RTW: How Far Would You Go…?
This week’s Road Trip Wednesday challenge on YA Highway poses the question: How far would you go to get published? Here’s the explanation:
The bases in the picture are not necessarily in any particular order of severity. But the real problem answering this is, for all of one’s idealism, one never knows, when pushed, how one will react. It’s a lot easier to say, for example, “I would never sacrifice my artistic integrity just to write what sells!” when you’re a young, single person, with few if any responsibilities outside of yourself, and with your whole life ahead of you. When you’re middle-aged with a family to support, those decisions are not as clear-cut. Even then, if you already have a job and you’re not relying on writing as your source of income (as much as you would like it to be), it’s easier to stick to your principles. If getting published means a roof over your head and a meal in your stomach, you may be willing to bend much further. I’m sure Billy Joel didn’t really want to play piano bars to make money in the early 70’s–but it was that or starve.
Saying all that, here’s where I currently am with this:
First Base (no problem): Make revisions based on editor feedback. I presume the editor likes my novel, and my agent wouldn’t have hooked me with an editor s/he didn’t feel was a good fit, so all being well, this shouldn’t be a big deal.
Second Base (not much of an issue): Make minor revisions to sign with an agent. The way I see it, having the right agent can make or break a career. The best agent will love your work and fight for the perfect publishing deal. This being said, I would hope an agent that really gets my novel wouldn’t ask for revisions that would harm it. However, if the revisions the agent requests show a lack of connection with my novel, that may be a sign this isn’t the right agent.
Third Base (getting uncomfortable): Switch to a well-selling genre. In theory, I don’t have a problem with the idea of writing different genres–especially ones that put me outside my comfort zone. I like a challenge! But to do this just to sell a novel would have to be a last resort to get published. I mean, I must be really hard-pressed. I wouldn’t say completely desperate because, as I said, it might actually be fun to try something different. But it would chafe my artistic integrity. There again, I might discover it’s fun and I enjoy this new genre, which is why I would never say never.
Fourth Base (you may as well take my soul while you’re at it): Jumping on the trend train. Sorry, I think at this point I’ve dug my heels and said no. Trends come and go, so rather than write something I have no passion or interest in just because people are into it at the moment, I would prefer to write what I love, and wait on the market to be right for it. Again, having a good agent could be key here, since my agent might look at my novel and WIPs and suggest which of the projects I have might make a better “break-in” novel given current market taste. And if I don’t have anything that would appeal to current trends, that agent would be able to recommend other courses of action that don’t require “selling out.” I believe, perhaps naïvely, that agents respect author integrity, and no agent who loves my work and cares about my career would let me go to Fourth Base.
That’s my take on this. What about you? Hop over to YA Highway and join the blog carnival fun!
“You may as well take my soul while you’re at it.” Yeah, I feel about the same way on that one. Not to mention, I don’t think I could ever force myself to write something I didn’t have a burning passion for. 😉 My words would melt to nothing faster than an ice cube in the desert.
Absolutely. If a publisher wants our best, there has to be room for us to write what we love, not what will be “good for your career” or what will sell.
I like your order. I think this is pretty much accurate for how I feel about the four bases as well. Writing a trend just to write it is awful. BUT sometimes people are writing what they love and it just happens to be a trend, that’s an entirely different story. And those people are very lucky 😀
Yes, or your beloved novel is published and creates a trend. That’s beyond our control, though, and, as you say, such people are extremely blessed.
The problem with writing to a trend is that the lead time in publishing is so long that by the time you write your book and your book gets published, the trend is old news.
I agree with the order you put the bases, and the comments you made inside the parentheses 😉
And I love what you wrote here “if you already have a job and you’re not relying on writing as your source of income (as much as you would like it to be), it’s easier to stick to your principles. If getting published means a roof over your head and a meal in your stomach, you may be willing to bend much further.”
Thanks, Juliana!
I agree with you concerning changing genre and trend chasing. I’m definitely prepared to follow advice of people with way more experience than me, but I’m not going to start writing what’s popular just so I can get published, mostly because it probably wouldn’t be popular by the time I reached the querying stage.
Yes! As someone else pointed out, I think, most “trendy” novels today were probably first put out on submission (or began editor revisions) before their genres were ever trendy. The turnaround from contract to publication, especially for first timers, seems to be about a year, during which time trends come and go.
I definitely agree with this: “Trends come and go, so rather than write something I have no passion or interest in just because people are into it at the moment, I would prefer to write what I love, and wait on the market to be right for it.”
I also like the way you re-ordered the bases. Great answer!
Thanks, Liz!
It’s so true that life circumstances have a tremendous influence on how someone would make these decisions. If you have immediate success, you may be less willing to “compromise” than someone who’s been struggling for years.
The trend idea seems like a recipe for disaster for me, unless you have an agent who can solidly predict what’s coming. Once we struggling writers hear about a trend, I think it’s safe to say that in following that trend, we would be facing a lot of competition.
As I have aged and accrued a job and a family, this truth has never been more apparent to me. I’d like to think I would still draw the line at Fourth Base… but if I lost my job and it was Fourth Base or six starving children, that would be a REALLY hard call. I’m not sure my resolve would hold.
