Guest Post: Some Doors Will Open, but Not All: Traditional Publishing with a Small Press

Some Doors Will Open, but Not All: Traditional Publishing with a Small Press

KJ Kabza

I've known LJ Cohen since 2008, when we met in a local writing workshop and later became part of the same critique group. Since then, our approaches to our careers have taken somewhat different paths, since (happily) authors now have many publication options and ways to make a profit.

LJ mostly self-published novels. I tend to traditionally publish short stories, selling my work for flat fees in anthologies and magazines. Recently, my career got a big shot in the arm with another move in traditional publishing, the publication in January of my first print short fiction collection: THE RAMSHEAD ALGORITHM AND OTHER STORIES. Hooray!

 "Kabza's stories [are]... powerful work that is wholly original, delightfully strange, and emotionally resonant." —LJ Cohen, blurbing my book, because she is awesome

I've dabbled in self-publishing before with two ebook-only short fiction collections, IN PIECES and UNDER STARS, but unlike LJ, I lack the fortitude to make self-publishing my primary career tactic. So I was excited to see the difference that having a real publishing house behind me would make.

Well... I did see a difference. And doors did open. But my publisher, Pink Narcissus Press, is very, very small—only five people, who each have varying degrees of part-time involvement—and if you publish with a small press, be warned that not all of those Magic Traditional Publishing Doors will swing open for you.

Here are some doors that DID open, working with Pink Narcissus:

• Greater chance of gorgeous cover art (and interior illustrations). My editor, Michael Takeda, dealt with finding and paying an artist, which I know almost nothing about.
• Access to better production quality. Pink Narcissus has vastly more experience in font selection, layout, ISBN registration, actual book printing, and so on than I do, and that experience is reflected in the finished product.
• More outlets, reviewers, and bloggers hearing pitches for my book. My publisher wrote the review pitch we used, and with my editor's help, I could query far more places than I ever could have on my own.
• Coverage by major review outlets. RAMSHEAD got good reviews in Booklist, RT Book Reviews, and Publishers Weekly, which are all outlets that are (to say the least) wary of reviewing self-published work.

However, here are some doors that did NOT open:

• No possibility of coverage on several big review platforms. Many outlets were explicit about saying that they only covered books published by a "big 5" publisher.
• Almost impossible to organize a blog tour. For the same reason as above.
• Separate, harder process for asking Barnes & Noble stores to stock physical copies. I had to follow a procedure for small press books outlined via the B&N website, which is not a procedure that "big 5" books have to follow—meaning that the odds of B&N stores carrying RAMSHEAD are much slimmer.
• No placement in Books-A-Million stores. Pink Narcissus, like many small presses, prints their copies on demand, and Books-A-Million does not accept POD titles.
• Some stores are only willing to sell RAMSHEAD under certain conditions. Two local bookstores are currently selling copies of RAMSHEAD on consignment, which is great—they're selling it!—but not quite as great as being an author with a big publishing house whose books are more likely to be ordered from a bookstore by a distributor.

Of course, these are only the circumstances that surrounded THE RAMSHEAD ALGORITHM AND OTHER STORIES in particular. Other small presses may be able to step up (or have to step down) in different areas. And in RAMSHEAD's case, there are other variables at play: it contains both science fiction and fantasy (and some reviewers aren't interested in things outside one or the other), and it's a collection of short stories (and many outlets only want to review novels).

Still, I've learned a lot. The launch of RAMSHEAD was a rough road, but at least I have a few data points now. I know where the doors are.

So if, next time, all those other doors DO swing open for me, I'll be ready to sprint on straight through.

—KJ

Thank you, KJ, for your post. I'm a big fan of your work and have been since that writing workshop so many years ago! And to my readers here - if you are looking for short fiction that is magical, unsettling at times, and always unique, please go read KJ's work.

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The Valley of Short Fiction

Please help me give a warm Once in a Blue Muse welcome to my friend, critique partner, and uber-talented writer, KJ Kabza.

I was fortunate enough to be a fellow student with KJ in a local SF&F writing workshop a bunch of years ago. He and I have read one another's work, and I find his voice to be striking, singular, and compelling. Since he is loathe to sing his own praises, I'll tell you his short fiction has appeared in Fantasy & Science Fiction, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review, Every Day Fiction, Daily Science Fiction, and Spek Lit, among others. 

His work has garnered praise from Locus, Tangent, and SF Revu, and has been reprinted in several "Best of" annual anthologies.

I am an unabashed fan of his writing and am proud to be his friend.

Welcome KJ!

 

 

KJ's second short story collection. Go read it. Seriously. Why are you still here?

The Valley of Short Fiction

Guest Post by KJ Kabza

I once asked a friend whether or not I should out myself to the larger writing community. "Will people be weird about it?"

His answer was immediate. "No. People won't care what you do." He drummed his fingers on the table. "They probably won't even notice. You're mostly a short fiction writer, right?"

I nodded.

"Short fiction is the Valley of Nobody Gives A Shit."

*

Perhaps the idea of nobody giving a shit is disheartening to you, but to me, it's kind of freeing. If nobody gives a shit, you've got enormous artistic freedom to try anything you like and work to please no one but yourself.

This freedom, coupled with a lot of current discourse in fandom about the need for more diversity in stories, has emboldened me to try writing from many points of view. I'm a middle class, pudgy, gay American white guy, but I've had the great pleasure of writing, and selling, stories that have main characters who are:

--Icelandic farmers ("In the Shadow of Dyrhólaey")

--orphans with cerebral palsy ("The Idiot")

--billionaires ("The Ramshead Algorithm")

--Jewish ("The Game Room")

--alcoholic ("Surface Tension")

--Chinese-American ("Nathan and the Amazing TechnoPocket NerdCoat")

--children ("The Soul in the Bell Jar")

In October 2014 I attended the Viable Paradise workshop, where Steve Gould, who had read a few samples of my work, said to me, "Well... you certainly have no trouble following your weird."

"Meaning?"

Steve's face tried to say something different from his mouth. "I mean... originality counts for a lot. People will always prefer reading a story that tries something new, even if it has noticeable flaws."

Funny. That's the kind of story I prefer writing.

After Viable Paradise, I launched an ebook entitled UNDER STARS, a self-published collection that reprints the stories I listed above (and more). To continue with the theme of me trying new things, I also put in 5 original pieces, which feature:

--poor, mixed-race kids ("...In the Machine")

--a widower ("The Land of Stone and Stars")

--a mixed-race couple ("Copyright 2013")

--working-class black kids ("Like Old People Do")

--and a vampire... in SPACE. (Because you just need to write a dumb vampire story sometimes.)

UNDER STARS is, I feel, a nicely eclectic collection. I'm pleased with the variation in there, and I'm grateful for the opportunity every story has given me: a chance to grow, a chance to learn something, and a chance to become more human. (In a good way, I mean.)

*

If you want to start exploring the Valley of Short Fiction yourself, I'd recommend Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Daily Science Fiction, and AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review. I've appeared in all of them, and there's some fine stuff there. Riskier and more beautiful than novels.

Or submit a story to them, if you like, and see what variety of your own you can add. Experimentation enriches us all.

And hey--maybe the Valley of Nobody Gives a Shit will someday become the next hipster hot spot.

Thank you for hanging out on my blog today, KJ! 

And for all my readers who have not yet discovered KJ's work, (seriously - what are you waiting for???) you are in for a treat. You can purchase UNDER STARS at all the usual venues: Amazon,  B&N,  Smashwords, iBooks, and Kobo.