Customer Reviews

2001 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market (Novel & Short Story Writer's Market, 2001)

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3 star:		(2)
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Where to begin?

While many professional writers avoid this guide because of its incomplete listings and sometimes (but not often) amateurish suggestions, I buy this book every year because it has the most comprehensive entries of any market guide. I use it almost exclusively to market my short stories, although, if you read on, you'll see how useful the book publisher section can be.

For the novice writer, the sections on manuscript mechanics and submission procedures will probably be the most helpful, but once you've read and learned them, you'll be able to skip them in subsequent editions.

Despite what another reviewer claims, you CAN sell your novel without an agent; I know because I sold my first this way, using this guide as a starting point. While many large publishers are reluctant to give an unagented writer a serious reading, this guide contains listings for many smaller presses, most of which are eager to receive high quality work from anyone, agented or not. These presses are a growing force in today's market because they publish quality fiction that might not have the commercial appeal many of the major houses want.

The articles and sidebars are often interesting, but not always helpful. You really want to get at the meat here: the individual entries that contain addresses, names, needs, page limits, submission procedures, and writers each has published previously. Pay attention! Don't send a literary story to a mag that publishes horror. If a publisher wants a query first, do it. If they state they only accept unsolicited manuscript in the fall, don't submit in the spring.

Don't make the mistake of relying only on this guide. Research the markets beyond what you find here: track down a small publisher's books at your bookstore, read (or better yet, subscribe) to the magazines you think most likely to accept your story, understand what editors expect. Attend author readings and workshops to better understand the business. You should be aware that many magazines and publishers don't submit listings; if you can't find a particular entry, you'll have to do the research on your own.

Yes, you need to buy a new edition of this book every year. Many listings change yearly due to employee turnover and finanical hardship. If you are serious about pursuing a career in writing, you can't afford to use old or faulty information. This book won't help improve your writing - only practice and constant reading will do that - but, if used properly, can be an excellent tool to teach you about the fiction market.

Every year (or just about) I purchase a copy of Novel and Short Story Writer's Market. Is the guide useful? Well, yes, but I feel I need to qualify that "yes." Writer's Digest, the publisher, does a decent job, but like so many Writer's Digest books, their guides seem aimed at a broad, rather general, audience. If you're a newbie on the scene (and I'm directing this review more towards the literary writer rather than the genre writer), you'll soon learn that the Novel and Short Story Writer's Market's listings of literary magazines are cursory rather than comprehensive. There are lots of small yet respectable literary publications that simply aren't mentioned in this guide. The result: you'll potentially miss out on places to break in to publishing (especially for new writers). My advice: check out the much more in depth International Directory of Little Magazines and Small Presses. I don't know of a serious literary writer who doesn't rely heavily on this book.

Don't get me wrong. Novel and Short Story Writer's Market is an interesting place to start, but there's a lot of filler (all the interviews at the beginning of the book, some of which are interesting, some not; the listing of literary agents (if you land some decent publications, trust me, the agents will get in touch with you!); the articles on craft, etc). Nevertheless, I'd recommend this book in tandem with the International Directory of Little Magazines because, after all, the Int'l Directory doesn't focus on book publishers and large circulation publications.

The Novel and Short Story Writer's Market is the most important book in the library of any writer who wants to sell fiction.

The Writer's Market, twice the size of this book, is useful for those selling nonfiction as well as fiction, but this collection of contacts cuts to the chase -- here are the publications looking for fiction. It includes book publishers, magazines, journals, online publications, and even a large listing of contests -- frequently an avenue for a writer to bypass the slushpile and get a foot in the door of a publishing house. The genre listings make the writer's job even easier, enabling easy location of those publishers looking for science fiction or mystery or literary works or whatever. As an added bonus, there are also useful articles on craft. Authored by editors or experienced writers, these offer useful insights into selling your work and honing your skills.

