Two years ago a big name author refused to read one of my own books for a possible quote. This isn't unusual, and I didn't personally make the request, but the circumstances involved made it such an unpleasant experience that it put me off getting quotes ever since.
A week after that smackdown, an editor asked me to read an ARC of a first book in a debut series for a possible quote. Perfect opportunity for revenge! All I had to do was surrender to the dark side and say Sorry, but I'm too busy with my bestselling career to take time out to blurb your rookie in a polite fashion.
Only I couldn't, because I really liked the editor, and I wasn't too busy, and my good angel, the sadistic bitch, advised me that it would be the wrong thing to do.
I (very reluctantly) agreed to read it, and the editor immediately sent me the ARC. I took it out of the mailbox and stomped all the way back to the house with it. I let it sit on my desk for a full day. I glared at it. My bad angel wanted it to suck. My bad angel assured me that it would likely be the biggest pile of trash I'd ever read. I even started mentally rehearsing polite ways of saying to the editor "Sorry, but your rookie can't write her way out of a trick-or-treat bag."
I finally read the first page, just to see how much it was going to suck, and lost myself in it. After I devoured the book, I wrote a quote for the author that will probably end up being the best blurb I will ever write. Everyone thought I was crazy for doing that for a complete stranger, but I didn't care. This book was that special.
Several months later the rest of the reading world discovered how great the book was. My good angel started crowing, "I told you so!" and hasn't shut up since.
I still don't know who was first to endorse J.R. Ward's Dark Lover, me or Nicole Jordan, but we both did it long before the Black Dagger Brotherhood series skyrocketed into the enormous success it is today. Having our names and quotes on one of the hottest-selling novels in paranormal romance doesn't hurt, either, but we didn't do it for that reason. Which counts? Pretty much forever.
To celebrate the two-year anniversary of my first reading J.R. Ward's terrific debut, I've put together a big I Told You So box of great paranormal romance and dark fantasy reads: unsigned copies of Hunting Midnight by Emma Holly, The Blood Books Volume One (Blood Price and Blood Trail) by Tanya Huff, Night Echoes by Holly Lisle, A Taste of Crimson by Marjorie M. Liu, Nightlife by Rob Thurman, Hunters: Heart and Soul by Shiloh Walker, and Dark Lover by J.R. Ward, along with a signed copy of my novel Night Lost and some other surprises.
For a chance to win this week's goodies, in comments to this post, write a quote for your favorite author or novel (or, if you're quote-blocked, just throw your name into the hat) by midnight EST on Friday, June 8, 2007. I'll draw one name at random from everyone who participates and send the winner the entire I Told You So box of books. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.
Showing posts with label Dark Lover. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dark Lover. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Saturday, July 29, 2006
VW#4
Sorry I've been scarce, folks. Real life snarled this time instead of the usual techno tangles, but all is well and back to what passes for normal around here.
The winner for the VB Party Left Behind Goody Bag is Monica, who should e-mail me at LynnViehl@aol.com with your full name and ship-to address.
Virtual Workshop #4:
Extending Your Writing Range
I. The Call of Writing
Anyone can be a writer, but the journey to becoming a writer is different for everyone. Some writers seem to be born with a pen in hand, while others find writing like an oasis after years of searching for a creative outlet. Many writers are the children of other writers, either born to them or devoted fans inspired by their work. Avid readers make the leap from loving books to wanting to create their own. Still others fall into writing as the result of a happy accident: a school assignment that flips an inner switch, or joining NaNoWriMo on a lark, or throwing some ideas and words together on a boring, rainy afternoon.
How you became a writer doesn't matter, and neither does what you write. All writers who are born or made or accidentally fall into the gig all share the same calling: storytelling through words.
II. Story as Mind Cuisine
Because my parents are from the northern U.S. and moved to the extreme southern U.S. when I was very young, I was raised on a hodge-podge of Northern and Southern cuisine: New England boiled dinner with hushpuppies and Key lime pie; pancakes with maple syrup, grits and grapefruit we picked from the tree in the yard. Hanging out with Latina friends from school I picked up a love for Cuban coffee, black beans and rice and mariquitas. My chef stepdad taught me to set aside my mother's Crisco, Ragu and seasoned salt and experiment with olive oil, plum tomatoes and fresh herbs. My military years added French, German, Japanese, Korean, English, Thai and dormitory food (anything that can be made in one pan on a hot plate) to my repetoire.
Writing novels allows us to explore the cuisine of the mind. Most writers start out with a favorite, comfort genre that feeds their imagination. They come to know that genre so well they don't even have to think about measuring the ingredients. This comfort can make every other genre seem a bit foreign in comparison. Combined with a (to me) very weird attitude around the industry that writers can only write in one genre, it often works to inhibit writers from striking out and trying new things.
I was fortunate in my writing education. When I began to devour books as a kid, I didn't know what genre was. I went to the library, started at the "A" author shelf in fiction and began picking up books. I checked out the ones that grabbed me, read them, and went back for more every week until I hit the end of the "Z" section. Reading other authors' books was my only writing education, but it was a great one. Wide-variety reading broadened my horizons and helped me to see the structure of novels versus the genre label they were slapped with.
Any writer who wants to extend their writing range should not be inhibited by the comfort genre or the opinions of limited imaginations. You don't have to give up writing in your favorite genre, either. Just because you try making stirfry now and then doesn't mean you have to stop making spaghetti and meatballs.
III. Novel Recipe
All fiction novels begin with the same two ingredients: characters and conflict. Every book you read has characters who encounter conflict and an account of how they handle it. The who, what, where, when and how determine genre, but a novel about a private investigator hired to solve a series of murders is no different than a book about a cowboy who must chase after his runaway pregnant bride. You put characters with conflict, and it leads to an end result, or
Character + Conflict = Conclusion
Alone, each ingredient does nothing. Characters need something to do. Conflict needs someone to resolve it. Throwing them together in the novel skillet and turning up the story heat makes them change each other; the character is affected by the conflict, the conflict is affected by the character. Neither come out of that skillet unchanged by the other.
