The best policy.

Honesty is important to me, both as a writer and as a reader. Because of that, I feel that I owe it to you, as potential writers or readers, to start our relationship off with straight talk so that you understand what to expect from Generic Publishing both now and for the future.

When I started Generic Publishing in 1995, I was incredibly frustrated with a publishing world that seemed to require everyone to have been previously published and wanted to create a venue for new talent. Over roughly a decade, we periodically published a magazine (Generic Magazine) and several chapbooks that were fairly well received but the pressures of the outside world eventually won out and we had to put the whole thing on hold. Quite frankly, I was beginning to feel that I wasn’t able to do justice to the writers I was helping to publish, both in the quality of the publication and the breadth of distribution.

As you well know, the publishing world has changed dramatically since ’95, with tons of small presses out there providing loads of opportunities for new writers and this whole interwebz thingie has made distribution much easier. Still, even with a glutted market, ghettoification remains an issue. I understand the value of a clear product for marketing purposes but I feel that the labeling is too constrictive to creative writers while allowing lazy writers to lean on comfortable tropes. Also, I miss working with writers, plowing through dense wording to get to the heart of the piece and seeing the look on someone’s face when they discover a new writer.

So, I’ve decided to give it a go again.

My life has reached a slightly more stable place and the experience I have gained working as a reviewer for Horrornews and Shroud Magazine as well as my own experience attempting to find homes for my writing has taught me much about what I need to do differently this time. To start off, I will stick to a few small projects just to see if I can make it work in a way that is beneficial to writers without undo strain on my sanity (I crit-failed my last san check, just to warn you). If all goes well, then I’ll move to a dedicated website and work out the rest from there.

Thank you for reading this far and for joining me in this journey.

-Anton Cancre, Editor Supreme of Generic Publishing