Jul 20, 2023·edited Jul 20, 2023Liked by Casie Dodd
There's so much to like about Casie's vision and tone that when I got to the end and read that she and Michael are rooted in the mid-South, I hooted for joy because that's where I am, too.
I'll just pick out one of the many things I like about her discussion: her call to litmag publishers (and really all literary publishers) to sharpen their vision and communicate it to us better: "A publisher’s vision should be clear enough to rally their audience around them and attract their ideal writers and readers." Yes. This is a two-part call. It seems to me that many litmag publisher don't have a clear idea of what their mags are about but are in the camp of "I just know what I like." They float around their vision like drunks teenagers on airmattresses in a swimming pool. Fuzzy identities cannot be sharpened into mission statements. Then there are others who know who they are, but somehow have failed to put it into words or, in some cases, not even proofread their "About" page. (Dear writers: never, ever submit to a litmag that publishes rambling mission statements with misspellings and typos. Never.) Don't make it so hard for writers to know what you're looking for. Even if we bought/read all your issues/books, would we know then? Must you write mission paragraphs that are so obscurely conceived or full of cliches that they're impossible to parse? Phrases like "stories that take our breath away", or "make the mundane seem extraordinary" or, worse, telling us what you don't want, like "works supporting racism or hate are not welcome" don't distinguish a litmag.
I love small laser-focused mags like the fun Soujournal that publishes only flash essay/stories about travel along with photos taken by the author. Or Fictive Dream, another flash publisher, that seeks evocative stories reflecting moments of intense interior experience. I also love more general pubs that have theme issues (that's how"Ways to Grieve", my one horror story, ended up in the Hallowe'en issue of Parhelion) and those like the venerable Ploughshares who are known for their high-lit taste. Casie and Michael helpfully offer us a list of litmags they like on their website, so chances are if you enjoy them, too, or, better, if you've published in one of them, your literary tastes coincide with theirs.
If all the litmags with hazy missions disappeared tomorrow, less than half of the those that exist today would still be among us. Congratulations on your work, Casie, and thank you for sharing your ideas with us.
Hi, Casie. As an Australian, I am envious of writers in the Mid-South having such an intelligent thoughtful publisher to reach out to as a home for their work.
And as someone who is seriously considering establishing (on a very frayed shoestring) an outlet for writers of genuine wit and humour, your experience and ideas are extremely useful.
The point you make that I think deserves serious development is joint publishing. Like most of us, I can't afford to subscribe to more than a handful of publications, which inevitably locks out a huge potential for a broader audience for all writers. I would happily subscribe to a modestly priced 'best-of- breed' series of anthologies or similar projects. Building on that, we could well look at the model of subscription TV, which provides (for a fee of course) content for a broad range of tastes. If a reasonable portion of the profits from that flowed back to the publishers who gather the content and in turn the writers who provide it, many more of us would get to at least sip from the trough of a much greater audience.
Thank you! I haven't thought a lot about logistics but am definitely interested in seeing what could develop with more of a co-op/collective model for some pubs.
I’ve heard one of the major problems in publishing has to do with the lack of large-scale book printers. With few printers, some books are in a stranglehold for publication. I’d like writers and publishers to find better printing methods and utilize them but I’m not sure what it would look like on a larger scale than making chapbooks diy and handing them out to friends.
Very thoughtful -- currently, I'm co-president and editor at the Washington Writers' Publishng House, a nonprofit, 501c3 cooperative (all volunteer) literary press dedicated to publishing and celebrating writers from the DMV since 1975. Casie, I would look into nonprofit status--it opens you to grants and donations--and for being innovative with those funds to expand your audience and engagement. FYI, world, (well, writers from DC, Maryland and Virginia) WWPH opens for manuscript submissions on September 1 in poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. www.washingtonwriters.org
"Publishers have a responsibility to their audiences—both readers and writers—to develop sustainable models—financially, creatively, and logistically." Amen. Key word: "sustainable." As one who runs a submissions company, I'm saddened (or maybe the better word is annoyed) by how many journals die within literally months of inception. I do my best to identify these transients (and ignore them), but come on, editors. Think things through.
Thank you for this! As someone who runs a niche, indie print publication I really appreciate the thought provoking questions you pose here, and the nudge to be extra considerate of values, mission, audience, and ways of building community. Distribution for my annual print publication has been the trickiest thing, beyond direct to consumer marketing on social media and via my Substack newsletter, the best I have done is walking into indie bookstores and giving them a copy of the publication. All of the bookstore I did this for ended up taking a small number of copies, but this is not a scalable solution! I'm too small / niche to think about distribution services, so it's been tricky. The idea of joint publishing an anthology to expand audience reach and cut costs a bit is interesting, thank you for planting that seed!
