Are you writing for publication?

This may not be a good day for me to discover this forum- I'm so discouraged today. It seems that there are so many people out there with ways to make money off of our dreams.

Sometimes I try to think of it as being an actor- pay the dues and someday I'll be 'discovered'. But the dues are becoming too expensive, and they lead nowhere.

In your first post you mentioned WritersDigest and WritersMarket- been there, done that. And I found that it did nothing for me. The agents listed- I'd get my packet of work prepared and send in only to be returned We are not accepting new clients at this time- so why did they list themselves in the market? There's another $20 down in mailing and copying fees.

WritersMarkets- many, many, many listings of markets- none of which have ever paid off for me. Every thing I sent in was rejected.

Then I tried the contest route- I sent in my reading fees and postage and return envelopes and followed all the rules and nothing.

Finally I got a job at a publishing company.
That's when I started learning the real scoop on things.
Let me tell you about the pimply faced reader that decides if your work should go passed their desk or not.
I became friends with a senior editor (cigerette breaks pay off) and she offered to read some of my work- finally someone who thought I wrote well beside my mother! She published several of my stories and continues to today- AS LONG AS I write it her way, for the subscribers of their magazine and what they want to read-

I just sent her my book (that she has been begging me to write for the last two years) and it's still sitting on her desk. I paid $45 to get it printed off, $25 to over night it to her, and after two months it is still sitting on her desk -unopened!

But, she has the control.
She has the power.
She has the power.

I want to write and not worry about what the subscribers want to read, and I want my work to be taken seriously and given an honest chance to be heard.

But, the publishing world has changed. They don't care about literature- they only care about money.

Sorry- I am so disappointed with the whole process right now. I should be writing my piece for writing.idol competition but- what for?

For GP's?
Thanks.
But I have to pay rent and while that editor has my soul sitting on her desk unopened- I have to go back to my 9-5.

Creative people shouldn't be drained of their creativity.