Sunday, June 28, 2009
The quest continues...
I have sent out a few more queries, mostly by email again, simply to make it easier on my part. All on my fantasy novel, except for one I sent out my recent urban fantasy as well. I plan on sending more, just looking for who to send to. But the waiting is driving me crazy. I know agents are fairly prompt in their responses but for some reason I am impatient to know. Really, the more I do this, the more amazed I am that anyone finds an agent. On the plus side if I ever do find one and he/she manages to find me a publisher, I will have already established my web presence through my self-published works and free readings. I gained a new fan on my facebook fan page which gave me the same warm fuzzy feeling I get when I sell an e-book.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Decline in female fantasy writers?
I had heard another blogger mention there seemed to be a decline in new fantasy fiction writers and it got me thinking. Off the top of my head I can name Anne Bishop and Kate Elliott as being fine women fantasy fiction writers... but then they have been around a bit. After I thought about I realized he is quite right. I could not name a recent woman writer in the genre that is seen as a great writer in the field and all the new stars have been men. I have come across women authors, since I pretty much raid the book store on a regular basis and anything new and sparkly is snapped up in moments. Yet, it does seem the woman side of things is lagging. As a writer who just happens to be a woman, I rather do not like the trend. But you have to wonder as to the reason for it.
Maybe it is simply that women who like the fantasy genre do not necessarily stick to classic hero type fantasies. Maybe because they tend to be about some poor young farmboy who ends up saving the world. A popular theme but maybe one that does not appeal to the female writer. As such, there may be less to choose from or publishers less inclined to pick them up if they stray too far from the normal fantasy formulas. It could be there are more woman writers branching into different fantasy genres and that these have a great deal less marketing appealing than a classic trillogy or ten book series. Somtimes that works. Jacqueline Carey and her Kushiel series is pretty far from normal formulas of the art, but a damn good series.
There has been a marked increase in woman writers in the urban fantasy genre. Again, maybe because the genre is dominated by stories with strong female characters and thus appeal to a female audience and thus highly marketable. Some of those novels are kick ass. They appeal to women on so many levels it is hard not to consume them like chocolate. In fact, I do not even bother resisting the temptation, where with chocolate at least I have some restraint. First, strong female character. I am woman hear me *rawr* characters. They have the same flaws and fears as all women, but they kick butt and take no sass from anyone. Second, they usually have an alpha male relationship, which whether it works or not, totally hits the female vibe again. We are woman, we can have dominate men without being dominated. Third, they take place in an urban, our world setting that we can related to, but with a whole lot of fun supernatural stuff for us fantasy lovers. That sub-genre is flourishing and so a publisher would be more inclined to take on a new writer within it.
So maybe it comes down to what woman writers are writing, and how marketable it is and the likelihood of a publisher picking them up. I think a new female writer would have a greater chance being published in urban fantasy or dark fantasy, than in heroic or swords and sorcery fantasy.
Which makes me depressed now. I tend to write straight up fantasy. I have strayed into urban fantasy and like it as well. I would like to be published in both, if I get the chance to be published at all. But who is to say what is causing that sort of sad trend. Could be the next Robert Jordan (who really when you talk about fantasy he is king) could be a woman.
Maybe it is simply that women who like the fantasy genre do not necessarily stick to classic hero type fantasies. Maybe because they tend to be about some poor young farmboy who ends up saving the world. A popular theme but maybe one that does not appeal to the female writer. As such, there may be less to choose from or publishers less inclined to pick them up if they stray too far from the normal fantasy formulas. It could be there are more woman writers branching into different fantasy genres and that these have a great deal less marketing appealing than a classic trillogy or ten book series. Somtimes that works. Jacqueline Carey and her Kushiel series is pretty far from normal formulas of the art, but a damn good series.
There has been a marked increase in woman writers in the urban fantasy genre. Again, maybe because the genre is dominated by stories with strong female characters and thus appeal to a female audience and thus highly marketable. Some of those novels are kick ass. They appeal to women on so many levels it is hard not to consume them like chocolate. In fact, I do not even bother resisting the temptation, where with chocolate at least I have some restraint. First, strong female character. I am woman hear me *rawr* characters. They have the same flaws and fears as all women, but they kick butt and take no sass from anyone. Second, they usually have an alpha male relationship, which whether it works or not, totally hits the female vibe again. We are woman, we can have dominate men without being dominated. Third, they take place in an urban, our world setting that we can related to, but with a whole lot of fun supernatural stuff for us fantasy lovers. That sub-genre is flourishing and so a publisher would be more inclined to take on a new writer within it.
