Manuscript Downer #2 April 14, 2008
I’m speaking directly to first time authors here. If you want to actually get published , you’ve got to come with a fresh idea that will stand up to the long publishing process. Authors who have been pubbed and have a solid selling record can lean on the strength of their fan base a bit an be allowed one slip up. But you? Oh no!
It takes an average of several months for a book of fiction to get sold and anther 12 months to go through Editorial to Production before getting published. Once it’s out there, it is competing against hundreds of thousands of other titles, tv, radio, internet, and godzilla. What sense does it make to write a novel that’s already been written then? Especially when certain markets are completely full. Case is point: unless you are somewhat of a media star, forget about being the next Candace Bushnell. Are your female characters looking for love while balancing a glamorous career? Drinking Martini’s and dealing with non-committal men? Been there; done that. Put the cosmo down and pick up the diaper genie because what’s in now for people who aren’t always writing for Glamor and Cosmo is MOMMY-LIT. A slightly less stylized female characters doing real things.
When I have a bit more time I’ll list some of the ideas I see more frequently then I should and some possible remedies. But please do feel free to discuss some story lines /plots/characters you think have seen better days.
Hi - Although I really like the Bushnell characters, I could never totally relate to them. I’m planning on my next project to be Lipstick Jungle for the middle class. Three women, successful in their careers, but far from rich and powerful. They don’t have $500 to spend on a pair of Jimmy Choos and if they did, it wouldn’t be spent on a pair. Obviously there’s more to the plot, but what do you think?
Best to write about the mididdle class now…while there still is one.
i meant middle.
LOL Elizabeth….that’s sad but I’m still laughing.
Just look at any movie in which Bonnie Hunt writes or performs, and you’ve got the formula for Mommy Lit. A mixture of humour, outrage and everlasting love.
Amen!!! I usually start a flame war whenever I suggest chick lit is dead, but you’ve articulated here the trends that are dead/dying. I’d only add that story lines centered around a woman’s entire identity depending on finding or keeping a man are over too. I’m glad more books, especially romance novels, are portraying women as being fulfilled in other ways but that the love life simply balances her life or adds to it.
The only thing that worries me about the Mommy-Lit trend is finding the balance between escapism and realism. I definitely understand wanting to find more identifiable characters than those created by authors like Bushnell. However, I don’t want to read a book where the plot is solely about a woman unable to cope with her children’s demands and struggle to make ends meet, i.e. a skinny-but-broke-with-a-baby Bridget Jones type book.
I can’t wait to see your list of ideas and remedies!