I was casting around for an idea for my monthly contribution
to Author Expressions when I thought I’d settled on something timely—the topic
of whether or not writers should give away their work. An article in the New
York Times by Tim Kreider on just this issue had sparked a lot of debate on
various lists. The topic appealed to me because when a friend, Ann Perrott, and
I founded The Larcom Review I
insisted that we pay every contributor, even if it was only a nominal amount.
Those who write well enough to be published deserve to be
treated as professionals; they should be paid. Ann agreed, and we paid every
contributor (writer, poet, interviewer, reviewer, photographer, artist) a
modest $25 plus one contributor’s complimentary copy. The amount is pathetic
but it’s better than nothing.
Today thousands of writers blog for free (like me, right
here), put their novels and short stories on line for free (I haven’t done
that), and contribute stories and articles to anthologies for no money at all
(I haven’t done that either) and no free copy. It is so much the norm now that fewer
and fewer people are arguing that writers should never write for free. It is
argued that this is unrealistic—there are simply too many writers willing to fill
the screens with their ideas and beautifully wrought sentences, hoping someone
will offer them a paying gig.
This isn’t just a problem for midlist writers like me and
most other mystery writers. It’s common knowledge that the writers who made Huffington
Post worth purchasing were paid nothing for their contributions. They got
nothing from the sale of the online newspaper. That doesn’t make anyone feel
any better, but it does remind us just how widespread this problem is—writers
should write for free and be glad of the opportunity to have their work
disseminated. The marketplace for writing is out of whack.
So, how out of whack is the marketplace today?
While I was searching for a book by Mavis Gallant I decided
to take a vanity detour and check out my own list, to see if the new covers
were now on the Amazon site. They were. I scrolled down to admire them, and
noticed that various issues of The Larcom
Review were mixed in with the book titles. And then I took a better look.
I’m used to seeing paperbacks at $0.01, with the total cost
being the shipping plus a few pennies. But I was not ready for the price I saw
on one issue of The Larcom Review.
The spring/summer 2001 issue was priced at $2,350.70. (Seventy cents?) The
cover price is $10.
I remember that issue. In fact, I had just given a copy of
it to a friend as a hostess gift when she invited me to dinner. The issue
contains 61 works in prose or poetry and 15 artworks, including photographs,
line drawings, and prints. The issue includes an interview with Andre Dubus III
by Rae Francoeur, a poem by Erika Funkhauser, one by Rhina P. Espaillat, two
prints by John Martin, and a cover photo by Robin Paris, among other items. Is
all this worth $2,350.70?
I’ve emailed the bookseller to find out what is so special
about this issue that he’s charging over $2,000. After all, I still have
several copies in storage I’d be glad to sell. I have't heard anything from him yet, but I'll let you know if I do.
And now you can see how out of whack the publishing business
is right now. I’ve forgotten my topic and where I was going with it. The
ludicrous amount of money being offered for one issue of The Larcom Review has completely thrown my brain off kilter. What
more do you need to know?
To purchase copies of The Larcom Review at a normal price, email me. To read Tim Kreider’s article, click on the link below.
Susan Oleksiw is the author of the Mellingham/Joe Silva series and the Anita Ray series. Her books can be found on Amazon, Nook Press, and Smashwords. For more information, go to www.susanoleksiw.com
