2011 Issue - Santa Fe Community College

that. Friendlier and prone to insane, jolly optimism. So it's a much better
day when I've gotten in my writing time....still, I've gone for weeks
sometimes not writing, and it's like becoming vitamin deficient. Scurvey-ridden.
Symptoms appear!
Meg: This is a difficult time for new writers out there to get published
without constant self-promotion. Not that it was ever easy, but
gone are the days of the free agent (now one has to pay to get someone
out there to do the work for them of sending out manuscripts, if they
don’t want to do it on their own) and sending out just a few submissions.
Most beginning writers are sending out multiple copies of their stories to
online and print magazines and if they have a collection of stories or a
novel completed, they have to spend a lot of time sending out their
manuscripts to independent publishers and contests in hopes of rustling
up some interest. You did it on your own with your first book. Do you
have any thoughts for writers that love to write, but want an audience
and are feeling overwhelmed by what’s ahead
Melissa: I just returned from a writing conference where the keynote
speaker was an engaging young agent from San Francisco who managed
to deliver grim publishing news in the most charming way possible.
Since 2008, he explained, publishing has been challenged, hard-hit, and
the effect on authors, especially literary fiction writers, has been devastating.
At the same time, he said soothingly, there are more entrepreneurial
opportunities, more opportunities in general to be published in
print or online. One just has to pay attention, develop an appetite for
self-promotion (contrary to the introverted temperaments of most writers,
including myself...) His message was mixed but hopeful. I would add:
study the field, it's changing from hour to hour, see what tactics your favorite
authors and writing friends are using, just jump in there. A friend
of mine said he had had to promote his new book on Facebook. I was
shocked. He's a well-known writer. Why would he need to do that, I
wondered I've since seen numerous writers announce their publications
on Facebook. And now I've begun to do the same, with enormous trepidation.
Two weeks ago, I put up the announcement that an essay of mine
would appear in a forthcoming anthology, generously mentioning the
74 Santa Fe Literary Review