IV. Inhibitors
As a young writer I completely stayed away from writing stories and novels with male protagonists. My reason? I thought boys were dumb.
Once I got through puberty, I still shied away from male protags, until I saw many female authors had written books with male protagonists. I attacked my inhibition by reading novels written by male authors in order to compare the differences in my writing style and theirs.
Call it getting in touch with my masculine side, but once I had done enough of that I began to catch myself "being female" when I was writing in a male POV. Eventually I got up the nerve to write a couple of novels with male protagonists. It was definitely different, but not quite as scary as I'd imagined. I just had to think differently; step outside myself and tell the story from the character's POV instead of my own.
A common trap writers fall into is the need to make their protagonists mirror images of themselves. There is a certain vicarious thrill involved in the author making the protag a fictional identical twin. The author doesn't have to imagine what the protag will do, they already know. They don't have to write outside their personal comfort zones, either. Problem is, the author ends up with cookie-cutter protagonists.
I combat this by seeing myself as the protagonist's biographer versus their RL twin. Whenever possible, I deliberately create characters who are very different from me physically, mentally and situationally; the more so the better. It allows me to observe and record rather than steer and impose my will on a protag who is just me in a fictional mask.
V. Practical exercises
Here are some methods that may help extend your range:
1. Try writing a scene or chapter from your WIP from the POV of a character in the story other than your protagonist (I did this by writing Illumination, which is the story of StarDoc totally from Duncan Reever's POV.)
2. Set your usual story in a different place, time or circumstance. Fond of writing cowboy/runaway bride romances? Set one on an alien world 500 years in the future. Have a penchant for private investigators? Have yours investigate a soldier being court martialed for sedition during the American Revolution. Into family sagas? Make the family slaves, and chronicle what happens to them during the collapse of the Roman Empire.
3. Test drive different types of protagonists. Try writing a story from the POV of a victim, or the antagonist, or a young child, or the family pet. If all your protagonists are of one gender, switch to the opposite gender. Give your protagonist a significant handicap that deprives them of one of the five senses. Write a protagonist whose situation, philosophies or lifestyle are completely opposite your own.
4. Take a classic fiction story or myth and write it in a modern setting. Romeo and Juliet, Pride and Prejudice and Taming of the Shrew have all been updated into modern stories; how about your version of Pygmalion, Beowulf, Les Miserables or Snow White?
5. Pick a famous figure from history and write a story about one day in their life. The day can be an ordinary day, their birthday, their wedding day, or the day before they die.
VI. No Limits
Whatever attitude our peers and the industry have, the first person to impose restrictions on a writer is the internal fraidycat. We decide at the keyboard what we feel we can or cannot do, and we're always our own worst censors. So the next time you approach a story idea and something inside you says You can't write that, tell something to shut up and write it anyway. You may be surprised to find out that there really are no limits to what you can do on the page.
Post your thoughts, comments and questions about writing range in comments to this post by midnight EST on Monday, July 31, 2006, and you'll have a chance at winning the final Mega Left Behind Goody Bag: signed copies of my S.L. Viehl hardcover novel Blade Dancer and all three of my Lynn Viehl Darkyn novels in paperback, an unsigned hardcover copy of Talyn by Holly Lisle and paperback copies of Love's Potion by Monica Jackson, Moon Called by Patricia Briggs, Tiger Eye, Shadow Touch and Red Heart of Jade by Marjorie M. Liu, Threads of Malice by Tamara Siler Jones, The Attraction by Douglas Clegg, I See You and Last Girl Dancing by Holly Lisle, Dark Lover and Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward, Hunting the Hunter by Shiloh Walker, as well as a hardcover copy of The Writer's Book of Matches and Flow Chart Maker Software (good for outlining, mind mapping and organizing), all packed in a red and beige canvas tote from Books-A-Million. I'll draw one name from everyone who participates and send you the goodies; giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.
Related Links:
Peder Hill's The Basic Three Act Structure
The Elements of Fiction.
The winner for the VB Party Left Behind Goody Bag is Monica, who should e-mail me at LynnViehl@aol.com with your full name and ship-to address.
Virtual Workshop #4:
Extending Your Writing Range
I. The Call of Writing
Anyone can be a writer, but the journey to becoming a writer is different for everyone. Some writers seem to be born with a pen in hand, while others find writing like an oasis after years of searching for a creative outlet. Many writers are the children of other writers, either born to them or devoted fans inspired by their work. Avid readers make the leap from loving books to wanting to create their own. Still others fall into writing as the result of a happy accident: a school assignment that flips an inner switch, or joining NaNoWriMo on a lark, or throwing some ideas and words together on a boring, rainy afternoon.
How you became a writer doesn't matter, and neither does what you write. All writers who are born or made or accidentally fall into the gig all share the same calling: storytelling through words.
II. Story as Mind Cuisine
Because my parents are from the northern U.S. and moved to the extreme southern U.S. when I was very young, I was raised on a hodge-podge of Northern and Southern cuisine: New England boiled dinner with hushpuppies and Key lime pie; pancakes with maple syrup, grits and grapefruit we picked from the tree in the yard. Hanging out with Latina friends from school I picked up a love for Cuban coffee, black beans and rice and mariquitas. My chef stepdad taught me to set aside my mother's Crisco, Ragu and seasoned salt and experiment with olive oil, plum tomatoes and fresh herbs. My military years added French, German, Japanese, Korean, English, Thai and dormitory food (anything that can be made in one pan on a hot plate) to my repetoire.
