Kristine Kathryn Rusch » Business Rusch, featured, free nonfiction, On Writing » The Business Rusch: R*E*S*P*E*C*T
The Business Rusch: R*E*S*P*E*C*T
The Business Rusch: R*E*S*P*E*C*T
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Crank up the Aretha Franklin as you read this. Because her classic “R*E*S*P*E*C*T” is blaring as I write this.
I am fed up.
This is the kind of mood I get into when I tell bosses to go screw themselves, when I walk off the job, when I say, “That’s it, no one treats me like this. Not a soul.”
In the past two days, two different editors have told me that I don’t know how publishing works. One deigned to explain to me how something in book production worked when I questioned a scheduling problem in the publishing house. The other told me I had no idea how to write a good book in my genre.
Excuse me, children?
And I do mean children. Both are younger than me, both have been in the business less than ten years, neither is anything more than an editor. Not a senior editor, not a vice-president, not the owner of the damn company. Editors. Employees way down the food chain.
I know. I was one, long before these two were out of frickin’ school. I have taught copy editors, for god’s sake. I have designed publishing schedules. I have run publishing offices. I have managed managing editors. I have more knowledge about publishing in my little finger than either of these two.
So why did this piss me off?
Because I bent over backwards for both of them to do them a favor. And they treat me like a new author who has no clue that publishing is a business.
Honestly, the first one I understand. It was e-mail, it probably didn’t seem as rude to the editor as it did to me. Fine. We’ll give the editor that one.
But the second? This isn’t the first time this editor has told me I don’t know how to write. And I’ve had it.
I probably wouldn’t be this mad if it weren’t for the other editors who have treated me this way. The mystery editor with two years experience who told me—an Edgar-nominated, multiple-EQMM reader’s choice winner, and a bestselling mystery writer—that I don’t know the mystery genre. The agent who told me—the award-winner in every genre I’ve tried including mainstream—that I don’t write well enough to publish a novel into the mainstream. The sf editor who told me—the bestselling, Hugo-award-winning editor & writer—that I don’t know what science fiction is. The unreturned phone calls, the unanswered important emails, the unfulfilled promises, and the lies.
I’m really tired of the lies.
In the early 1990s, I was talking to the most decorated short fiction writer in the field about writing and editing, and that writer said to me, “You’re the first editor who has treated me with respect in nearly a decade.”
I was shocked, I thought it hyperbole, and I took it as a compliment, not as truth. But the way I have been treated in the past twenty years by some in traditional publishing now leads me to believe that the writer did not mean it as a way of buttering me up, but as the voice of experience.
And I am appalled.
Let’s be fair here: I have had several editors treat me well, with respect, and with recognition of my past accomplishments. And let me say that, with no exceptions**, those editors have been short fiction editors (in every genre). Book editors—oh, it’s a nice romance in the beginning, but by the middle of the relationship, those folks seem to believe they bought the right to treat me like an idiot.
Yep. Mad. Furious in fact. Not at the words necessarily—I make mistakes as a writer; all writers do. I’m happy to revise, happy to work with editors. But the lack of respect—the lack of recognition that I might have the right to an opinion on the work, that I might have tried something difficult that might or might not work but that I knew what I was trying—well, that damn lack of respect pisses me off.
Okay…
So then after I made some decisions this afternoon, I logged onto my e-mail and what did I get? Three fan letters, a nice letter from a blog reader about something I had done that had helped in one way or another, and a few reader queries about the release dates of future novels.
And I had a realization:
The folks in traditional book publishing have treated me like dirt under their shoe, but the readers have always treated me with respect. I have said for decades that the readers have kept me going, and they have.
I am grateful to the readers. I’m even more grateful that I can now go directly to them with projects that I think they’ll enjoy.
So with all of that, I’m going to share with you something that my friend, writer Lee Allred, has compiled. For those of you who never read the bios of writers and only look at the blog post, let me tell you who Lee is. He has written for DC Comics. He has written some of the best short stories in the sf field. Look up his work. It’s good.
Lee compiled this list of pros and cons from the various blog posts that Dean and I have written over the past year. Lee gave me permission to print it here. You might want to consider the list as you make decisions for your own writing.
