An interview with Patrick Swenson, publisher of Fairwood Press.

A small press can have a huge impact in the writing community. Fairwood Press, for example publishes highly recommended non fiction such as The 10% Solution by Ken Rand which has helped countless writers improve their craft. Then, there are novels and anthologies which are destined to be classics. Notably, but not exclusively, at Fairwood Press are authors I admire such as James Van Pelt, Louise Marley, Michael Bishop, Brenda Cooper, and many more. Whether you decide to publish with a small press or a large press, there are differences to be aware of. Patrick Swenson, owner of Fairwood Press, has been published by both and so I asked him about his experiences.

What motivated you to start Fairwood Press?

At first, Fairwood Press was created as an umbrella business name for Talebones Magazine to be under in case I ever decided to go into book publishing later. That was 1995. I actually started the book company as an S-Corp in 2000, prompted by author Patrick O’Leary’s query about doing a collection of his work. I’d published his first short story, and one other a little later, and he already had a few novels out from Tor. I said “Yes!” And then: “Let me figure out how to do that and get back to you.” And off we went.

What about distribution and marketing, how do you compete with the big firms?

The truth is, I can’t compete with the big firms. I have distribution through Ingram, but so do most small presses (and self-publishers), and then some with Baker & Taylor as well as a number of library wholesalers. But my books are not returnable, unless ordered directly from me for special events, so big chain stores won’t carry them. As for marketing, I do my best to get the word out. I print advance reading copies (ARCs) for all my titles and get them to potential blurbers and reviewers. I do what I can on social media. I lean on my authors to do what they can too. With a full time teaching job, I do what I can, which is not enough, but better than nothing.

You’ve had work published with a big press (Tor) and you’ve been published by a small press. Can you talk about some of the differences between working with a large and a small press?

Low overhead! Several thousand hardcovers sold for Tor is not a success, but for a small press (like Fairwood), I’d be in the money in a big way. Naturally, the big publishers are established and have long-time working editors and publishers on board who know their stuff, as well as the business side of things, and doing things at a grander scale.

But a small press doesn’t mean lower quality. You currently have a Hugo Award finalist Traveler of Worlds: Conversations with Robert Silverberg, by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro. To name a few more, you publish work by Jay Lake (winner of the 2004 John W. Campbell Award and Hugo and Nebula nominee) ; James Van Pelt, a nominee for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and Nebula Award; Daryl Gregory, winner of the World Fantasy Award. And you have others.

I only do 6-7 books a year. Naturally, I need to get the best books I can for those projects, so I’m pushing to get works from the best writers I can. I pick my own projects. I can afford to be picky! A lot of Fairwood books are collections, so the editing process is obviously different for those. Most stories in the collection have already been published, and edited. I’m there to make sure there are no nagging erorrs left, or that creep in during the edit or layout process.

If anyone is thinking of starting their own small press, what advice would you give them?

I’m thinking of a smart-alec answer like: Go climb a mountain instead! Or: Don’t do it! They say the best way to make a small fortune in the publishing business is to start with a large fortune. But that being said, it’s a labor of love, and I’ve enjoyed almost every minute running almost every aspect of my press. My best advice would be:

(1) start small and grow very gradually (I did one book a year for the first two years before upping it to 3, and so on);
(2) be professional and respectful to writers, artists, staff, and volunteers (easy for me to say, I’m a one-man operation); and
(3) understand how to design a book and put out a professional-looking product.

Anyone with a computer and a WiFi signal can publish a book today. I was very much self-taught over a span of many years. Most people don’t have that kind of time these days. So hire trained designers or personally take classes. I see covers that writers post on social media, and they say, “Look, my new cover! Isn’t it wonderful?” And it’s just hideous.

6) Do you have any advice for writers who are considering publishing with a small press?

Honestly, see (2) and (3) above in the previous answer. Make sure the press holds these ideals as sacred. Check their website. Check their published books and book covers. Check the rights they take and don’t take.