Writing novels allows us to explore the cuisine of the mind. Most writers start out with a favorite, comfort genre that feeds their imagination. They come to know that genre so well they don't even have to think about measuring the ingredients. This comfort can make every other genre seem a bit foreign in comparison. Combined with a (to me) very weird attitude around the industry that writers can only write in one genre, it often works to inhibit writers from striking out and trying new things.
I was fortunate in my writing education. When I began to devour books as a kid, I didn't know what genre was. I went to the library, started at the "A" author shelf in fiction and began picking up books. I checked out the ones that grabbed me, read them, and went back for more every week until I hit the end of the "Z" section. Reading other authors' books was my only writing education, but it was a great one. Wide-variety reading broadened my horizons and helped me to see the structure of novels versus the genre label they were slapped with.
Any writer who wants to extend their writing range should not be inhibited by the comfort genre or the opinions of limited imaginations. You don't have to give up writing in your favorite genre, either. Just because you try making stirfry now and then doesn't mean you have to stop making spaghetti and meatballs.
III. Novel Recipe
All fiction novels begin with the same two ingredients: characters and conflict. Every book you read has characters who encounter conflict and an account of how they handle it. The who, what, where, when and how determine genre, but a novel about a private investigator hired to solve a series of murders is no different than a book about a cowboy who must chase after his runaway pregnant bride. You put characters with conflict, and it leads to an end result, or
Character + Conflict = Conclusion
Alone, each ingredient does nothing. Characters need something to do. Conflict needs someone to resolve it. Throwing them together in the novel skillet and turning up the story heat makes them change each other; the character is affected by the conflict, the conflict is affected by the character. Neither come out of that skillet unchanged by the other.
IV. Inhibitors
As a young writer I completely stayed away from writing stories and novels with male protagonists. My reason? I thought boys were dumb.
Once I got through puberty, I still shied away from male protags, until I saw many female authors had written books with male protagonists. I attacked my inhibition by reading novels written by male authors in order to compare the differences in my writing style and theirs.
Call it getting in touch with my masculine side, but once I had done enough of that I began to catch myself "being female" when I was writing in a male POV. Eventually I got up the nerve to write a couple of novels with male protagonists. It was definitely different, but not quite as scary as I'd imagined. I just had to think differently; step outside myself and tell the story from the character's POV instead of my own.
A common trap writers fall into is the need to make their protagonists mirror images of themselves. There is a certain vicarious thrill involved in the author making the protag a fictional identical twin. The author doesn't have to imagine what the protag will do, they already know. They don't have to write outside their personal comfort zones, either. Problem is, the author ends up with cookie-cutter protagonists.
I combat this by seeing myself as the protagonist's biographer versus their RL twin. Whenever possible, I deliberately create characters who are very different from me physically, mentally and situationally; the more so the better. It allows me to observe and record rather than steer and impose my will on a protag who is just me in a fictional mask.
V. Practical exercises
Here are some methods that may help extend your range:
1. Try writing a scene or chapter from your WIP from the POV of a character in the story other than your protagonist (I did this by writing Illumination, which is the story of StarDoc totally from Duncan Reever's POV.)
2. Set your usual story in a different place, time or circumstance. Fond of writing cowboy/runaway bride romances? Set one on an alien world 500 years in the future. Have a penchant for private investigators? Have yours investigate a soldier being court martialed for sedition during the American Revolution. Into family sagas? Make the family slaves, and chronicle what happens to them during the collapse of the Roman Empire.
3. Test drive different types of protagonists. Try writing a story from the POV of a victim, or the antagonist, or a young child, or the family pet. If all your protagonists are of one gender, switch to the opposite gender. Give your protagonist a significant handicap that deprives them of one of the five senses. Write a protagonist whose situation, philosophies or lifestyle are completely opposite your own.
4. Take a classic fiction story or myth and write it in a modern setting. Romeo and Juliet, Pride and Prejudice and Taming of the Shrew have all been updated into modern stories; how about your version of Pygmalion, Beowulf, Les Miserables or Snow White?
5. Pick a famous figure from history and write a story about one day in their life. The day can be an ordinary day, their birthday, their wedding day, or the day before they die.
VI. No Limits
Whatever attitude our peers and the industry have, the first person to impose restrictions on a writer is the internal fraidycat. We decide at the keyboard what we feel we can or cannot do, and we're always our own worst censors. So the next time you approach a story idea and something inside you says You can't write that, tell something to shut up and write it anyway. You may be surprised to find out that there really are no limits to what you can do on the page.
Post your thoughts, comments and questions about writing range in comments to this post by midnight EST on Monday, July 31, 2006, and you'll have a chance at winning the final Mega Left Behind Goody Bag: signed copies of my S.L. Viehl hardcover novel Blade Dancer and all three of my Lynn Viehl Darkyn novels in paperback, an unsigned hardcover copy of Talyn by Holly Lisle and paperback copies of Love's Potion by Monica Jackson, Moon Called by Patricia Briggs, Tiger Eye, Shadow Touch and Red Heart of Jade by Marjorie M. Liu, Threads of Malice by Tamara Siler Jones, The Attraction by Douglas Clegg, I See You and Last Girl Dancing by Holly Lisle, Dark Lover and Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward, Hunting the Hunter by Shiloh Walker, as well as a hardcover copy of The Writer's Book of Matches and Flow Chart Maker Software (good for outlining, mind mapping and organizing), all packed in a red and beige canvas tote from Books-A-Million. I'll draw one name from everyone who participates and send you the goodies; giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.