Fooling a trend without having interest in it seems folly. It smacks of not truly understanding how the publishing world works. Books that trend and create trends were written months, even years before seeing bookstore shelves. Who knows what will be trending by the time you finish writing, editing, and trying to publish? Best, indeed, just to follow where your passions truly lie.
Aha! It was you that said it, Athena! (See my reply to MissCole above.) I knew I read it somewhere recently. It goes without saying, then, that I totally agree. 🙂
I agree that switching genres can be interesting. I have drafts of both YA and adult fiction, as well as a goofy mystery novel, sitting here on my desk. It’s not about which genre might sell; it’s simply about the ideas that popped into my brain and asked to be explored. I totally agree that where you are in life has a huge effect on how far you’d be willing to compromise. I know how far I’d go now, with a family and a job outside of writing. What writing means to me now may be very different from what it means to a younger person fresh out of college or someone with less outside responsibilities that wants to put all of their energy into becoming a published author. It’s a journey, and sometimes goals change. Never say never, indeed.
I love YA, and I’m enjoying writing the genre, but I too have ideas outside of YA. Many of these were ideas I had prior to getting into YA, and while some could easily be written for YA, some really wouldn’t work (IMO). What will decide? Trends? What will sell best? No–the story. I’ll write it, and if it comes out YA, so be it. If it doesn’t, well… it doesn’t.
I’m totally on-board with how you organized the “levels of severity” here. Revisions at the suggestion of a reputable agent or editor are certainly doable, but writing to a trend JUST because it’s a trend? No way!
And like I said–and I hope to be proven correct–any reputable agent or editor will always look to the best interest of your novel, your writing, and your career, never simply the bottom line and market trends. That makes it so much easier to trust their advice.
“I would prefer to write what I love, and wait on the market to be right for it. ”
I would MUCH prefer this. It would be so hard for me to slog through a book I didn’t like just to fit a trend, and by the time I finished it and edited it and all that jazz, the trend would probably be over.
And I agree, I think an agent should always be looking out for the author’s best interest, not the quickest way to make money.
Most agents I’ve encountered online (via blogs and Twitter) seem to show a deep concern for the author’s work and career. I know there are the *other* kind of agents out there, but I hope I don’t encounter them. Of course, I’m still waiting to get a call from *any* kind of agent… 🙂
I’m with you on all of this. I think what it comes down to is writing what you love, not what you think other people will love. I write in my genre because I enjoy reading it. And I write the story I love, not a knock-off of some other story just because it’s hot. The best books out there are ones where you could tell the author was having fun and loved the story. I can tell when someone wrote to a trend, and I think most readers can.
Great post!
Confession: I write YA because what I was writing happened to be YA. I only started reading YA because I needed to know the genre better since I was writing it. But I’m not regretting that at all. I’ve discovered some great YA books, met some great YA writers, and been drawn into a fun genre full of possibilities. I certainly didn’t write YA (and I certainly don’t continue writing YA) because it’s popular. And yes, you certainly can tell when what you’re reading is someone’s passion.
I’ve been loving reading everyone’s posts today! I feel like most of us are in the same page…we are willing to try things, but not completely compromise who we are. I think that’s a good way to be.
This certainly has been a great topic, and it’s so cool to see so much integrity and honesty from everyone. Like I would have expected otherwise (which I certainly wouldn’t)! 🙂
@Jessica Love – It does seem like everyone is about on the same page. A good page, too. And @Colin — “You may as well take my soul while you’re at it.” is classic!
Hi Colin,
I saw you commented on my story about being asked to change the ending of my short story. All these years later, I honestly can’t say whether my younger self would have compromised and changed the ending of Hornworms if I’d known it was a dealbreaker. I know I would have definitely thought about it!
And by the time my middle-aged self hears of a trend, it’s already on its way out, so no point in writing to the trends, right?
Thanks for replying, Angelica! As for trends, I totally agree. By the time my “trendy” novel would be ready to go, my agent would be saying, “Oh puhleeez! That was sooo last week!” 🙂
This, definitely: “I would prefer to write what I love, and wait on the market to be right for it. ”
If I was just jumping on a trend, my heart wouldn’t be in it. I think the writing would suffer for it, and who wants to publish something that comes out sub-par? I’d be embarrassed to turn in anything less than my best.
And I don’t think any editor worth his/her credentials would accept anything that smacked of riding a trend. As Tracey said in one of the comments above, readers can tell if an author is in love with his/her story. And if the average reader can tell, you can be sure an editor can tell.
Interesting order! I won’t jump on the trend train either. Okay, lie. I would if it’s something I’m already writing. But trends change so quickly. I’m not thinking it’s all that wise to write to trends.
But that’s the difference, isn’t it? You’re not writing to a trend, it just so happens what you’re currently writing is trending. If you’re still writing the novel when the trend passes, you wouldn’t stop and change to the new trend. As you rightly say, it would be unwise, and indeed pointless, to try to work that way.
At first when I read the RTW question this week, I thought there was no way I would jump on a trend train. But another blogger said if their agent suggested a topic to them, they would seriously consider it. And when she put it that way, I realized it’s not so bad. But, as with switching genre, it would have to be something I was truly interested in and have fun writing. If I didn’t love the topic/genre, my writing would suffer because of it, and furthermore, I don’t want to put anything out there that I don’t love.