K. Marvin Bruce

I have another blog.   That one, under my real name, has fewer readers than this one.   Unlike the piece you’re reading at the moment, this is an occasional note.  I post on the other blog daily.   Interestingly I’ve had publishing professionals tell me that’s what they like to see.  Funny. Perhaps it doesn’t seem like much, but coming up with discrete, intelligent (I hope!) things to say every day, for over a decade, should demonstrate willingness to work hard.   When I started the other blog I had lots of followers.   Now I have few. I know, I know!   If I were in your place I’d be saying, “Maybe your writing sucks.”   Maybe it does.   Maybe it doesn’t.   The point is without someone willing to help we all spin in obscurity. Someone I know online recently published a book on a topic in which I also publish.   He has tons of followers.   I don’t.   He also has a university post and thus an institut...

Institutions.  They can take many forms and missions, but they all have something in common: they're collectives.  They speak with the voice of many, while most of us speak with the voice of one.  This matters if you're a writer.   The world is full of noise.  I'm older than the internet, and I remember when getting published meant writing a letter, by typewriter, to a publisher, asking about your book.  I got turned down in those days too, but it was a lot less competition.  Now, unless you have an institution to vouch for you, you can't shout with enough decibels to get any notice.   Publishers are institutions.  If you manage to get published, your voice automatically becomes louder.  Even a small publishing house reaches more than most individuals.   If you teach at a college, you have an institution to speak for you.  Putting the name of a school after yours can open doors for you.  Credibility comes with the prestige...