When I think of the current literary scene here in America, I’m reminded of the Duke and King in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. Publishers and editors often assume the self-importance royalty, tempting writers with the golden promise of immortality, while critics consider themselves king-makers. A closer look reveals the con-artistry at work. Young writers are often told to avoid vanity presses, but who ever heard of “vanity agents”? They exist, and often approach writers, claiming to have connections with the big New York publishers; they’d be happy to represent you—if you pay them a few hundred for “editing” services. There are also galleries that showcase author’s work for a price, claiming that NYC publishers routinely peruse them (because everyone knows, publishers have so much free time). Then there are schemes like poetry.com, who would happy to publish your very accomplished poem, provided you buy a copy of their anthology. There are e-zines that charge writers that submit to them, books and speakers that claim to know the secrets of getting published, publicity agents and marketing agents, sites that will give your book a glowing review if you pay them—the list of chicanery goes on and on.

Large publishers are not immune to the questionable practices of the literary world; they routinely take advantage of writers, stipulating contracts that give away everything under the sun and then leaving authors to basically go it alone, querying for reviews, setting up readings and paying for advertising on the writer’s own time and budget. Even the arid lit journals are getting into the act. A recent submission reply I received from RATTLE sounded more like a marketing letter than a rejection notice. “It is important to look over work I’ve chosen for past issues,” writes editor Stellasue Lee. “You can purchase RATTLE at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Borders Books, and many independent booksellers across the country.” And since when do writing contests have entry fees? It is now routine to charge $10 to $50 per poem or story—an excellent little money generator for the department or organization hosting the contest, I’m sure, but beyond the limited budget of many writers.

The root of the problem becomes obvious when examined from an economic viewpoint: a large imbalance between supply and demand, between writers and publishing outlets. Our surfeit of unpublished literature is due to the fact that writing is easy to do but difficult to judge objectively. It isn’t like skiing or playing the accordion—I can scribble some verses down while riding an elevator and delude myself into thinking it’s a poetic masterpiece. Meanwhile everyone else is preoccupied with “Joe Millionaire”. With a sea of submitted rubbish on the one side and a shrinking pool of readers on the other, it isn’t surprising that publishers, editors, agents and reviewers depart from the straight and narrow and try to convert the producers into consumers. But the undesired consequence is that many truly gifted writers, jaded and discouraged by the scams and rip-offs, are lighting out down the river like Huck and Jim, leaving their best work unread. We in the publishing world need to take our bearings and reexamine our scruples. After all, we’re in the business to publish great writers, not take them for a ride.

- Joel Van Valin

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