Another way to go about this??

[eastkygal]

Getting my work published. I write "literary" Appalachian pieces. I was taught in college that the only acceptable way to get my work out there was to submit to literary journals, hope I get accepted, then hope an agent reads the journal and wants to represent me. That was almost 10 years ago now.

I have a short story collection of 10 stories all themed around birth in Appalachia. I know story collections don't sell well and I really have no hope of getting an agent for that. I'm working on two novels. However, I'd like to see the collection in print. One story was published in a small literary mag, and won the 2009 Gurney Norman Prize for Short Fiction, but so far all the others have been rejected at at least one journal. Should I query small presses on my own. I have no money for self publishing that I would be satisfied with. Any other thoughts about getting my work out there in today's market?

[allgirls]

I pm'd you a suggestion.

[Sagesgirl]

I don't have specific resources like I suspect Allgirls does, but yes, query local presses on your own. San Antonio has Gemini Ink, and they specialize in works set locally, by local authors. They even publish a lot of poetry chapbooks, and you know those don't sell on the wide market!

[eastkygal]

thank for the help and encouragement. I've been looking up query letters and how to write them. I've never done it before. I think a small regional press would work great for my story collection and be more likely to represent it.

As far as self publishing, I really would hate to be limited to internet selling. DH is an artist and travels to festivals with his art, and I'd love to be able to send my books or go myself with a book set-up. The only thing that makes me nervous about self-publishing is the money issues, and the fact that most of the self published books I've seen don't look very professional. DH is a graphic designer as well, so he could help me with that.

[midnightwriter]

Try querying with your collection. I queried with my collection 2 years ago, and this opened a lot of doors for me. Well, sorta. I queried all Canadian agents (there aren't as many of them as in the US, maybe 10) and basically, most of them said, "I love your writing, please query me with your novel" (which I said was in progress). A year later I had my novel finished, and they didn't like it. But potentially, it could'be been a really good situation, because all of them were excited to read my novel.

Also, there's a writer who recently (like in the last 2 months) sold his literary short story collection, centered around the Appalachian trail, as a double deal with his yet unfinished novel, to a major publisher. So it is possible.

Good luck!