I must respectfully disagree with the naysayer whose review appears below. There are, in fact, numerous publishers of fiction, particularly the mass market publishers of genre fiction, who will accept unagented material. The 2001 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market identifies these publishers for you. Knowing who accepts unagented material can save you time and energy, and perhaps some bitterness.

If you want to sell your writing, you have to do your homework and study the market. This is the textbook on the market.

If you're working on finishing your novel, this book probably won't be helpful. As the other reviewer has mentioned, book publishers probably won't even read your work without an agent to represent you. "Writer's Market", by the same publisher, contains information on getting agents, and listings of agents throughout the country.

For short story writers, however, this book is an invaluable resource. It gives the most complete listing of magazines, small journals, and online 'zines available, as well as complete and up-to-date requirements for each. It also has a great listing of writer's conferences and contests.

I'd also recommend buying the new version every year or two, as magazines are always starting up and going out of business. It helps to stay current with what's going on in the publishing world.

This book is a great guide to the different kinds of markets available to contemporary fiction writers. Here, I've found contests and grants I wouldn't otherwise have known about--and I have won quite a few of these contests and have been awarded several of these grants. As these were all judged ANONYMOUSLY, contacts were irrelevant. And because of these credentials (and quotes thereby obtained)--and, again, without any contacts at all--I now have a book contract. The only drawbacks I've found are that some of the information is out-of-date by the time the new edition is published. Still, this is a very useful tool I highly recommend.

This book contains useful information for any writer of fiction. I do feel compelled to respond to the author who states that it is impossible to have your manuscript read by a publishing company if you aren't already published. Talk about shooting people down in flames! I can speak from personal experience, yes, I received many rejection slips (this was two years ago), but I didn't give up, and WITHOUT ANY CONNECTIONS I was able to have my book published by a small firm that brought my novel into publication. The amazing thing is, a few weeks after I signed the contract, Simon and Schuster wrote me a letter expressing interest in seeing my entire novel. By then it was too late. In some instances it is beneficial to have an agent, but it is not impossible to get your book published on your own without connections if it is a quality novel. You have to keep trying...

While this book is a handy tool for those already familiar with the publishing process, it does not provide much detail for the inexperienced writer. I received this book as a gift and read through it, hoping it'd give me a good foundation in the writing experience, but truth be told, all it gave me was a bunch of phone numbers and email addresses, and a few tips here and there about writing. Don't get me wrong--several of the book's words of wisdom are invaluable, and it provides an excellent example of a book proposal. But if you're a newbie to the field--like me--and you don't even know what a book proposal or a query letter is, then I suggest you look up some other books first be4 going straight for this one.

To sum it all up, if what you're looking for is an in-depth analysis of the writing/publishing process and have no idea know where to start, don't stop here.

Although this book would come in handy for anyone who has a good foundation and knowledge in the publishing process, for anyone who hasn't--like me--this book would not help much. It provides a few helpful tips and words of wisdom here and there and even gives an excellent example of a book prosposal, but for the inexperienced beginner who might not even know what a query letter is, I would not recommend this book. The book doesn't go into enough depth about the writing/publishing process. If you want major detail and have no idea where to start, don't stop here.

This is a very useful book. As well as the market information, I liked the insights of the writers which are offered in the Insider's Reports sections. There was a great interview with Robert McBrearty concerning his collection of short stories, A Night at the Y. I read A Night at the Y and thought it was one of the funniest, most touching books I'd ever read. I'm glad Writer's Digest called the book to my attention.

This is a very nice book. However, no publisher accepts book manuscripts from writers who have not been published before. Go ahead: send a manuscript to a publisher. You will receive a reply to the effect that the publisher is "too busy." This polite kiss-off will contain the following words. "Sorry." "Busy." "Good luck." If you don't have a personal contact in the publishing business, you might as well toss your manuscript into the river.This isn't the fault of the publishers of this book, of course, but this book and others like it perpetuate the myth that it is possible to break into the business without personal contacts. Maybe you could fifty years ago, but it's no longer possible. If you have no connections, forget it.