So maybe it comes down to what woman writers are writing, and how marketable it is and the likelihood of a publisher picking them up. I think a new female writer would have a greater chance being published in urban fantasy or dark fantasy, than in heroic or swords and sorcery fantasy.
Which makes me depressed now. I tend to write straight up fantasy. I have strayed into urban fantasy and like it as well. I would like to be published in both, if I get the chance to be published at all. But who is to say what is causing that sort of sad trend. Could be the next Robert Jordan (who really when you talk about fantasy he is king) could be a woman.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Number 1 attempt to get me an agent
So I have chosen an agent to try for on my Soul Dancer novel. And will be mailing out the query plus sample chapter as soon as I can figure out the self addressed stamped envelope thing, which when it will be mailed from the US to Canada. I'm hoping the post office knows how to get that cleared up. .... I have always been fine with email rejections. Anyway, this is the first attempt, and since it is by mail, could take a bit.
Now to hunt for another...
I did also send it to an agency in Canada, because I liked the agent... and because it is Canadian. originally I sent the Afflicted to them and they liked it, but not quite enough to take it on. The Afflicted is not the sort of novel that would appeal to many, I think, a little too odd to be marketable... but fun to write. Soul Dancer is more a straight forward fantasy, a bit darker as well, plus more reflective of my style in that genre. I am more light hearted with my urban fantasy, maybe, or maybe I like dark. That was an email query anyway, so I should get a response in a few weeks from her. Keep your fingers crossed for me...
Now to hunt for another...
I did also send it to an agency in Canada, because I liked the agent... and because it is Canadian. originally I sent the Afflicted to them and they liked it, but not quite enough to take it on. The Afflicted is not the sort of novel that would appeal to many, I think, a little too odd to be marketable... but fun to write. Soul Dancer is more a straight forward fantasy, a bit darker as well, plus more reflective of my style in that genre. I am more light hearted with my urban fantasy, maybe, or maybe I like dark. That was an email query anyway, so I should get a response in a few weeks from her. Keep your fingers crossed for me...
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Maybe I am getting old...
You know your getting old when you pick up a book from the pharmacy (cause your there to get all your meds)and you think 'vampires... cool'. Without realizing there is a hype about the book (which usually actually means a bad read--- Da Vinci Code... need I say more?). Can you guess already that I am refering to Twilight? I like a good urban fantasy or paranormal romance. I find them to be fast paced, easy reads that I can absorb when I have a migraine without forgeting the plot, but are also enjoyable (sometimes sinfully so) and tend to have a lot of action. Usually, they are great reads, fun and sometimes dark.
It was by far the worst book I have read this year... and I read about three books a week on average lately (bad migraine year). It was the sort of book that was painfully slow to start and then did not go anywhere.... until it became just painful. You kept expecting it to go somewhere, but it didn't. I read about four or five books while struggling not to bore myself to tears reading Twilight. It came very close to going on that pile of books I have half read but are so poorly written or the plots are just so tiresome you stack them up for when you run out of anything else to read, or re-read. The only reason it did not, was because it was a fast read, when you got to it. So I finished it and thought 'well, no point buying the next one'. Then I forgot that I finished it, because the ending at been so anti-climatical that when I watched the movie (cause for some reason i thought it might be better as a visual and maybe action packed vampire flick)... I kept expecting something else to happen, cause I thought I had not finished the book... turns out I had and thus the ending of the movie was just as sad as the book.
I have to wonder that if I was a teen (maybe 12 or 13) this book might have been better. It is obviously geared to a younger audience and so what I found to be tiresome and lame might have been interesting to a younger generation. But then i remember at 12 I was reading the Chronicles of Amber (which I borrowed from my dad's shelf). Which to this day remains my fav fantasy series and have re-read it numerous times. I remember by that age the Chronicles of Narnia set lasted me a few days and was only moderately entertaining. So maybe Twilight would never have been the book for me.
If a book has next to nothing for plot and a mystery that is no mystery (oh... he is a vampire)... then what is the appeal? I have read some trashy romanaces that were by far not the best written or with indepth plots... but at least they were fun and there is an obvious progression to the characters relationship. I read Anne Rice when I was a kid and loved those books... the plots were interesting, the characters dark and disturbing... all good stuff. I think it must be an age thing. I think I am far too old to enjoy teenie books... and maybe, too old even when I was a teen.
