/lit/ - Literature

>>18857477
>Am I not getting published because my work is bad or is it because my country's publishers are bad in these modern times?
Both.

>>18857477
Well let me tell you Mr White Man, how many LGBTQP representations did you add to your work? And what about the POC? Or maybe for your great whiteness, people of color do not exist?

If you are really a black woman there is no possible way you can fail to get published.

>ALWAYS seeking: diversity. Race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, mentality, health, economic status, religious affiliation, all of it. The obvious shouldn’t need to be said — that I want my projects to reflect the beautiful diversity of the world, that I want to see and share with others life through another’s eyes, that I want to see these differences expressed through art and creation and culture, that these books need to be on bookshelves — but that’s the state of things. So yes, there is no question to it: I want diversity.
>This is your semi-annual reminder that while I'm looking for diversity and own voices across the board, I am particularly interested in seeing submissions in the mystery and historical romance genres. Please send! #mswl
>Seeking: manuscripts from POC, diverse authors,#LGBTQ,#OwnVoices, & all voices that have been silenced but NEED to be heard. I support you & want to share your stories with the world.
>I have never stopped looking for Black voices to add to my list of authors. If you write fun, escapist stories for MG or YA, I'm here! Currently hungry for rom-coms and light fantasy, but open to an adventure.
>Someone write me the epic queer MG I can comp to She-Ra, please
>We need more adaptations where draucla and van helsing were past lovers but now they're old petty exes
>#ownvoices#marginalizedvoicesfriendship-based adventure a la Goonies, please!#MG#YA#amquerying#amwriting
There are all real things written by real agents. Now what do you think the agents who wrote these do when they get a manuscript from a white, heterosexual author? Do you think they excitedly tear the envelope open and lean into the manuscript? Or do you think they move onto the next cover letter?

>>18857481
even if you do add LGBTBBQ bullshit to your manuscript they'll still complain that it wasn't written by a BBQ person and you're "appropriating" or you're not "authentic" enough.

you probably blame race politics for your failure so you never improve yourself or becoming a more interesting, engaging writer; try writing about something someone actually cares about.

>>18857565
I've seen what gets published. I've seen what wins awards. It has nothing to do with quality.

>Am I not getting published because my work is bad or is it because my country's publishers are bad in these modern times?
It could be one or both. We can't tell you. If you don't get any feedback from the publishers, you should consider either circulating your work among acquaintances (not relatives or friends, acquaintances) who are part of the target audience... OR pay for feedback from a professional (e.g. pay for a developmental edit).

>We can always meme about publishers wanting to published POVs from blacks, transsexuals and so forth, but is there any truth to the fact that publishers will actively discard other manuscripts in favour of these POVs?
There is unequivocally a bias toward these "historically marginalised voices". But the effect of that bias is probably not as great as people claim. I conclude that these types of minority status make it easier to market mediocre books compared to the absence of minority status, so choosing between a mediocre book written by a white guy and a mediocre book written by a minority - a publisher will go with the mediocre minority book because no matter how shit the text is, the person's status can be transformed into endless hooting about how the book is a historical event, the first such-and-such written by a so-and-so, and this will give it some attention and drive some clicks and sales and so on.

>In other words, would I have better luck publishing even a simply, unimpressive work in a country like India, or in the 19th century?
Don't even understand what you mean by this, but realistically you should just self-publish. You would earn more money, you would skip past the gatekeepers (woke and otherwise), and you would eventually get reviews and feedback from your actual readers. The risk is that you will humiliate yourself by publishing garbage, but you can do things to mitigate that, and that's always going to be a risk if you are serious about being an author.

>>18857686
As someone who just recently did an intership at one of germanys bigger literary agencies - this guy gets it. There is a bias, but if the quality of you book is good enough, it doesn't matter who you are.

>>18857477
Publishing isn't about good literature, it's about selling books.

>>18857737
How does it look in Germany, do you just send manuscripts to publishers or do you need some agents or what?

>>18857737
Going to take your word on that, but it's probably different in the US. The SJW cancer has not yet taken a foothold here to the same degree as it has in the US.

God I love Poland.

>everyone is white
>LGBT is popular only among kids who don't read, nobody asks about that
>religion unimportant, most are either Catholic or atheist
>most books are fantasy, no competition for actual lit fic

>>18857519
they also all seem to be exclusively interested in genre fiction.
So how goes it with the real stuff?

>>18857890
Poland has the most based authors. Joseph Conrad, Mickiewicz, Grabiński, Rej,ywg4w Lem

>>18857477
Probably because you are not real bright. For example, you do not provide what country you are in, what steps you have taken to get published, what sort of stuff you write or an example of your writing, all of which would be needed to answer your question. The lack of these details strongly suggests this is just a thinly veiled /pol/ thread.

>>18857477
How does this work for poetry collections? I'm in the process of putting one together. My poems are free-ish in verse but they are similar to say someone like Trakl. So not your typical slam-poetry drivel

>>18858008
actual literary fiction is the hardest sell. If you write just a normal family drama like Faulkner or something you have to sell it as LGBTQ, or a mystery, or horror, or literally anything else. It's ridiculous. Genre sells. Non-genre don't. So what genre can you sell your non-genre fiction as?

>>18857477
1) You're brain is rotting with trashy /pol/ agitprop, so you're trying to avoid the obvious truth.
-> 2) Your work is probably unmarketable, and only serves a a vehicle for your very own power fantasies.
-> thus, leading to our final point : 3) Your work is incomprehensible drivel.