You’ve grown over the years and have over 70 titles by authors such as Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Michael Bishop, Brenda Cooper, J.A. Pitts, Mark Teppo, Laura Anne Gilman, Daryl Gregory, Jay Lake, Ken Scholes, Jack Skillingstead, Louise Marley, William F. Nolan, Devon Monk, Caroline M. Yoachim, Tina Connolly, James Van Pelt, Alexei Panshin, Mary Rosenblum, and others! What do you feel are the greatest benefits a small press can have for writers and why you have such a stellar and loyal group of authors?

One benefit is the freedom to go back and forth with my writers about all things. That includes layout, cover, and design. They get more of my attention from me than a big press editor has time to give. Another is low overhead. If a book from Fairwood does fairly well, that book is going to earn out and start earning some money fairly quickly. Even a book that doesn’t sell well can still stay in the black.

I’d say for the first 10 years of the press, a good 95% of my author list were alums from Talebones magazine. I liked their writing. I’d go to them and ask, “Hey, what do you have? Got a collection? Novel?” Talebones has been gone now for eight years, but the word got out. I have a wider variety of author now, not just Talebones writers.

Patrick Swenson’s newest novel is The Ultra Big Sleep (August 2016), a sequel to first novel The Ultra Thin Man, which appeared from Tor in August 2014. He edited the small press magazine Talebones magazine for 14 years, and still runs Fairwood Press, a book line, which began in 2000. A graduate of Clarion West, he has sold stories to the anthology Like Water for Quarks, and magazines such as Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy Magazine, Figment, and others. He runs the Rainforest Writers Village retreat every spring at Lake Quinault, Washington. Patrick, a high school teacher for 30 years, has a Masters Degree in Education, teaches in Auburn, Washington, and lives in Bonney Lake, Washington with his son Orion.

Are Small Publishers a Small Price?

June 1, 2017

Colette Black

When it comes to publishing, opinions vary by wide margins. Some say traditional publishing is the only way to get noticed, to come out with a quality book, and to have a chance at a wide readership. Others say traditional publishing is a scam, they use their authors, and only the top sellers get anything out of the relationship. For some, indie publishing is the only way to go. The writer has full autonomy of their work; able to make the covers, formatting, and editing quality the way they think it should be done. Yet, I’ve seen some authors and readers turn their noses up at indie publishing, saying it floods the market with sub-par books and the writers are wannabe hacks who couldn’t cut it in “real” publishing.

And then we come to small publishers. Are small publishers a middle-ground or a scam? Because the books are vetted by non-partial book enthusiasts, does that lend them more credibility? Are they run by publishing novices who don’t really know what they’re doing? Do they have the power to increase marketing and exposure or is it just self-publishing where the author does more work and never sees royalties? Are authors risking their novels/career/time because the small publishers always fold within five years? Are authors increasing productivity because a small publisher takes care finding and working with editors, cover artists, and formatting?

In short, what does it cost us to use a small publisher and what are the rewards? This is the question we’ll be asking this month. Read each day for views from the authors and the publishers. Our fictorians and multiple guests are going to be writing about personal experience and personal views. As always, we’d love to hear your comments. Keep the conversation civil and discard any preconceptions. Let the debate begin:

Colette Black Bio:

Colette Black lives in the far outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona with her family, 2 dogs, a mischievous cat and the occasional unwanted scorpion. Author of the Mankind’s Redemption Series, The Number Prophecy series, and the new Legends of Power series, Colette writes New Adult and Young Adult sci-fi and fantasy novels with kick-butt characters, lots of action, and always a touch of romance. Find her at www.coletteblack.net

A Good Sauce is Worth Experimenting With

May 31, 2017

Frank Morin

Craft & Skills Frank Morin Motivation Narrative Voice The Writing Life Your Writing Career No Comments

The posts this month have been amazing. Not only did we explore great works and what made them great, but described aspects of our own writing, and ways to improve our personal secret sauce.

