Online recently, someone spoke of almost making it as a writer in Woman’s World Magazine. For those who do not know, WW has a layered process of acceptance. I, too, have made it to the final round and been rejected. On the other hand, I have a short story writer friend who has to have published in that magazine fifty plus times. That writer understands the magazine and has the flavor down pat. They love working with him.

Someone responded on the heels of that discussion that traditional publishers operate the same way. They don’t like debut authors. I gave a brief response, but in that moment this editorial was born.

Yes, traditional publishers (and magazine editors) maintain a stable of authors. These authors have proven themselves. They’ve written well and had a good response when their works were launched into the world. If they are prolific in their writing, even better. The publishers will be more likely to swoop them up without much vetting, and choose them over anyone new.

Publishers have finite budgets. Authors/writers provide the income to keep them alive. The authors who are good at providing said income will be the ones who get the most attention and repeated acceptance. The bestsellers are golden. The mid-listers are scrutinized often, but if steady, can retain work. The debut author is a high risk.

Why won’t publishers give new writers a chance? They do. But they are limited as to how many they can take a risk on. They will ride a good horse to death, only going for fresh mounts when the good ones are exhausted or dead.

We forget that publishers are corporate business. To add too many debut authors, and neglect publishing a proven one, is a poor business decision.

That’s why there are so many mid-level publishers and burgeoning small presses. They claim they are wide open to fresh voices. However, trust me. They are likewise holding onto the proven ones they can grasp. And over time, they too will favor the proven over someone debut. Newbies have to break in with good writing. And if that were you who broke in and did favorably enough to be asked back, wouldn’t you want there to be room in lieu of the editor taking on someone who hasn’t proven themselves as well as you?

Keep trying. It’s a matter of timing and very good writing and a topic that’s timely. Not all of it is in your control . . . and fussing about it won’t help.