Debut Novels

Over the past year I made it a point to read a debut or two a month. I wanted to see what's selling; what publishers like; what readers want. Sadly, I didn't finish many of them. If you know me, you know I rarely put a book down; I keep plowing through it, trusting that it will pick up at some point in time like the now famous, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson and it did about 50% of the way through. I focused on debut novels critiqued in "Book Page," "Publisher's Weekly," several publishers I follow online, etc. Granted some of the critiques were selfish promotion, but I figured if the big people thought enough to publish it and/or give a little space to a write-up, it had to have a little credence. I was wrong.

There's several ways to look at my experience: (1) I don't have a clue what a good book is, (2) I should give up writing because I'll never be published, (3) I don't understand the "new" market, (4) My choices were poor, (5) Make up your own to fill in here. I refuse to accept any of those as too many best sellers have been loved by me and millions of others, and I read upwards of five books a week (yes, that is right) so I have a huge database of reading from which to choose. I'm partial to historical fiction, but I also read piles of graphic mysteries, cozy mysteries, action/thrillers, biographies, religious nonfiction, literary masterpieces I missed somewhere in my education, and a smidge of paranormal and sci-fi. I'm as qualified as the next woman - maybe more - to pass judgment on a book, and I'm telling you a lot of debut novels in the past two years aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

I may not be writing masterpieces, but I am not giving up. I do not believe that readers are looking for just any old thing to read (well, maybe if you're stuck in the doctor's office for several hours and bored out of your gourd, you might turn to whatever's at hand.) I've read several self-published books in this same time period, and with the exception of some editing and proofing issues I had with a few of them, they were good reads. Maybe writers are learning important lessons with the changes in our industry. I see in my non-biased but not double-blind study that small publishing houses (more cottages) have figured it out. Hopefully, the big ones will too.

I got this off Jane Friedman's post on Facebook this morning and it reflects some of what I'm saying.

If I can’t get a deal soon, I’m self-publishing.

I just want to get my book published.

Quality is subjective, and I don’t need a professional editor.

I just need someone to really pay attention.

[x] isn’t relevant any more.

Jane Friedman, Editorial Director for Writers Digest
1/27/12

Here's a salute to succinct, well-thought-out written material that hooks our interest, makes us laugh, and scares us silly.

Mahala

MAC Dear Santa Winner

Please send the authors in the Dear Santa contest your comments. They would like to hear from you and so would I. A little encouragement goes a long way.

Admissions have been making their way to my inbox for the January contest. Check out the guidelines on the left side of this page and get your piece in in. You have nine more days to submit.

Terry Rozum won second place for her humorous piece in my Dear Santa Contest. Terry is a humorist disguised as a social worker. When not writing, she works to become the crazy cat lady that lives in the corner house and scares the neighborhood kids. So far, she has the house and the cat down pat! She is a native South Alabamian who loves to write short stories using the local geography and culture as her canvas. Her latest writing adventure is a short story incorporating whatever she sees on the side of the bayway as she drives the Alabama Autobahn to work daily. Thus far she's seen a back door from a light green small car, several bunches of fresh turnips and a lot of Baldwin County sod. Never fear, she will keep highly vigilant.

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Should you find that your circumstances change in the future, please do not hesitate to resubmit your application for consideration. Until such time, might we suggest you find a more traditional mode of transportation such as a Jetson Pooter Scooter?

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