I spent a fair bit of time this weekend, in scattered chunks, working my way through the essay Micheal Allen (a.k.a. the Grumpy Old Bookman) published back in February, Rats In The Slushpile.
The piece, which is available as a free PDF, is described as:
Book-world commentator Michael Allen has a reputation for revealing the painful truth about writing and publishing. In his latest extended essay, Allen uses the ideas of the mathematician-philosopher Nassim Nicholas Taleb to demonstrate that success for writers and publishers is governed by randomness (chance) to a far greater extent than is generally realised. This creates serious problems for those who work in the book trade. Allen therefore goes on to outline some practical strategies which can be employed by writers, agents, and publishers; these strategies naturally cannot guarantee success, but they may help book-trade participants to survive in an increasingly turbulent environment.
The essay runs to 72 pages, which is much more than I’m happy reading off of a screen, so I’m very pleased to have both a laser printer and FinePrint‘s booklet mode. A 72 page document makes a nice little chapbook when printed onto 18 pages.
I think I’m a safe audience for this book, since I can evaluate the arguments without the emotional investment that writers and industry professionals would have.
Most of what he says in the first three analysis sections makes complete sense to me, although I think he goes off the rails a bit in his synthesis in the last two sections. Some of it is kind of depressing–although I am forced to admit that very few of the many novelists I know went through the slush pile. I know lots of people who went the “build up a name from short stories” route, and several others who had other personal entrees to the system, but not many who came in from the pile.
Anyway, I found it interesting, if a bit grim.
What I found absolutely lovely however, was the response from M. John Harrison, a writer who’s stuff I really, really enjoy. Here’s the excellent bit:
The Grumpy Old Bookman is regretting that writing can’t be fully commodified. Well, hooray that it can’t. Writing & publishing, like reading, are casino behaviours. They are as full of danger & exploitation & raw excitement as a singles bar on a Friday night. Unless you enjoy the theatre of risk it’s hard to understand why writers, publishers & corporations are drawn to publishing despite its unpredictability & generally low returns. Allen’s analysis of the slushpile phenomenon is invaluable as well as witty, but though his advice to would-be writers–make it your hobby, don’t invest, don’t get hurt–is honest & decent, it’s safety-culture advice.
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