/lit/ - Literature

>>21831002
An agent or knowing someone in the business really helps. You need connections to get by in any business. It's very rare you're going to "make it" on your own with no connections or without the truchement of some other person.

>>21831002
Get an agent. Or unironically use a jewish or a bipoc surname.

>>21831025
I'm pretty sure most good authors form those connections because people read and believe in their work and they slowly build on that

>>21831035
Nah, they're just a relative or a friend of someone already established in the business.
The people who got "discovered" because they sent some random manuscript are probably a very tiny minority.

>>21831002

That's the thing: My queries are for agents, not publishers.

I suppose knowing someone already in the business does help, but how does one go around making those kinds of connections?

>>21831002
>>21831055
Are you white? If so, you're fucked. Cut off your testicles and put lipstick on and they might consider you.

>>21831044
lol, okay retard, the actual examples speak for themselves

>>21831002
While it's certainly true that connections go a long way in any form of publishing, if you've received 50+ form rejections from query letters, I think it's time to revisit your manuscript and see what isn't working from the eyes of a potential agent/publisher. What genre is the MS you're querying? That may also play a part in the volume of form rejections you've received. If you're trying to publish "literary" work, you may want to consider submitting directly to small presses who have open calls or first book contests.

At this point, I recommend sending your current draft to a trusted group of readers in your social circle (3 is OK) and using their feedback to guide your revision process (accept some changes, discard the rest, etc). Most agents won't have time to offer any substantial feedback, of course, but if you haven't received anything in the way of a "human" response since beginning to query in August, it's possible that the work isn't quite there yet.

Keep your chin up, anon.

t. former fiction MFA/lit mag anon

You're probably the wrong color, gender, and orientation.

>>21831495
Why are you always bringing your jewish conspiracies into this? Jews are NOT trying to replace you. Touch grass chud.

>>21831055
Most writers make those connection in college when getting their MFA.

>>21831495
>critical of their own "privilege"
Why is this bitch bringing this up? If being "critical of your own privilege" was relevant, then they would understand why they are being passed over, unless they were doing it only because they think it's just a symbolic gesture they need to make to get away with their privileges. In reality, of course, white people are the most oppressed in the west, and while I hope it wasn't the case, I do find amusement in the irony that those who are "critical of their own privilege" are getting fucked too, because they are the ones who made this dystopian reality possible.

I got published on my first submission and I now every month my publisher takes me out to lunch to an expensive-but-not-pretentious seafood place and then we got back to her place for brisk dispassionate lovemaking. I don't know what you guys are doing wrong.

>>21831558
Is she hot?

>>21831546
it's funny how she isn't any different from those editors

>>21831025
>>21831002
>>21831028
>>21831035
I don't get it, why don't you just print the copies on demand when people order, sell on Amazon and your website? Why do you need a Jewish publisher?

>>21831495
>>21831511
Btw all those publishers are Jews.

>>21831654
So what? Jews aren't privileged. By definition they can't be racist, and by definition white people can't be oppressed.
So what if they don't want to hire you because you're white? You're white! You control the entire global capitalist empire. If you don't like it move to Canada and apply for MAID.

>>21831650
>print the copies on demand
Ah, yes, who wouldn't want to be counted among such greats as F. Gardner, R.C. Waldun and Michelle Ma.

>>21831693
F. Gardner just bought a penthouse.

>>21831703
More like, F. Gardner's latest trick lives in a penthouse, and after he fucked F's bussy raw and passed out, F made a quick LARP video.
No one believes his books sell or that he has any money not given to him by mommy and daddy.

>>21831717
Gardner is kino. Don't dear to insult him just because his grammar sucks.

>>21831002
66 queries here. I was told a minority antagonist wasn't appropriate.

>>21831742

My novel is a YA Urban Fantasy where the deuteragonist is a pregnant 17-year-old. I am a white, cis gay man. You think that's the issue?

