The Intersection of Craft & Publishing

Writing programs and literary communities are full of talented and studied writers. These are communities that teach and promote the literary side of writing: classes, workshops, readings, literary magazine submissions, writer retreats, fellowships, and residencies. This background gives writers a solid understanding of craft and fosters a lifelong devotion to the study of craft. However, it does not teach writers how to navigate the publishing industry. Publishing is a business that functions quite differently from the literary world.

The life of a book has just begun after the completion of the first solid draft. Though it may have taken the writer years of research, writing, and editing to complete, it is only the first step. The pervasive myth is that writing is a solitary endeavor, but it takes a team of people to get a book into the hands of a reader. Logline helps distinguished writers publish because we believe their books need to find a way to the shelves.

How do you get published? That is the question! How many publishers are there in the US alone? There are THOUSANDS. Is it hard to get a book published? Do I need an agent? The answer is, how do you want it published? The definition for “publication” is fairly generic. The following is a list of a few options:

Self-publishing
Vanity presses (author pays to publish)
Local presses
University presses
Small presses
Medium presses
A Big 5 press
Imprint of a Big 5 press

Each type of press offers varying levels of advances, editing, design, print quality, rights sales, publishing time, and distribution. These are extremely important aspects when considering the life of your book. Logline will help you make these decisions.