The great American novel: a thing of the past? Aspiring writers please read. by chrisisall

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The great American novel: a thing of the past? Aspiring writers please read.

POSTED BY: CHRISISALL
UPDATED: Friday, January 27, 2006 15:20
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Wednesday, January 25, 2006 7:22 AM

An "Arts, Briefly" piece from the NY times

January 4, 2006

Booker winners need not apply
Jonathan Calvert and Will Iredale

Top novels in disguise rejected by publishers

THERE is no greater award for a writer than the Nobel prize for literature. Five years ago the accolade went to VS Naipaul in recognition of his 50-year writing career.

Naipaul, born in Trinidad, also won the 1971 Booker prize (now the Man Booker) in Britain, where he has lived since 1950. It was awarded for In a Free State, his novel about displaced colonials on different continents.

Dennis Potter, the TV dramatist, praised its “lucid complexity”. He wrote: “Do not miss the exhilaration of catching one of our most accomplished writers reaching towards the full stretch of his talent.”

Surely the special qualities of such timeless prose would be recognised by today’s publishing industry? Surely a first-time novelist who matched the standard of Naipaul at his best would be snapped up?

The Sunday Times sent out the opening chapter of In a Free State to 20 agents and publishers to find out. Only the names of the author and main characters were changed.

None of the agents or publishers spotted the book’s true pedigree. And instead of experiencing Potter’s exhilaration, they all sent back polite rejections.

Typical was the reply from PFD, a major London literary agency. “Having considered your material,” wrote a submissions department reader, “we do not feel, we are sorry to say, sufficiently enthusiastic or confident about it.”

The Blake Friedmann agency also sent its apologies: “In order to take on a new author, several of us here would need to be extremely enthusiastic about both the content and writing style. I’m sorry to say we don’t feel that strongly about your work.”

Earlier we had also submitted copies of Stanley Middleton’s 1974 joint Booker winner, Holiday, to the same agents and publishers. Middleton, well- regarded in the literary world, has produced 42 books. Ronald Blythe, the author, once wrote in The Sunday Times: “We need Stanley Middleton to remind us what the novel is all about.”

But Middleton’s Booker winner also received a less-than- enthusiastic response. Bloomsbury, the London publisher, read the book “with interest” but found it unsuited to its list. Time Warner said the manuscript contained “good ideas” but it was not its sort of book. Thirteen others gave similar replies. Only one literary agent, Barbara Levy, expressed an interest in reading further chapters.

So why were two such “great” literary works overlooked? David Taylor, the novelist and critic, thought Middleton’s novel may now be regarded as “old-fashioned” but could not explain why Naipaul’s “timeless” work was ignored.

But he was not entirely surprised. “The sort of books being rejected would really shock you,” he said.

Nicholas Clee, former editor of the Bookseller, said that publishers were no longer keen to take risks on untried authors because they faced fiercer competition as the supermarkets forced down prices. He said: “Publishers tend to go for newcomers who have something sensational to offer, or established names. They’re putting big promotional efforts behind just a few titles.”

This has led to a growth in celebrity novels. For example Katie Price, the model known as Jordan, secured a deal to write two novels with Random House earlier this year.

Today’s authors have to be marketable. Taylor said: “Being 29, blonde, good-looking and vaguely famous should be enough to get you a book published nowadays.” Although there are still middle-aged novelists who buck the trend, our rejected version of Holiday was purportedly written by a 53-year-old man.

According to Doris Lessing, the author, publishers have become less willing to nurture talent. “The whole industry has changed so much,” she said. “They used to make an effort to keep first-time novelists in print. Maybe it took till the fourth book for the writer to take off. Now, if the first novel doesn’t attract any attention, they don’t take another one.”

There has also been an explosion in the number of aspiring novelists. Many are attracted by stories of huge advances even though, according to Taylor, no more than 20 writers of literary novels earn enough to survive on without another source of income.