>>21831791
Or maybe we suck.

>>21831728
>dear to insult him
Your malapropisms give you away every time, F.
And yes, your grammar sucks, as does your short sentence fragments, meandering viewpoints, typos, homonyms, overtelling rather than showing, inconsistent tense, cardboard-cutout characters that speak in cliches, philosophy out of nowhere, lots of commas, confusing plurals with possessives, mixing singular and plural, etc. ad nauseam.

>>21831863
Is Gardner ESL? Because I am and usually make the same type of mistakes when I write fast and don't proofread.

>>21831002
I'm an author.
Yes, your work probably sucks. If it doesn't suck:
Nobody accepts queries from unknowns unless you have a good following, either on social media or a lot of self-published sales. Or if you have friends in publishing. Move to NY or write something people want to read and share.
(I self-published, gave out a hundred or so books, and one got into an agent's hands who sent ME a query. Got an offer within a year. A year of re-editing and then published a year after that.)

>>21831903
>I'm an author.
Do you have any advice not to get "cancelled" for your politics? Are you specially subtle about putting fascist red pills on your work, or you have just given it up altogether?

>>21831791
>deuteragonist
Double-agonist, sure, but you've not expressed if they're a protagonist or antagonist.

Also I assume the pregnant 17 year old is a boy (penis haver).

>>21831910
You need to go back.

>>21831927
Anon, you won't tell me you aren't a fascist, will you? What do you even have to write about then?

>>21831791
I'm told men can get pregnant too.

>>21831949
Grow up dude.

>it can't possibly be that my first novel isn't of publishable quality; it MUST be the entire publishing industry that it at fault
why is /lit/ like this

>>21832004
>why is /lit/ like this
Because there's no way that he's much worse than Sally Rooney or Ottessa Moshfegh.

>>21832004
Years and years of constant (and astroturfed) sour grapes over how both books and the industry are irrelevant and there's no good literature published anymore can easily give rise to delusions of grandeur.

>>21832019
"Bad writers have gotten published so my manuscript doesn't need to be good" is a retarded attitude to have. Yes, sometimes shit makes it past the editors, and yes, this is usually because the writer is today's brand of oppressed. That doesn't mean the overwhelming majority of published writers aren't superior to the overwhelming majority of unpublished writers.
>>21832022
Fair point.

>>21831002
Don't waste your time with agents or big publishers, find a small indie press and build from there.
Pic related.

>>21831002
1) You're an anglo living in the anglosphere.
2) You're a white anglo living in the anglosphere.
3) You're a white male anglo living in the anglosphere.

>>21832587
One day I'll read your novel, Australian anon. I hope you keep writing.

I've gotten several short stories and several poems published, and I have had several requests for partials for my books over the years. Once I had an agent who actually requested a full manuscript of mine. THEN she rejected me. That was brutal.

These days I am working on a large story of considerable size. I have had a few bites on the first book, but many people have said it's not for them, for various reasons. But unlike with before, I'm digging in. Everyone who has read this big story of mine loves it. It's a very unusual kind of story, but I think that is part of what will make it great.

I'm considering serializing the first book and putting it up sections at a time on my Substack. I have a decent social media following, that might cause it to spread.

Are you going straight for a novel? Have you got short stories, essays and articles out there?

>>21832019
>there's no way that he's much worse than Sally Rooney or Ottessa Moshfegh.
Have...have you seen the /write/ threads?

>>21831998
Democracy has failed.

>>21833108
N-no. Should I?

>>21833134
It's a useful perspective. 99.9% of posters complaining about Jewish gatekeepers are utterly dreadful and would never get anywhere anyway. The gulf between the likes of Rooney and Moshfegh and delusional anons on here is vast.
They are the equivalent of dumbasses on /sp/ who think they could beat up Floyd Mayweather 'in a real streetfight'

>>21833190
Anon, you're sounding a lot like a jew to me right now. You have a cold heart, like a soldier who surrenders to the enemy and betrays his comrades, telling himself they wouldn't have survived anyway.

