Can you manufacture a bestselling novel?
Writing by Jana on Wednesday, 30 of July , 2008 at 9:04 am
There’s a certain breed of writers out there I’ve noticed, who are desperate for any information available on “hot” trends when it comes to fiction.
I’ve never understood this thought process.
For one, it takes a long time to write a novel, a long time (typically) to sell it, and after all the editing and design and what not, it can be several years before something actually hits the shelves. So if “insert genre here” is hot today; what’s to say it will be in three years time?
More so, I personally think this current tide of writer-hacks jumping on the trend train is a big reason why so much crap is published these days. You may disagree with this sentiment; but, the majority of fiction being published today has zero literary merit, and barely passes the just-for-entertainment-and-or-titillation test.
Who is to blame? I’m going to go ahead and say that some agents and editors have a lot to do with this. The moment a novel becomes a big hit (Twilight, Harry Potter) it becomes imperative for everyone in the publishing world to try and emulate that success by releasing novels of a similar type as fast as possible. I think most of these are rushed out without a thorough edit, and it shows in the final product. And who suffers? The reader, for one, simply looking for more of the same. And other, more deserving writers as well; because after the public catches on, they begin to shy away from books in an over-saturated genre. This happened to me. I read Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy trilogy and was immediately impressed with the new style of dark erotic epic fantasy (how’s that for a mouthful of subgenres?) And I went on the look out for more of the same but what I found was not fresh or exciting, it was stale and predictable and badly written.
One writer in particular seemed so promising. Her novels were lauded by critics, and on the NYT bestseller list. They had gorgeous covers and back cover blurbs. Marketing had obviously gone all out for this woman. Unfortunately, the two novels of hers’ I managed to read remain on the very top of my Worst Books of the Decade List. They literally read like bad fanfiction and I was astounded. Don’t ask for a name, I’m not giving one. This is also the major reason why I no longer trust official review sources. Because according to them everything is “a complex, heartwarming, and poignant coming of age tale; with a shocking ending that will stay with you long after.”
Some writers will defiantly say that there is no such thing as a badly written book because after all, taste is subjective. That is a load of horseshit. There are a multitude of books on the shelves, some of them bestsellers chock-full of glowing reviews, that never should have made it out of the slush pile.
Horrible grammar, lack-luster or unbelievable plot, cardboard characters with poor motivation is not a subjective thing: It’s a fucking glaring thing screaming out at you from the page; making you wonder what deal with Satan this person made to get published in the first place.
And this is precisely why why literature in schools is such an important subject. English literature courses teach you to think critically and to judge a work on more than your subjective taste. For example, I hated Heart of Darkness and while I’m a huge Shakespeare nut, Ben Jonson makes me want to scream — not in the good way. Studying Volpone and writing an objective major essay for a university class was one of the hardest things for me. The difference here is that I can step outside of my obviously subjective and personal tastes to still be able to recognize the literary merit of those works.
But to go back to my original point in this long and rambling essay-rant, can you manufacture a bestseller? The article that prompted this seems to suggest you can.
According to the article: “if anyone present had “a heartwarming pet story” ready to go to print, they might find an eager response from publishers.”
And apparently “the publishing houses are also beating the bushes right now for new female thriller writers with a sophisticated literate touch, and a good work ethic.” I have no clue what a sophisticated literate touch and good work ethic means in the context of a thriller.
As for what’s not so hot these days, “interest in new sorcerer/fantasy fiction, chick lit, and urban teen novels has fallen off, and self-help books are particularly hard sells.”
So there you have it writer-hacks of the world. Sit up, listen, and dash off your next insta-bestseller following these strict guidelines. Time is of essence here, not quality, not writing something you believe in — because if it falls outside of the hot trend of the moment, you’re shit outta luck.
Category: awful books, the business of writing
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