Most of the major publishers have stopped operating a “slush pile” — their name for unsolicited submissions. Instead the work is passed on to the literary agencies, who themselves find it difficult to read everything. Many manuscripts are discarded after a few pages.

Carole Blake, of Blake Friedmann, receives up to 50 novels a day but takes on just six new authors a year. “We have two book agents and we’re pretty full,” she said. “So unless something leaps off the page as amazingly commercial or literary, it is very unlikely we will take new clients on.”

Bloomsbury, Time Warner and PFD were unavailable for comment last week. Barbara Levy said her agency was deluged with 1,500 manuscripts a year. Patrick Janson-Smith, of the Christopher Little agency, said: “We get masses, and it would be a foolish person who pretended they read every sentence.”

Mark Lucas, of the Lucas Alexander Whitley agency, said: “We would love to claim that absolutely everything that came in got extensively cross-examined. But successful agencies have rather full client lists . . . when you guys do things like this, it’s time for us all to celebrate. It shows there isn’t an absolute scale of values and nor should there be.”

Let's hear it for Corporate diversity.

Is self-publish the only way now?-Literary Chrisisall

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Wednesday, January 25, 2006 7:54 AM

KPO

Sometimes you own the libs. Sometimes, the libs own you.

Wow, thanks for the interesting post Chrisisall.

You an aspiring writer yourself?

Psst, QueenoftheNorth - you read this yet?

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Wednesday, January 25, 2006 8:05 AM

CHRISISALL

kpo, not me, but my wife is. I just write as it strikes my fancy, to examine Firefly, to discuss science fiction, or to annoy those who think they know everything (see my other posts in RWE for the latter

).

But the whole corporate door is being slammed on diversity. Millions reading novels by less than half a hundred? Sounds like a recipe for Earth-that-was, artistically speaking.

No wonder Firefly was canceled. Wonder is, how'd it ever get past the pilot...

Bad speller Chrisisall

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Wednesday, January 25, 2006 12:42 PM

SEVENPERCENT

The culture of Oprah Winfrey and the internet killed the modern novel, if you ask me.

Hear me out on this. It wasn't just her, but she's symbolic of the problem. I've heard them referred to as "Wal-Mart" readers, and what 'they' refers to is people that don't read and debate books, but people who buy whatever trash they see on Oprah (or shows like hers) at Wal-mart. And the fact that people are getting excited because you can get Shakespeare on your IM screen (as 2brnt2b) is like the combo of a deadly 1-2 punch to the testicles.

Literature is supposed to be a challenge; it's supposed to be enlightening. But people don't want to expend the effort anymore. They want people to tell them what to think, tell them what to read, tell them what is good/bad. "I wonder what Oprah will tell me to like today." "An independent bookstore? What's that? I wonder if they have the latest Ann Coulter book (or MMoore, whoever)." "Read? Like, whatever. Text me to my phone."

Like with the Oprah and James Frey controversy. She did no research, and it came to light that the story was fraudulent. What did she do? Nothing; she smiled and said well, it's the spirit that counts and her audience smiled and nodded and bought the next book she recommended. Bah. Oprah cannot help you experience a good book, neither can the checkout girl at Target. I'm old enough to remember the good old days of independent bookstores, where the clerks had read damn near everything in the store, and could hold a conversation about books that would put a ph.D to shame. We've lost that, and I think if we already aren't paying for it, our kids will.

------------------------------------------
He looked bigger when I couldn't see him.

Anyone wanting to continue a discussion off board is welcome to email me - check bio for details.

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Wednesday, January 25, 2006 1:51 PM

QUEENOFTHENORTH

Quote:
Originally posted by kpo:
[Psst, QueenoftheNorth - you read this yet?

Yup, here I am.

This sounds pretty much exactly like my experience. I spent over a year hounding agents and publishers. First off, I could only find about a hundred or so that would even LOOK at a fantasy novel. Which is really weird, considering how much money fantasy novels are making right now.

Anyways, so I sent sample chapters and what have you to these hundred or so people. I got two - count 'em, two - actual replies. These were both your polite, generic rejections. The other ones never sent any reply of any kind, which I found extremely puzzling and rude.