======================================
Advantages with the traditional publishing/agent route:
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• Up front money (advance)
• Better placement in brick-and-mortar shelves (but Borders is gone and B&N is slashing shelf space)
• Probably better sales volume per title (if better placement above holds up)
• Cachet from being NY published (for now)
• Possible promotional push (don’t hold your breath)
• Commissioned cover art
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Downsides:
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• Book contract mine fields
• Peon-level royalty rates
• High danger of publishing house bankruptcy
• 15% to agents
• Late/missing/stolen checks
• Odd/offbeat projects/genres not wanted
• They control cover art, deadline, publishing schedule
• Good luck pitching a short fiction anthology of your work
• Time and frustration spent on phone/email with publisher/editor/agent
• No control over in print/out of print (Why is my 2nd book of 6 book series out of print?!?)
• Backlist orphaned
• Estate nightmares (contract, contract, who’s got the contract?)
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Advantages with indie publishing
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• Higher Royalties per sale, both ebooks and (POD) print.
• Real sales numbers
• No submissions bottleneck
• Mulligans (you can insta-fix typos etc.)
• Total Branding control
. • Cover
. • Layout
. • Typesetting
. • Publishing line “look and feel”
. • Back Cover Copy
. • Blurbs
• Deadline control
• Publishing Schedule control (no more mandatory just one book a year)
• Distribution Channel control
• Genre/subject/story control (want to write 1930s masked avenger pulps? Go for it!)
•Control of in print/out of print (keep all of a series in print!)
• Control of back list (“eternal backlist” — brand new readers can buy your earlier books)
• Estate planning (heirs can simply continue to maintain already uploaded works and collect moneys; no contract sleuthing/battles)
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Downsides
========
• Learning curve
• No up front advance money; earn as you sell
• Possible expenses (computer, software, artwork, CreateSpace pro fees, etc.)
• Problematic placement in brick-and-mortar stores
• Time spent formatting (less than agent/editor time, though)
• The biggest downside (also the biggest advantage); YOU OWN YOUR CAREER — IN INDIE PUBLISHINGTHERE IS NOBODY ELSE TO BLAME THINGS ON.
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Conclusion
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With indie publishing, the money, the sales figures, and the control flows to the writer.
========
Amen. You all can dance to Aretha now.
“The Business Rusch: R*E*S*P*E*C*T” copyright 2011 by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
**upon two days reflection, I have thought of three book editors who were as good as the short fiction editors. Laura Anne Gilman, Tom Dupree, and Deborah Beale. Of course, none of them are still editing books. (Although I’m not sure about Tom.)
Filed under: Business Rusch, featured, free nonfiction, On Writing · Tags: Agents, DC Comics, ebooks, editors, epublishing, indie publishing, Lee Allred, traditional publishing, Writers, writing
114 Responses to "The Business Rusch: R*E*S*P*E*C*T"
“The folks in traditional book publishing have treated me like dirt under their shoe, but the readers have always treated me with respect.” You nailed it. That’s my experience precisely. But as an American crime novelist very successfully published overseas and not at all in America, I also have to tell you that the lack of respect for writers is far more prevalent in the US publishing industry than it is abroad. Steve Leather, a big-time UK novelist for a couple of decades who is almost unknown in the US, said recently on his blog that he had never met an American literary agent who wasn’t an arrogant idiot. Amen to that, brother.
Exactly, Jake. I’ve been treated quite well overseas too. (Except for that embezzling foreign agent…) Nice perspective to remember.
Amen! I used to listen to old authors bellyache. Now I am the bellyacher. Glad to hear from my friend Lee Allred, too.
My goodness. I went to one of your workshops you held with with Dean at Brigham Young University about 15 years ago and have followed your career and now your blog–and many of my writer freinds have gone to your Oregon workshops. I have always felt you had a great sense of professionalism and fairness.
These types of editors make me wonder if deep down they are longing to be writers and are envious, deeply envious of established, successful writers. An editor–in any field, be it fiction, magazine writing, technical writer–has a distinctly different role from the writer–put-down artist isn’t one of them. A long time ago I was editor-in-chief of a computer reseller magazine and then a regional business magazine–we did our best to respect the writer and his or her voice. With experienced writers with a proven track record, we were very light-handed with our edits. With the newer, younger writers, we tried to tutor them along.
