The Writing Center

For those of you considering self-publishing, check out this blog, whose author is a fan (keep in mind that she owns a business that includes self-publishing). She does bring up some (but not all) of the cons involved with self-publishing, but overall makes it sound a lot more inviting than writers might find in the end, especially financially. And some of her secrets for success (for those who don’t already have a fan base in the thousands or millions — and these are usually the people who don’t need to self-publish in the first place) are not so easily achieved by the emerging writer: “making sure [the book is] well-written, of course, and also well-designed inside and out, with great cover blurbs.” In other words, you will need to hire an editor, proofreader, and designer, not to mention find reviewers with clout. She also believes hiring a publicist is a must — with no mention of the cost of that, either (and of course, her company also handles publicity).

While self-publishing is indeed getting easier and more affordable, it’s still not for everyone. But this post brings up some of the issues to consider, making it a good place to start the process of investigating the possibilities.

In today’s New York Times Book Review, Stephen King writes that while the American short story may still be alive, it is most certainly not well.

As editor for the 2007 edition of The Best American Short Stories, King read hundreds of stories, finding that while some were very good, and some even great, most seemed to have been written for a shrinking audience of editors and teachers rather than for “real readers.” He writes, “And this kind of reading isn’t real reading, the kind where you just can’t wait to find out what happens next … It’s more like copping-a-feel reading. There’s something yucky about it.”

He includes a sadly funny scene describing his attempt to find literary magazines at his local bookstore, where he is on the ground looking at the very lowest shelves, hoping “the young woman looking at Modern Bride won’t think I’m trying to look up her skirt.”

It’s a sad and distrubing essay, mostly because he’s exactly right about the state of the audience for short stories. But I also found it inspiring, and on these points, I think he’s exactly right, too: “I look for stories that care about my feelings as well as my intellect … What I want to start with is something that comes at me full-bore, like a big, hot meteor screaming down from the Kansas sky. I want the ancient pleasure that probably goes back to the cave: to be blown clean out of myself for a while, as violently as a fighter pilot who pushes the eject button in his F-111. I certainly don’t want some fraidy-cat’s writing school imitation of Faulkner, or some stream-of-consciousness about what Bob Dylan once called ‘the true meaning of a pear.’”

King writes of the short story’s status, “Current condition stable, but apt to deteriorate in the years ahead.” This is where I hope he’s wrong.