| selling that book will go through the usual issues - making it through the slush pile, etc., etc., but there's one more hurdle as well. Editors at the major firms these days are being squeezed mightily by budgets and are therefore sticking close to home; that means little innovation, little experimentation, emphasis on authors or series that are known sellers.
This makes the breakthrough to a sale that much more difficult these days.
I did a lot of writing on paintball over the years; several hundreds of articles, the two books a fair number of people have seen and two books that probably will never get to market.
When I left paintball, I made a conscious decision to drop the non-fiction stuff and get back to writing fiction - SF in particular.
However, I'm not one to play by the rules if there's a better/faster/cheaper way to get by. (I'm also fortunate in having been a fan who was fairly well known in the 70s and 80s and therefore still have/had a lot of contacts in the industry.) I've called in those contacts. I've already been able to make a pitch (for an anthology) to the head editor at one of the major publishing firms, and will be renewing acquaintances with other publishing firm people who were 'just' fans years ago and are now heading up major lines.
I also started doing reviews again, for free, as a way to get the name out there. And, posting regularly on SF oriented forums. That got me a contact and a request for a review from Gary Wolf (Roger Rabbit creator) which I'm writing right now. And THAT contact put me in touch with 'the world's greatest editor', who has now seen my first completed story (novella, about 10k words) and has said 'yes, its saleable and keep going'.
He even suggested that it ought to be nominated for a Prometheus Award (for libertarian SF), which was nice but not practical.
Now that I've remembered that stories must have a beginning, middle and end (although not necessarily in that order), and I know that I'm not just playing with myself, my plan is the following: write shorter pieces WHILE I am working on the novel(s). Its good practice, it lets you FINISH something and you can get them out on the market more quickly. I'm polishing the short and will be sending it out in a week or so.
The novel's subject was chosen because I like the premise AND because I believe it is the kind of thing the market will be looking for when its finished.
Three other things before I go:
1. typical advances for sf & fantasy these days is 5,000. initial print runs are small too; you can't expect a royalty of more than about 8 percent; the publishers are looking for doorstops (no one is exactly sure why, lots of proposed theories)
2. don't put your stuff out there for wide distribution on the net, unless you are prepared to loose a sale because 'its already been published'. Send copies to friends or folks who ask to read it - but don't stick it on a 'my new novel' website or some such. Again, unless you want to go that route.
3. please stick to it and don't take the easy "some people said its good, it takes too long to sell so I'll publish it myself". There's a lot to be said for self-publishing - most of it bad. The main thing you miss is going through the process and learning to really hone your craft. If you do have talent, the harder road will ultimately be more rewarding. |