>>21833211
>t. /write/fag

>>21833211
>You have a cold heart, like a soldier who surrenders to the enemy and betrays his comrades, telling himself they wouldn't have survived anyway.
some of that stunning /wg/ prose

>>21832603
this

>>21832019
There is definitely a way. Lit morons vastly underestimate how much better at writing even very bad professional writers are compared to themselves.
>>21833108
Exactly lol

>>21831002
I thought that most publishers ignored most queries that weren't done through a literary agent?

>>21831558
I feel like this is a reference to something but I don't know the reference.

>>21831693
What makes you think they would ever give you a chance? If you are white then you are a threat to them.
They don't just make someone big unless that person is willing to play ball with their narrative.
Did you know that Epstein won the lottery? Everything is rigged in some way. Maybe not every time, but your chances are better alone.
It's like this, Alex jones had the top book in the USA, yet he wasn't on any of the best sellers lists.
It's all a facade to make you think it's not rigged.

>>21834791
You need to go back.

>>21835915
Fuck off Newfag.

To the guys who are saying maybe OP sucks, what's a good recently published novel that is good?

What's OP competing with?

>>21836046
Even if there aren't any good novels being published there is a difference between bad writer and can't write at all. Op probably can't write at all.

>>21836073
So give an example. If there are so many it shouldn't be a problem

>>21831693
>no being successful isn't enough I need to be IMPORTANT IN NEW YORK
lol I hope anyone who thinks this way gets what they want for the 3 years maximum that it lasts before they OD in the bathtub at 37

>>21836097
What kind of reading comprehension is this? There could be 0 GOOD novels published and it wouldn't change the fact that OP probably isn't capable of producing a sub-par, bad, or even awful novel. He can post some excerpts if he wants but I'd be expecting /wg/ level inability.

>>21836104
Yes, any decent writer would rather be important somewhere than not at all.

>>21836104
I was thinking this too. An actual writer with genuinely worthwhile things to say or interesting stories wouldn't be fussed about the methods by which they were published or how much money they earned beyond what they need to survive if it's actually their full-time occupation. Faulkner worked in a mill or something. Anon wants to be a wealthy and successful author like Rupi Kaur and feels slighted that he isn't receiving that due.

>>21836122
You are either incredibly disingenuous or incredibly naive.

>>21831002
There's literally no point, imo, given that 99% of agents specifically outline in their submission guidelines that they're looking for work from anyone but a white dude. I submitted query letters for a while when I was younger and oblivious to it all. The entire industry is fake and gay anyway. Much better to just go your own way, write what you truly want to write, and try some form of self-publishing. Another interesting idea I've thought about recently was publishing works to the blockchain. But modern traditional publishing has fallen to such a disgraceful state that any self-respecting, decently skilled writer who values his abilities/work should really want nothing to do with it anyway.

>>21831002
Literature is dead and white male authors are poison to agents and publishers, that's the secret.

Unless you're writing a super commercial novel, like a retelling of Dracula where he and Van Helsing are gay lovers (which was a serious manuscript wish list request), or already established yourself online and have an audience (and therefore dont need a traditional publisher) then you're well and proper fucked.

>>21836141
Anon the number of exceptional authors and artists who lived in obscurity and poverty for much or all of their lives is very long. If you have something actually novel and philosophically unique or aesthetically beautiful to record then do so and don't worry about the conditions under which you are received, and that's something an actual artist would do because they desire to produce an extension of themselves that takes shape in the world, not to make money and live a swanky life. If you're looking to get very lucrative right away I guess you'd need to do something like
>self publish huge numbers of romance novels or genre fiction novels
>be some kind of face of a generation type selling point to target specific demographics kikes want to pervert, so like a Rupi Kaur (be a pee oh cee)
>have a lot of friends or family in publishing and marketing (be Jewish)

>>21836111
>>21836111
Okay. I understand. So post an example of a good recently published novel.