And now, in all these fields, trained editors are going by the wayside. The type of editor I’d like to work with as a fiction writer is someone who could coach me along, help me bring out the best of my writer’s voice. I have to wonder how many like that are left at the traditional publishing houses.
I really appreciate the blogs you and Dean write and your advocacy of the writer. Thank you for what you do.
I know this is easy to advise and hard to do, but… I recommend that rather than get angry at a clueless young punk, you laugh at him. Out loud. Loudly. Laughing at a fool can be therapeutic.
Kris –
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I can hardly wait until you are my age (63). Should be a hoot.
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Yup. Amazing accomplished writers who had made tons of money for some of these same publishers were treated like crap.
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The ability to self publish is part of what encouraged K. W. to get back to writing again. (The Kim Oh series wouldn’t have been possible if he had to depend on print publishing.) No more waiting for the agent and the editors to sit on stuff for two years while they whinge around about a project not being sellable, or “it just doesn’t fit your brand” or “our product line.” That’s two years a project could be up on line generating income.
It’s an exciting time for writers who now can get material directly to their audience. Probably not so great a time for traditional publishing, however. Although I realize there are some good publishers and agents (a minority group, for sure), considering how most publishers have treated writers, I can’t say that I have a ton of sympathy for most of them.
Sorry to hear that. It blows my mind.
I have to say that I’ve had nothing but goodness from my short story editors, too. A lot of them give me heads’ up for short turnarounds on edits, but I’ve never had anything unreasonable.
Tangentally…
I’m in the middle of listening to a bunch of writers and other interested parties with a local group complaining that they don’t know how to pick out self-published books and think its too much bother.
Before the publishing houses went into a merge-fest, didn’t we have bookstores and librarians and book reviews in newspapers and friends for that kind of thing? Why aren’t indie bookstores and libraries jumping all over the tastemaker opportunity here? Am I missing something?
This is one of the things that slowed me down on traditional publishing. I say “slowed” because it didn’t make me quit so much as be much more deliberate about what I did and who I let near my work.
I’ve been treated well and not-so-well, and I’ve noticed that those who don’t treat authors very well act almost exactly like “sophomore” authors – that is, authors who have been around just long enough to have learned the “common wisdom,” and have established a critique group pecking order… but haven’t been published.
“The agent who told me—the award-winner in every genre I’ve tried including mainstream—that I don’t write well enough to publish a novel into the mainstream.”
I am a writer, but a reader first. I love you stories. You write depth in your characters and plots that I can only aspire to. I am new to this business and find myself confused that the “reader” was not always the only voice that counts. The fact that readers love your stories, buy your stories, and want more of your stories is all that matters.
There is so much pain in the voices of authors in their endeavor to share their stories when it should be a happy and exciting venture. It should not be one that rips the heart out of the creative spirit.
“Not to mention the editor who once asked me if Stalin was really alive in 1918 or if I made that up.”
This one made me lol, really.
Let’s ignore for a moment the aspect that such a fact should be part of an editor’s general knowledge – let’s be generous and say everybody can’t know everything.
What’s so hilariously sad is that he or she wasn’t clever enough to look it up before asking you – even if this anecdote took place before Google and Wikipedia: I’d expect something like the Encyclopedia Britannica within arm’s reach of an editor.
Asking you was not only embarassing personally but also under the aspect of business savviness.
Great post, Kris. I’m shocked that anyone with any connection to the genres you work in would treat you this way. Shocked, but sadly not surprised, I guess. Couldn’t help but recall the quote from Ellison (not his originally) in the front of his Hornbook collection that writing is a career in which you have to keep proving your talent to people who have none. Hang in there. I’m in your corner!
Richard, thanks for reminding me of Harlan’s quote. Timely, and accurate.
Thanks, Dave W. Exactly. How did we all get to be the old timers?
Cara, I think envy is some of it, but mostly it’s thoughtlessness and a sense that they know best. Also, that whole corporate mentality that others were talking about. I can’t tell y’all yet about what happened with Editor #2 yesterday since I’m taking some pretty serious action after that conversation, but suffice to say that Editor #2 forgot that there is life outside the corporation (and outside of Editor #2). When I can blog about this in detail, you’ll see both why I’m doing what I’m doing and why it made me so very angry.
