*the following was as ridiculous as thinking that fantasy story-telling would ever fall out of fashion.
I'd guess fantasy is as popular now as it ever has been in modern history.
*the following was as ridiculous as thinking that fantasy story-telling would ever fall out of fashion.
Yeah, I started getting a little worried when he started having Drizzt do those damn monologues at the beginning of a section. I consider that to be a huge rule violation - you shouldn't need a monologue for the readers to get to know your character. It should be a natural occurance as they read the story.
If there is any rule I guess it is don't bore your reader.
@BWFoster I think it is largely down to the skill of the author as well.
For my first book, I wrote what I wanted. Couldn't give the things away. I went and studied the bestsellers in my category, found the intersection of what I wanted to write and what the readers wanted, and wrote it. That book sold.
A lot of readers really like innovative books that break boundaries and blaze new paths, etc.
The problem is, it is not easy to go that route, so if you're going to do it your skill as a writer has to be all the greater because whatever new path you're blazing you have to be able to make it work. For a lot of writers, I suspect going with the standard tropes is going to help them because they've got decades of work that has been done for them within the genre. If you take readers out of that comfort zone, you have to be really good at what you're doing.
I think that, if the author isn't skilled, no book is going to enjoy any amount of real success.
I have no idea how you sell an original book. There are tons of example of how to sell conventional books.
... If there is any rule I guess it is don't bore your reader.
Ask Mark Danielewski, I guess. Have you read House of Leaves? It's an original book, to the extent that it even throws rules of grammar and how to format the book out the window. Yet not only did it sell well, you have NY Times critics calling it the most profound book written by an American in this century. Not the most profound fantasy novel. Book, period.
Which isn't to suggest that any given person has to like that novel, but it does show that unconventional books can sell. Other examples, in my view, would be Nabokov and David Foster Wallace.
Here's where I'm coming from: it is not easy to get a book noticed in today's publishing environment. Period. Right now, I'm not even going to try to do much promotion at all until I get the 3rd novel published in my primary series.
Even if readers like my writing and I figure out promotions and the books conform well to the genre expectations, there is still no guarantee that I'll ever be able to quit my day job.
Were I to go off the reservation and just write whatever I wanted with no regard for the audience, my chances of success would plummet. That's what every resource I can find is telling me.
Sure, the authors you mention found success that way. Some people find success buying lottery tickets (I keep hoping that I'll be one of them!). I don't think, however, I should count on hitting those six numbers to fund my retirement. It's much better to sock money away in a 401(k) every month.
Again, I don't hear a lot of voices out there who have tried it saying, "Your best route to success is to be original." In fact, I literally hear the exact opposite from people who have real experience in the marketplace.
Again, I don't hear a lot of voices out there who have tried it saying, "Your best route to success is to be original." In fact, I literally hear the exact opposite from people who have real experience in the marketplace.
It depends on what marketplace you are talking about. I think you are talking about the self-publishing market place.
Some traditional publishers have been replacing acquiring editors in the spec fic (and other) fields because they have not brought in enough original projects that they believe can be made successful. That's right, acquiring editors have been released and reprimanded for not buying enough new works by their employers.
The editors in question suggest they are not seeing enough quality original work to keep their employers happy.
Those editors are in a tough spot. If they don't bring along enough projects they catch it. If the projects they bring along don't sell, that doesn't help either. They are looking for quality original work to buy and promote.
It depends on what marketplace you are talking about. I think you are talking about the self-publishing market place.