>>21836162
No, you don't seem to understand what I said. I don't know of any good recently published novels, but I would bet money that if I walked into a bookstore and picked up a random recently published novel it would be better-written than what OP produced.

>>21836073
The most recent modern novel I actually enjoyed and would possibly consider a future classic was published in 1996. I honestly cant think of a single good book published in the past 20 years.

>>21836174
Not novels but Alice Munro has published several of the best short story collections ever within the past 20 years. I dont really read much contemporary lit but I'm sure there are a lot of great books from the last 2 decades I just haven't really read any of them.

The White Tiger is a novel that was published in 2008 and I absolutely loved it and recommend it to everyone. I'm positive there are lots of gems like it out there

>>21836046
Latest published good book I read. Pretty sure I'm the only one shilling it. Five years old?

>>21836122
>An actual writer with genuinely worthwhile things to say or interesting stories
>>21836145
>any self-respecting, decently skilled writer who values his abilities/work
Can you name a few self-published writers (living, working) like this? (NB: not Twitter hucksters who repackage shitposts in kindle form.)

>>21836162
Okay here's one. Go read it and be blown away by how much better this is than what you write

Do you think an MFA is worth it for the connections? It seems like a lot of published fiction authors are either coming from sort of of media/publishing before they publish fiction or they’re coming out of a university program.

Would it be better to just build a portfolio of self-published work?

>>21831035
That probably was the case but the publishing industry is so bad and corrupt now I doubt it’s still the case.

>>21836200
No I can't. But I dont really follow any contemporary literature so I have no idea what's out there at all. I just know op probably sucks because I think everyone on lit and in college who aspires to write probably sucks way worse than they think they do.

>>21831693
Why not self-publish under 1 pseudonym, build a small following, use that as a hook with traditional publishers (see, I have this following so sales) then traditional publish under another pseudonym. Only you and your publisher would know the connection.

>>21836206
No dude, if you have something actually novel and philosophically unique or aesthetically beautiful to record then just write it and get some fiverr Hassan to throw together a stock photo cover for it and go on a shill campaign on your single-digit follower pseudonymous Twitter handle, that's something an actual artist would do because they desire to produce an extension of themselves that takes shape in the world. The number of exceptional authors and artists who lived in obscurity and poverty for much or all of their lives is, after all, very long.

>>21836219
Why not spam your shit on 4chan? If it's any good some people will probably pick it up. Of course it won't be any good and there are literally tens of thousands of amazing books worth reading for uncountable reasons to compete with.

>>21836219
Your small following would be worthless if you're going to bounce between pseudonyms, silly.

>>21836219
If only the publisher knows the connection the following you had built wouldn't matter

>>21836225
What I meant was, if you can produce something that can stand up to truly great works then you shouldn't worry about how it gets published. A Confederscy of Dunces is an amazing book and Toole didn't succeed in his lifetime. He killed himself and his mom had to beg publishers to take a look at the manuscript. It's something people love to read because it's incredibly good. The chances you have of producing something incredibly good that lots of people would love to read is almost 0%. And that's nothing personal I think pretty much everyone ever has about that chance.

>>21831650
Marketing and physical circulation

>>21836206
>Would it be better to just build a portfolio of self-published work?
Self publishing is actually a detriment. It pisses off trad publishers and makes them less likely to want your stuff.

>>21836229
I think spamming it here will give a bad taste in readers’ mouths

>>21836231
It’s just to get you trad published

>>21836239
Why?

>>21836282
But if you've built an audience on brand recognition (i.e. pseudonym #1) why would any of it carry over to pseudonym #2, unless you make it explicit?

>>21836307
It wouldn’t. I only suspect it would make a traditional publisher more likely to publish you.

I'm glad to announce we have decided on one of two things.

