It does 'amuse' me when I see on other writers communities writers quibbling about whether to accept a publishing contract that pays no advance, or little in the way of an advance, for their first novel; or about whether or not to submit to publishers where that is the case, on the excuse that they 'don't want to give their work away'.
With this recession now hitting the publishing industry I don't think anyone can risk keeping to their artistic principles if they want to get published.
The current situation reminds me of the recession in the 70's where you knew the only way to get a job when you came out of school/college was backed up with as many qualifications as possible to put on your CV, and then accept any job you were lucky enough to be offered (regardless of being 'over qualified' for it) so you could put that down as work experience.
If you are serious about a career in writing, then go out and hit the competitions, the magazines, the indie publishers, Macmillan, whatever it takes to get a foot on the publishing ladder. As authors are currently finding, even a track record of publications is no guarantee you'll get your next mss picked up by the same publishers.


- NaomiM


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Just a small warning, don't think that self-publishing (via POD or a vanity publisher, or your own imprint), is a route into publishing.
It's not.

don't think that self-publishing (via POD or a vanity publisher, or your own imprint), is a route into publishing. It's not.

I can vouch for this comment. Not that there is anything wrong with self-publishing at all--there isn't. But I'd advise anyone not to go into it and expect it to be easy. I self published a novel myself and boy was it tough! I approached about five different bookshops to convince them to sell it--all with no luck--so was reduced to online sells. And I tell you, that's not enough to make ends meet. I did sell about seventeen in the end (not including the free ones I gave to friends and families), but that still wasn't enough to make ends meets.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with self-publishing by any means. But, as Naomi says, don't go into it thinking that if you sell enough copies a publisher will pick you up. Many agents/publishers just don't want to know--with the possible exception of Macmillian who seem to accept manuscripts that were previously vanity/self published (although how many of them they actually published is a different matter).

Well, it's an art, isn't it, and they don't pay you- you just have to ne thankful you've enough spare time to do it at all.

I saw an opera recently about three artists starving in an attic in Paris - a musician, a painter and a writer. Mostly, they were just playing at it - the writer mentioned a rich uncle for when things got desperate. But you only have to read a few writer's biographies to know that even the successful ones were poor for a long time, if not for all their lives.

In those days most people were illiterate, so the competition wasn't all that stiff. Now that everyone who can work a computer wants to be published the odds against it paying are even greater.

Sheila

Reminds me of a joke I read:

These three guys are sitting in the bar in one of the big studio lots.

The first one says, "My accountant is pretty good. He wrote off almost everything to expenses."

Second one says: "I should get his name. With my accountant, I still ended up paying an ungodly amount." Turns to the third and says, "What about your accountancy firm? Any good?"

Third: I did my own taxes. I only made $17,000 last year."

First: "So, which screen plays have you worked on?"