What did I learn from being put on blog blast? A lot, actually about this business and how personaities mesh. But, that's my cheese. What's improtant for other authors trying to break into Blaze are a few key points I am too chicken to post on eHQ. I'm going to keep it light and non-educational over there for a bit.
- My point, which was lost, was that when targeting Blaze and missing the target, they encourage you to read the line to get a better feel for where things are going. Great idea. Except when a book puzzles you...would this book have been bought from a new author who has to sell on syno or at best first chapter or if they dare a partial? What about the style of a book that breaks all the was/would/just/that writing rules?
- Editors don't care about writing rules - which it turns out aren't the set in stone laws I'd been led to believe they were - as long as a manuscript is readable. They're interested in story, not the activeness of voice.
- Blaze is sold by author, not by line. The books on romance writing are either outdated (probably since it takes a couple years from inception to print) or Blaze is an exception to the rule that category romance is sold by its series. So, that's why established authors get more leeway, which to me is a bye on the rules. But to others, a bye is sipping a mojito and eyeing the cabana boy while phoning in the latest book. Gotta love semantics.
1 comment:
In the interests of factual accuracy, Jenna can I just point out -
1. that ALL romances are sold on author's name within a line. No one buys a book solely because it's anything in a line - they prefer a particular line and then they choose to buy a particular author within that line - or lines. I think that's how it's always been. Certainly in the 20+ years I've been writing it has. All authors have to build up a readership bases no matter what line they're in
2. No author ever gets a 'bye' into any publication, no matter how multi-published they are or how huge a seller. Every book is submitted to an editor and the editor decides if the book as a whole works or doesn't work and if they as editor for that line want to buy that book. Every single author I know has had some book or books that 'just don't work' and have had to scrap that book. This can happen at every single stage of their writing careers and at any publishing level. No one gets any more leeway than anyone else.
The sort of 'exceptions to this is that an author who has built up a huge following from being known for a particular unique/difficult/different style may well have a book published that a new author has been told wouldn't work. The point is that in the hands of a more experienced author many things can be made to work that newer authors would want to try but not handle well enough.
3. "What about the style of a book that breaks all the was/would/just/that writing rules? Editors don't care about writing rules "
The only rule in writing - whether romance writing or anything else - is that there are NO rules. Would-be authors might talk about them,, critiquers may make out that they exist but what an editor is looking for is a great story written in as well as possible. And so the only 'rule' is that the author writes a book in the best possible way that makes that story the best story it can be
Every single author works hard on writing the bets book they can - that is why they build up large numbers of devoted followers who buy everything they write. After 47 published books, I still expect the same critical approach from my editor as I did when I only had one published - and I get it. I expect it to be the same for my 57 th - 67th
Post a Comment