Posted by on Apr 24, 2006 in Uncategorised | One Comment


Why would anybody bother?

I received an anthology call early last week and went to check it out. The publisher’s website is ‘under construction’ and both of the editor’s email addresses bounced my query message. On the call page there is no indication of rights required by the publisher, nor of payment to writers.

To me, this has SCAM written all over it. Maybe I’m wrong and they are just totally incompetent instead, but either way I won’t be sending them anything.

If you care about your writing, don’t fall into the trap of working with idiots or crooks just to get into print. That’s like spending hours cooking a meal, serving it beautifully and then throwing it into the street for the dogs.

Beginning writers are often desperate to ‘crack’ publication, but you don’t become a published writer by getting your words into print. Publication means a book or journal that is recognised by the publishing industry as being a viable product – which is not to say that vanity publishing is all bad, but it is to say that you should know that’s what you’re doing, and not be misled into thinking you’re joining the profession when actually you’re subsidising the lifestyle of a con artist who has led you to believe he or she is a publisher. Virginia Woolf vanity-published, if you like, but she didn’t hand her money over to a dodgy gent with no known address, and that’s what you’ll be doing if you submit to anthologies like this one!

1 Comment

  1. Linda Donovan
    24th April 2006

    Excellent point, and your analogy really drives home the point!

    A good reminder of how to be a professional, Kay. Thanks!

    Reply

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