/lit/ - Literature

How did you manage to get a job you know nothing about?

Get in touch with literary agents, you'll need to get to know them, and welcome manuscript submissions from their clients. Obviously, you'll still have to deal with a certain quantity of shit, but it'll help a bit.

lol hope you fail

>>4129637
nepotism

You're 4chan's only chance

please help us get published!!! You can make a trip for yourself and be a legendary hero

Maybe like an monthly thread to submit writing, and the best writers get published

We can revolutionize the industry, just no one gives us a chance

help us

>>4129830
do what is right and resign from your job after your first paycheck. Someone who has put work and dedication into this craft should do it, not you.

>>4129930
nah

>>4129952
and then you wonder why the industry is such a fucked up place that spits out gems like Eragon and 50 Shades of Grey

>>4129964
cry more bitch

>>4129634
How the sweet fuck did you get an editor position with no experience. This is my life's passion and I hate you.

>>4129830
>>4129973
10/10 mad
hope your paychecks give you horrific paper cuts

Just trawl through Amazon's self published section.

>reading is my life
>it is my dream to edit
>studying literature
>spending 5+ hours a day reading
>can't get an editorial internship ANYWHERE
>some fuck who doesn't give a shit strolls in and gets a fucking JOB as an editor thanks to daddy's job
god FUCKING damn ityou bet I'm mad

i just went in a dubs thread in /b/ for the fuck of it and rolled a fucking trips in fact 000 i was like damn

fuck you shithead

Haha, not OP but tons of buttmad ITT. Nepotism rules many industries in the US, this shouldn't come as a surprise. CEOs with degrees in Chemistry, not like they had to work towards their positions anyway.

>>4130559
they should all be stripped of their wealth and positions and sent into exile

>>4130526
Better writers than you have faced bigger obstacles.

Grow a pair of nuts and do something about it, or shut up.

>>4130561
It's not a meritocracy. Life's not fair; deal with it or drown in self-pity and self-loathing.

>>4130564
i agree. i'm saying, we should deal with it by tarring and feathering them and stripping them of their wealth and positions.

Like, seriously. "Life's not fair?" That's fine, but then stop whining about how unjust high tax rates on the wealthy or a social safety net are. Sorry, motherfucker, but like you said, life's not fair.

>>4129964
>and then you wonder why the industry is such a fucked up place that spits out gems like Eragon and 50 Shades of Grey
Except those were fucking expertly chosen and a less talented publisher would have passed them by as crap without evaluating the mass appeal of the titles.

>>4130572
How do progressive income taxes play into this at all?

And anyway, I've never understood why people believe that wealthier individuals should pay a higher rate of income tax since they're already naturally paying more because of their higher incomes. And American politicians are too greedy to allow ridiculous British-style taxing anytime soon.

>>4130609
"expertly chosen" my ass, Eragon only saw the light of day because of nepotism, don't deny it. It's so funny how all of defend OP and this system, but then complain when your expertly crafted future bestseller doesn't get published or stuff like the Kingkiller Chronicle does. Guess why? Because most editors in the industry are like OP and know next to nothing about how to actually edit a book and not let an entitled ass have his way, that's the way they became editors, by being an entitled ass who got their way. You goddamn right I mad.

>>4131101
However mad you might be, not all literature is supposed to be ELITE TIER. The plebs wouldn't buy such. They buy 50 shades of grey, which probably made shit tons of money, even if its quality is dubious.

>>4129634
>I just got a job as an editor for a publishing company. I don't know a good goddamn about publishing.
>>4129637
>>4129830


>tfw I have an English degree, have been unable to find a job as so much as secretary for any type of publishing company, and then I read this

I'll just go and stand under a collapsing bookshelf now.

>tfw I'm an assistant graphic designer for a publishing house because of family ties
>tfw I didn't know /lit/ got so mad over these things

OP here. Never said anything about not knowing about editing, but about publishing.

Got the job the same way I got every job I've ever had: by applying through Craigslist, having a great résumé, and nailing the interview.

I know it's pointless arguing on the Internet, so why bother?

So much emotion on here. Loving all this passion anyway.

What about writer's groups, literary magazines, or conventions? Anyone have any experience dealing with publishers through these methods?

>>4131101
You do realize the goal is to turn a profit not to publish obscure patrician literature?

And for those crying nepotism, networking is the huge majority in ways to get a decent job unless you're a top STEM graduate

>>4130526
It's like that in anything, I don't understand how people get upset. Unless you're in some nuclear engineering type shit where one simply can't afford to have even the smallest fuck up. Other than that most industries have ton and ton of people who are anything but optimal for the job they perform either by lack of talent or lack of work ethic or both, there's always some guy who's putting in hours of work for a hobby who would do a better job than someone who is currently employed

>>4129876
Haha, this.

Seriously, though. There's probably a good deal of talented writers here that are unpublished. Market us as the 21st century's version of an elite literary circle.

>>4130526
Are you serious, dude? Anyone who thinks that publishing companies have quality literature in mind has to be insane. Editors aren't there to make great literature be able to change the world; they're there to make pleb writing be able to make money.

Can you just imagine the amount of time and effort spent on making stuff like Twilight and 50 Shades passable? It must have been completely muddled with grammatical errors and awkward sentences. The editors might as well have written half the book themselves.

And that's most likely exactly what you'll be doing if you ever get a job as an editor with decent pay: you'll be ghost-writing shit like "Mr. Darcy: Vampire" and "Wine, Wives, and White Lies."

>>4130572

But then that would be fair.

>>4129634

Search Scribd for free user content that you like.
Or set out some business cards asking for submissions in local stores nearby.
You'll have too many in no time.

>>4132467
My roommate only reads books like Percy Jackson or Mortal Instruments. I am not a patrician but she looks at what I read and just calls me weird.

>>4132467
I don't want to edit shitlit, I want to edit Bellow and Updike and Roth