Related Links:
Peder Hill's The Basic Three Act Structure
The Elements of Fiction.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
VW#2
Virtual Workshop #2:
Trend Tracking Versus Jumping
I. Trends and Options
The publishing industry, like any entertainment entity, runs on consumer demand. What the readers buy, the publishers want. When a certain genre or sub-genre is in high demand for a significant period of time, we call this a trend. However we writers feel about trends, they are a reality, and they have direct influence over what publishers will buy, and what they reject.
The most common ways writers deal with trends:
A. Ignore them. Write exactly what you want, and pay no attention to the market, and hope for the best.
B. Jump on them. Write only what is in market demand in hopes that it will give you an edge in the slushpile.
C. Track them. Continually watch what sells on the market and use that information to follow current trends, evaluate your manuscript potential and, if possible, be one of the first writers to anticipate a new trend.
A is the artist's way. I respect artists, and I think this is a lovely attitude to have. It's also the reason a lot of artists starve, so it doesn't work for me.
B is like jumping on Ye Olde Bandwagon. It's often more counter-productive than helpful, as by the time a trend really gets rolling you have a ton of writers trying to do the exact same thing.
C is what I do, and in this workshop, we're going to talk about how to do that.
II. Genre Awareness
To sell in a genre, you must be aware of what is selling in that genre. Go to the bookstore regularly and look at the shelves. Check the online booksellers' BSL lists. Talk about genre titles with readers and other writers and see what are the latest, most popular sellers. Read books that do very well for market analysis.
What to look for in your target genre, and author examples:
Authors who create trends (Dan Brown)
Books that explode on the market (J.R. Ward)
Novels that provoke strong reader reactions (Thomas Harris)
Successfully sustained bestselling series (Sue Grafton)
Unusual or unique voices (Jacqueline Carey)
Word of mouth or "buzzed" books (Lisa Valdez)
Educate yourself as thoroughly as you can about your genre, and you'll have the basic knowledge you need to track a trend.
III. Info Gathering
Every week helpful entities like The New York Times and USA Today tell us what consumers are snapping up. This is great for readers but not very useful to writers, because we know whatever makes the bestseller lists was actually sold a year or two ago. What sells now is what will (or won't) be hot in 2007-2008. You might as well ignore the lists, right?
No. The lists individually provide little useful info, but collectively are a free trend mapping service. A writer interested in trend tracking should read the lists every week and watch how well books in their target genre(s) are selling (this is why it's so important to know your genre, so you can recognize the applicable author names and titles that show up on the lists.)
Let's look at rankings for five writers over a one year-period on the USA Today list (books are listed in order of publication along with peak position on BSL):
Jennifer Armintrout: The Turning 93
Kelley Armstrong: Haunted 62, Dates from Hell 36, Broken 22
Patricia Briggs: Moon Called 109
Lynn Viehl: If Angels Burn 148, Private Demon 120, Dark Need 87
J.R. Ward: Dark Lover 48, Lover Eternal 39
Let me add some details: Jennifer and Patricia's novels are genre debuts. Kelley, J.R. and I all have established series that are building in popularity. Patricia and I are veteran pros in other genres. With the exception of Kelley, all of us are new to the USA Today list, so we're considered "up and coming." Patricia and Kelley are being shelved in SF/F, and the rest of us are shelved in romance. The one thing we all have in common is that we're writing series that are not the usual Kiss Me Forever Vlad type novels that have been so popular in the past.
IV. Analyzing and Applying Your Info
How well you can track a trend depends on how much effort you're willing to put into it. Reading lists, watching your genre, and making the connections does require some time, but you're educating yourself about the market. Track trends long enough and you'll find that you do automatically.
To apply what you learn, use the information you gather as a submission barometer for your written manuscripts, and as a priority guide for your new novel ideas. Do the five authors above indicate a new direction in the vampire fiction trend; perhaps a trend within the trend? Only time will tell for sure. But if you are a writer with a dark or otherwise unusual vampire fiction manuscript or idea, I'd say this would be a good time to put together a proposal and get it out there, because similar fiction is collectively rising on the lists.
One thing about information: make sure it's information and not rumors. For about a year now I've been hearing a tired old rumor about how chick-lit, a very big trend in the romance genre, is on its way out. It's becoming cluttered in the same way that romantic suspense did five years ago, and paranormal romance is doing now, but I'm not seeing it die on the lists yet, and plenty of new writers are still selling it. Publishers will probably become more conservative with the number of chick-lit titles they publish, and eventually whittle down their authors lists, but I don't think it's going belly-up any time soon.
V. Making Trends
All trends start with some author(s) who present readers with something unexpected. Anyone who decides it's better to take the A/artist option and follow the artist's path has the potential to be a trend-setter. So do writers who take the C/Tracking option, because while watching trends, you may come up with an idea for a novel that goes beyond what's being done. B/Bandwagon writers generally don't set trends, because you're imitating what's already being done, but there is always the possibility that you'll do it better than anyone else has before you. In all things trend-related, choose to do what works best for you as a writer.
Post your comments, thoughts and questions on trends by midnight EST on Thursday, July 27, 2006, and you'll have a chance at winning today's Left Behind Goody Bag: signed copies of my Jessica Hall novels Into the Fire and Heat of the Moment and unsigned copies of: Diana Peterfreund's Secret Society Girl, Emma Holly's All U Can Eat, Jamie Sobrato's The Sex Quotient, June Casagrande's Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies, and Gimbles (brackets that hold a book open for you for hands-free reading), all packed in a quilted tote bag made by Yours Truly. I'll draw one name from everyone who participates and send you the goodies; giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.
Note: Thanks to the terrific response to VW#1 I'm lagging a bit behind on answering questions being posted in comments, but I promise I will leave no question unanswered. :)
Related links:
Bob Mayer's RTB guest post Writing for the Market.
Previous PBW posts about trends are here, here and here.
