tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post117341522792334721..comments2024-03-26T18:28:06.391-04:00Comments on Evil Editor: Q & A 97-103Evil Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03879826770199639420noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1173501141813625122007-03-09T23:32:00.000-05:002007-03-09T23:32:00.000-05:00Oh, please, please let's all amend our query lette...Oh, please, please let's all amend our query letters to replace the word 'novel' with 'rambling piece of plotless crap'! I'm sooooo tempted.McKoalahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01457446171624585099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1173474571687539462007-03-09T16:09:00.000-05:002007-03-09T16:09:00.000-05:00Dear author,Just call it something approximately c...Dear author,<BR/><BR/>Just call it something approximately correct. The agent/editor will need to read the book to find out if it's any good; your query just has to convince them to read it in the first place. Work on writing a gripping query letter, not on the fine details of classification. You're sweating the small stuff.<BR/><BR/>If the novel is rambling plotless crap, the agent/editor will spot it as such regardless of whether you called it literary fiction or mainstream fiction. <BR/><BR/>Likewise if it's really good.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1173465690553373872007-03-09T13:41:00.000-05:002007-03-09T13:41:00.000-05:00How the hell do you know you’ve accomplished this ...<I>How the hell do you know you’ve accomplished this feat? <BR/><BR/>Your characters are all miserable until the very end, when they die.</I><BR/><BR/>I laughed out loud.E.S. Teslahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14959500521960082702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1173461781638920552007-03-09T12:36:00.000-05:002007-03-09T12:36:00.000-05:00I was hoping for more equations.I was hoping for more equations.Blogless Trollhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03983848259551488867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1173458227512577662007-03-09T11:37:00.000-05:002007-03-09T11:37:00.000-05:00I once wrote a page and a half short story about a...I once wrote a page and a half short story about a depressed old man with his little granddaughter at the seashore. He sees the shorebirds and likens them to how things come and go from your life and starts to cry. The little girl is confused. End of story. My prof loved it. I still don't get the stupid thing, but it was literary.<BR/><BR/>I think it is probably safest for me to just say "It's a novel. I wrote it. Please sell it for me." I can't possibly screw that up, can I?writtenwyrddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02280711822302493122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1173454380225251902007-03-09T10:33:00.000-05:002007-03-09T10:33:00.000-05:00Meetings get in the way of much more important thi...Meetings get in the way of much more important things...<BR/><BR/>So, if I have a thoughtful character who is eaten by a shark, or better yet, marries a shark - you know, the kind with 2 (and a half) legs rather than the legless variety - and is eaten by the shark, you're good with calling that literary, as long as no one is in any remote way happy that the character was eaten - and, at the end of the novel, everyone sits around looking dolefully out to sea.<BR/><BR/>But you don't have to say it, and, in fact, you're better off keeping clear of classification, just using "novel" - even if the agency's website asks for a little more. So the plot, synopsized in the query, will tell them what they need to know. <BR/><BR/>Or, you could say commercial fiction and relax.Robin S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/03258459688300851984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1173452703754044522007-03-09T10:05:00.000-05:002007-03-09T10:05:00.000-05:00I have the best of both worlds. My novel features ...I have the best of both worlds. My novel features a thoughtful shark. A philosopher phish, if you will.Maggie Stiefvaterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15842527558335640093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1173451019862213592007-03-09T09:37:00.000-05:002007-03-09T09:37:00.000-05:00Obviously someone reads Kristen's blog who is also...Obviously someone reads Kristen's blog who is also a minion.<BR/><BR/>I'm quite proud to call my stuff commercial fiction. Between worrying about formating and story and arcs and everything else, I could care less about "literary" vs. "commercial". Although I do think that tight writing, a well-written story, is a given regardless of what it says on Kristen's blog, which seemed to upset many romance writers.Brendahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17083327647412477394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1173448720877182492007-03-09T08:58:00.000-05:002007-03-09T08:58:00.000-05:00Seven. Seven would be fine. Or perhaps you could ...Seven. Seven would be fine. Or perhaps you could just put it in the FAQ? A kind of fallibility clause, headed 'Waving, Not Drowning.'<BR/><BR/>But fair enough: you're on your own now, pal.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1173448509645739342007-03-09T08:55:00.000-05:002007-03-09T08:55:00.000-05:00How many times do I have to tell you people, give ...How many times do I have to tell you people, give me ten minutes to read my posts before jumping all over me.Evil Editorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03879826770199639420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1173447576212169462007-03-09T08:39:00.000-05:002007-03-09T08:39:00.000-05:00Jane Austin?Steve Austin's sister, right? What was...Jane Austin?<BR/><BR/>Steve Austin's sister, right? What was she worth?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1173448257118782042007-03-09T08:50:00.000-05:002007-03-09T08:50:00.000-05:00Jane who?Sir, I think you are referring to Jane Au...Jane <I>who</I>?<BR/><BR/>Sir, I think you are referring to Jane Aust<B>e</B>n, are you not? Sir?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com