Customer Reviews

2011 Writer's Market

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The 2011 Writer's Market is more than a disappointment--it's a disaster. I stopped counting the number of typos in the introductory articles--the task just got too onerous. But when I started finding markets that had shut down two years ago, and were still listed in the 2011 issue, that was the last straw. Who did the fact checking for the 2011 edition? Who did the editing? Writer's Market used to be one of the most trusted names in reference books for writers. Now it's a sloppy collection of outdated sources. Writers need a source that is credible and accurate. Writer's Market no longer is, and it may be time for something else to take its place.

I was disappointed to find that some of the information for the publishers and literary agents is outdated or changed. So be careful.

Although this book does what it advertises, technology has passed it by. Anyone with access to the Internet can locate any number of original source websites and databases containing the same information, at no cost. In addition, given the book's intended audience, I was somewhat taken aback by the numerous typo's and grammatical errors it contained. Sloppy editing makes one wonder where else they cut corners.

It's been a few years since I picked up a new copy of the Writer's Market. The book has long been touted as the greatest asset to a writer, and I don't disagree.

The book is sectioned off into several parts, including a "How to...," agent listing, book publisher, article publishers, trade journals, conferences, and competitions. It is still a very useful tool to have, but you need to know going in that if you have a full manuscript that you want to get published, there are going to be fewer options for you to look at in the 2011 Writer's Market.

Here's the problem, in my opinion, with the 2011 edition - the section on actual book publishing companies is perhaps 10% of the book! The bulk of the book is actually dedicated to the magazines and trade journals. This is probably because book publishers are going out of business, but it was a shock to see how little of the Writer's Market is dedicated to them.

Also, if you buy this, you do not need to buy the 2011 Novels and Short Stories Writer's Market. The overlap between the two is too great to warrant buying both.

I found the new product much easier to navigate in the Consumer Magazine section, which is the one I mostly use. The magazines are grouped together by catagory in the Table of Contents. This puts all the information at your fingertips instead of having to flip back and forth.

If you are serious about writing, you cannot live without this book. For dabblers like me it is fun to turn the pages and speculate on what you can do. I have started a collection of rejection slips.

Decades ago, everything you ever needed was in this one book. Now I have to buy separate books for different purposes like Poets Market. However, I still use this as my main source. There are grey tabs to tell you what section of the book you are reading. The last page has a legend on reading listings. Be careful you might accidentally find something to subscribe to.

I would describe the book in more detail except most people already know the details from older versions. If you ever start to make money you can write the price of this book off on your taxes.

This is a revised review:
I found a huge number of typos, sometimes the same one over and over again. It seems like multiple people entered the listings and each one had a different way of formatting, so there is an inconsistency in the listings.

Under book publishers they say they don't list subsidy publishers and to let them know if anyone asks for money, yet one of the listings (which offers to write, illustrate and publish a book with your message) is just that.
Insufficient or incorrect contact information. For example one listing said to only contact the editor through email but didn't give an email address.

I'm hoping they accidentally published an early draft and that the quality hasn't really dropped to such a low level. I'm not sure how reliable the listings are with all these errors, so I think I will be returning my copy.

I have purchased this valuable tool every year for the past 7. It is big and thick and looks intimidating, and chock full of good information about writing, finding an agent, and submitting to markets. Always my first step in researching a market, this book has helped me sell articles and stories time and again. I highly recommend it to any writer, aspiring or long-time pro.

I was disappointed in this guide because of the very limited number of Christian publishers that were included. They left out easily a dozen of them. If this is supposed to be a complete guide to the publishing world, it is seriously lacking. Also at least one of the publishers listed had information dated from 2008. I don't know how many others are obsolete. Not very pleased.

My used copy of 2011 writer's Mrket arrived in very good condition as promised. However,this edition of Writer's Market is not as comprehensive as my 2006 edition. The book publisher section is thinner and instead of offering much information about major publishers and their imprints, it lists them, gives Internet addresses, and suggests looking them up online! If Online were the answer, I would have known that and not purchased this book. The consumer magazine and small press sectons may be useful; However, the magazine section is somewhat discouraging in that many publishers no longer seem interested in unpublished writers and say so whereas formerly, they gave percentages of articles from unpublished writers that they did accept.In light of the skimpy coverage of book publishers and the discouraging consumer magazine market for novices, this guide may be most useful for experienced magazine article writers.