OP is a terrible writer and has no friends. Or, there is a global Jewish conspiracy to keep white male authors from becoming published.

>>21836448
What if both are true?

>>21836448
>decided
>Or,
Bit of a contradiction.
Have you read Shape of the Ruins? What is the latest published good book you'd recommend?

>>21836448
>global
This "fuck whitey" thing is exclusive to Anglophone territories. White males are still regularly published in the rest of the West, which -- contrary to /pol/pular opinion -- has not fallen.

>>21836445
>I have this audience who will buy anything I endorse or put my name on
>>That's great! Already having a core audience will be good because we can rely on those sales and their word of mouth to create more sales!
>...No...you misunderstood me. I'm going to change my name that way my core audience has no idea it's me..
>>B-but how will that help??
>JUST TRUST THE PLAN OK??? TWO MORE WEEKS CHUD

>>21836448
After years of reading /lit/ I've come to believe both are true.

>>21836475
>exclusive to anglophone territories
What is Germany and France

>>21837132
Last I checked? Not Anglophone territories.

>>21831044
I know several authors and this is not true. There are several events, from book presentations to awards where you can physically go as a young author to do networking, if you live in a culturally active city.
If not, establishing a presence online by writing articles, reviews and publishing short stories on good platforms is a great way to network. People who edit reviews sometimes have contact in the publishing world, and can get help you get read by agents and other people. Even so much as adding literary critics and editors and publishers on facebook and write them (if you have, again, a little online presence with some interesting publications) can help you get somewhere. Also, literary agencies will literally do the job of reading you and eventually pushing you to publishing houses if you pay them.
Most people who seethe about how difficult it is to get in just don't know how the world works - and not the world of literature, but the world in general. Participating in the social group of people who do what you want to do is a prerequisite to enter that world. You cannot just autistically throw your work at random people and expect them to pay attention to you, because even if you are very good there's thousands of others doing the same stupid, autistic thing you do. So you need a bit of social intelligence to enter ANY environment. But what is natural for any other work environment somehow becomes a matter of ideal purity and not compromising and wanting to be acknowledged for raw talent when it comes to creative things. Why? Because being creative is very often not about doing a good job and participating in a social group by doing that, but about getting all you can get out of social participation (respect, money, attention, etc.) without doing any of the actual work required to do it. It's a beautiful fantasy, to believe that you are a great misunderstood artist, and it can get you through many bad days. But it's also, most of the times, the escapist tentation of people who have nothing and are afraid to take the risk and enter social groups.
All published authors I personally know, and especially the good ones, have not only put in a significant amount of hours into writing, but also into trying to get read. Even those who were (and still are!) complete social outcasts kept knocking at doors in the publishing world to get their books out and went through many humiliations, because they thought their books were more important then themselves. But most of those who do creative things are using art to ease their nerves and mend the general feeling of worthlessness you get from not being able to properly enter society, hence the whole rhetoric that the publishing world is evil, etc. It is, but it's far from being inaccessible, and it's significantly more accessible than most of other creative industries.

>>21836204
mixtape hyperborea is unironically better

I am a half-white male with decent writing chops. What are my chances?

>>21837437
What if I go to conferences and pitch slams (spending thousands of dollars in the process) but am too autistic to network effectively? Should I just give up?

>>21832019
>Because there's no way that he's much worse than Sally Rooney or Ottessa Moshfegh.
You seem to be conflating aesthetic value with potential profits. Aesthetic value is of zero interest to editors and publishers. Potential profit is. Authors like those you mention, whose books are summarized by "young woman who is better than everyone else being cynical in a hip way" is crack cocaine to the main demographic of readers, namely, young women who think they are better than everyone else and feel hip and cynical about it.
Men don't read. They play video games and watch porn. This place collects outliers, and has more women than any other board for the very same reason.
Women might be reading your posts RIGHT NOW. Terrible to even imagine, isn't it?

