Letter from the Publisher

I have always considered the Internet to be the great equalizer of the publishing world. Not since the creation of the printing press have we seen a tool that allows a person to express their ideas to so many other people at once. Now anyone with a web page can tell a story, share a viewpoint or even just tell the world why they like a certain television show. These web sites can be found in a search engine along side web pages created by large companies and publishing houses. The power to publish has been wrestled from the control of a few and given to the many.

These changes have required the publishing industry to adapt to new ways of doing business. There is an expectation that the industry must operate in "real-time" and take better advantage what these new technologies have brought us.

We are starting to see this in the number of magazines that have electronic portions with enhanced content such as web links to provide further current information and updates related to the story. We also see this in new electronic magazines with the kind of specialty content that would not be represented in the majority of bookstores. These kinds of changes are creating a second renaissance, where we are seeing more of a free flow of ideas and less of publishing based on economics.

Sadly there is one area of this industry that remains in a backward state. I speak of the editorial elitism of the industry.

I recently came across two different new magazines, one in print and the other electronic. Both extolled their virtues and spoke of their desire to publish articles and stories that other magazines would not be interested in. I was impressed by what they had to say until I saw their condescending submission criteria. Each magazine made it clear that the editorial staff viewed their magazine as an exclusive club and that any writer who wished to be published by their magazine had to submit to a means test to find out if they were "worthy" of being published. One of these magazines even had a feature article by an anonymous literary agent who went on tirade about how agents, not the writers, were the lifeblood of the industry and how they deserved an even bigger slice of the profit split.

This is the heart of the matter, the fact that the industry has forgotten. Without writers, there is no need for publishers or agents. We as an industry need to remember this at all times. Empty pages don't sell.

As the stigma of self-publishing continues to diminish and companies like Amazon.com give world-wide distribution to the self-published, this industry needs to think carefully about the role it plays and what role it will play in the future. The world will not wait for the publishing industry to catch up, so we need to leave behind the smug elitism that is all too common and start viewing both the reader and the writer as our client.

This is the mission statement for SPINETINGLER Magazine. We seek to publish stories that people make an emotional or intellectual connection with. We also want to provide an example of how a magazine can be writer-focused, which as a byproduct will provide the kinds of stories that people will want to read.

It is a win-win scenario for everyone.