Just when you think you’ve seen everything in this business…
Martin, laughing is good for minor mistakes. What happened yesterday (and what I only alluded to) was a major one. Laughing is not appropriate there. Action is.
Geri, right on. And yeah, as I get older, it’s going to be a real treat for my friends. They’re going to be the ones giggling.
As for indie publishing, I’m thrilled as can be. I’m heading to my office tonight after some pretty serious estate stuff the last three days (which was why I couldn’t go to Ninc) as well as that crazed editor b.s. and I’m excited to go instead of upset that I have to jump past some business hassles. When I’m in charge of what I publish, I’m quite pleased…
DeAnna, indie bookstores are growing for the first time in years, and yes, they’re taking the forefront on this. Libraries are understandably confused, particularly with the cut in budgets, etc. Book bloggers are really filling the gap and so is sampling + onsite reviews. It’s a fascinating time.
Camille, spot-on about the editors. And Frank, oh, yeah, I had that same thought. And she could have Googled the info.
Erin–and all the rest of you readers–thanks so much for the support. It really does mean a lot. I’m not writing for editors. I’m writing to get my work in the hands of readers, so knowing you enjoy it means everything.
“How did we all get to be the old timers?”
Kris, right there is the first time you’ve ever sounded like an older timer, at least in the time that I’ve read your blog.
Yeah, that was supposed to be a somewhat wise-ass compliment.
That said, oy. I keep thinking that maybe someday you or Dean are going to post something that makes me want to endure the query-go-round (to borrow a phrase from Robin Sullivan) and pursue a traditional deal. But man, it sure hasn’t happened yet. Maybe someday when things have settled down. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy being my own boss in the writing gig.
From what I’ve gathered of your personality online here, I’m glad I’m not that particular editor (though I’d pay good money to be a fly on the wall when you flay him/her alive).
Seriously, though, sorry that chicanery went down and I’m glad you’re not really letting it get to you.
I’m looking forward to meeting you and Dean in person next March. Thanks for the insights, as always.
DAMN.
I’m just a wannabe writer and that pissed me off.
Yeah, even in my limited dealings with traditional publishing, some of them are infants in the area of basic business etiquette. Nice people, I suppose, but they shouldn’t really be let out in public. Have pie. That’s why pie was invented.
Just from what you’ve written here, Kris, my first thought is that one or both of those editors is lashing out in fear. FEAR. He or she knows the ship is going down, but is still in deep denial (there’s a pun in there somewhere but I’m too tired to find it). Here you come along, all full of confidence and independence, acting like you know more than they do (which, of course, you do), and they get scared. And when they get scared, they last out.
Just a hunch, but from what you wrote, those editors are both relatively young. The advantage of being an old coot like me (not you, of course) is the perspective one gains from having surfed the tsunami once or twice. We’ve seen change come, we’ve suffered through the trauma, we’ve lived through it. We’ll live through it again. Sometimes one gains that insight through education or wisdom or dumb luck, but for many of us it comes with age. This is not meant to be condescending, just an observation.
Hi Kris,
I hope that post was cathartic. Needless to say, such behavior is completely unacceptable – and particularly ridiculous given your own track record.
Personally, back when I was querying, I found UK agents a little ruder (in general) than US agents. However, I did notice that the particularly bad behavior (requesting fulls, then never responding, calling to offer representation, then never responding etc.) came exclusively from US agents.
Not very scientific, but that was my experience.
Dave
Kris, I guess you didn’t get the memo from the younger generation that we are old and stupid and should get the hell out of the way.
Reminds me of the Sunday I dropped by the newsroom and asked the kid in charge if anything was going on. He said, “Nah, just some actor I never heard of who was in town giving a talk. We didn’t bother covering it.”
“Who was it?” I asked.
“Some guy named Charlton Heston.”
My first post here. I tend to lurk around Dean’s blog, but have recently ended up over here quite a few times.
As a “newbie” writer that has had a bout of being completely ignored by publishers and agents (30+ submissions and no replies yet in two years), this doesn’t surprise me at all.
