DreamForge Magazine had a highly successful Kickstarter campaign.
Thanks to some generous fans, they will now be able to pay their writers seven cents a word instead of six.
DreamForge is a handsome, glossy publication, the creation of a couple in Grapeville, Pennsylvania, who, against the advice of just about everyone they knew, decided, five years ago, to bring out a magazine that would publish positive science fiction and fantasy stories.
(My story about the brave Russian immigrant who kills a vampire was published in their premiere issue. The vampire dies, so it’s positive My story about the very unpleasant ghost was rejected, because the ghost never saw the error of his ways.)
It is still going strong, and they will now be able to pay their writers one cent more per word.
If James Patterson were to submit a story to DreamForge he would be paid seven cents a word.
Of course, James Patterson will never send a story to DreamForge. Their contributors are people you never heard of.
James Patterson is a rare creature, almost as common as a unicorn, only slightly less common than a sane Republican. He is a successful published author.
Anyone who wants to write will be told to abandon any hope of success. Publishers don’t want unknown writers. Agents don’t want to take on clients no one’s ever heard of.
The people who assure you they can get you published are, mostly, scammers, who will take your money and produce a third rate edition of your work that you can sell to friends and family.
Science Fiction Writers of America has been tracking down these grifters for years.
One can self publish. Once upon a time this was writer’s suicide. No legitimate publisher would ever touch a self published author.
These days a book that’s been published on Kindle has a minute chance of being noticed by another publisher.
If it gets fifty reviews it will be featured on Amazon. If you have fifty friends, you have a chance at success.
There are a lot of writers, some of them very good, who go unpublished, while others may publish, but nobody much cares.
James Patterson, one of the very very fortunate few, had to complain. He said that straight, white male authors are becoming rare in the publishing world.
I wouldn’t bet the farm on that, but Patterson is claiming reverse discrimination.
James Patterson doesn’t have a second job. He writes full time.
He doesn’t worry about paying bills. He doesn’t send off manuscripts hoping he’ll get at least a response, even if that response is a rejection.
He should never complain about anything.
He should get down on both knees three times a day and thank whatever deity he believes in that he has been so successful.
He should get a copy of DreamForge and at least read the names of the English teachers, technical writers and retail workers, who sit down at their computers, when the day’s work should be done, and write, because they have to.
As the French author Colette wrote, “The Nightingale sings to keep from dying.”
The writer writes to stay alive.
Because most of us will never make any money, or achieve much in the way of success. But we will leave a little something of ourselves behind, thanks to some unsung heroes of the publishing world.
Like the folks at DreamForge. Or the people at Black Hare Press, an Australian outfit that publishes dark SF and fantasy. (They pay four cents, US a word.) Or Wolfsinger Publications, that publishes novels and anthologies, of works by no one you ever heard of. Wolfsinger is now paying twenty dollars for a short story.
Thanks to E Publishers, Wolfsinger can bring out a good quality print edition. The writers they publish will get a fifty percent discount on the copies they buy.
All of these publishers have regular day jobs. They come home in the evening, and work at a second job that doesn’t pay.
Somebody should give these guys medals.
Or, a well know author, like James Patterson should send them a story to boost their sales. But, I don’t suppose they will. Their agents might not like it. There might be copyright issues. They wouldn’t make any money.
As far as I know, none of these small publishers know, or care what the writers they publish look like. They don’t care if they’re trans or cisgender. They would have precious little way of knowing if their contributors are Black or white. (Hispanic and Asian writers may have Hispanic or Asian surnames, or they may not.) Male and female are a little more obvious. Men aren’t named Sarah. Women aren’t named Larry. Or one can always use one’s initials. (“Playboy” insisted that Ursula K. Leguin, author of the “Earthsea” trilogy, publish as U.K. Leguin in their magazine.) It’s also possible that Sarah may be transgendered and Larry may be short for Larissa.
These small publishers publish who they publish. Though they have a strange custom of having their contributors write brief biographies in the third person.
So, shame on you James Patterson, for complaining about a problem you don’t have.
Three thousand cheers for the small publishers who turn unknown writers into published authors. If you know of one of those publishing heroes, please write their name in the Comments section, because I’m sure they could use the publicity.
Then treat yourself to a copy of DreamForge, as their writers will, now, be paid seven cents a word instead of six.