Word Riot

[UPDATE: Product and service recommendations for lit types

I'll probably continue to post some more thoughts and advice under the publishing tips tag.]

Every once in awhile I get emails from folks who are gung-ho about starting their own literary magazine/small press and have questions about how to go about pointing their gung-hoatude in the right direction.

This is some advice for those just starting out with a literary venture. I’ll probably be adding to it as things come to mind.

1. Do one thing and do it well

So you want to start a small press, a reading series, a mag that publishes weekly and a lit blog? All excellent goals, but trying to do everything at once will doom your projects. Start off small. Start off slow. Consider which project is the one really scratching at your brain and start with that one. Pour all your creativity and energy into it. Build the reputation of that one project before taking on the next one.

Word Riot started as the lit section of an online music magazine created by Paula Anderson. When Paula took a leave from running the online music mag, I tried to keep both running strong. I couldn’t. I was a 19-year-old college student and I knew that I couldn’t keep up with my school work and both magazines. I liked the music magazine, but I loved Word Riot, so the music magazine died.

My ultimate goal for Word Riot was to turn it into a small press. Fortunately, I knew I had no idea what I was doing and would need to figure out a solid game plan before I took the next step.

2. Research & build your network

You will be lucky if you break-even your first couple years of your literary project. That’s being generous.

I was ready to throw all my energy and extra cash at Word Riot when I got started, but I was also a broke college student so there wasn’t much money to throw. I had to make due with cheap marketing plans and building contacts while I researched printers. I wanted a printer that was high-quality but not a lot of money, and for much of that first year and a half I couldn’t find one that met both requirements. I didn’t compromise. I kept looking.

In the mean time, I kept an eye on what other presses I admired were doing, So New and Future Tense, in particular. Kevin Sampsell graciously took a phone call from me to answer my questions. I bought ISBN numbers (non-negotiable—get them if you’re putting out books or chapbooks). I started producing chapbooks, first with home-printed covers then with professionally printed ones. I got to know more about various kinds of paper than I could possibly have a use for. (Tip to chapbook publishers: fancy paper manufacturers will send you free samples.) I emailed every existing online magazine I could find to exchange links and ask question after question. I emailed authors from these online magazines and invited them to submit to mine.

I was somewhat frustrated—I wanted to publish paperbacks now!—but in that period where all I could do is research and reach out to other literary types, I was building lasting connections. These relationships have become invaluable to me.

For example, David Barringer was one of those writers I read on Nerve and invited to submit to Word Riot. He was the first person I considered a “serious” writer—meaning not a member of the music magazine staff—to send me fiction. That meant something to me. So when David mentioned a short story chapbook proposal for We Were Ugly So We Made Beautiful Things I was all over it. (Side note: seven years later, We Were Ugly is still selling.) And since then I’ve been able to call on David for his awe-inspiring design skills for project after project, all the while watching David’s tremendous growth as a writer.

With another of my writers, Paula Anderson, I got to be present at her funeral as her family and friends read from the chapbook of hers I published. Nothing will ever humble me quite the way that did. (I’ve made all of Paula’s chapbook, Blood Tender, available online. She was a brilliant writer. I think Blood Tender was the first blog published as a book when it came out in 2003, but all my publicity attempts to convince the world of this back then fell flat.)

3. Moderation and patience (a cliche is a cliche because it’s true, which is also a cliche)

Trying to conquer the world in a couple of months will drain your bank account, your sleep and your sanity. If you are starting a small press, don’t commit to more than a few titles in your first year. Keep your print runs small.

There isn’t a lot of public discussion about print runs but many small press publishers will be more than happy to give you some insight on theirs. With Word Riot, I do small print runs of 200-300 at a time and order reprints when the stock runs low. This means I have to order reprints with greater frequency but I’m also keeping my risk low should a title not resonate with an audience the way I expected. I don’t live in fear of returns.

4. Get thee a social media presence

You need to be a Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Fictionaut, the HTMLGIANT comments section, everywhere. Be insightful and interesting, of course, but be out there. If you’re not insightful or interesting, fake it and eventually you’ll figure it out. Just be visible. Independent publishing and online literary culture is more vital and exciting now than I’ve seen since I got started. Be a part of the conversation.

5. Your printer and your distributor are your life partners

Choose wisely. There’s been many a small (and large, actually) publisher screwed by a bad distribution deal. Find a distributor who is economically sound and responsive to your needs. Same with printers.

Word Riot’s printer is Offset Paperback Manufacturers and our distributor is Pathway Book Service. They are fantastic and I would not still be in business without them—I highly recommend them to everyone. There will be plenty of snafus as you navigate the road to publishing a book. Your printer or distributor should never add to your headache.

6. Start marketing four months ahead of your publication date

You need to have advance review copies and you need to not be stingy with them. Find blogs and magazines you think would be interested in your publication and ask if they would like a galley. Don’t just hurl copies at the biggest book bloggers you can find. They receive more books than they can possibly read. Pitch them on the book. You are passionate about this book or else you wouldn’t be publishing it. Use that passion to get potential reviewers interested in your book.

Many bloggers or reviewers will have specific guidelines about receiving galley copies. Follow them. You’re just wasting their time and yours if you don’t.

Four months sounds like a lot of time. It’s not. Publishers Weekly and Library Journal will not review a book unless they have received a galley copy four months ahead of time. That’s not to say sending galleys guarantees a review, but you want to at least give your book the shot at one.

7. Figure out eBooks

Not just Kindle (you really just need some basic html knowledge to format a Kindle book). Learn how to create EPUB files; Sigil is great free software for building EPUB files. Barnes & Noble is going to open up their nook eBook store later this summer to small publishers. Apple will be opening up iBooks to books with ISBN numbers soon, as well. Digital is a complement to print, but an essential one.

We as independent presses should be at the forefront of new media. We don’t have bureaucratic leviathans. Our strength is that we are agile and innovative, responsive to our authors as well as our customers. We need to be aggressive in the eBook market, and we need to be thinking about how we can advance the medium of digital books.