When I started selling my writing with some regularity in the late 60s/early 70s, the science fiction scene was much different than it is today. Simpler in some ways, harder in others.
Simpler: For short fiction, there were 6 regular markets, the major genre magazines--Analog, Galaxy, If, F&SF, Amazing, and Fantastic. No original anthologies to speak of; anthologies were the domain of reprint stories. (And don't throw Dangerous Visions in my face; that was a special project, not a regular ongoing market.) The was one major hardcover publisher of sf, Doubleday, and it existed largely to support its other arm, the Science Fiction Book Club; other hardcover houses published sf too, of course, but not on anything approaching a regular, consistent basis. For original paperback novels, the reliable markets were Ballantine, Ace, Berkley, the fledgling DAW, and some lesser lights.
Simpler, because you had fewer choices and they were very well defined. Things went into specific slots, or they didn't go at all.
Harder: for the same reason. Fewer choices, fewer markets. Fewer slots to fill, so only a comparatively limited number of people could fill them. And if you weren't one of them, you were left out in the cold.
The recognized markets controlled what went into the marketplace, so if you were one of the anointed ones, people learned about your work. Otherwise, they didn't.
If you could fill one of the acceptable slots, you could make a name for yourself. You could sell books if you sold short stories, because the editors recognized your name. Agents helped you negotiate better deals, but they weren't essential to making any deal at all. The publishers had first-readers, and were on the lookout for new talent.
Oh, and agents routinely got only 10% commissions for domestic sales; it was higher only if another agent was involved for subsidiary rights, like foreign sales or movie deals.
Self-publishing? You were a pariah if you tried it. Print-on-demand? Way too costly to even consider. It was prohibitively expensive to make one book at a time. Electronic publishing? Well, maybe someday in the far future, like a century from now. Audiobooks? Well, there were recorded books for the blind, but they were few in number and generally only for bestsellers. Certainly blind people weren't interested in that science fiction stuff.
Distribution was tightly controlled, funneled through a small number of sources--and in many cases, mafia controlled. You followed a narrow set of rules, or your work never got out in front of the reading public.
Are things better now? Well, they're certainly different. As we shall see....
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