tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post1522881902154404466..comments2023-05-21T14:46:54.138+01:00Comments on FictionBitch: How to Sell LiteratureElizabeth Baineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17193751871434773972noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post-91664611560040973772008-02-15T20:17:00.000+00:002008-02-15T20:17:00.000+00:00Steerforth,I remember when Lovecraft was uttermost...Steerforth,<BR/><BR/>I remember when Lovecraft was uttermost trash, now he's being taught as literature (poor bastard). Ever think that maybe <I>Daily Mail</I> readers know what they're doing?mythusmagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10458869083534878283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post-31741928600340200252008-02-15T20:12:00.000+00:002008-02-15T20:12:00.000+00:00The classics don't appeal because of how people ar...The classics don't appeal because of how people are introduced to them. It's usually in a class room presided over by somebody with a hard case crush on the classics, who proceeds to strip the books she purports to love of any appeal they might otherwise hold for the prospective reader. In Eric Flint and Virginia deMarco's <B>1634: The Bavarian Affair</B> one character expresses outrage at the liberties being taken with Shakespeare's plays in 1634 English playhouses.<BR/><BR/>My point is, we have taken entertainment from earlier times and turned them into holy writ. We have turned <B>Oliver Twist</B> into a parable, and <B>don Quixote</B> into a gospel. Let's face it, Gilgamesh was the Conan of his day, and we've made him into Galahad with a sidekick.<BR/><BR/>The publishers aren't helping themselves any. Check out the science fiction/fantasy or mystery sections sometime. Covers that catch the eye, covers that promise. Covers that intrigue, entice, draw. What do you get in the literature section? Covers with all the appeal of an off-key dial tone.<BR/><BR/>That book has a good story inside, let the world know about it. It's about a regency era woman dealing with difficulties on an English moor (<B>Jane Eyre</B>) Then you put a resolute broad in Regency garb looking out over a desolate moor with her hair flying windblown about her on the dang cover.<BR/><BR/>Yes, it's about selling. It's about selling because you're competing with other entertainments for people's time. You want your book to sell you have to convince people you're worth their time, and do it quick. You can't, or won't, work your ass off to get and keep their attention, you're in the wrong line of work.<BR/><BR/>And bitch me no bitch about art. You're not doing art, you're a storyteller. You're a craftsman. You can achieve the level of art, all well and good, but your goal is to produce a well-crafted piece, and get it out successfully into the world. H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu stories were deliberately overwritten; he admitted to it. But because he also knew how to tell a story, and tell it well, people still seek them out to read.<BR/><BR/>You want people to admire you, don't expect them to read you. You want people to read you, don't expect most of them to admire you, though some well amazingly enough. Don't write with the aim of being important, write with the aim of being read. Achieve that aim and important is far more likely to follow.mythusmagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10458869083534878283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post-48173073380598318022008-02-12T18:08:00.000+00:002008-02-12T18:08:00.000+00:00George Steiner echoed the concerns in a talk last...George Steiner echoed the concerns in a talk last night at the Royal Society of Literature.<BR/><BR/>Among other things he quoted this horrifying statistic: 80% of American teenagers now approach their first love relationships using templates 'learned' from television and films. Only 20% find their own unique way to express their feelings to their first loves. <BR/><BR/>This culture is having an effect on literature too. He felt that our literature was in trouble for many reasons, and this was one.Vanessa Gebbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00833187671441310234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post-35826035017670903152008-02-09T20:02:00.000+00:002008-02-09T20:02:00.000+00:00Susan Hill is wrong. If we adopted her argument, t...Susan Hill is wrong. If we adopted her argument, there would be no Radio Three or National Theatre. Most of publishing is dominated by market forces and that's fair enough, but what about those classics and contemporary masterpieces that aren't economically viable to publish? <BR/><BR/>Thank God for Dedalus. They introduced me to some wonderful authors - Sylvie Germain, for example. <BR/><BR/>I don't want to live in a country whose artistic life is directed by Daily Mail readers.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.com