McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

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Dom:
I don't run into too many authors like that, but then I tend to stick to writer communities that have a good portion of serious amateur authors.  And I also tend to ignore the strange ones, so perhaps they are doing this, but because they're metaphorically on fire and doing cartwheels, I don't see it because I'm ignoring the drama.

I do run into a lot of artist types who hate labels, though.  It's rampant in the music world, I know.  And I know of a digital artist who hates to be called "goth" (although...well, she is, sorta...).

Cathy Clamp:
Well, to me, "labels" are merely genres and subgenres. A label would tie one story to another story, not to another type.  A label would be more like "This is just like Buffy, only mixed with Terminator."  A "cyberpunk vampire story" would be a subgenre of paranormal. [shrug]

Knowing what you write is truly critical to an author who wants to get published. It's difficult to find an agent or a publisher if you don't know where in the bookstore a book is going to be shelved.  At LEAST you have to know the shelf.  It HELPS to know the type of books being put out by a line.  A mystery is a mystery--expect when it's a police procedural, or a cozy, or an amateur sleuth. You won't sell a Wambaugh true-crime fiction to a cozy house.  Won't happen. So, yes, labels matter. Genres matter because it's what the industry recognizes. 

I like to push boundaries with our books.  But first you have to know what the boundaries ARE. Words have power.  So I'm happy to push an "edgy male POV werewolf story without much romance" to a romance line. If the writing is good, the publisher will FIND a home for it.  A good friend with a book out this month was regularly publishing mysteries with a large publisher.  But she wanted to do something new--something darker. She proposed a new urban fantasy, but it's not QUITE an urban fantasy because it's got both dark and light elements. And it's sort of steam of consciousness writing, from both first and third person. But the editor loved it and it found a home in a brand new, shiny line that the publisher started just to house it. And now they're looking for more as the book is starting to resonate with readers.

So new authors in this new line are going to be "labeled" by the first book. And I think that's an AWESOME thing! Labels are wonderful things!  ;D

terroja:

--- Quote from: Cathy Clamp on October 10, 2006, 11:08:37 PM ---"This is just like Buffy, only mixed with Terminator."[shrug]

--- End quote ---

Oh god. Anyone who descirbes their work as something meets something else should be dragged into the street and shot. I remember I was at a small writing conference a few months back when someone told me that their work was like "Jaws meets Dances With Wolves" Needless to say, I cursed him out and threatened him with bodily harm.

Darla:

--- Quote from: terroja on October 12, 2006, 07:04:39 PM ---
--- Quote from: Cathy Clamp on October 10, 2006, 11:08:37 PM ---"This is just like Buffy, only mixed with Terminator."[shrug]

--- End quote ---

Oh god. Anyone who descirbes their work as something meets something else should be dragged into the street and shot. I remember I was at a small writing conference a few months back when someone told me that their work was like "Jaws meets Dances With Wolves" Needless to say, I cursed him out and threatened him with bodily harm.

--- End quote ---

LOL!  I thought that was "high concept" and what everyone was looking for as a way to sell their work. 

Cathy Clamp:
Yep. A high concept of a novel is a label. I'm not terribly fond of them, but it seems like editors at group pitch sessions are. [shrug] Go with what works when you only have five sentences to interest an agent or editor at a group session.

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