*Added: Bookseller Chick shares my general attitude about the chick-lit trend. (Thanks to L. for the link.)
Trend Tracking Versus Jumping
I. Trends and Options
The publishing industry, like any entertainment entity, runs on consumer demand. What the readers buy, the publishers want. When a certain genre or sub-genre is in high demand for a significant period of time, we call this a trend. However we writers feel about trends, they are a reality, and they have direct influence over what publishers will buy, and what they reject.
The most common ways writers deal with trends:
A. Ignore them. Write exactly what you want, and pay no attention to the market, and hope for the best.
B. Jump on them. Write only what is in market demand in hopes that it will give you an edge in the slushpile.
C. Track them. Continually watch what sells on the market and use that information to follow current trends, evaluate your manuscript potential and, if possible, be one of the first writers to anticipate a new trend.
A is the artist's way. I respect artists, and I think this is a lovely attitude to have. It's also the reason a lot of artists starve, so it doesn't work for me.
B is like jumping on Ye Olde Bandwagon. It's often more counter-productive than helpful, as by the time a trend really gets rolling you have a ton of writers trying to do the exact same thing.
C is what I do, and in this workshop, we're going to talk about how to do that.
II. Genre Awareness
To sell in a genre, you must be aware of what is selling in that genre. Go to the bookstore regularly and look at the shelves. Check the online booksellers' BSL lists. Talk about genre titles with readers and other writers and see what are the latest, most popular sellers. Read books that do very well for market analysis.
What to look for in your target genre, and author examples:
Authors who create trends (Dan Brown)
Books that explode on the market (J.R. Ward)
Novels that provoke strong reader reactions (Thomas Harris)
Successfully sustained bestselling series (Sue Grafton)
Unusual or unique voices (Jacqueline Carey)
Word of mouth or "buzzed" books (Lisa Valdez)
Educate yourself as thoroughly as you can about your genre, and you'll have the basic knowledge you need to track a trend.
III. Info Gathering
Every week helpful entities like The New York Times and USA Today tell us what consumers are snapping up. This is great for readers but not very useful to writers, because we know whatever makes the bestseller lists was actually sold a year or two ago. What sells now is what will (or won't) be hot in 2007-2008. You might as well ignore the lists, right?
No. The lists individually provide little useful info, but collectively are a free trend mapping service. A writer interested in trend tracking should read the lists every week and watch how well books in their target genre(s) are selling (this is why it's so important to know your genre, so you can recognize the applicable author names and titles that show up on the lists.)
Let's look at rankings for five writers over a one year-period on the USA Today list (books are listed in order of publication along with peak position on BSL):
Jennifer Armintrout: The Turning 93
Kelley Armstrong: Haunted 62, Dates from Hell 36, Broken 22
Patricia Briggs: Moon Called 109
Lynn Viehl: If Angels Burn 148, Private Demon 120, Dark Need 87
J.R. Ward: Dark Lover 48, Lover Eternal 39
Let me add some details: Jennifer and Patricia's novels are genre debuts. Kelley, J.R. and I all have established series that are building in popularity. Patricia and I are veteran pros in other genres. With the exception of Kelley, all of us are new to the USA Today list, so we're considered "up and coming." Patricia and Kelley are being shelved in SF/F, and the rest of us are shelved in romance. The one thing we all have in common is that we're writing series that are not the usual Kiss Me Forever Vlad type novels that have been so popular in the past.
IV. Analyzing and Applying Your Info
How well you can track a trend depends on how much effort you're willing to put into it. Reading lists, watching your genre, and making the connections does require some time, but you're educating yourself about the market. Track trends long enough and you'll find that you do automatically.
To apply what you learn, use the information you gather as a submission barometer for your written manuscripts, and as a priority guide for your new novel ideas. Do the five authors above indicate a new direction in the vampire fiction trend; perhaps a trend within the trend? Only time will tell for sure. But if you are a writer with a dark or otherwise unusual vampire fiction manuscript or idea, I'd say this would be a good time to put together a proposal and get it out there, because similar fiction is collectively rising on the lists.
One thing about information: make sure it's information and not rumors. For about a year now I've been hearing a tired old rumor about how chick-lit, a very big trend in the romance genre, is on its way out. It's becoming cluttered in the same way that romantic suspense did five years ago, and paranormal romance is doing now, but I'm not seeing it die on the lists yet, and plenty of new writers are still selling it. Publishers will probably become more conservative with the number of chick-lit titles they publish, and eventually whittle down their authors lists, but I don't think it's going belly-up any time soon.
V. Making Trends
All trends start with some author(s) who present readers with something unexpected. Anyone who decides it's better to take the A/artist option and follow the artist's path has the potential to be a trend-setter. So do writers who take the C/Tracking option, because while watching trends, you may come up with an idea for a novel that goes beyond what's being done. B/Bandwagon writers generally don't set trends, because you're imitating what's already being done, but there is always the possibility that you'll do it better than anyone else has before you. In all things trend-related, choose to do what works best for you as a writer.
Post your comments, thoughts and questions on trends by midnight EST on Thursday, July 27, 2006, and you'll have a chance at winning today's Left Behind Goody Bag: signed copies of my Jessica Hall novels Into the Fire and Heat of the Moment and unsigned copies of: Diana Peterfreund's Secret Society Girl, Emma Holly's All U Can Eat, Jamie Sobrato's The Sex Quotient, June Casagrande's Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies, and Gimbles (brackets that hold a book open for you for hands-free reading), all packed in a quilted tote bag made by Yours Truly. I'll draw one name from everyone who participates and send you the goodies; giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.
Note: Thanks to the terrific response to VW#1 I'm lagging a bit behind on answering questions being posted in comments, but I promise I will leave no question unanswered. :)
Related links:
Bob Mayer's RTB guest post Writing for the Market.