>>21837026
You don’t think they’d be more willing to publish a book even under a different name knowing your writing managed to build an audience once already?

>>21837504
Half-white and half-what? If asian, not too good. If black, very good. If latino, you still count as white.

>>21837978
Rooney and Moshfegh are superior on an aesthetic level to almost everyone who has ever posted on this board.

>>21837989
Sure, whatever, has no bearing on the point. That aeshtetic value, if they have it, was not operational in them getting published.

>>21837986
Native American, small tribe

>>21838023
Yes it did, because there are hundreds of young female writers who are just as bad as anyone on this board. Rooney and Moshfegh made it out of that morass because they were much better than the rest

>>21837989
That's not exactly a high bar.

>>21837437
The post that saved /lit/.

>>21831002
You're not supposed to e-query. They basically don't consider anyone from an e-query. If you want an agent, go to a convention and sit at the bar chatting with everyone you can. You'll eventually meet an agent. Strike up a rapport with them and THEN send a query package.

>>21838200
I tried that at a conference this weekend and failed miserably. If I'm bad at schmoozing with strangers I should just give up right?

>>21838040
Being half native is almost as much of a boon as being half black. Hell, it might be a bigger boon.

>>21838249
Go indie as you practice being nice to people

>>21838249
SHAKE THE DUST OFF YOUR FEET
DON'T LOOK BACK
NOTHING CAN HOLD YOU DOWN
THERE'S NOTHING YOU LACK
JUST KEEP PRESSING ON

>>21831002
Why do people need publishers these days when you can distribute millions of copies all around the world in the blink of an eye?

>>21832004
Because autists are the absolute worst kind of people.

>>21838337
Because any serious writer wants and knows the value of a stamp of authenticity, editorial feedback, promotion, reviews, physical presence, a dialogue with other authors, no matter how gay and retarded the woke Jewish publishing industry has gotten. Spamming your selfpubbed pdf on various internet platforms is just screaming feebly into the void. Zero dialogue. Are you autistic?

Let me tell you a story: around ten years ago, Irish rock band U2 thought it was a neat idea to add their new album to the library of every iTunes user on the planet, free of charge. Apple and U2 were under the impression that they were revolutionizing the way music was distributed, blah blah blah. This backfired enormously and turned the band into a joke overnight, and will likely be their lasting legacy among tens, if not hundreds, of millions of people. "Remember when U2 put their fucking album on everyone's phone?" Not even the biggest band in the world could carpetbomb their shit; what makes you think anyone would and/or should take you and your diary desu into consideration?

>>21837964
Generally speaking, for most humans if you keep doing a certain thing you will improve, so by going there and trying you'll get a bit less autistic each time. Or maybe don't spend thousand of dollars to go there in person, unless you have them, and focus on internet presence first

You can't force me to make the slightest bit of effort towards establishing myself in my chosen career. I simply won't do it

>>21838621
Honestly my problem is less autism and more the fact that I just don't like people very much. I actually prefer networking [or trying to] in person because at least then I can gauge whether someone's actually engaged.

The thing is, even outside of any alleged conspiracy, there is a reason for publishers to avoid white men in that they have no inherent draw. You can market the black genderqueer as that, and there's not an insignificant of people who will buy the book based on that. All a white guy has to go on his any quality he may or may not have, and how are you meant to sell quality? Plus there's a not-insignificant amount of people who would not buy a book based on that characteristic of the author.

It's just bad business sense to publish white male authors regardless of quality.

>>21831198
This is the best advice in the thread. It's the strength of your manuscript more than anything. Even if you were a BIPOC this-or-that, you'd still need a relatively strong manuscript or something marketable to offer. If you don't have that part going for you, you won't get anywhere. Have you had your manuscript professionally edited? If so, how many passes have you done?

>>21839314
True. We need to Make White Guys Interesting Again.