I’m shocked that they had the nerve to consider themselves more experienced than you. At least you can look at it this way, if they were stupid enough to think that they are right, and aren’t smart enough to do their homework on you, then they are likely to be working in an entirely different career pretty soon.
This aspect of the publishing industry (that I could vaguely perceive even when I knew nothing about the publishing industry) kept me from considering writing seriously for a long time. It wasn’t something I wanted to put up with.
But it seems that in the young, aspiring writer group (which I’m still a part of) this phenomenon has caused writers to loose all sense of self worth or worth in their writing. They embrace the demeaning position that traditional publishing has placed them in and claim that only if you accept it will you succeed. It results in writers who are willing to do practically anything to get published, which is I suppose the way publishers want it.
Thanks, Sarah. I know Editor #1 is afraid and not quite sure what’s going on (the company is in trouble, imho). As for Editor #2, the problems are much deeper. I only mentioned the general thing I can cover here, and not the specific things that are making me take some fast and important action. Which I will blog about when said action is done.
Dave G., any agent who treated me that way never got hired. None of the agents I did hire ever treated me that way. Because they knew that I considered them consultants/employees, and they were going to be fired if they didn’t do their job (five of them eventually were).
For the most part, I’m talking about editors here. Editors whose bread and butter should be on keeping their writers–especially the ones who sell well–happy. Of course, it doesn’t work that way. But it should…
Randy & Rick, LOL! Randy, yeah, I’ve run into that on bestselling writers as well from newbie editors. Those writers weren’t in their genre, so what did they care…about Nora Roberts?
Glynn, here’s the irony: the editors who treated me that way have used my bio on my books for promotion purposes. They know who I am. Doesn’t matter to them.
Sarah M., good points. I think in traditional publishing, this situation with writers that you describe will just get worse. The new writers who remain in traditional publishing won’t make any money and will believe that they need to do anything for the “prestige” of publication through a traditional house.
I’ve had three or four editors over the years who simply were not very good at being editors, who were clueless, and seemed to believe the world was created the year they were born, but I can’t say I’ve ever had an editor treat me disrespectfully. The vast majority have been friendly, helpful, and respectful. Just really nice people.
Lucky you, James. While I like many of the people I’ve worked with, either corporate demands or pressure have caused them to lie repeatedly. Most were respectful and some were quite nice. But there are at least a dozen who have said unbelievable things to me, like those above.
Kris,
I’ve recently started writing again (after a 30 year hiatus)and have been watching the changes in the publishing industry with interest. Your experiences tilt the balance for me in terms of seriously considering indie publishing when my novel is completed. If a writer of your considerable talent can be treated with this lack of respect, what might I end up enduring as a newbie with no track record?
I have to add that I have long loved your work as KKR. Only after reading this blog did I realize you also wrote mysteries under another name. I now have one of your mysteries on my TBR stack and will order one of your romances next. You are quite a gifted writer and I hope you continue writing for years to come.
Annaliese
Laura Anne Gilman. I had a 3 book deal at Berkley with her as my editor. The first one she was moderately engaged. By the second book she was out to lunch and completely ignoring me, and by the third she left for NAL. I sent the first draft manuscript in, it came back as a galley. No notes. I can function as my own editor but was surprised that was expected of me.
People wonder why so many writers are so angry. These are the reasons why.
I won’t mention the house, but there is a big SF/F publisher that for the longest time was run by children. Literally. They started as interns in HS and became acquiring editors while in college or just barely out of it. They were mentored by editors who had started just as young and with only a few more years under their belt than the people they were mentoring. They all had authors (both contracted to the house and aspiring) prostrating themselves in front of them and taking their word as gospel.
Some of those authors never moved beyond their first published book (which infuriates me because there are several I want sequels to read!). I know that is true for the careers of many authors, but, for some of the affected authors, it was largely due to their experience with those editors.
For all I know the publisher is still run by children — gotta keep the profit margin at a certain percentage, after all.
Kris,
I think Lee is missing a few other items in his list.
- Librarians purchase based, in large part, on third-party reviews. For mid-listers, library purchases can be a significant part of sales. It’s easier to get Booklist, Library Journal, and PW to review a big publisher book than a smaller publisher book. And very difficult to get them to review an indie at all.