Previous PBW posts about trends are here, here and here.
*Added: Bookseller Chick shares my general attitude about the chick-lit trend. (Thanks to L. for the link.)
Friday, December 30, 2005
Moon Called
Remember way back last April when I told you that this book was going to rock the genre? Not that I want to rub it in -- well, yeah, I do -- but there's another novel soon to be released that's going to raise the bar again:
Many of you know Patricia Briggs from her fantasy novels The Hob's Bargain, When Demons Walk, Dragon Bones, and Raven's Shadow. If you've read her, you know how good she is. She's what we call a writer's writer; the kind other authors read for the sheer pleasure of seeing it done right, and who is already so good that you don't think she can really get any better.
Moon Called is not just better. It's brilliant.
With this novel Patricia Briggs kicks off the story of mechanic and skinwalker Mercedes (Mercy) Thompson. Mercy's got her share of troubles, which include changing into a coyote, a dark and disturbing Alpha werewolf neighbor, vampires with car troubles, and all manner of fascinating Otherworld creatures being forced out of hiding by modern technology. When Mercy hires a young drifter to work at her garage, she has no idea the chain of events she sets into motion -- or how quickly all hell can break loose.
I loved how smart this book is, along with the world-building, the characters, the plot, and damn near everything about it. As much as I enjoy her fantasy work, it's so cool to see Patricia write in our world (which she promptly rebuilds to suit herself, but then, don't we all?) My only complaint: I have to wait months before the next Mercy book comes out. I should bribe her editor or something.
Moon Called will be hitting the shelves on January 31st, but if you'd like a preview, you can read the first chapter here right now.
Many of you know Patricia Briggs from her fantasy novels The Hob's Bargain, When Demons Walk, Dragon Bones, and Raven's Shadow. If you've read her, you know how good she is. She's what we call a writer's writer; the kind other authors read for the sheer pleasure of seeing it done right, and who is already so good that you don't think she can really get any better.
Moon Called is not just better. It's brilliant.
With this novel Patricia Briggs kicks off the story of mechanic and skinwalker Mercedes (Mercy) Thompson. Mercy's got her share of troubles, which include changing into a coyote, a dark and disturbing Alpha werewolf neighbor, vampires with car troubles, and all manner of fascinating Otherworld creatures being forced out of hiding by modern technology. When Mercy hires a young drifter to work at her garage, she has no idea the chain of events she sets into motion -- or how quickly all hell can break loose.
I loved how smart this book is, along with the world-building, the characters, the plot, and damn near everything about it. As much as I enjoy her fantasy work, it's so cool to see Patricia write in our world (which she promptly rebuilds to suit herself, but then, don't we all?) My only complaint: I have to wait months before the next Mercy book comes out. I should bribe her editor or something.
Moon Called will be hitting the shelves on January 31st, but if you'd like a preview, you can read the first chapter here right now.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Gifty
Family members are thoughtful enough to give me bookstore gift cards every year -- or they simply hate shopping for me that much -- and I've just started making up my gotta-buy list with Dean Koontz's Forever Odd and Monica Jackson's Mr. Right Now as my first two picks. I may not be able to wait three weeks for Monica's, although I know it means I have to venture into the damn Fic/Lit section at BAM to get a copy.
For gifts, I'm wrapping up a bunch of my favorite reads from 2005: The Priest of Blood by Douglas Clegg, Talyn by Holly Lisle, Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride, and Dark Lover by J.R. Ward.
What book(s) are at the top of your wish list this holiday season, and/or what book(s) are you buying as gifts for others?
For gifts, I'm wrapping up a bunch of my favorite reads from 2005: The Priest of Blood by Douglas Clegg, Talyn by Holly Lisle, Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride, and Dark Lover by J.R. Ward.
What book(s) are at the top of your wish list this holiday season, and/or what book(s) are you buying as gifts for others?
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Coveted
Author J.K. Rowling made the list of 25 people AOL & Fortune say we envy most, an article that touts personal income, sex appeal, business credentials and (strangely enough) hair as reasons of superiority.
And you guys have been snickering over my hair angst all these years. I knew hair counted.
I can't covet J.K.'s fairytale career, or the bank account in which she deposits six times as much money as The Queen. I love her story too much. Single mom, writes a great book, can't afford to make a copy of her manuscript so she retypes it, hello billions. She's the writer version of Cinderella. What's not to love?
J.K.'s hair? Eh. I've seen better.
Other writers go green over mega-popular authors who have fifteen hundred readers show up for their booksignings. I don't get that one. Fifteen hundred people show up looking for me, I'm out the back door and heading for Mexico. Then again, I get a facial twitch when I'm shopping and the Sunday toilet paper sale crowd floods K-Mart. There's also the physically daunting task of having to sign fifteen hundred books, which Mr. MacBride has already assured us is not a meander through the tulips.
Three things other authors have that I do covet --
1. More books than I have. I'm betting author Mark Kurlansky's personal library would be like Aladdin's Cave for me. If it is as good as my daydreams and his research, lock me in and leave me there for a few decades. I'll dust while I read.
2. Holly Lisle's talent. It makes you seriously consider burning everything you've ever written and moving your career into shoe sales. Greatly envied: Kait and Galweigh House from Diplomacy of Wolves. I will never get over this book, I guess.
There's also Holly Lisle's Talyn, which has the #1 spot on my keeper shelf. I'm not the only one who fell in love with this novel; go read what Holly's editor thinks of it. For my part, if my house was burning down, and I could only grab one book and take it out of here, it would be Talyn.
2a. Okay, I covet her hair, too. Holly has great hair.
3. J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood from Dark Lover. Don't make me pick, just give me all of them. They can help me dust Mark's books.