There's so much to like about Casie's vision and tone that when I got to the end and read that she and Michael are rooted in the mid-South, I hooted for joy because that's where I am, too.
I'll just pick out one of the many things I like about her discussion: her call to litmag publishers (and really all literary publishers) to sharpen their vision and communicate it to us better: "A publisher’s vision should be clear enough to rally their audience around them and attract their ideal writers and readers." Yes. This is a two-part call. It seems to me that many litmag publisher don't have a clear idea of what their mags are about but are in the camp of "I just know what I like." They float around their vision like drunks teenagers on airmattresses in a swimming pool. Fuzzy identities cannot be sharpened into mission statements. Then there are others who know who they are, but somehow have failed to put it into words or, in some cases, not even proofread their "About" page. (Dear writers: never, ever submit to a litmag that publishes rambling mission statements with misspellings and typos. Never.) Don't make it so hard for writers to know what you're looking for. Even if we bought/read all your issues/books, would we know then? Must you write mission paragraphs that are so obscurely conceived or full of cliches that they're impossible to parse? Phrases like "stories that take our breath away", or "make the mundane seem extraordinary" or, worse, telling us what you don't want, like "works supporting racism or hate are not welcome" don't distinguish a litmag.
I love small laser-focused mags like the fun Soujournal that publishes only flash essay/stories about travel along with photos taken by the author. Or Fictive Dream, another flash publisher, that seeks evocative stories reflecting moments of intense interior experience. I also love more general pubs that have theme issues (that's how"Ways to Grieve", my one horror story, ended up in the Hallowe'en issue of Parhelion) and those like the venerable Ploughshares who are known for their high-lit taste. Casie and Michael helpfully offer us a list of litmags they like on their website, so chances are if you enjoy them, too, or, better, if you've published in one of them, your literary tastes coincide with theirs.
If all the litmags with hazy missions disappeared tomorrow, less than half of the those that exist today would still be among us. Congratulations on your work, Casie, and thank you for sharing your ideas with us.
Thank you! I'm glad it resonated.
Hi, Casie. As an Australian, I am envious of writers in the Mid-South having such an intelligent thoughtful publisher to reach out to as a home for their work.
And as someone who is seriously considering establishing (on a very frayed shoestring) an outlet for writers of genuine wit and humour, your experience and ideas are extremely useful.
The point you make that I think deserves serious development is joint publishing. Like most of us, I can't afford to subscribe to more than a handful of publications, which inevitably locks out a huge potential for a broader audience for all writers. I would happily subscribe to a modestly priced 'best-of- breed' series of anthologies or similar projects. Building on that, we could well look at the model of subscription TV, which provides (for a fee of course) content for a broad range of tastes. If a reasonable portion of the profits from that flowed back to the publishers who gather the content and in turn the writers who provide it, many more of us would get to at least sip from the trough of a much greater audience.
Thank you! I haven't thought a lot about logistics but am definitely interested in seeing what could develop with more of a co-op/collective model for some pubs.
A really insightful read!
I’ve heard one of the major problems in publishing has to do with the lack of large-scale book printers. With few printers, some books are in a stranglehold for publication. I’d like writers and publishers to find better printing methods and utilize them but I’m not sure what it would look like on a larger scale than making chapbooks diy and handing them out to friends.
So many nuggets of wisdom! Good luck with your role as publisher. I look forward to hearing more about your successes
Thank you!
Very thoughtful -- currently, I'm co-president and editor at the Washington Writers' Publishng House, a nonprofit, 501c3 cooperative (all volunteer) literary press dedicated to publishing and celebrating writers from the DMV since 1975. Casie, I would look into nonprofit status--it opens you to grants and donations--and for being innovative with those funds to expand your audience and engagement. FYI, world, (well, writers from DC, Maryland and Virginia) WWPH opens for manuscript submissions on September 1 in poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. www.washingtonwriters.org
Thank you!
Thank you, Casie!
"Publishers have a responsibility to their audiences—both readers and writers—to develop sustainable models—financially, creatively, and logistically." Amen. Key word: "sustainable." As one who runs a submissions company, I'm saddened (or maybe the better word is annoyed) by how many journals die within literally months of inception. I do my best to identify these transients (and ignore them), but come on, editors. Think things through.
Thank you for this! As someone who runs a niche, indie print publication I really appreciate the thought provoking questions you pose here, and the nudge to be extra considerate of values, mission, audience, and ways of building community. Distribution for my annual print publication has been the trickiest thing, beyond direct to consumer marketing on social media and via my Substack newsletter, the best I have done is walking into indie bookstores and giving them a copy of the publication. All of the bookstore I did this for ended up taking a small number of copies, but this is not a scalable solution! I'm too small / niche to think about distribution services, so it's been tricky. The idea of joint publishing an anthology to expand audience reach and cut costs a bit is interesting, thank you for planting that seed!