Long story short, if you're not a big name, there's less a chance of you getting published than there is of you winning the lottery. (That reminds me, I should go buy a lottery ticket.)

In the end, I decided to go the self-publishing route. It at least gets my book out there so potential publishers might actually read it. It may also make my second try easier, because publishers will see I'm actually serious about this line of work.

Note: Christopher Paolini (Eragon) went the self-publishing route to start out with and is now a best-selling author with a movie adaptation on the way.

Maybe I'll consider including pictures of myself with sample chapters. After all, I'm 21-year-old woman, blondish, and am told I'm fairly decent-looking. Maybe that would help.

"I'm having one of those things - a headache with pictures."

"Of course I'm right. And if I'm not, may we all be horribly crushed from above somehow."

Like books? Go to this thread: http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=14862
to find out how to buy mine!

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Wednesday, January 25, 2006 1:53 PM

CITIZEN

I think it's not so much any great change. The majority of people have always been to lazy to think for themselves. They didn't read at all, is all.

Now we've got a whole new market, and the moneys not in really litriture, it's in crap. So that's all that gets made.

Why waste resources on a small minority of people who want real books when your making millions from stuff that came off a computer template with the names changed?

Two of the best books I've ever read were the Self Destruction Syndrome and Economic Values both by Steve Edwards, both self published.

I don't think anyone could get a copy of the Self Destruction Syndrome anymore, but Economic Values is here:
http://www.librario.com/librario/item/2577

Trust me it's very good.

More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends -- if they're okay, then it's you.

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Wednesday, January 25, 2006 2:46 PM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by SevenPercent:
I'm old enough to remember the good old days of independent bookstores, where the clerks had read damn near everything in the store, and could hold a conversation about books that would put a ph.D to shame.

I live in a college town where there are many graduates that can't find work in their fields of study, consequently the most interesting literary conversation I've had (I confess, I don't have all that many as I lean toward movies) was with a CVS clerk who used to be in the recording industry.
Barnes and Noble? Yeah, go ask a clerk there if they've read anything recently...it's a coin toss.

Reading helps us to speak English better Chrisisall

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Wednesday, January 25, 2006 3:29 PM

FLETCH2

This will sound stupid but I suspect the problem is lack of public transport. When I lived in the UK I could knock off the odd chapter on my commute to work every day. A long trip by train would let me read half a novel in resonable comfort. I actually had time to write stories while commuting in Stockholm.

Here in Texas you have to drive everywhere, if bus lines exist (they dont here) then they only run limited hours. You could argue that the time I save having my own transport could be ploughed back into reading but it's rare to have a block of quality time I can use.

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Wednesday, January 25, 2006 5:47 PM

KPO

Sometimes you own the libs. Sometimes, the libs own you.

Quote:
Anyways, so I sent sample chapters and what have you to these hundred or so people.

Wow, did you email it to all those people? Otherwise it sounds like a hell of a lot in printing/binding costs.

How's it selling anyhow? I imagine it's difficult when you have to promote it yourself.

Self publishing at 21? How 'bout that. I take my hat off to you.

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Wednesday, January 25, 2006 5:58 PM

DREAMTROVE

Or trains. I have trouble reading on a bus, but I agree, self-transportation is pretty much wasted time. We have a lot of wasted time in society that lowers productivity. One that's been getting me lately is, as I sell more and more books online, I end up waiting a fairly long time at the post office for a task of which the only input I give is cash. If they just kept my credit card or a tab on file, they could charge me for each package.

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Wednesday, January 25, 2006 6:11 PM

DREAMTROVE

I had another thought. The loss of the community store is partly to blame. A shop with a sit down place is a dying breed, replaced by megaplex walmart insanity and digital download. The lack of the common sit and read, sit and talk about what you read, etc., has caused some of this. Maybe. Just a thought.

