with Adriann Ranta

Dan Wickett is the webmaster of the Emerging Writer’s Network, a community of published and unpublished readers and writers. Wickett has written hundreds of book reviews and interviews in his blog in the hopes of exposing readers to authors deserving of the attention. It is with this intention that Wickett co-founded Dzanc Books, a new publishing house that refuses to be scared off by “unmarketable” manuscripts. Dzanc’s first title All Over, a short story collection by Roy Kesey, is scheduled to come out this Fall.

AR: On the subject of your future discussion of the fate of the printed book at the Ann Arbor Book Festival, are you encouraged or discouraged by the state of traditional publishing?

DW: Here is where I get exposed as a charlatan.  I'm not even sure what is meant by traditional publishing. I'm encouraged by many things though - the internet is one of them, discovering so many other fanatical readers of literary fiction out there in the world.  It's been a great pleasure these past seven years finding more and more individuals out there to converse with, even if only virtually.

As to your more specific question of publishing - one thing that is distressing to me is hearing of really excellent authors who get the following feedback from some of the bigger publishers - 'We love your work but our marketing department does not know how to sell it,' or similar statements.  This is one of the reasons that Steve Gillis and I have started Dzanc Books (www.dzancbooks.org).  We are a non-profit that will publish and promote literary fiction.  We believe that we should find the best writing out there and sign the authors up.  Then we will worry about how to market it.  This is not to say that we don't feel that marketing is important - we believe we will find huge audiences for our authors and books - it's just to say that we believe that the writing comes first.

AR: What's your opinion on internet self-publishing? The conventional method of author-agent-editor/publisher screens a lot of poorly written work, but at the expense of slush-piling good work too... is the internet diluting the good writers with bad ones or is it an opportunity for the public to form their own opinions on what's available?

DW: I hate to hedge, but I do believe it's a little bit of both - though from what I've seen to date, I think there's more of the dilution.  I believe the majority of authors that are the truly talented individuals are still forgoing the self-publishing route and tossing their wares out there into the slush piles.  That's not 100% across the board though and I think the blog PODdy Mouth has uncovered some fine POD efforts and I know a couple have found their way to my doorstop that were good.

I do think that there are more and more excellent stories and poems being published online, however, not exactly as you've asked - these are not being self-published, but published by online journals.  Some truly excellent writers are covering these journals on a regular basis:  Elizabeth Ellen, Steve Gillis, Katrina Denza, Myfanwy Collins, Steven J. McDermott, Matt Bell, Aaron Burch, and the list really just keeps getting better every couple of months.

At Dzanc Books, we look to literary journals for talent, and we've not at all avoided online journals when looking for bright, new authors looking for potential future books.

AR: You state on your site that one of your ambitions is to increase exposure of deserving authors. What is your opinion on finding this necessary? Shouldn't this be the publisher's job?

DW: I do think that one of the things a good publisher is going to do is develop the means of getting their authors recognition.  I don't think it's going to be solely up to the publisher anymore though, much as many authors might want it to be.  I think those authors that also develop their own means of getting themselves noticed are going to be that much further ahead.  And, I felt this way long before I starting the Dzanc Books publishing venture.

Sites like my own, and other litblogs, can be helpful for authors, but I strongly advise authors to read the websites for a few weeks before approaching the blogger via email.  Make sure that your writing meshes with what they care about enough to spend so much time blogging.  It will allow your approach to them to be more personal and help explain why they might be interested in your work.

AR: Regarding short stories, what tips can you give writers trying to publish in literary magazines rather than printed collections? Are these two equally competitive arenas?

DW: If you're planning on publishing in literary journals, I think a great idea I heard recently came from Matt Roberts down at AWP.  He said he grabs the annual anthologies and reads them.  When he finds stories that feel like those that he writes, he checks to see the journal that published them and puts those up high on his list of journals to submit to.  I do think that reading the journals is the best way to determine if your material fits with what they publish - that and being honest with yourself about your own writing.

In terms of going right to publishers with a story collection?  I think it's a completely different ball of wax (is that even the right cliche?).  I'll be honest, as a publisher (Dzanc Books), I do read the cover letters.  When I see that somebody has published in five or six of my favorite journals, I get a little excited before flipping over the page to the first story.  But, having a writer confident enough to state very little in the cover letter beyond hoping we find their manuscript worthy of attention?  That impresses me too.

AR: What are your thoughts about online writing communities fostered by blogs?

DW: I've almost got to be positive on this one don't I?  The Emerging Writers Network was created via emails and then the addition of a website and blog.  I've since joined the Litblog Co-op as well.

I used to visit SCRAWL every so often, but as a non-writer of fiction, I wasn't getting much out of it.  It was really all about writing and reviewing at that time (maybe four years ago).  Lately, I have been visiting the Zoetrope community fairly regularly.  There's writing and reviewing there, but there's also much about literary journals, AWP, readings, and other literary discussions that I wasn't seeing at SCRAWL (though they might have them by this time).

I did attend a panel at AWP which was filled by members of a Zoetrope Room, HOT PANTS, a room run by Kim Chinquee that specializes in flash fiction.  Through daily prompts, writing and critiquing, this group of (I think) 28 writers has had well into hundreds of pieces published since it began.  That's pretty damn impressive to me.

For readers interested in similar litblogs, as well as a link to Dan Wickett’s page, please find resources below:

• Emerging Writer’s Network , blog by Dan Wickett
• I Read a Short Story Today , blog by Patrick Rapa, interview forthcoming?
• Short Story Craft, blog by SD Byrd
• Identity Theory , blog, interviews, fiction/non-fiction/poetry/etc.
• The Millions , “A blog on books”

Literary Journals either mentioned by Wickett, or otherwise:

• One Story, recently gushed about by Wickett here : http://emergingwriters.typepad.com/emerging_writers_network/2007/04/source_of_lit_o.html
• Zoetrope
• Word Riot , seeks unique voices and topics
• Small Spiral Notebook, with interviews