I believe in spreading the envy, so in comments to this post, name three things that you covet by midnight EST on Wednesday, 10/12/05. I'll draw five names at random from everyone who participates, and send the five winners a copy of Talyn. I've also talked the author into signing the books for the winners, whose names will be posted here before noon EST 10/13/05. Giveaway open to everyone on the planet (that includes everyone who has won something before now.)
And you guys have been snickering over my hair angst all these years. I knew hair counted.
I can't covet J.K.'s fairytale career, or the bank account in which she deposits six times as much money as The Queen. I love her story too much. Single mom, writes a great book, can't afford to make a copy of her manuscript so she retypes it, hello billions. She's the writer version of Cinderella. What's not to love?
J.K.'s hair? Eh. I've seen better.
Other writers go green over mega-popular authors who have fifteen hundred readers show up for their booksignings. I don't get that one. Fifteen hundred people show up looking for me, I'm out the back door and heading for Mexico. Then again, I get a facial twitch when I'm shopping and the Sunday toilet paper sale crowd floods K-Mart. There's also the physically daunting task of having to sign fifteen hundred books, which Mr. MacBride has already assured us is not a meander through the tulips.
Three things other authors have that I do covet --
1. More books than I have. I'm betting author Mark Kurlansky's personal library would be like Aladdin's Cave for me. If it is as good as my daydreams and his research, lock me in and leave me there for a few decades. I'll dust while I read.
2. Holly Lisle's talent. It makes you seriously consider burning everything you've ever written and moving your career into shoe sales. Greatly envied: Kait and Galweigh House from Diplomacy of Wolves. I will never get over this book, I guess.
There's also Holly Lisle's Talyn, which has the #1 spot on my keeper shelf. I'm not the only one who fell in love with this novel; go read what Holly's editor thinks of it. For my part, if my house was burning down, and I could only grab one book and take it out of here, it would be Talyn.
2a. Okay, I covet her hair, too. Holly has great hair.
3. J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood from Dark Lover. Don't make me pick, just give me all of them. They can help me dust Mark's books.
I believe in spreading the envy, so in comments to this post, name three things that you covet by midnight EST on Wednesday, 10/12/05. I'll draw five names at random from everyone who participates, and send the five winners a copy of Talyn. I've also talked the author into signing the books for the winners, whose names will be posted here before noon EST 10/13/05. Giveaway open to everyone on the planet (that includes everyone who has won something before now.)
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Zoom2
The other way cool news I was dropping hints about: Dark Lover by J.R. Ward just made #33 on the NY Times bestseller list.
You do realize I'm going to gloat about this forever, right?
You do realize I'm going to gloat about this forever, right?
Friday, September 23, 2005
Zoom
Some of you might recall how rocked I was back in June by Dark Lover, the debut dark fantasy novel by J.R. Ward. Okay, I gushed, but I was seriously knocked on my butt by this book, and expected everyone else to be.
So you'll never guess who's been on the USAT BSL for three weeks, and is currently at #48?
P.S. There's more cool news about Dark Lover too, but I've got to check with the author first and see if I can spill the beans.
So you'll never guess who's been on the USAT BSL for three weeks, and is currently at #48?
P.S. There's more cool news about Dark Lover too, but I've got to check with the author first and see if I can spill the beans.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Dark Lover
Here at PBW, I don't have a committee of literary experts to tell me what to read. With good friends to recommend books, writer weblogs to check out the talent, and the terrific variety of genre fiction in general, why would I need one?
Furthermore, I don't mind talking about what I'm reading, but why should I tell you people what to read? You've got friends, weblogs, bookstores, and brains, don't you?
That was the status quo, until an editor sent me this book, which I had three weeks to read and consider for a quote. I've only done this a couple of times, and I usually end up regretting it, but I would walk barefoot over broken glass for this particular editor, so I said I'd take a look.
The day the book arrived I read one page. I admit, to see how bad it was. Then I read another page, and another, and then the chapter, because it wasn't bad, it was great. Another chapter, and I realized it was better than great, it was kick-ass. Somewhere around chapter three the world went away and I forgot to make dinner and the house could have burned down and it wouldn't have mattered, because by then the Black Dagger Brotherhood owned me, and I wasn't putting the book aside for anything.
The hell with quotes and blurbs; some books are just too damn good to keep to yourself. That's why I'm backing this book, Dark Lover, a novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, by J.R. Ward.
The basic premise: Wrath is the last purebred vampire on the planet. Caught up in a turf war with inhuman slayers bent on exterminating his kind, he fights alongside his warrior brothers, the Black Dagger Brotherhood, as the last defenders of their race. When one of his most trusted fighters is killed, Wrath discovers the dead man left behind an unprotected, half-human daughter who is unaware of her heritage. Wrath has no choice but to go after Beth Randall and bring her into the world of the undead -- by any means necessary.
I've been trying to think of how to describe Dark Lover. It's going to be called a lot of things. Dark erotica, you bet. Vampire/paranormal romance, absolutely. But J.R. Ward is not like anyone else who's already out there writing it. She's got her own unique voice, and it's so clear and strong that it grabs a reader right away. You can't slap a label on someone who writes like this.
There were so many things about the book that impressed me from the writer's perspective, too: the tone; close attention to detail; flawless pacing; the clean, uncluttered writing; plus the drama, the fun, the scary parts, and the terrific romance. What I loved most was the style of this book. You can't fake style; you've either got it or you don't.
Dark Lover is J.R. Ward's debut novel for Signet Eclipse, and will be coming to bookstores nationwide in early September; ISBN#0-451-21695-4; you can pre-order it from Amazon.com here.
Furthermore, I don't mind talking about what I'm reading, but why should I tell you people what to read? You've got friends, weblogs, bookstores, and brains, don't you?