>>21831002
>want job
>send out hundreds of applications
>get form rejections or ghosted
>want to get published
>send out hundreds of queries
>get form rejections or ghosted
>want a date
>send out hundreds of swipes
>get OF-baited or ghosted
>boomers ask why i'm depressed

>>21831495
>apply for job
>get asked my race and gender on every application
>apply for university
>get asked my race and gender
>apply for training program
>get asked my race and gender
>send query
>get asked my race and gender and twitter handle
>boomers wonder why i'm depressed

A post so bussin' he had to do it twice.

>>21831511
>publishing is 90% jews
>scroll down any listing of agents, it's 90% jews
>just so happens that bold faced outright anti-white discrimination is rampant in publishing industry
>but saying it's jews getting revenge on "amalek" (whites) is a conspiracy theory and i'm probably a trump voting neo-not-see anti-sea-might
>boomers wonder why i'm depressed

>>21839314
I know you might be baiting but I actually think this is an underrated point because of its nuance. Even if it wasn't for broad strokes wokeism, the shift towards quantity over quality in modern consumer goods markets means non-idpol affirming products are inherently less economically viable because there's no such thing as an inherent market for straight white/Asian males in themselves whereas a black troon lesbian is a product with an established market in xerself. The problem is in-built in how we view the world and there's really no way around it without acknowledging that a true artistic culture and mass consumerism are irreconcilable.

>>21831668
>2% of the population
>30% of the 1%
>50% of congress
>90% of publishing industry
>95% of hollywood
>"not privileged"

>>21832019
This. When you get nothing but rejections on queries and then go look in the bookstore to behold that 99% of recently published works are such utter dogshit i wouldn't line a birdcage with them because i don't want my parakeet to become mentally retarded.

>>21839559
Post an excerpt from your work

>>21839576
You're a product of my jizz in your mother's asshole, so I post you, dimwit.

>>21839591
Why would you be this angry when asked to share an excerpt of your writing?

>>21838926
I understand this a lot because I have exactly the same problem. For me, it got a bit better by insisting and trying to push through. I'm not as effective as people who have a gift for being social, but if you put the effort, something good starts coming. Also, I every once in a while, although rarely, I do meet people I like to work with - but that would never happen if I didn't try at least a bit to be out there

>>21836199
I didn't like it. Damn it was tedious, though the beginning was fairly promising.

>>21839599
*fart noises*
cum-maggot

>>21839505
Exactly. I feel like my life is an exercise in endlessly punching a brick wall.

>>21837437
I think if you have to rely on connections to get published, your work is inherently mediocre.

And yes it's true that a lot of medicore work gets published for this reason, but work that is not mediocre is always going to find a publisher.

>>21831002

>>21840180
Everyone starts out mediocre, anon. The job of a publishing house that has taken you on is to (among other things) assist you in developing as a writer. The odds of a world-class master arriving fully formed with a hot novel are astronomical. You are not That Guy.

Real life is not a movie where a mysterious manuscript by an unknown author falls out of the editor's pile as he's about to go home for the day. Rough drafts are not read with trembling hands by the light of the moon, tortoiseshell glasses are not slowly removed in gobsmacked awe upon finishing and the words "bah gawd...kid's a genius" are never ever uttered.

Connections cannot hurt. They can only help.

>>21831035
No, good authors go to the right school where they learn to have the right thoughts on the right subjects at the right time, then they are connected with other people who went to those good schools and could afford to work in publishing (it takes a lot more than passion to live the New York City Lifestyle on minimum wage after all) as opposed to paying student loans. When you read books you're really just participating in the thought dictatorship of the bourgeoisie

>>21840315
>When you read books you're really just participating in the thought dictatorship of the bourgeoisie
Not if i pirate them and leave a bad rating.

>>21840315
>drops out of college because too poor to continue
>marries and has multiple children
>writes stories while housewife and gradually builds a reputation in mostly Canada for excellence
>eventually recognized and wins Nobel prize

>>21840684
Based Munroposter.

