Trading on Hopes and Dreams

Trading on Hopes and Dreams in Theatre and Publishing

When I moved from the United States and stopped writing stage plays, I thought I had left behind a particularly parasitic practice of theatre “producers,” located primarily on the isle of Manhattan, trading on the hopes and dreams of aspiring playwrights as a means of lining the pockets of the producers. Now, of course, there’s nothing wrong with legitimate producers putting on plays for profit—the commercial theatre consists of and depends on precisely that operation. But Manhattan play mills, the functional equivalent of puppy mills, are far from legitimate.

Imagine my chagrin when, as a new author of books, I found the same stratagem alive and well in the world of publishing: authors’ hopes and dreams being used to lure the writers into courses of conduct that they would probably never undertake if they were in their right minds, unclouded with visions of the literary equivalent of sugar plum fairies.

Curiously, both quasi scams start with “competitions.” In New York, there are “theaters,” which are barely larger than lofts, that invite writers to submit their plays for evaluation. Imagine the author’s excitement when the submission has been deemed worthy of production. Sometimes, the euphoria survives even the news that the author will, of course supply without any compensation, the cast, the director, any set dressings the tiny performing space can accommodate, and most critically the audience, which will pay to the producer the going rate for tickets. But hey, at least the authors can proudly announce that their plays are being performed in New York City!

I thought that this practice would have no publishing counterpart until I came across a website that runs a “competition” for authors of short, non-fiction stories. The authors are invited to submit their stories along with a signed release form granting to the site owner full rights and indemnities and forever forswearing any claim for compensation for the stories. The stories are then cobbled together in collections, sub-standard in length and arguably in other qualities, and put on the market. The sales proceeds go to the collator of the stories, where else?

It should also be noted that in the case of both the story and play competitions, it takes real talent not to be a winner.
Because of writers’ ability to achieve publication on their own through various self-publishing means, the lure of gifting one’s work to someone who does the same thing but without author compensation strikes me as curious. Could a hollow victory in a “competition” be the lure?

When I come across practices like this, it makes me all the more appreciative of my association with Secret/Sweet Cravings Publishing, a totally professional organization that consistently delivers high-quality services for a very modest portion of revenues received by authors to whose welfare SCP is genuinely dedicated.