Introduction
by Adelle Bradford
As any writer knows, the publishing industry is in a virtual lockdown with respect to new authors, which makes it extremely difficult for any new writer to be able to have their work published. The major publishers only accept such work from agents and the agents are only looking for new successful talent. Understandable, of course, since they only get paid if the material sells.
With this in mind, it should be no surprise that the intermediate presses have found a very active market for new authors, particularly given new Print-On-Demand technology. One such successful example is PublishAmerica (we want your books, not your money), which has made thousands of talented authors happy. Another firm, which offers its services without any upfront costs is Lulu, a technology company, not a publisher. Again, thousands of talented authors, many of whom are top-ranking at Amazon and elsewhere, are taking advantage – as well they should.
Printing, publishing and marketing costs make this business very difficult for the smaller presses, which does not mean we, as authors or readers, do not need them. On the contrary; but they do need everyone's support and a great example is the quarterly magazine The Mississippi Crow. In this upcoming edition, Nadia Giordana, herself a member of AuthorDen, has included the works of four AuthorsDen (make that SEVEN!) members. Simply great and this writer shall all she can do to support our mutual efforts – and a subscription was the second step!
Download the E-Book version of the Fall 2006 issue for $2.50 by following this link: http://www.lulu.com/content/489132
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Open Letter to the Small Press Community
by Nadia Giordana
After returning from a 5+ year hiatus from the small press publishing community, I’ve noticed things have changed. Most of the literary magazines I was familiar with are gone now, replaced with a smaller circle of print publications and a much larger network of online only entities.
I remember when I first launched Poetry in Motion magazine. I had a fairly sizeable database of writers acquired from a 2-year long anthology project. It was a “natural” to offer them the new quarterly--and it went over big!
At the same time, I was acquainted with a writer who had the desire to publish a quarterly too (they had a theme and a great name, but no more than a dozen potential subscribers). I offered to run a notice in our first issue about the new journal.
What happened next was startling—instant subscriber base for that publication. They were off and running and went on to be a real “player” in the small press community. The return to Poetry in Motion was negligible with respect to subscribership—but the good will was priceless. The true
benefit was to our writers across the country who now had an additional creative outlet for their efforts.
Soon, I was exchanging ads with a dozen or more established publications in the same manner. The benefit to all was clearly noticed in increased submissions as well as subscribers. I don’t see that happening today and I sorely miss it. Perhaps I have not yet come across those magazines who would be interested. If you’re out there, get in touch with me!
In the meantime, I know our readers are interested in other venues for their creative writing. In that spirit, I will make every effort to review or present a new print magazine that is open to submissions in each issue of the Mississippi Crow.
—Nadia Giordana
http://mississippicrow.com/index.html
mississippicrow.msn.com
