Every once in a while, someone asks me a question like, “I’ve written a romance…does anybody publish those?” – and I’ll admit it, my annoyance factor skyrockets. Not because the person asking doesn’t understand the popularity of romance (or any other genre for that matter) but because the person asking hasn’t bothered to educate themselves. I get even more irritable when I suggest reference material and am brushed off by someone who wants a quick answer instead of doing their own legwork, but that’s a different story and this isn’t a rant blog. Much. 
So instead of ranting, I’m recommending a book that can be useful to anybody and everybody who writes and wants to put their writing out in the publishing market. Behold -
2008 Novel and Short Story Writer’s Market
I love this book. There’s a new version every year, and you can even subscribe to the online version for constant up-to-dateness. The first portion of the book includes interviews and essays by published authors, editors, and agents. It also includes how-to tips on different topics every year. The last portion of the book includes different indexes that allow you to view entries by genre. The middle portion of the book is an alphabetical listing of nearly every publisher known to man – and even better, the folks who compile Novel & Short Story Market every year give the publishers the opportunity to say something about themselves. In a typical entry, you’ll find what genres a publisher accepts, to whom you should address your queries, whether you query or send in a full, wait times, agent or no agent required, and more.
Look – yes, it costs money. If you buy the hard copy you’re looking at approximately $30 (every year if you want it updated every year). And sure, you can probably find much of the information online if you’re willing to spend hours Googling instead of writing – provided you even know where to start in the big Google world (and believe me, some don’t). But every penny of that $30 is worth it, especially if you’re the young and clueless and even if you’re not the young and clueless, because the book? Is actually pretty interesting reading. Multiple times. And seriously, what can you possibly lose? Barnes & Noble even provides chairs for you to peruse free and comfortable before you buy.
1 Comment
May 20, 2008 at 11:06 am
Nice blog post very informative I am going to buy that book now