Sunday, October 27, 2013

Fellow Bloggers Provide Help



In last Sunday’s posting I asked questions about fiction genres and the state of publishing today. Two fellow bloggers, Perpetua from England and Kathy McCoy from the United Sates, provided answers to these questions. I want to share their informative responses with you because you may not have had the time to read all the comments for that posting.
         To my question about the difference between commercial and literary fiction, Perpetua answered:
In my librarian days, literary fiction was serious and sometimes more difficult fiction which was normally printed and sold in small numbers, unless it won a book prize of some kind, when demand would rise. 


Commercial fiction is basically popular fiction, often in genres such as crime, romance, thriller, which can almost be relied on to sell, often in large numbers. This doesn't mean it isn't well written, but it appeals to a mass-market in a way literary fiction doesn't.
In my response to her comment, I asked if there were subcategories of the genre “historical fiction.” Here is her reply:

Historical fiction is a very broad category, which can be subdivided into different types. There are historical mysteries (Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael novels spring to mind here or Lindsey Davis' Falco novels set in Imperial Rome) historical romances, such as Georgette Heyer's Regency novels (much loved by DH and me) or serious “literary” historical novels such as I, Claudius by the poet Robert Graves. I'm guessing there are probably historical thrillers too, but I can't call any to mind at the moment.


To my question about the state of publishing today, Kathy commented, as Perpetua did, from her own experience:
I understand your frustration, Dee! My agent has been schlepping Therapy Cats around to publishers for months now. A few have said "No" and more are just sitting there letting it grow roots on their desks. My agent said something about it was a shame that I hadn't published a completely new book in more than ten years so I would have a more recent, dynamic presence online. So frustrating!


So I finally decided to write some e-books inspired by my blog and see how that went—which is why I haven't been blogging for a month. In that time, I wrote Making Peace With Your Adult Children and Aging and Other Surprises. The latter makes heavy use of past blog posts and is a semi-memoir. I decided, just as a beginning, to get them converted to e-pub and professional covers done at Vook, which my agent recommended. Both are now on Amazon and other outlets as e-books and will soon be available as print on demand titles. 


I got a call from PBS Next Avenue, an online Baby Boomers magazine, the other day and the writer said she had seen my Making Peace With Your Adult Children book on Amazon and wanted to interview me for an article that will feature a link to the book and my blog post. So I'm optimistic.
This has cut down on some of my frustration in waiting for someone to buy my Therapy Cats book. There is no longer a stigma attached to self-publishing/indy publishing and my agent was very much in favor of it. (It also keeps me out of his hair!) Have you thought of trying this with either of your book ideas, Dee? Some "indy" books have been picked up by traditional publishers later on.
I certainly don't have all the answers these days in the rapidly changing world of publishing, but I'm more hopeful now. Maybe this approach is something to consider. There are ways to do it without it costing a lot. Because I chose to have Vook do the ePub conversion and also design a deluxe cover, my books cost $600 to get up and running, but sales are starting to come in. But you can do a Kindle Direct book with a Smashwords or other print on demand book for very little upfront.
Dear Perpetua and Kathy, you’ve enlightened my understanding of publishing and offered me options. Thank you. Peace.

NOTE: I won’t be posting again until I have more news about my search for an agent.

    

19 comments:

  1. Glad to help, Dee. All those years of being a librarian have paid off. :-) I have everything crossed to wish you luck in your search for an agent.

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    1. Dear Perpetua, thanks for the crossing! I continue to be hopeful. When--note that "When"!---I get my novel published I think I'll discover whether it's literary---which I strongly doubt--or commercial. The truth is I'd like to have more discretionary money and so I'm hoping that it will be published and sold. Peace.

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  2. Good luck, Dee--I wish there was SOME way I could help you!! (That book deserves publishing.)

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    1. Dear Fishducky, your reading of the manuscript was a great help. It's given me the confidence I needed to do this search. Peace.

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  3. I'm happy to be of help, too, Dee and thanks so much for featuring my two e-book covers here! The present state of publishing is so in flux, it's hard to make sense of it. I think that taking control and publishing on your own -- at least for some projects -- eases some of the frustration immensely!

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    1. Dear Kathy, I'm suspecting that you have found a way that's going to work for you. And in the next two months, I'll really consider following your example! Peace.

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  4. I've learned so much from reading this. Sometimes I feel there is an insurmountable amount of things for me to learn, but this is such a helpful thing for me. Thanks to you and Kathy and Perpetua for sharing~

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    1. Dear Shelly, I'm still learning also as you know. With the publishing world in such a state of flux, I think we are all learning and will continue to do so as it shifts and turns and spirals into something new. Peace.

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  5. I had seen these comments - but they deserve a wider audience. Good luck with your journey. Will be thinking of you - often.

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    1. Dear EC, thanks so much for your continued and continual support. I count on it. Peace.

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  6. I'm hoping that this information will be helpful to you, Dee. I wonder how anybody can figure out what direction to go in the publishing world today. I wish you all kinds of luck! And peace, as you always wish for me. :-)

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    1. Dear DJan, the information provided by Perpetua and Kathy really is already helping me as I am developing more surety about what it is that I have to offer an agent. Peace again to you, ever and always.

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  7. The commercial and literary fiction answer was what I suspected. I wish I could conjure up the perfect agent for you with my magic wand.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. Dear Janie, yes, I think you knew just exactly what the differences are. Swish that magic wand a few times for me this week and who knows what could happen!!!! Peace.

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  8. What a great post, Dee -- and great helpful information from Kathy and Perpetua! Good luck -- and I'm looking forward to reading your work -- as soon as possible! I do hope you won't be away from us for too long -- we will all miss you...

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    1. Dear Broad, yes, the information has been/is so helpful. I'll be posting on my on-line memoir this coming Thursday and the first Thursday in November. Then I'll be away until right before or after Thanksgiving. I'll miss reading about your brother--Bill I think--and your family. Also your grandson. You have a way of sharing your life that draws me right in. Peace.

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  9. All the best with the search for an agent. The Reluctant Spy needs to get published, one way or another.

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    1. Dear Inger, thank you for your support. We'll see where all this goes. For the next two months, I'll continue the agent search and then go from there. Peace.

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  10. Awesome. Let me add with the advent of the self-published ebook we are seeing an explosion of genres--things that have never existed before like alternate histories, historical fantasies, and a whole bunch of genre mash ups.

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