The Benefits of Exposure
By Joseph Rubas
May 4, 2015. The day the publishing
industry rose up against the evils of non-paying markets. I was scanning my
Facebook feed (as I often do, because I have no life), and I noticed a lot of my
writer friends posting derogatory comments, pictures, posts, videos, and what
the hell ever else, about non-paying magazines. Their argument was that a writer
should get paid for his work. Alright. I can get behind that. I’m a writer. I
like money. Make it rain!
Then I realized, after hours of watching
non-paying markets being vilified (I shall forever refer to May 4, 2015 as Literarischkristallnacht, or Literary Crystal
Night...look it up) that non-paying markets aren’t the Great Satan my asshole
friends were making them out to be. Sure, if a market can’t pay their writers in
cash money (or, at the very least, a contributor’s copy), then chances are
they’re not a very good market to submit to. I mean, the owner could just be
lining his own pockets. You never know. However, there are good markets out there that don’t
pay.
I know how that sounds, but hear me out.
It’s industry standard for these FTL markets to pay with “exposure.”
That is, your pay is the joy of knowing your work is out there being read. A lot
of markets that “pay” in exposure are also markets that don’t have exposure: They’re just another .com
ezine lost in the crowd. There are some, though, that can provide exposure, and despite all
the snide little memes (EXPOSURE ISN’T PAYMENT, ITS SOMETHING YOU DIE FROM,
LULZ!) exposure, honest-to-god exposure, does it have its benefits, especially
for young, beginning, or not-well-known writers. I won’t name names, but there’s
a good FTL market out there, an onlize zine, that does very well for itself. It
has several thousand unique hits a week, it’s published major authors (Piers
Anthony, Joe R. Lansdale, Joseph Rubas), and its anthology series has gotten
some great feedback on Amazon. For the beginning writer, this type of exposure
is a godsend. It get their name out, and it pairs it, as it were, with some of
the biggest names in the horror/fantasy/science fiction genre. Sure, they don’t
pay, but when you’re just starting out, exposure can be more important than
money. It can help readers find you. And without readers, you’re just another
pen scribbling in the dark.
If your name is Stephen King, you don’t have to worry about exposure.
You have a million dollar publishing house doing that for you. But if you’re a
small guy, an indie, you will find that exposure is...tops. If you don’t expose
yourself, who’s gonna do it?
Two things that you need to know, however:
One: For every good “exposure only” market, there are fifty, a
hundred bad ones. Ones run by greedy assholes out to make a quick buck at your
expense; ones that are genuine in their love for literature, but can’t rise
above the herd, and thus remain lost in the void. It’s up to you to separate the
wheat from the chaff.
Two: The publishing industry (genre notwithstanding) is stuffed, and
I mean stuffed with assholes. Imagine
Thurston Howell III from Gilligan’s Island. You know, the millionaire with the
stereotypical Yale accent? You’ll find so many of those types you’ll wanna just
give up. Fuck those guys. With editors, you have to be careful when listing your
past markets in a cover letter: Though story should ultimately win out no matter
what, a lot of them do look at where you’ve been published before, and, if your
past markets are the lowest of the low (the FTL markets that can’t even give you
exposure) they do hold their little brandy sniffers like flamers and say,
“They’re just not our type, Lovey.” I’m friends with a lot of editors on
Facebook, and I know for a fact one of them posted a brief update regarding a
slight formatting error I made in a submission to him. Funny thing is, he sent
me a form rejection two hours earlier that made no mention of it. Not even a
quick “Whatever you did with the formatting? Don’t do it again.” Oh, but editors
are SO busy. They can’t personalize your rejection. Well, they can sure as hell
take the time to whip up a mocking Facebook status, now, can’t
they?
Thankfully, the industry is changing, and writers now have the option
of perusing non-traditional avenues. Those dickwad editors? Their days are
numbered.
Anyway, yeah, FTL markets have their benefits, just make sure you
find a good one. And don’t let what I said about editors scare you off. Even
they can recognize a good FTL market from a bad one. If you have good ones on
your resume, they’re more likely to not reject you out of hand.
So...uh...get crackin’.
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