Another spin on that idea is even if you are seeking to get traditionally published, which can take years sometimes, why not self-publish the book and have it earn something while you send it out. Dean Wesley Smith promotes this approach. While some publishers may have problems with that, Dean seems to think it would be a very minor problem, that most publishers aren’t as concerned about first publishing rights as a magazine acquiring a short story, for instance. Some have debated that, and I’m not experienced enough to really know whether it would hamper or help getting a traditional published contract. But there is a certain logic to it, rather than letting it sit making no money at all for who knows how long.

That’s the trouble with unearthly fantasy worlds. You have to ground them into familiar reality somehow or they feel totally alien.