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Thursday, January 26, 2006 5:13 AM

QUEENOFTHENORTH

Quote:
Originally posted by kpo:
Quote:
Anyways, so I sent sample chapters and what have you to these hundred or so people.

Wow, did you email it to all those people? Otherwise it sounds like a hell of a lot in printing/binding costs.

How's it selling anyhow? I imagine it's difficult when you have to promote it yourself.

Self publishing at 21? How 'bout that. I take my hat off to you.

Yeah, I emailed to all those people. Some won't even take regular mail anymore because it's so slow. The selling's starting to pick up a bit. I'm starting to get a buzz going around this area. And thanks.

But there wasn't much else I could do. I've got this nagging voice in my head that's like, "you must do something with your life."

"I'm having one of those things - a headache with pictures."

"Of course I'm right. And if I'm not, may we all be horribly crushed from above somehow."

Like books? Go to this thread: http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=14862
to find out how to buy mine!

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Thursday, January 26, 2006 3:37 PM

KPO

Sometimes you own the libs. Sometimes, the libs own you.

Quote:
I've got this nagging voice in my head that's like, "you must do something with your life."

I have this as well. Two voices in fact. My parents work as a team in this respect.

Nah they're quite subtle to be fair. Conveying everything they need to with well timed grumbles and frowns.

There isn't much faith in the whole writing plan but I think I can do it - although as this thread shows, it won't be easy.

Regarding your manuscript submission; I don't know what it's like in the Americas but I do know that email submissions are not much appreciated in agencies/publishing houses over here. Unless the company openly says on its website or whatever that it accepts work by email, I'm pretty sure most are instantly deleted. Which could explain why you only got a couple of responses out of a 100 or so.

A good procedure that I've gleaned (and if you try again with another novel you may want to use for yourself) is to send out a wide 'net' in the form of a 100 query letters to all the potential publishers/agents, which tells them a bit about yourself and the novel and asks if they are interested. Almost all will reply, most will reject, but a small but significant portion of them will ask for a submission of some kind, giving their own guidelines as to what and how (almost always they want a hard copy).

I recommend acquiring some kind of handbook for this process - I've found the 'Writers & Artists handbook' to be useful, and there's a copy in my local library.

Lots of good advice on lots of other aspects of making your way as a writer. Because as we've agreed - it's difficult.

Good luck with it all Queenie, anyway.

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Thursday, January 26, 2006 6:15 PM

CHRISISALL

I hope I haven't taken away hope from any who wish to get published; I started this thread to make people aware of how steep the mountain is, so they can be prepared.
Keep at it, that's mostly it.
I have a friend who used to make silly super-8 movies with me, mostly fighting/sci-fi stuff, and by hammering away in Hollywood, eventually landed a long-term job getting his ass kicked on a regular basis by Sarah Michelle Geller.
It can be done, but it's not quick and easy- that's the dark side.
And be creative about presenting yourself and your work, it's in a very real sense, an advertising thing.

For what it's worth...

2 cent Chrisisall

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Friday, January 27, 2006 3:20 PM

USUALLYCONTENT

A literary Earth that was! Yup, sounds about right. The dumbing down of everything seems to be marching us all to oblivion as surely as Lemmings go to the sea. A show where action had both cause and effect, right and wrong were often circumstantial and subjective, characterization and smart dialouge took actual attention and were central to the story rather than incidental to the next action sequence, seems unlikely to stand much chance due to when and where it aired. I Think BSG, and a few other exceptions, show that the climate may have changed. Smart, inticate, charecter driven, shows seem much more in demand now. Even those usally satisfied with the usual "short attention span theatre" offerings of "reality t.v." are finding more and more mindless. As major netwprks have to vie, more and more, with other venues and media (tivo, cable, podcasts, computer, etc. ) they seem both frantic and very unadventureous. The very things that made the media free are now the things that most find the least satisfactory. This would be the need to brodcast to the lowest common denominator and to sell airtime via commercials. I can put up with commercials but find it more and more difficult to try to sit through today's equivilant of "Car 54" and "Gilligan's Island".

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