Publishing and the Weird Western Community

[Mesa]

So this is the first discussion topic I've ever posted on goodreads so please bare with me; I hope I'm doing this right lol

Does anyone know of a good publishing company that deals with fiction like this? Maybe not exclusively, but inclusively? I'm having an awful time finding one that fits.

Also, what does the market look like for this genre? Is there a big demand for these books? Understandably, it's probably not as popular as your average romance, but what does the community look like? Is it small and tight knit? Big and diverse? Has it actively expanded into other mediums a lot lately (not just books, but movies, games/mmorpgs, etc)?

If you've written/published in this genre, what's been your experience with it? Have you had any luck?

[Quentin]

I'll be honest with you and offer my limited knowledge. I'm not sure about publishers because I self-publish, but I have a bad feeling there aren't many publishers so hot on Weird Westerns, but I dont know for sure. I personally don't know of any.

The market is honestly pretty small, but there is some demand as I do sell a fair amount of books for a pretty much unknown author. As you can tell from the small group we have here, the genre just hasn't really caught fire like I feel it eventually will.

I don't want to discourage you, I say go ahead with it, there IS a market, it's just small. It has expanded into other mediums, there's Video Games, some movies, and Deadlands is a big role playing game dealing with the Weird West.

If this just confused you and you have further questions, please just ask lol.

[Ashe]

I moved this to the author's folder.

If you're looking for an actual publisher, i'd say your best bet is to find an agent and let them find one. That said, stay away from Damnation Books. Far away. Check out Ragnarok Publications. I think they require agented submissions now but they're rad.

The Market is growing, i'd say. I've seen new stuff come out every year since I've been into it, in pretty much every form of media. I think the community is still small though, or maybe just not as cohesive as others, sorta like steampunk before it became a THING.

I think all of this group's authors are self-published. I'll be rreleasing my book next month and had a successful kickstarter campaign. So I don't know if anyone can answer about luck beyond getting extra sales.

[[deleted user]]

Well, to add my timeworn two cents here, everything I've done has been self published. A quick look on the Amazon Kindle page under "weird westerns" will show you there is a market, there are authors like our group here, mostly self published; it's small, dedicated but poised to grow. The few authors who have made it to the bigger publishers generally get stuck under the fantasy or science fiction label, so if you are looking for a publisher start there first. I think we could stand for a little more cohesion within the community, get the disparate groups connected, sharing and helping each other out but that may come with time.
On a personal level, my sales are very few and far between; whether that means I haven't been able to reach an audience of my own yet successfully or people have just been too nice to tell me I'm bad at this I don't know. I know it causes some degree of consternation at home (my wife is friends with and has done work for a few ridiculously successful self published authors on Amazon who do humorous mysteries and thrillers and she has asked me why I don't just write those as those are what "make money", not fantasy or sci-fi which she herself doesn't read and doesn't like and doesn't understand) and I can't be an author full time due to our financial situation so I don't get to spend as much time as I would like honing my craft. But the first rule of being a writer is write what you know and be true to yourself, don't just write what you think will sell. People will notice.
But I would say if this is what you like and want to write about don't give up. Luck is subjective; it's a combination of dedication, hard work, skill and being at the right place at the right time. Be yourself, and make sure you always speak with your own voice.

[Mesa]

Ashe wrote: "I moved this to the author's folder.

If you're looking for an actual publisher, i'd say your best bet is to find an agent and let them find one. That said, stay away from Damnation Books. Far away..."

Oh wow! Ragnarok Publication's website looks amazing. I'll definitely keep an eye on them.

I've published with a small company before who didn't require an agent, but the experience was awful and the place eventually shut down. So if I'm going to go with a publisher this time, I'm probably going to try the agent route or self publishing lol

[Ashe]

Just do your homework and remember that the options are tools. I like having all the control for my series but I'll eventually try to get an agent for other things. There's trade-offs for everything.

And Ragnarok is run by good folks. They've grown a crapload over the past year.

[Justin]

Everyone gave very insightful information so I don't know what more I can add but I'll try. Quentin was spot on, their aren't publishers specifically for weird Webster's though you could look at the books on Amazon that are weird western and see who they are published with. I imagine you'll either find a big time publisher or a small press. Also everyone was right, the market is small but it's got a decent amount of fans and the only problem is finding the right place to make yourself known. There's this group and others if you dig hard enough.

Ragnarok Publications is solid. I follow them on Facebook and they are always posting interesting content and have genuinely friendly folk there.

[Sam]

Hi everyone! I just found this group, so I am sorry I couldn't add to this discussion sooner. David B. Riley published Weird Westerns for several years. Declining interest has caused him problems though. He just recently shut down his Science Fiction Trails magazine (which was Weird Western) and combined it with his Steampunk magazine to make a new one called Story Emporium. Submissions just closed at the end of April, but I have high hopes it does well enough he keeps going. You can watch for submissions opening up here http://steampunktrails.blogspot.com/