Most books are worth reading. Some have more depth than others. Some you read for different reasons than others. There are only a few books that are so bad you can't finsish reading them and you wonder how they got published in the first place. I am just one of those people that does not like those books people seem to rave on about. The Da Vinci Code was just a lame predictable version of Foucault's Pendulum . Never saw the appeal to the Harry Potter thing. And obviously I find Twilight lacking. I suppose my tastes are off. If it is a best seller and a 'must read' then apparently you can take it right off my list. Now I get why the Harry Potter ones don't appeal to me... I am not anywhere near the target audience for them and I think they are awesome for kids these days (encouraging kids to read is awesome) And I get the hype on the Da Vinci Code... which was hype becase of the idea of the grail being the bloodline of christ (which is not a new thing at all, but got people's panties in a bunch), but it was not a good book... you could see the plot and the ending a mile away (that one did make a better movie). But I totally don't get the hype on Twilight... maybe the teens love the guys in the movie... but the book was so utterly dull and predictable. Maybe the series gets better, but obviously not my scene.
It was by far the worst book I have read this year... and I read about three books a week on average lately (bad migraine year). It was the sort of book that was painfully slow to start and then did not go anywhere.... until it became just painful. You kept expecting it to go somewhere, but it didn't. I read about four or five books while struggling not to bore myself to tears reading Twilight. It came very close to going on that pile of books I have half read but are so poorly written or the plots are just so tiresome you stack them up for when you run out of anything else to read, or re-read. The only reason it did not, was because it was a fast read, when you got to it. So I finished it and thought 'well, no point buying the next one'. Then I forgot that I finished it, because the ending at been so anti-climatical that when I watched the movie (cause for some reason i thought it might be better as a visual and maybe action packed vampire flick)... I kept expecting something else to happen, cause I thought I had not finished the book... turns out I had and thus the ending of the movie was just as sad as the book.
I have to wonder that if I was a teen (maybe 12 or 13) this book might have been better. It is obviously geared to a younger audience and so what I found to be tiresome and lame might have been interesting to a younger generation. But then i remember at 12 I was reading the Chronicles of Amber (which I borrowed from my dad's shelf). Which to this day remains my fav fantasy series and have re-read it numerous times. I remember by that age the Chronicles of Narnia set lasted me a few days and was only moderately entertaining. So maybe Twilight would never have been the book for me.
If a book has next to nothing for plot and a mystery that is no mystery (oh... he is a vampire)... then what is the appeal? I have read some trashy romanaces that were by far not the best written or with indepth plots... but at least they were fun and there is an obvious progression to the characters relationship. I read Anne Rice when I was a kid and loved those books... the plots were interesting, the characters dark and disturbing... all good stuff. I think it must be an age thing. I think I am far too old to enjoy teenie books... and maybe, too old even when I was a teen.
Most books are worth reading. Some have more depth than others. Some you read for different reasons than others. There are only a few books that are so bad you can't finsish reading them and you wonder how they got published in the first place. I am just one of those people that does not like those books people seem to rave on about. The Da Vinci Code was just a lame predictable version of Foucault's Pendulum . Never saw the appeal to the Harry Potter thing. And obviously I find Twilight lacking. I suppose my tastes are off. If it is a best seller and a 'must read' then apparently you can take it right off my list. Now I get why the Harry Potter ones don't appeal to me... I am not anywhere near the target audience for them and I think they are awesome for kids these days (encouraging kids to read is awesome) And I get the hype on the Da Vinci Code... which was hype becase of the idea of the grail being the bloodline of christ (which is not a new thing at all, but got people's panties in a bunch), but it was not a good book... you could see the plot and the ending a mile away (that one did make a better movie). But I totally don't get the hype on Twilight... maybe the teens love the guys in the movie... but the book was so utterly dull and predictable. Maybe the series gets better, but obviously not my scene.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Spreading through the web...
So my self- marketing strategy for marketing Aura Sight is simply to spread out my web presence. Thus far:
1)MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/michelle_mythe :Not normally a site I was interested in, but on my list to spread my social presence. So far, loads of friend requests, but all people promoting their music. Does me little good, but found some awesome local bands.
2)Facebook: Well I love facebook already, but the problem is I use a pen name for writing and you cannot have two accounts. So I created a fan page, as you can imagine not too much of a fan base yet.
3)Twitter: http://twitter.com/mythemichelle :Again not a site I would usually use... cause, seriously, does any need to know the random junk in my head or what I am doing. However, as an author it has intriguing possibilities. You can link to your work for one. But also, what I have been doing for the 30 or so followers I somehow achieved, is posting two chapters a week for a free reading of Aura Sight. Mostly to attract attention, or a interested audience or even feedback.
4)Blog listings: over the last few weeks I have been adding myself to various blog listings, for this site and my main author site. Just to potentially pull in traffic.
That is about it so far, except of course putting some free reading on some other sites.
1)MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/michelle_mythe :Not normally a site I was interested in, but on my list to spread my social presence. So far, loads of friend requests, but all people promoting their music. Does me little good, but found some awesome local bands.
