From: <swstiles at comcast.net>
To: "WSFA members" <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: But Tell Us What  You Know...
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 15:25:32 -0400
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

----- Original Message -----
From: "dicconf" <dicconf at radix.net>
To: "WSFA members" <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Sent: Friday, April 27, 2007 3:13 PM
Subject: [WSFA] Re: But Tell Us What You Know...

>
> On Thu, 26 Apr 2007, swstiles at comcast.net wrote:
>
> > I haven't been paying attention to the book publishing
scene
> > in the past many years, but while I was at RavenCon last
> > weekend I noticed there were nothing *but* small press
books
> > on display in the dealers' room. Just *who* are the
major
> > small press (if that isn't an oxymoron) publishers these
> > days? And is this a viable alternative for writers, if
not
> > as profitable as the major players, or just a step above
the
> > vanity press?
>
> As I understand it:
> When the big publishers went to the big-box attitude, and
> began to dump the middle line that had been selling
steadily
> but not blockbuster level, the small press was the only
place
> to go.
>
> There are some very good small presses.  It's viable if
you
> are willing to do some of your own promotion, and they
seem
> to make a good product.  NESFA for instance is technically
> a small press, I believe.
>
> > There seems to have been an explosion in this area, but
I
> > haven't been paying attention (I get the feeling that
the
> > small press *comics* are a debt creating, semi-prozine
> > proposition).
>
> Publishing your own comics was a losing game for years,
> but in many cases it was the only way to go.  However, now
> that web comics are so popular, if you can publish your
> comic on the web and then put it into print, it can be
> successful - you have a pre-sold audience who know where
> to order.  Girl Genius has gone that route, and I think
> it may become standard.
>
> The weblog promotion route has worked outside SF and
> comics extremely well.  Check out Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's
> "Yarn Harlot" blog for a prime example: hundreds of
comments,
> and thousand of books pre-ordered for her fifth book.
>
> =Tamar

Thanks, I will.

--Steve