Tuesday, September 29, 2009

How to get an author published

From: The Jargon
Date: Monday, March 12, 2007 12:06 AM
To: Vagabond Press
Subject: query

Is Vagabond Press accepting manuscript submissions?

I edit an online literary journal called Thieves Jargon (www.thievesjargon.com). One of my better writers has a manuscript of short stories, I thought I'd ask around on his behalf. The guy's name is Spencer Dew, he's a streetwise divinity student with a taste for exotic food, rare drink, and weird sex. Both his style and content cross between Henry Miller's thrill of the tactile and Chuck Palahniuk's pulpy intensity. He writes from Chicago, and his work sweats city grime.

Hey, I'm just sayin'.

Best,
Matt DiGangi
Thieves Jargon

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Issue 193

Love seeing old friends... Hi Willie, Hi Carl. Adam Moorad's Bikini Sex is a jewel. Love the poems by Nathan Graziano. Read all of Issue 193 if you haven't already checked it out.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Looking for the names of some publishers

I know of a solid short story collection that needs a home, but I've become ignorant of the good homes. I'm looking for a solid mid-level publisher that is accepting work. By solid I'm thinking they should have their shit together enough to offer a contract for the manuscript, by mid-level I'm thinking they should have had some books out already, might have distribution, good production values. Last time I tried this, Spencer Dew's book got published with Vagabond Press.

Any thoughts?

Sunday, September 20, 2009

I read a garbage poem today

It's past tense, it's present tense, it's past tense again! It's low-grade writing like this that gives online journals a bad name. I used to think Why Vandalism? was a good journal until it started getting out that they don't send rejection notices. Aspiring editors, take note: Good design, which this site certainly has in spades, won't make up for hack editorial.


Little old Peggy, the bartender, was eighty years old,
but the Bashful Bandit was slow.
She waddled out of the back room
and set down a big bowl of grapes on the bar
in front of Whisperin’ Ron
like a still life in the half light.
Whisperin’ Ron had a cancer operation on his throat
ten years ago when he
turned fifty,
and now he talks in a hoarse loud whisper.
Sometimes it’s annoying
because you can’t hardly hear him and
he really likes to talk,
like a yippy dog that had its vocal chords snipped
but still barks all the time.
He puts his cigarette and beer down
and carefully picks out a big
fat purple grape.
“Freshly washed and chilled,” Peggy said.
Whisperin’ Ron put the grape
into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully
and with obvious pleasure
for a long time.
“Mmmmmm, mmmmm, mmmmmmmm...”
Then he swallowed demonstrably.
“You know what, Peggy?” he whispered.
“What, dear?” Peggy said,
leaning her ear toward him.
He looked at her as if he was about
to reveal a tremendous secret
that would affect both their lives and leave
them forever altered.
“Grapes make great wine,” he said.
He smiled very big and sat back.
“Yes they do, dear,” Peggy said,
“Yes they certainly do.”

Digital Piracy

(from Publisher's Weekly)

Simon & Schuster this morning issued a new policy statement regarding its stance about the online piracy of digital books. The statement notes that as sales of digital books becomes a bigger piece of the book business, combating unauthorized copying and posting of material “requires vigilance and innovation. We work to stop online piracy as promptly as we can,” explaining that when piracy is discovered the S&S legal department “acts quickly to notify site operators and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) by issuing copyright infringement notices both for electronic versions of our books and for the sale of unauthorized physical editions at online booksellers.”

The statement also includes a site, www.simonandschuster.biz/antipiracy, where anyone can send information regarding suspected acts of piracy as well as creating an online form to facilitate reporting of piracy, antipiracy@simonandschuster.com. S&S acknowledged that copyright enforcement of online piracy “is by its very nature an imperfect science. But as the potential for this kind of behavior is amplified in the digital world, keeping our content secure, enforcing our copyrights, and creating a robust marketplace for easily accessible, reasonably priced content will be the pillars upon which we build our future as a digital publisher.

The statement is being e-mailed to all author, agents and others in the book community. An S&S spokesperson said no particular incident lead to the development of the statement, but added that S&S was interested in communicated a policy about where it stood on digital piracy while providing a forum for agents, authors and others to help the publisher fight unauthorized use of its content.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Culture Editor

The most recent edition of PH Madore's Dispatch has an interesting thing I saw:

dispatch is currently seeking a culture
editor. applicants should be
generally on top of current events,
both mainstream and alternative,
and should have at least three
210–250–word dispatches to submit
for suggestion. all applications will
be responded to but only one will be
approved. dispatch@litareview.com

Sounds like a Jeff T. Kane specialty to me, but if you're looking to get some exposure for your work, I'd imagine Madore would get you some exposure.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Your favorite writer

Patterson Signs 17-Book Deal with Hachette
By Jim Milliot

While sales of titles by some brand name authors have slowed in recent years, that hasn’t been the case with James Patterson and the prolific author has just inked a new 17-book deal that will keep him with publisher Hachette through 2012. The deal includes 11 adult titles, to be published in hardcover by Little, Brown and Company and in paperback by Grand Central Publishing, and six titles for young readers, to be published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Publisher's Weekly