I'm a Latino from SA, but I am light skinned. However, my father is the result of miscigenation of blacks, whites and natives, while my mother is white and possibly native or black. Can I get published if my story also has "diversity" (it makes sense in the story, since it's set in a futuristic city made up after a global nuclear war, meaning everyone immigrated there). The thing is, I'm not a woman, so I thought about using my girlfriend who is black/native to become the "face" of the book.

>>21831002
know any jews? give them a call

>>21840741
In America anyone with a Spanish name is a Latinx Person of Color regardless of how they'd be seen in their home country, because Amerucan brains aren't capable if even minor nuance.

In other words, I think you're good.

>>21839599
I'm the "maybe we suck" guy. Mind if I share?

I’ve been rejected five times. Once I even got a promise that they’ll publish but they turned it down. Apparently, I’m too critical of the government. I’d tone it down and still get rejections. So anyway I decided fuck it! I’m going to create my own site/zine and put on there for free. Even if it gets one or two clicks I’d be happy.

>>21840954
Honestly, the more I think about it the more I start to believe that the "2020's information age model" of just putting shit out on the internet and soliciting for donations via shit like Patreon (you know, if you want money, this step is entirely optional) is probably more fruitful than the traditional publishing model.

This should still be a general publishing thread, so, I'm just gonna ask the big question we've been sort of skirting around, HOW DO YOU GET A BOOK PUBLISHED, SELF-PUBLISHING OR OTHERWISE, AND EXPLAIN IT SIMPLY.

>>21840942
Yes this is true. I am from Spain and I still get called mexican by dumbfuck americans

>>21836122
Her writing is absolute garbage and an insult to poetry. A white man producing similar content would be ridiculed for it.

>>21841075
lulu.com

'nuff said. Congratulations king you've taken your first step to independence

>>21831002
I made the NYT bestseller within the last 10 years and have a few books published by a major publisher. AMA

>>21841177
How long did it take you to get good enough to write a bestseller? How much of your success is based on merit? How much of it was just luck?

>>21831650
>why don't you just print the copies on demand
Because A: that's not an option for many aspiring authors. I dont think you realise how expensive it is to print a paperback copy
And B: being traditionally published gives you 2 things:
1. Advertisement. Crucial for those who aren't famous, connected or don't have a large following on social media
2. A certain status. A self published book probably wasn't checked by anyone with competence and experience. There are way too many books already and trad publishing is like a filter. If your book couldn't make it through, how do I know it's worth giving my precious time to? That's how most people think

>>21836046
There's a lot... did you even read any of the top books of last year or are just making assumptions?

>>21836206
I'm going to say maybe, just because I had a creative writing teacher in college who was an MFA student and he was in the middle of getting something published, he talked occasionally about needing to get done with class quick with so he could meet the deadline for his manuscript. He wasn't a complete novice, but he really wasn't good either. I'm not sure how he got a deal pre-manuscript

>>21831035
>This nigga thinks it’s merit based
Lol lmao

>>21837464
Without going into spoilers, does the main character become less of an obnoxious prick as it goes? I read the opening and I don't know if I want to read a book about a total twerp who is also the world's greatest genius.

>>21841614
A good compromise for selfpub cucks might be to have the same pajeet who did your cover whip up a decent logo for a fake press as well and stick it on the back of your book. Put up a website landing page for it that just says "launching soon" or something. (If you're a truly ambitious grifthorse, have our man in Hyderabad make two or three fake covers for fake books by fake authors and display them as "upcoming titles".)

Bit of a gamble, and nothing is guaranteed, but it wouldn't kill you financially if you've already set aside a couple of hundos for your print run. If you got the skills and the savvy to do it all yourself, even better.

bump

>>21831002
Your shit's wack, son.

>>21831703
>>21831717
>>21831728
do we think we can triangulate his position from the view and aerial strike his apartment