 | 30 Aug 06 |
A few days ago a friend of mine told me she wouldn’t be contributing to a particular blog group any longer due to time constraints and because her books didn’t really fit in with the group’s. Man, can I ever appreciate time constraints, but her last comment got me thinkin’ . . .
When I was a kid, I had a tough time fitting in with any group, so much so I eventually quit trying. What was wrong with just being me, anyway? What law said I had to dress, talk, walk, flirt, or look, like those other girls in order to exist? None that I knew of, so I stayed content simply doing my own thing. Now although it’s true that that attitude did nothing to enhance my social life during those formative years, I have to give it a major amount of credit for my publishing career. ‘Cause you see…
In the beginning was the word, and the word was,
THEM: “In order to be published, you have to do things ‘this’ way.”
ME: “Why?”
THEM: “Because that’s how the rest of us did it and still do it, which means everyone has to do it that way.”
ME: “Who says?”
THEM: “We say. It’s the ‘law’ in publishing. In fact, (insert slight upturn of the nose here) if you don’t do it ‘this’ way, you simply won’t get published.”
ME: “Really.” (Note, this is NOT a question.)
THEM: “Absolutely.”
ME: “Hmm. If that’s true, then why are there so many good writers out there who follow your ‘formula’ yet never get published?”
THEM: “Well . . . uh . . . well . . .” (quickly turning to another sheep in the flock to avoid my question) “Oh, hey, Harry! What about them New Orleans Saints, huh?”
ME: (Eye roll)
From the very beginning, I knew there had to be a better way to break into this business than the methods I’d heard preached time and time again. So, just like in school, I went about my own way. By giving myself permission to step outside that publishing box, I was able to look for a different, quicker path to getting published. Fortunately, that different path worked right out the chute. Funny thing is, although I’m living proof that ‘different’ can work, I still find myself the odd man out, and, the way I figure it, I probably always will be.
My friend claimed her books didn’t follow the same genre theme as a specific group’s. She’s lucky in a way. At least she knows where her books DO fit. Mine don’t seem to follow ANY groups’ specific theme, which, in the publishing world, is the sure kiss of death for a writer. Or so I’ve been told . . . over and over. But then again, my fourth book comes out next July, and each book before it has enjoyed a bigger print run than the book before it. So what’s that about?
Wait, wait, don’t tell me—that damn broad from Louisiana is doing something different again, right?
How far have you traveled outside that publishing box?
© 2006 – 2009, Deborah LeBlanc. All rights reserved.
Deborah LeBlanc is an award-winning author and business owner from Lafayette, Louisiana. She's also a licensed death scene investigator and an active member of two national paranormal investigation teams.
She is the president of the Horror Writers Association, president of the Writers' Guild of Acadiana, president of Mystery Writers of America's Southwest Chapter, and an active member of Sisters in Crime, Novelists Inc, and International Thriller Writers Inc. In 2004, she created the LeBlanc Literacy Challenge, an annual national campaign designed to encourage more people to read, and founded Literacy Inc. a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting illiteracy in America’s teens. She also takes her passion for literacy and a powerful ability to motivate to high schools around the country.
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As always, your posts are insightful Deb. I think a lot of unpublished authors get sucked into the “you have to do it this way” approach.
I give advice all the time based on MY experience, but others have different things that work and so I always qualify everything (I’m from California, the sue-happy state.)
I didn’t travel far outside the box in terms of the process–I got an agent first, who sold my book to a major NY house. That was my goal and I stuck to it even when I got rejection after rejection from agents.
But in terms of the story, I broke some of the so-called rules and I simply told a story I would like to read based on my ecclectic tastes which all seem to have one thing in common: suspense.
But back to your friend . . . I don’t quite understand her concerns because if you’re really going to forge your own path, you won’t be “like” someone else and therefore be able to band together with others who “write like you” because then you’re a dime a dozen, rather than unique. While I might write in the vein of certain authors, I like to think (hope, pray) that I have something that differentiates me from everyone else. It might just be my voice, or maybe because the percentage of romance to suspense is 29.5%/70.5% and no one else has that exact combination (I’m joking, BTW.)
Anyway, I like being with an eccletic group. On the Levy tour we had 13 authors who wrote vastly different things from historicals to contemporaries to futuristics; sexy to sweet; light to dark; and I think we all did very well maybe in part because we were so different.
by Allison August 30th, 2006 at 8:49 amDeb, I’d be curious as to what methods you were told to use. I’ve heard many things over the years. In the end, it simply comes down to story–it’s all about the story.
by Jen August 30th, 2006 at 9:19 amWhen I wrote STAKEOUT, my novella in THE HARD STUFF, it was originally titled POLITICALLY INCORRECT, and it was, and that is what caught not one but two editor’s eyes. My feeling is you can go outside of the box, but it had better be good.
by Karin August 30th, 2006 at 9:51 amI agree w/Karin
by Cece August 30th, 2006 at 10:03 am
I like Cece.
by Karin August 30th, 2006 at 10:27 amNobody knew what to call Bobbie Faye. I think there is still some confusion at the publisher’s, so I’m going to be interested to see where it ends up getting shelved. At ThrillerFest, I kept saying Bobbie Faye wasn’t “really” a thriller (because I think of thrillers as dark), and I think by the third time I said it, Rob and Allison were going to bop me on the head.
Because truth is, it is a thriller — albeit a comedic one. It doesn’t quite fit mystery (though there’s the motive which is a mystery to Bobbie Faye), and it’s not a romance (though there’s the initial stages of a triangle) and it’s not chick lit (though there’s comedy)… and ultimately, they’ve called it “mainstream” ever since the first or second discussion on marketing it. I don’t really care, as long as it shows up somewhere well enough for someone to see it and buy it. (big grin)
When my editor and I first talked, she kept saying how “not pink” Bobbie Faye was, and she even put that in the catalog copy. Cracks me up.
I realized that I liked being the oddball. By not doing what everyone else was doing, maybe Bobbie Faye has a chance of being perceived as original.
(You know, I think y’all have to be sick of me bringing her up… I just don’t have any other specific publishing experience to draw on when answering these great questions!)
by toni mcgee causey August 30th, 2006 at 10:45 amexcellent advice Deb. My mom always said, “If you can’t like yourself how can you expect others to?” Excellent advice and it walks hand in hand with yours.
by Cele August 30th, 2006 at 3:23 pmI’ve never been able to stay inside the box.
Generally it stretches into a rectangle, or sometimes a circle. When things get really ugly it twists into a figure eight and ruptures at one end, spilling my story’s guts everywhere.
Sometimes a box might not be so bad. . .
by Theresa August 30th, 2006 at 5:36 pmI feel like a parrot LOL but I remember my first agent telling me about telling her boss I’d broken a big writing rule and managed to pull it off. Honestly I don’t want to be like everybody else because I’m not. I never have been so it totally works for me
by Cece August 31st, 2006 at 5:58 amThere’s a BOX? Crap, no wonder I haven’t been that sucessful!
Just kidding.
Naw, I know that writing isn’t easy, and I do have a certain aspect of the “Da Rulz” that I follow (read the agent/editors requirements, etc) but when it comes to my work, I just write the story.
I let that do the work.
by Candice Gilmer September 1st, 2006 at 7:26 pmOdd Man Out
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