That was the status quo, until an editor sent me this book, which I had three weeks to read and consider for a quote. I've only done this a couple of times, and I usually end up regretting it, but I would walk barefoot over broken glass for this particular editor, so I said I'd take a look.
The day the book arrived I read one page. I admit, to see how bad it was. Then I read another page, and another, and then the chapter, because it wasn't bad, it was great. Another chapter, and I realized it was better than great, it was kick-ass. Somewhere around chapter three the world went away and I forgot to make dinner and the house could have burned down and it wouldn't have mattered, because by then the Black Dagger Brotherhood owned me, and I wasn't putting the book aside for anything.
The hell with quotes and blurbs; some books are just too damn good to keep to yourself. That's why I'm backing this book, Dark Lover, a novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, by J.R. Ward.
The basic premise: Wrath is the last purebred vampire on the planet. Caught up in a turf war with inhuman slayers bent on exterminating his kind, he fights alongside his warrior brothers, the Black Dagger Brotherhood, as the last defenders of their race. When one of his most trusted fighters is killed, Wrath discovers the dead man left behind an unprotected, half-human daughter who is unaware of her heritage. Wrath has no choice but to go after Beth Randall and bring her into the world of the undead -- by any means necessary.
I've been trying to think of how to describe Dark Lover. It's going to be called a lot of things. Dark erotica, you bet. Vampire/paranormal romance, absolutely. But J.R. Ward is not like anyone else who's already out there writing it. She's got her own unique voice, and it's so clear and strong that it grabs a reader right away. You can't slap a label on someone who writes like this.
There were so many things about the book that impressed me from the writer's perspective, too: the tone; close attention to detail; flawless pacing; the clean, uncluttered writing; plus the drama, the fun, the scary parts, and the terrific romance. What I loved most was the style of this book. You can't fake style; you've either got it or you don't.
Dark Lover is J.R. Ward's debut novel for Signet Eclipse, and will be coming to bookstores nationwide in early September; ISBN#0-451-21695-4; you can pre-order it from Amazon.com here.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
All About You
Someone once gave us a personalized book for our son's birthday. This type of personalized book is the sort that "stars your child" and has their name and certain details about them incorporated directly into the story.
It looked cute and all, but as I read it and came across the "special details" our friend had submitted to the publisher to put in the story, it kind of creeped me out. The text went something like this:
"Hi, Michael," said Peppy the Clown. "Welcome to Happy Land, where you and your dog, Missy, can play soccer with Katherine and all the Happiness elves on Shalimar Drive. Only be careful! There's a witch who likes blond boys with green eyes and Power Rangers toys, and she might try to lure you away from Mom and Dad."
Is it me, or does that sound like a ransom note?
Anyway, we never got into the whole personalized kid thing, and neither did our kids, and our friends moved on to other things, so I forgot about it. Until tonight, when I did a search for a place that sells personally monogrammed journals (other than the people who want all my money and just might get it), and accidentally discovered that personalized books have grown up.
1. Basic starter: For $29.95, you can buy The Personalized Romance Novel.
2. Basic starter with hot title, also $29.95: A Love So Bold
3. For $34.95 you can commission Romeo and Juliet the happy ending version as well as customize the cover to show you and your suicidal lover (and do you think Brad and Helen is a sequel to Brad and Jen?)
4. Finally, for $44.99, the Deluxe model -- TorridRomance.com offers five different types of personalized romance novel, from strangers meeting in Paris to strangers meeting at a medieval castle. Strange being the keyword here, I think.
I can just imagine how the story goes, too:
"Halo, Paperback Writer," said Philippe the French gardener. "Welcome to Paris, where you and your cat, Jericho, can exchange lingering looks with moi and Russell Crowe and all the sexy Frenchmen who come to sit on your heart-shaped bed. Only be careful! There's a dark and handsome vineyard owner who likes chubby brunette sirens with myopic eyes and none of your damn business toys, and he might try to lure you away from your one true love, writing."
It looked cute and all, but as I read it and came across the "special details" our friend had submitted to the publisher to put in the story, it kind of creeped me out. The text went something like this:
"Hi, Michael," said Peppy the Clown. "Welcome to Happy Land, where you and your dog, Missy, can play soccer with Katherine and all the Happiness elves on Shalimar Drive. Only be careful! There's a witch who likes blond boys with green eyes and Power Rangers toys, and she might try to lure you away from Mom and Dad."
Is it me, or does that sound like a ransom note?
Anyway, we never got into the whole personalized kid thing, and neither did our kids, and our friends moved on to other things, so I forgot about it. Until tonight, when I did a search for a place that sells personally monogrammed journals (other than the people who want all my money and just might get it), and accidentally discovered that personalized books have grown up.
1. Basic starter: For $29.95, you can buy The Personalized Romance Novel.
2. Basic starter with hot title, also $29.95: A Love So Bold
3. For $34.95 you can commission Romeo and Juliet the happy ending version as well as customize the cover to show you and your suicidal lover (and do you think Brad and Helen is a sequel to Brad and Jen?)
4. Finally, for $44.99, the Deluxe model -- TorridRomance.com offers five different types of personalized romance novel, from strangers meeting in Paris to strangers meeting at a medieval castle. Strange being the keyword here, I think.
I can just imagine how the story goes, too:
"Halo, Paperback Writer," said Philippe the French gardener. "Welcome to Paris, where you and your cat, Jericho, can exchange lingering looks with moi and Russell Crowe and all the sexy Frenchmen who come to sit on your heart-shaped bed. Only be careful! There's a dark and handsome vineyard owner who likes chubby brunette sirens with myopic eyes and none of your damn business toys, and he might try to lure you away from your one true love, writing."
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