#why is everything so hard | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

duckprintspress · 9 months

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I feel like I need to start talking more about how one of the big things that Duck Prints Press does is open the door to people who could never even get a foot in with traditional publishing or even most medium/"small" presses (we're a small press, but we're really more of a micro-press, I see places calling themselves small presses that are fucktons bigger than we are).

I've got some anecdotal evidence that people avoid the publications of Presses like this one because they think our writing and editing standards are lower - that we're the people who failed to make it in bigger presses because we weren't good enough - and that, consciously and unconsciously, gatekeeping biases on who is and isn't qualified to write lead people to support small presses less than they might support a more established organization.

So...y'all realize that there are a lot of reasons people wouldn't pursue working with trad pub, right? and I don't even mean ethical doubts, and I don't even mean "trad pub doesn't want to publish certain kinds of stories," though those are definitely factors - we're able to give more space to play with themes and genres because we don't focus solely on "is this marketable" as a sales rubric.

But that's not what I consider the biggest difference.

Hi, I'm Claire, and I own Duck Prints Press, and I have a massive history of clinical depression, including being suicidal in the past. I'm a great writer, and I'm not just tooting my own horn, I've got almost 150,000 kudos on AO3 that suggest that just maybe, I know wtf I'm doing stringing words into sentences. I don't need a big press to tell me I'm competent, I already know that. What I do need is to not end up suicidal again. If I face the gauntlet of rejections that's supposedly "required" as part of gatekeeping trad pub, it will do severe damage to my mental health, and probably destroy my ability to write as depression-induced self-deception eats through what I know to be true.

THAT'S what's different about a micropress like ours. Yes, our founding vision was to work with fans, but the vast majority of the people who work with us have mental illnesses, physical disabilities, neurodivergence issues, and/or other "meatsuits are terrible actually" issues that strict publishing environments can't or, really, won't accommodate. We say "fuck that noise" and go out of our way to accommodate people, granting extensions and ensuring everyone can work on their own schedule. We're able to be very flexible, which means we bring in a lot of people whose incredible skills are overlooked, ignored, looked down on, kept out of, more mainstream publishing options.

If someone has trouble with deadlines? We still work with them.

If someone has an illness that flares irregularly and unpredictably? We still work with them.

If someone needs frequent reminders? We still work with them.

If someone works slowly because they can only do a little at a time? We still work with them.

If someone needs extra time, additional support, special software...we have thus far been able to accommodate literally everyone who has come to us.

As long as the creators who work with us keep communicating and keep showing at least a little progress, we will find a way to make things work, because we want to be as inclusive as possible, and because we know that most people with these challenges, no matter how good they are at writing or art or whatever it is they do with us, would face many more hardships to have these opportunities with a larger, more strict organization.

Just, every time I see indications that people think we're "less" because we're not HarperCollins or Penguin or Tor or something, I get so angry, because it shows so little understanding of how gatekeepy and especially how ableist trad pub is, and I wish more of the people who are thinking things like that would recognize that their behavior is, essentially, snobbery.

And to be clear I'm not saying "people with these challenges never get trad pubbed," that's clearly ridiculous and untrue, but I am saying, people with these challenges shouldn't have to be The Most Exceptional just to have a chance, and we deserve to have a place that will accommodate us instead of having to perform health, perform neurotypicalness, etc. just to succeed. We deserve to not have one flare-up potentially ruin our careers, and we deserve the same opportunities and respect as people who choose other directions.

Between trad pub, small press, and self-publishing, no one route is inherently "superior." Backing one over another doesn't guarantee you're only going to get good stories, or good editing. Trad pub publishes utter schlock sometimes, and self-publishing is fantastic sometimes, and some small presses do have lax standards, and some small presses are exceptional, and I feel like maybe people just really don't understand why places like Duck Prints Press try to exist - it's because we're trying to create spaces that meet us where we are, instead of focusing on rigid conformity, marketability, hard rules, etc.

The only way we'll get a diversity of voices in publishing is by supporting a diversity of publishers. The only way we'll be able to make space for everyone is by supporting the places that carve out new spaces to fit those who didn't fit elsewhere.

I wish more people would understand what we do and why we're here, and that folks would at least try our publications before assuming that we're "like big press but worse at writing/arting/editing."

Idk. I'm just tired, and sick, and still working even tho I'm sick, and frustrated with how hard it is to get anywhere, so here, have a rant I probably shouldn't post.

