even go to find a publisher for something like this anyway?
Self-publish! Totally fine and understandable if that’s not the way you want to go, but I am super happy with Amazon/KDP/CreateSpace. I own all the rights, I have all the control, and I make much higher royalties. Sure, I have to do my own marketing, but that’s par for the course these days anyway unless you’re a famous author already. My format is also out of the ordinary and self-pubbing meant I didn’t have to change my book to fit someone else’s conception of what could be done within a genre. Memail me if I can answer any specific questions about self-publishing.
Congrats on finishing the book, and good luck with publishing!
posted by bananacabana at 2:05 PM on April 8, 2019
My only relationship to books and publishing is as a reader.
I think it is pretty common for excerpts or smaller parts to get published in various periodicals before, sometimes years before, the actual book is published. I've got a copy of Claudia Rankine's Citizen in my bag and the acknowledgments at the end start with her thanking the editors of the publications that first published some of the poems and essays contained in the book. I'm also pretty sure that every David Foster Wallace book I have says something like "sections previously published in" with a list of publications like Harper's or The New Yorker. Ta-Nehisi Coates' most recent two books are in essence collected versions of his essays in The Atlantic.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:13 PM on April 8, 2019
I think it is pretty common for excerpts or smaller parts to get published in various periodicals before, sometimes years before, the actual book is published. I've got a copy of Claudia Rankine's Citizen in my bag and the acknowledgments at the end start with her thanking the editors of the publications that first published some of the poems and essays contained in the book. I'm also pretty sure that every David Foster Wallace book I have says something like "sections previously published in" with a list of publications like Harper's or The New Yorker. Ta-Nehisi Coates' most recent two books are in essence collected versions of his essays in The Atlantic.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:13 PM on April 8, 2019
Best answer: Usually it goes the other way around. Journals won’t accept things that have been previously published elsewhere, including online, often including blogs. But publishing excerpts in journals should help with getting a book published.
As far as finding people doing something unusual, that will take some sleuthing. Start with The Lover’s Dictionary. Look for info in that book -acknowledgments may lead you to his agent, and there may be info on where excerpts were published. He probably has a website, where you can find out where else he’s published. Read those journals (this may involve traveling to a university library or shelling out money for copies). Look for authors there who are doing something like what you’re doing. Check contributor info in those journals to find out where else they’ve published. Look at those journals. If they’re on social media (and you are too), follow them. This will be a lot of work, but it’s how you find your people.
posted by FencingGal at 4:49 PM on April 8, 2019
As far as finding people doing something unusual, that will take some sleuthing. Start with The Lover’s Dictionary. Look for info in that book -acknowledgments may lead you to his agent, and there may be info on where excerpts were published. He probably has a website, where you can find out where else he’s published. Read those journals (this may involve traveling to a university library or shelling out money for copies). Look for authors there who are doing something like what you’re doing. Check contributor info in those journals to find out where else they’ve published. Look at those journals. If they’re on social media (and you are too), follow them. This will be a lot of work, but it’s how you find your people.
posted by FencingGal at 4:49 PM on April 8, 2019
Best answer: I'm an editor (admittedly for very different books than the one it sounds like you have written) but in my experience it can only help you to publish excerpts in a magazine beforehand, especially well-known ones. It certainly won't scare publishers off. I have worked on several books that consisted mostly or solely of previously published essays, stories, etc., and that was always a selling point, something we highlighted rather than downplayed. Kind of like—look, all these other cool people liked this, so you should too!
As far as finding a publisher goes, the kind of unfortunate truth is that fewer and fewer publishing houses accept unsolicited/unagented manuscripts. It kind of sucks I know to have to go through this extra step of finding an agent first, but agents are generally great advocates for authors (negotiating higher advances, etc.), so imo it's worth it to focus on finding an agent and not just sending your manuscript straight to publishers (though absolutely do that too, especially if you can find a place that seems to publish things in line with what you've written and they accept unagented submissions. You might want to check out small presses that focus on poetry, like Copper Canyon; it looks like they accept unagented submissions).
FencingGal's advice about looking at acknowledgments is really good, that's where I'd start too. Authors almost always mention their agents in acknowledgments, and a quick google search will generally yield said agent's contact info, or at least a general email address for submissions to that agency.
You'll find writers doing similar work, among other places, in literary journals and magazines. A few I like are Guernica, Conjunctions, Electric Literature, and the White Review. Some of these writers haven't published books yet, but a lot of them have, and their agents/publishers are people who might be interested in what you're doing.
Best of luck! Your book sounds really interesting, and you should definitely pursue publication!
posted by aaadddaaa at 6:28 PM on April 8, 2019 [1 favorite]
As far as finding a publisher goes, the kind of unfortunate truth is that fewer and fewer publishing houses accept unsolicited/unagented manuscripts. It kind of sucks I know to have to go through this extra step of finding an agent first, but agents are generally great advocates for authors (negotiating higher advances, etc.), so imo it's worth it to focus on finding an agent and not just sending your manuscript straight to publishers (though absolutely do that too, especially if you can find a place that seems to publish things in line with what you've written and they accept unagented submissions. You might want to check out small presses that focus on poetry, like Copper Canyon; it looks like they accept unagented submissions).
FencingGal's advice about looking at acknowledgments is really good, that's where I'd start too. Authors almost always mention their agents in acknowledgments, and a quick google search will generally yield said agent's contact info, or at least a general email address for submissions to that agency.
You'll find writers doing similar work, among other places, in literary journals and magazines. A few I like are Guernica, Conjunctions, Electric Literature, and the White Review. Some of these writers haven't published books yet, but a lot of them have, and their agents/publishers are people who might be interested in what you're doing.
Best of luck! Your book sounds really interesting, and you should definitely pursue publication!
posted by aaadddaaa at 6:28 PM on April 8, 2019 [1 favorite]
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In the literary market in Canada trying to publish a book of poems without having published any of it in literary magazines would be pretty uncommon and pretty hard. There are exceptions -- I mean, Rupi Kaur has two bestselling books of poetry, and didn't do the traditional magazine publications followed by book thing -- but that's not anywhere near the norm, and she self-published the first edition of her first book.
Where to find people that are doing more uncommon kinds of writing? The where depends on what you mean by uncommon. In general, though, read. Like a lot. Not just bestseller stuff, not just stuff that gets reviewed in big publications. Check out small presses. The ones that are more relevant depend on your location. Check out the books that the folks at (for example) The Rumpus are writing about. Or other places.
Follow other writers on social media.
The place where you want to send part of the project: Whose work are they publishing? Where else are those people being published? Check out those publications' websites.
posted by platitudipus at 1:58 PM on April 8, 2019 [1 favorite]