DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE DOING THE MAINSTREAM THING
by Phil Geusz
©2010 Phil Geusz

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   Long ago I used to write a monthly column about how to be a better author. It wasn’t a subject I could write about forever—in fact I’m surprised I hung on for as long as I did. But the writing itself hasn’t slowed down a bit; I still compose or edit something practically every night of my life, and at this point expect to continue doing so right up until the day I die. The subject therefore is clearly important to me. So from time to time I return to my original column’s theme. It doesn’t happen all that often, but sometimes I still feel that I have something worth sharing. This month it’s about markets.
   “You can’t sell furry stories outside the fandom,” I’ve heard a thousand authors claim. “There’s no point in even trying. All you get are snooty rejection slips.”
   Well… According to Robert Heinlein, if ‘everyone’ knows something, then nine out of ten times it just ain’t so. And that’s sure enough the case in this instance, as far as I can see. My very first sale—for rather good money—was of a recognizably furry TF story to a long-defunct e-zine called Dark Annie that specialized in thrilling fiction of all types. I next sold three more furry tales to another e-zine, for even better money. After that I too lost myself in the rejection slip jungle, and despite my previous experiences convinced myself that the crowd was right, that we didn’t stand a chance outside of our own little artistic ghetto. So for years I concentrated exclusively on ‘our’ markets, except for a brief flirtation with the Amazon Shorts program that netted me four sales alongside top-ranked authors. (Of these four tales one was definitely ‘furry’, the second not, and two were borderline.)
   Yet despite this further success I still refused to see which way the wind was blowing. I figured it was a one-off—a lucky break—and continued to submit only to furry publishers. Along the way I sold a few works to them as well, and some of these publishers—notably Sofawolf—paid quite well. From time to time, however, my subconscious stubbornly insists on producing an absolutely, beyond-question not-furry work, and then I feel obliged to market it like any other of my tales. So, after writing a piece of ‘straight’ literary fiction entitled December Moth I went looking for a mainstream publisher…
   …and not only sold the thing on my first attempt, but was eagerly invited to send in further work. I took them at their word and offered them a trilogy that at least one furry publisher had turned down. Rather to my surprise, they offered to buy that, too! (Though we’re still in negotiations over details of the sale, which may yet fall through.) And, when the collection including December Moth finally appeared in print, I got top billing on the cover!
   Since then I’ve submitted manuscripts to several other mainstream publishers. While not everything has been bought (and truthfully I’ve not submitted all that much, being so busy with other projects lately) I’ve learned from the very-positive feedback that my paradigm was totally in error all along. At this point, I now believe that it’s easier to sell a story to a mainstream publisher than a furry one, all other things being equal, because the furry publishers are so swamped with submissions (and, sadly, so short on sales). Or, it’s easier to sell good stories there, at least—the kind that feature plot, theme, characterization, and nice tight writing. Yiff, however, remains marketable solely within the fandom, and probably always will.
   In other words… If you’re a furry author, don’t let a perceived barrier shut you out of ninety-nine-point-nine-nine percent of the marketplace. Expand your horizons and submit to the mainstream. Don’t be afraid of who you are and what you write—perhaps even more to the point, don’t write stuff that you’d be ashamed to have published out in the Real World. And you know what?
   You just might find they’re more receptive than you think! And quicker with their checkbooks, too!


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