(this post brought to you by me seeing Chuck Tingle - entirely reasonably, to be clear, Chuck Tingle is awesome and I support him entirely! - celebrating the Camp Damascus release to thousands of notes, and Tor posting a poll about some Locked Tomb short story and getting 1300+ votes, and how I have to claw our way out of the background tumblr noise to get 100+ notes even on our biggest releases)

#duck prints press #about us #suicide mention #suicide tw #to be clear i'm in no danger now i'm well medicated #but i shouldn't have to destroy my mental health to get published actually #fuck that noise #authors shouldn't have to destroy themselves to meet the general public's delusional idea of what is success #i'm so tired y'all #why is everything so hard #i'd like to earn enough to take a paycheck some day #another big difference is that a lot of us our parents #and many of us are poor #virtually everyone i know who has succeed in trad pub is childless and has additional income streams #because those are the people who can afford to take the time and expense of writing full time

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cameoutstruggling93 · 4 months

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Today is weird. Yesterday was weird. The day before last was weird. Last week was weird. This whole month has been weird.

Old memories keep popping up with my ex in then on FB and snap. Yet despite everything that happened, i find myself missing him. My current relationship is starting to fizzle or something along those lines. He doesn't talk to me as much and it's hard to see each other and its just....not great.

And to top everything off, I have this disgusting chest cough that I can't shake. I was getting over a cold and now, this.

So here I sit. Typing this with a dog next to me while watching sopranos. Willing myself to get ready to change for this silly photo shoot at JC Penny that my sister wants to do.

Why is love so hard.

#personal #thinking out loud #why is everything so hard

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queerstudiesnatural · 7 months

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not only has my depression taken away my hobbies like i don't feel like crocheting or drawing or even reading. but it's also making it really difficult to eat because while i'm hungry i can't think of any food that i'd want to eat? nothing sounds good it's like i feel the physical need for food but i have no appetite. so i either eat and feel nauseous bc the food feels like an unwelcome intrusion. or i don't eat and i feel nauseous because ouchie

#can i get a fucking break #why is everything so hard #rain.stuff #tw eating issues #tw disordered eating #tw ed #i guess #tw depression #tw food mention

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wandaluvstacos · 5 months

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i need someone who knows how to make coats to hold my hand through this process because asking the internet if you can use wool felt as a lining is not returning me any answers. Instead it's like "use lambswool" which would make the coat cost another $150 on top of the already $150 I am prepared to spend for the wool exterior or "use polyester bullshit" which I don't want to do because I'm trying to use all natural materials. There are thirty thousand cotton flannels out there but none of them are specified as linings so do I just GUESS that they'll work? impossible to know. Also, fabric shopping is legit so stressful because nearly all the results are etsy or alibaba, and when alibaba says "cotton" I just assume they're lying. Etsy is super expensive compared to actual fabric shops, which Google refuses to find for me. All the cotton lining flannels are linings for DRAPES, not coats.

DOES NO ONE SELL COAT MAKING MATERIALS IN THIS DAMN WORLD ANYMORE. I JUST WANT ONE DAMN PLACE THAT SELLS THE MATERIALS TO MAKE A COAT.

#i am tired #I also don't know how heavy it will be #so adding super heavy flannel lining would probably be bad #why is everything so hard

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17deadmoth · 12 days

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I can only live in my head. On the outside I just exist. I will never be what I want to be. That's just physically impossible. What a pity. Isn't it pathetic?

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circusclownproductions · 17 days

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I should blow myself up

#my poor friends #I’m so sorry they have to deal with me and this #why is everything so hard #I just want to live #☁️

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lowkeyzackswife · 1 month

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I wish I knew how all this worked because what I'm doing and have been doing is clearly not working, and I'm on the brink of just giving up on all of it.

#why is everything so hard #did i do something wrong?#am i being punished #i just want to be happy #and have something go right for me for once

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celticwoman · 1 month

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i need a win soon because i'm so close to losing it

#just one. that's all i'm fucking asking for #why is everything so hard #cami.txt

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npdlangley · 4 months

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i dont know why i struggle with math so bad i dont know where im going wrong

#txt #i mean i guess i struggle w memorizing formulas #and i try not to freak out on tests but i just... blank #the teacher can explain this shit to me a thousand times but i cant grasp it or understand #i feel like an idiot in the class #i keep getting 50s and 60s #i am going to fail my exam i just know it #why is it so frustrating i dont know whats wrong #i want to be better but i cant focus ever to work on it and i try to work on it but it doesnt make sense #why is everything so hard

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valkoinenlintu · 3 months

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ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

#why is drawing so hard #why is writing so hard #why is everything so hard #enough drawing and writing i need to relax and this shit's killing me #literally why do i have to draw a face when i just want to draw spekti #that's not fair #arghhhhh #f talks

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yugelo · 10 months

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You can live forever soundtrack

why is it so hard to find the original soundtrack, only place I can find it is on stinky winky apple music . YouTube I can't believe you've let me down like this

I guess i'll just have to watch the movie over and over just for the music