Please browse through the month and read the posts from the Fictorians explaining our special sauce, our unique voices, and how we developed as writers. These excellent posts offer great insights into the Fictorians and the process of developing as writers.

As the famous Julia Childs once said, “No one is born a great cook. One learns by doing!”

In addition to those great posts, I’ll point out a few of the other highlights this month:

Research Until Your Fingers Bleed by Sean Golden

Hiding Your Secret Sauce by Guy Anthony De Marco

Using Voice to Set Yourself Apart by Kristin Luna

Adding Realism – Military SF by Kevin Ikenberry

Jayne Barnard and Adria Laycraft – Creating Successful Author – Editor Relationships by Ace Jordyn

Wisdom in abundance – The Characters of Daniel Abraham by Greg Little

So keep working on your own secret sauce, and feel free to update your recipe books with some of the wisdom shared this month.

Keep writing!

Adding Realism Military SF

May 30, 2017

Kevin Ikenberry

The Writing Life 1 Comment

Last summer, I met up with one of my readers (I still can’t use the word ‘fan’ yet) and they told me that one of the things they loved about my novels was the depth of military realism I brought into the stories. I can honestly say that I never really planned that but after more than two decades of service in the Army I’m not surprised that the “realism” is there. Frankly, it’s never far from my mind and I’ve been retired for a little more than a year. Writing military science fiction is a perfect genre for me because I still think in military terms and I probably will until my dying day. To me, writing things like proper military radio conversations are easy. I understand rank structures and organizational hierarchies that leave most non-military folks dumbfounded. So, I wanted to share a couple of tips on writing military science fiction for this month’s “special sauce” theme.

Understanding rank and structure in a military organization is a critical point of military science fiction. Readers expect to see that you, as an author, have at least a basic understanding. Rank is fairly simple on its own. A private reports to a sergeant who reports to a lieutenant and so on and so on. That “reporting to” piece is where structure comes into play and things get more complicated. Describing that relationship would take much longer than 500 words, so I’ll simply tell you that the first key to realism in science fiction is research. There are a myriad of sources that you can tap to get the information you want. Simply searching military rank or organizational structure will get you started on that path. Remember that armies are different than navies. You can even go so far as to create your own military structure – that’s fine – but you have to make sure it passes this simple sanity check: roles and responsibilities.

Let me give you two classic examples. First, Star Trek. The captain of a ship is never going to be on an “away team” and take his officers, engineers, pilots, etc. with him. I’m not saying that the captain of a ship wouldn’t get down to the surface at some point, but he’s not going down immediately. No way. For Star Trek, though, this works because the ship’s captain (Janeway, Picard, Kirk) are the central character and it would be a boring universe if the captain did what captains do.

The second example is the movie Independence Day. Even at the end of the world scenario, the President of the United States and the “leader of the Free World” is not going to strap on a fighter jet. Maybe if he were the absolute last person on Earth, yes, but in that scenario there’s no way a President does that. For the movie, though, it works because we’re suspending disbelief all over the place.

My point is this – understand where your character sits in the grand scheme of things. At the start of your story, a private is not going to be a vehicle commander or a sergeant isn’t going to be in command of a ship. You can certainly take them to that point, if that’s your character’s arc, but negotiating them to that point means that you have to have an inherent understanding of those relationships. It’s an essential part of world building in military science fiction. As for the nuances of writing more realistic military scenes? There are a number of movies and books that do it well. The internet can be a great resources, too. However, I’m going to steer you in a different direction.

Chances are that you know someone who has served in the military. Ask for help. A simple conversation could give you more ideas and information than you could ever use. That conversation might also help that veteran in more ways than you can imagine. So, simply ask. Whatever you choose, take the time to get the details right. In military science fiction, that attention to detail sets you apart from other authors.