There were multiple places back then that refused to read photocopies, so everything had to be typed fresh. It was always a dilemma if you had too many whiteout areas, with handcrafted lettering added in in Bic pen. And then there was that weird paper that was made so you could erase typing and re-do it... the only problem being the type could be smeared easily. So lots of places refused to deal with that either.
Frankly, there was much less competition back then because of the grunt work it took. One reason anyway. The only thing I really miss was that I would sometimes start exchanging correspondence with editors, even if they never took any of my work. Now you can get a "we love it! It will post in there months" which is great, but lacks a little something.
What type of books? I find it hard to believe that that many are out there creating AI leveraged novels, more or less to get a byline. Vanity publishing on steroids. Get-rich-quick? Seems like there are better ways.
One is on yoga, one is a thriller. I think we estimate the flood of AI books already. A friends read WWII thrillers and says the most recent one seem very cookie-cutter.
I am glad I published my 27 books before AI became a threat.
It was labor intensive indeed, and the pain of rejection was proportional. I was sending stuff to US publications from Europe and I had to buy special "vouchers" that the publication could then redeem for stamps, so one more step - my Belgian stamps wouldn't cut it on the SASE! Every submission was precious and carefully considered. No wonder I got my first acceptances in local publications, in French, lol!
Yes, they were... thanks, I couldn't recall what they were called but I had a clear image in my mind of what they looked like. I always suspected the magazines pocketed them, lol!
Special Archives at MSU's Library which bought my literary papers and collects ms., issues I'm published in, new books etc. once or twice a year begged me not to use metal paperclips on any of my work because they rust over time. I did not know that!
Yes, I remember sending out stories in manila envelopes, and wondering if anyone read them before sending them back or sending a rejection note. I also remember retyping the first page of many stories after discovering fingerprints, tea stains, etc., a sign that at least that page had been read. Much prefer electronic submissions.
What a time that was. The speed today for submitting can sometimes be matched by the speed of acceptance. I just had a new story accepted within days by Calliope, the writers' magazine from Mensa. I was delighted.
If I'd known that one meaning of "perseverance" is "sitzfleisch" I could've had a different name for my publishing company! I, too, went for years after my first article sale before another one.
Lev, my first book of poetry has just been published by a small press, Human Error Press here in Western Mass. It's selling on Amazon Journeys of Voices and Choices. 110 p. 75 p $15.00. It's. in six sections, like a pink grapefruit or a jazz orchestra. I think you may especially like the first: Brooklyn,Jews, and Family. Innocuous and almost tiring enough ( I can hear some people go "Oh NO, notAGAIN!" The first five poems concern the Holocaust.
I can now no longer joke that I could paper my bathroom with rejection letters!
It's a good place for them. Or maybe decoupage a garage door? :-)
and you save most of your saliva, a very underrated part of our lives since without it, it's more difficult to be a person with good taste.
LOL! The endless licking of envelopes. What a time to have been a writer, though. I wouldn't want to be starting out now.
There were multiple places back then that refused to read photocopies, so everything had to be typed fresh. It was always a dilemma if you had too many whiteout areas, with handcrafted lettering added in in Bic pen. And then there was that weird paper that was made so you could erase typing and re-do it... the only problem being the type could be smeared easily. So lots of places refused to deal with that either.
Frankly, there was much less competition back then because of the grunt work it took. One reason anyway. The only thing I really miss was that I would sometimes start exchanging correspondence with editors, even if they never took any of my work. Now you can get a "we love it! It will post in there months" which is great, but lacks a little something.
I worry about AI. My own brother who is not now and never has been a writer is producing books "with the help of AI." I think my mother would cringe.
What type of books? I find it hard to believe that that many are out there creating AI leveraged novels, more or less to get a byline. Vanity publishing on steroids. Get-rich-quick? Seems like there are better ways.
One is on yoga, one is a thriller. I think we estimate the flood of AI books already. A friends read WWII thrillers and says the most recent one seem very cookie-cutter.
I am glad I published my 27 books before AI became a threat.
It was labor intensive indeed, and the pain of rejection was proportional. I was sending stuff to US publications from Europe and I had to buy special "vouchers" that the publication could then redeem for stamps, so one more step - my Belgian stamps wouldn't cut it on the SASE! Every submission was precious and carefully considered. No wonder I got my first acceptances in local publications, in French, lol!
Chapeau!
Ahahaha!
Vous savez que je suis un peu bilingue.....
Rien qu'un peu? ou plutôt beaucoup :) Lev "international man of mystery".
Je n'aime pas me vanter. D'accord, je parle français et allemand, plus un peu de suédois et de néerlandais. :-)
Weren't those things called "International Reply Coupons" (IRC)?
Yes, they were... thanks, I couldn't recall what they were called but I had a clear image in my mind of what they looked like. I always suspected the magazines pocketed them, lol!
Probably they did. Just like they always kept the paper clip when they sent back one's submission.
Special Archives at MSU's Library which bought my literary papers and collects ms., issues I'm published in, new books etc. once or twice a year begged me not to use metal paperclips on any of my work because they rust over time. I did not know that!
Yes, I remember sending out stories in manila envelopes, and wondering if anyone read them before sending them back or sending a rejection note. I also remember retyping the first page of many stories after discovering fingerprints, tea stains, etc., a sign that at least that page had been read. Much prefer electronic submissions.
What a time that was. The speed today for submitting can sometimes be matched by the speed of acceptance. I just had a new story accepted within days by Calliope, the writers' magazine from Mensa. I was delighted.
If I'd known that one meaning of "perseverance" is "sitzfleisch" I could've had a different name for my publishing company! I, too, went for years after my first article sale before another one.
Five years is tough. A famous writer I know told me it took ten after his first publication in The New Yorker before he published again. Ten years.
Lev, my first book of poetry has just been published by a small press, Human Error Press here in Western Mass. It's selling on Amazon Journeys of Voices and Choices. 110 p. 75 p $15.00. It's. in six sections, like a pink grapefruit or a jazz orchestra. I think you may especially like the first: Brooklyn,Jews, and Family. Innocuous and almost tiring enough ( I can hear some people go "Oh NO, notAGAIN!" The first five poems concern the Holocaust.
Despite agents and editors saying enough about the Holocaust (which is despicable), books and films keep coming out.