>write a book
>send it saying you are a faggot pansexual or whatever
What's the problem?

>>18858179
Unremarkable, incomprehensible shit gets published all the time. So long as the author is the right race, the right gender, the right sexual identity, it gets published and praised. Have you read a literary journal recently?
https://www.theparisreview.org/miscellaneous/7633/an-excerpt-from-help-claudia-rankine

>>18858197
Thanks for proving my point, dumbass.
This thread is about writing and publishing A GOOD BOOK THAT DESERVES IT.
NOT EMOTIONAL GLOBOHOMO TRASH.

Why would you care about the backing of a morally-vague publishing house?
Why do YOU need such backing in the 21st century, with Internet access and independent distribution networks?
Why do YOU care so much about fame and money with a medium where only the most mediocre run-of-the-mill novels got a chance?

You don't want to write a book for self-expression or creative desire...you want to achieve notoriety.
And you're bitter and jealous that SHE had a chance to release her garbage through The paris Review. Even though that doesn't directly equal to long-term positive outcome.

So please Anon, GTFO off this toxic website known as 4chan, re-write your drafts, take some irl advice from people that care about books and fuck this money-hungry absurd system known as the publishing industry.

If you can't persuade these gatekeepers that your work is worth publishing, if you can't craft a pitch that makes it sound like your work ticks their boxes, you probably aren't very good at writing anyway.

>>18858227
It's not about money, it's about readers. If you self publish you will not get readers. People read only what they can find, and they will not find your book on the internet.
>>18858243
what part of racism don't you get? Quality doesn't matter, pitches don't matter, only your skin tone matters. The darker the better.

>>18858260
>It's not about money, it's about readers. If you self publish you will not get readers.
So that's what I thought.
You want your book to be shilled and talked about as the "next big thing" by online randoms.
You do not care for the craft, the characters, the topics... you want to reach an audience that would give YOU the attention you're seeking so much, in hopes of breaking with the daily hum-drum of your life, as a forgettable average "nobody".

>>18858260
>only your skin tone matters
And yet white writers keep getting published, keep winning prizes etc etc. How did Daniel Silva or Matt Haig or Brad Thor, to take names from the current NY bestseller list, get published?

>>18858267
Books are meant to be read... why would he write with the intention of having nobody read it? You don't know that he doesn't care for the craft, characters, topics...

>>18858165
It's even worse for poetry. At this point, the poetry scene is almost entirely governed by women and non-whites, with varying degrees of intersection between these two groups.

>>18858316
>Daniel Silva
first published in 1996
>Matt Haig
first published in 2004
>Brad Thor
>first published in 2002
These people managed to get into the business before the LGBT craze. They've been grandfathered in. Here's a bit of homework for you: find a white male author with a debut novel from the past five years with no LGBTQ shit. You've got the internet at your disposal so it should be easy to find at least one, right? After all, it's about quality not politics, right? Check the literary award nominees, check the publisher's websites, check the agency websites. You should be able to find one new white male author.

>>18857869
You can send straight to a publisher, but the chance of getting published that way are nearly nil. Going via an agency/agent is still hard enough, as they also get swamped by unsolicited manuscripts, yet still your chances are higher that way.

>>18858165
Selling poetry is hard, because only few people read/buy poetry, and as such not many is published.

>>18858466
I note your moving of the goalposts, which now include 'LGBT shit' rather than just skin color. I googled 2017 debut novels and got
>Matthew Sullivan
>Dan Moren
>Nicholas Eames
>Joseph Knox
>Brian Van Reet
Could have have George Sanders, but figured you'd quibble about that one
I took these purely from 'best debut novel of the year' type lists. What the piss are you talking about?

>>18858176
I'd say that's rather because a lot of lit fic is navelgazing tosh

>>18857648
It never did

>>18857477
We can't give you a meaningful answer without seeing your work

>>18857477
From my understandin, publishing in the West is quite difficult if you are not LGBT/POC/female. Hell, even straight POC males might have difficulties. Rather than struggling to make it here, I'd say it might be worth a shot to try and publish in a less liberalized country's language, like Arabic or Farsi or Mandarin or Urdu. The market might be smaller but it would be easier to get published.

So this thread is just people bitching that they have to tailor their work to the marketplace they find themselves in?
If you're such a great writer why don't you just write an amazing book which includes the fashionable shibboleths ?

>>18859039
moving goalposts? No. I posted a bunch of real manuscript wish lists and mission statements from real agents who openly discriminate against straight white men. Gay white men can get published real easy.

>>18857477
If you were good, you would just self-publish

>>18857477
I mean seriously. The internet is made out of text. If anyone here can write well, and have the drive, they have better opportunities than ever before, for making a living off of writing
People have always failed. Because they suck. Or they had bad luck. But you know what never, ever made anyone's career, ever?
Blaming someone else

>>18859206
This is honestly true. Perhaps some clever anon will channel his resentment of the truth regime into a scathing detraction that flies under the radar and into success.

Just publish on Amazon like this guy.

>>18859253
>I posted a bunch of real manuscript wish lists and mission statements from real agents who openly discriminate against straight white men.
No you didn't. The texts above refer to seeking submissions from certain groups, but make no reference to refusing submissions from straight white men, who as my previous post established, are very capable of getting published.