On publications, publishers and disappointment.
Expectation vs. reality
Happy Friday,
I was lurking the Medium groups on Facebook and it struck me like the Goldilocks story all over again. A lot of people lamenting publications that are too big, or too small. Finding just right was a lot easier in the fairy tale.
Of course, what isn’t?
Someone was distraught that Mind Cafe isn’t taking submissions.
Another writer suggested The Ascent. A third writer said sure, but they take a really long time to respond. He’d submitted and didn’t hear back for over two weeks. Someone else said yeah, PS is like that, too. So long to respond.
I guess they’ve never written for magazines.
You think publications on Medium take a long time to respond? Try writing for a print magazine. Yikes. Not days or weeks. Months, sometimes.
Lots of lamenting about the Startup. They’re huge, someone said. One of the biggest publications on Medium. They accepted her post and she was so excited.
Then they mass published so many stories at the same time, her post scrolled off the page instantly and didn’t even get any views. She was crushed. I laughed. Me too, friend. Me, too. Been there, done that.
Expectation vs. reality
A while ago, I read a story by an author whose first book was picked up by a mainstream publisher. It was like a dream come true. At first, anyway. Signing contracts. Negotiating royalties. Telling all her friends.
She posted it on Facebook. I have a book contract! So excited.
Until she realized they didn’t have a marketing budget for her. Sorry, you have to market your own book. If you can’t sell enough copies, we won’t publish the next one.
It was a trilogy. They’d accepted the first book in a trilogy. And if she couldn’t sell book one, there’d be no book two. At least, not with that publisher.
A lot of it comes down to expectation vs. reality.
Too often, the exchange isn’t clear. Writers think a big publisher or publication will do their marketing. Find their readers. You know, to make money on the book they accepted. When they don’t, it feels like they dropped the ball.
The reality is that big and reputable publications and publishers were never planning to do the marketing. What they bring to the table isn’t visibility, it’s credibility.
If you’re Stephen King, sure. But not much marketing to do there.
Just an announcement, really. Any idea how many fans he has?
When a writer gets accepted by a big distribution company, whether it’s Random House or one of Medium’s biggest or in-house publications, what they offer is the ability to join the elite group of people they did not reject.
Credibility, not marketing.
Novice writers, especially, don’t always realize that. That’s an easy rabbit hole to fall down on Medium. Omg, 200K readers? 100K writers? In-house pub? Who wouldn’t want to be there? Then they’re crushed that the response was so weak.
It was only ever about credibility.
The days of big publishers promoting a new unknown writer are long gone. I’m not sure they really ever existed. They were gone 15 years ago when I worked in publishing. The same concepts apply at Medium.
There’s a reason it’s about credibility.
There’s no street cred in getting accepted by a vanity publisher who accepts everything as long as you pay their fees. Same applies for publications that reject nothing.
It comes down to knowing what you’re getting. Expectation vs. reality.
I’m working on a post about how to find publications on Medium that will help you get more eyes on your writing. Because the way too many people approach publications doesn’t work. It’s not helping them grow.
I hope you’ll watch for it. Or check my email next Friday.
“Truth and wisdom are always attractive and beautiful, even when they are not attractive and beautiful.”
—E.A. Bucchianeri, Vocation of a Gadfly
This week’s reading:
2 kinds of writer’s block. One is easier to fix than the other.
If you only (ever) read one book on writing, make it this one.
If you made it down here, thank you for reading.
If you enjoyed this, please click the heart. On Substack, hearts are like claps on Medium. Just a nice way to let me know you enjoyed my writing. :)
Also? Comments are open. If you’re reading this via email, click the title and you’ll be able to leave a comment, too. Some of the best people are found in comments!
Have a great weekend.
:)
Linda
Another fabulous article. You’re right, it is credibility that big publications bring. What a great way to put it. I hadn’t thought of it that way.
It was discouraging to discover the work of marketing is also ours. At least it felt that way until I discovered marketing is engagement with like-minded readers around topics Im excited about— once I figured that, it became less scary and more enjoyable.
I’m really looking forward to reading more on how to do that well.
If you want your house to last, you have to have a proper foundation. That means loads of digging and learning the fundamentals. And these are never seen.