2)Facebook: Well I love facebook already, but the problem is I use a pen name for writing and you cannot have two accounts. So I created a fan page, as you can imagine not too much of a fan base yet.
3)Twitter: http://twitter.com/mythemichelle :Again not a site I would usually use... cause, seriously, does any need to know the random junk in my head or what I am doing. However, as an author it has intriguing possibilities. You can link to your work for one. But also, what I have been doing for the 30 or so followers I somehow achieved, is posting two chapters a week for a free reading of Aura Sight. Mostly to attract attention, or a interested audience or even feedback.
4)Blog listings: over the last few weeks I have been adding myself to various blog listings, for this site and my main author site. Just to potentially pull in traffic.
That is about it so far, except of course putting some free reading on some other sites.
Yep.... yet another query attempt
Queries are the bane of my existence. However, while I am marketing my self published work Aura Sight, and the upcoming Blood Lines, I decided to go the formal route with Soul Dancer. Which by the way was done before, but then I edited and extended, then edited, and then edited some more. I am aiming at agents this time, simply becauase of the speed of rejection... I don't want to wait a year from a publisher when in that time I can see what dozens of agents think... asuming they like my query, which, lets be honest, I am not skilled at yet. So here goes. Feel free to tell me if it is crap or decent or briliant.
Dear so and so:
Please find enclosed the complete manuscript of my 164,000-word fantasy fiction novel, Soul Dancer. My novel involves the struggle between the ruling class of mages and their magically bred warriors, the Nyxra. The mage born rulers, the Creed, designed the Nyxra using the offspring from two races, human and Angithic, then infused the essence of a third race called the Nyxi. However, when Shakti, a Nyxra assassin is sent outland on assignment she discovers her target to have the same energy scent as her people and refuses to complete the task. Her instincts tell her these strange pale Angithic are near-pack and therefore allies.
Shakti becomes allied with the Angithic and when other Nyxra are sent across the border to kill and kidnap more of the Angithic’s half-breed offspring she is willing to help them find answers. She believes the Angithic are the way to win freedom for all her people. On her way to help retrieve the kidnapped children she enters her homeland again and it is there she encounters the Nyxi. To her the Nyxi feel like enemies to the pack and as a result there is a irresistible instinctual response to attack, but instead she finds herself unwilling mate bonded to the Nyxi messenger and promising to help release their captured consort of their queen. Somehow by helping the Angithic with their children she must start a rebellion to over rule the Creed, free her people while trying to prevent the Nyxi from attacking their northern border.
I have not been published before in fiction works, but do self-publish some of my novels and therefore do quite a bit of online marketing. Feel free to check out my author site for samples of other works: http://michellemythe.wordpress.com In addition to the first three chapters I also attached a synopsis as per your instructions. Thank you for considering my submission. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Michelle Mythe
Dear so and so:
Please find enclosed the complete manuscript of my 164,000-word fantasy fiction novel, Soul Dancer. My novel involves the struggle between the ruling class of mages and their magically bred warriors, the Nyxra. The mage born rulers, the Creed, designed the Nyxra using the offspring from two races, human and Angithic, then infused the essence of a third race called the Nyxi. However, when Shakti, a Nyxra assassin is sent outland on assignment she discovers her target to have the same energy scent as her people and refuses to complete the task. Her instincts tell her these strange pale Angithic are near-pack and therefore allies.
Shakti becomes allied with the Angithic and when other Nyxra are sent across the border to kill and kidnap more of the Angithic’s half-breed offspring she is willing to help them find answers. She believes the Angithic are the way to win freedom for all her people. On her way to help retrieve the kidnapped children she enters her homeland again and it is there she encounters the Nyxi. To her the Nyxi feel like enemies to the pack and as a result there is a irresistible instinctual response to attack, but instead she finds herself unwilling mate bonded to the Nyxi messenger and promising to help release their captured consort of their queen. Somehow by helping the Angithic with their children she must start a rebellion to over rule the Creed, free her people while trying to prevent the Nyxi from attacking their northern border.
I have not been published before in fiction works, but do self-publish some of my novels and therefore do quite a bit of online marketing. Feel free to check out my author site for samples of other works: http://michellemythe.wordpress.com In addition to the first three chapters I also attached a synopsis as per your instructions. Thank you for considering my submission. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Michelle Mythe
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Thank goodness for Writers Beware site
I tell ya, so hard to find an agent as it is within the bad ones. I saw this Writers literary Angency and thought I might give them a go... assuming the passed the writers beware site... which they did not, there is even a alert on them. Good thing we have somewhere to go to weed these out. Still, I am left wondering who to send this to, again. I suppose since I have some time off work, I will make up a list of the good ones and work down it.
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