--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Rob Kantner"
<rob@...> wrote:
>
> I published some detective novels back in the 80s
and 90s, and have
> published mystery and non-mystery short fiction in
magazines and on
> line for 25 years. The book sales were barely
marginal and since the
> last contract ran out I have had, despite a lot of
effort, zero
> success in publication. In the eyes of agents and
publishers, having
> published and not sold well is clearly much more
fatal to a "career"
> than having never published at all.
>
> I keep on writing, though, because I have to. Beyond
that, I've had
to
> re-think what I really want out of this. And what I
want -- the last
> element of this weird equation -- is simply to have
the work 'out
> there' and available. Which is why I decided, with
the latest
Perkins
> book, to skip 'traditional' channels altogether and
put the thing
out
> via POD -- which establishment authors, publishers,
and agents often
> contemptuously refer to as 'vanity
press.'
>
> So far, it's been fun. I've had complete control
(something I never
> had going the traditional route); it's selling via
Amazon,
Booklocker,
> and even via some independent book stores; to my
pleasant surprise
> it's already broken even; and (most important) the
fans seem
pleased.
>
> Just my .02. YMMV.
>
> Rob Kantner
> www.robkantner.com
>
Well, damn. I guess I heard a lot of what was going on out
there but somehow this post by you makes it reality. I began
to read you when your stories appeared in the mags under the
byline T. Robin Kantner and then picked up the early Ben
Perkins novels (published by Avon as I recall) and you were
winning Shamus Awards. You are the real deal. I recommend
your work to everyone on this list.
I assumed you had stepped away from fiction sometime in the
mid to late nineties because of "other" considerations, such
as the need to earn a living. Hey, I know that imperative. I
was cheered when your stories appeared in Alfred Hitchcock
Mystery Magazine (such as the Perkins story "The Other Woman"
in June 2006) as it showed you were still at it.
It never occured to me that you were a victim of the market
forces you describe. I guess it shouldn't surprise me as the
same thing happened to another very good writer Stephen
Greenleaf.
Damn.
Richard Moore
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 22 Jan 2008 EST