- Placement in the eworld. Besides bestseller lists and bought-this-bought-that displays, there are other displays at the book sites like Amazon. IF publishers are going to get placement there, they’ll probably have more $$$ to do that than an indie author.
As I repeatedly say, you can get reviews if you act like a publisher instead of a self-published writer. As a person who has run small presses, I know that PW/LJ/BL are just as likely to review a small press book as a large press book.
If you’re willing to spend the money for placement, no one cares how big your publishing company is. So I don’t think either of those fit into the traditional v. indie list.
I suspect it might be worse, Ann, in publishing companies now. It’s cheaper to hire babies than to keep the experienced folk.
Thanks, Robin. Your post just proves that every writer has a different experience. Laura Ann treated me well. But even friends, folks I wanted to include on my short list, have treated me terribly in publishing houses. (One apologized and used the Lieutenant Calley defense: it was her job.) I agree: there are many reasons why writers are angry. These are just a few.
I agree with Rick, Kris. This calls for pie!
Sorry this happened; I’ll be looking forward to details as you are able to share them. I keep trying to learn from others’ bad experiences, and this sounds like a doozy.
And it is the gift that keeps on giving, Chris. Such a day I’m having.
Folks, I must say that the support in e-mail, other blogs, and on this one is spectacular. I didn’t write the post to elicit positive remarks, but I’m happy to hear them. You all have been great. Thank you so much.
I’m sorry you were treated this way. Though it’s no excuse, I wonder if they were just taking out their frustrations on you due to job stress. Even so, no excuse. But I wonder where they come up with this c***? Hopefully they were just having a stupid day and will get over it soon. Either way, I’m pretty sure you can show them, through your writing and sales, that those guys are way off base.
Jodi
The question is why would anyone deal with someone who treats them like slime?
Friend of ours (who I will not name) shows all of the hallmarks of battered spouse syndrome. This person is absolutely terrified of trying to do anything on their own. He/She is one of those who got suckered into doing a freebie novella to help promote her series. Of course the book company didn’t give away the novella for free, they had their costs, and the novella sold in EBook format quite well. Made the company a lot of money, and made the writer not one damned cent.
The only publisher you can trust is yourself.
Wayne
A lot of writers are getting suckered into that one, Wayne. And a lot are putting up with what just hit me this week. It makes me sad.
Wow, that was a powerful rant, and I agree with everything you said. Although my wife has never been treated as you were (her work is in more than 30 languages and has sold a million copies in English), her agent told me I had no talent and her editor said I tell more than I show in my work, which is wrong because the writing group I belonged to called me out every time I did tell more than show during the writing of the rough drafts, which led to rewrites to convert tell to show until the group was satisfied.
In fact, It became a challenge to show more than tell to avoid the group calling me out.
So I went the indie route. The results–closing in on seven thousand copies sold, seven honorable mentions in literary contests and one finalist position in historical fiction in addition to more than fifty positive reviews–all from readers and no editors or agents wanted.
Due to the Amazon Kindle e-book revolution, do we really need shelf space in Barnes and Noble.
Yes, there have been a few negative reviews but mostly due to the graphic sexual content in my first two novels.
Science fiction, mystery and fantasy are three of the genres I enjoy reading and the cover of “City of Ruins” has grabbed my interest and so has the plot. You may have grabbed a new fan!
If “City of Ruins” is available on Kindle, I will download a copy today.
Thanks so much for posting.
In these comments I’m finding the names of some authors whose fiction I enjoy reading, but because of the frustrations of traditional publishing haven’t written anything for decades. The examples and enlightening information that you and Dean give on your sites seem to have encouraged them to try again, either to write or to get their writing out there once more. Yay!
Carolyn
And I’m always glad to hear from The Amazing Lee Allred.
Thanks, Lloyd. Yes, the lack of respect is startling–and they should treat you well, especially your wife’s agent. But apparently these folks don’t think about that. Sorry you’ve gone through this as well, but congrats on the indie success! The readers know what they like, and it often isn’t what traditional publishing tells them it is.
“City” is available on Kindle. I hope you enjoy it.