Genre

[alg]

Genre as a marketing category!
Publishers and editors do not think about genre the same way authors do. Here's an explanation.



... Now I write an ode to spinach:

spinach,
you
are green
and
i wish i had more
of you than
what I ate
(yum yum yum)
at five in the morning,
dawn
creeping
up
you are
(my sunshine and)
the perfect delivery method
for salt and
garlic.

Comments

Me Again Marge... *ps don't use caption html - it whacks it outta shape*

[the-lady-m.livejournal.com]

***That was an entirely fake plot - to try to explain the "concept" that there might be elements of different genres, with my odd sense of humor. LMAO - I just wanted to point that out. I don't know if I'd be bold enough to post my own real plots queries in your blog. As methinks that would be utterly rude.***

(So Anna, I can't answer the why questions unless I want to get really silly. I will, if it'll make your teeth feel any better. I like folks to laugh. But if that won't work - Me passes You a bottle of percocets and a cup of coffee.)

But this Comment:

The most common response to an editor or agent saying, "Your book is actually about X," is the author immediately saying, "No, it's not, you just don't understand!"

In that case, the author needs to (a) take a step back and learn some manners, and (b) rethink the way s/he is presenting the book. If an editor doesn't "understand" what the book is about well enough to judge its genre, based on the author's description, that is not a failure on the editor's part.

Does that make sense?

OK - That makes sense.

Do editors and authors usually work well together? Or are there usually a lot of primadonnas on either side?

Do the agents work more as middleman between the author and editor - or does it depend entirely on the agent/editor relationship? Or is it usually editor/author only?

In my opinion an editor should be able to request whatever they want... They are the ones ordering the item. *Like ordering at a nice restaurant... You want what you want - not what the chef looks at you and decides that you want.* They are the ones who will make it or break it - and the writer is but the best chef presenting what they hope will be a very tasty morsel.

Immediately apologizes for asking the flurry of questions - goes back to corner and whimpers... :P

Huntergal - I thank you way much. Very way much. (Alaskan lingo). That was extremely helpful and it boiled it down easily to one thinkable line for me:

where in the bookstore it's shelved will determine your readers

Rock on!

You guys are very helpful and thank you for your patience with me. I'm a very curious person --- you know... the ADHD kid in the back of the class that always has her hand raised - with the big glasses and seriously off the wall questions, that probably only make sense to her... :P

Re: Me Again Marge... *ps don't use caption html - it whacks it outta shape*

[alg.livejournal.com]

I think the problem *is* that you made up a synopsis. Pick a real one and I think we'd have better luck.

Do editors and authors usually work well together? Or are there usually a lot of primadonnas on either side?

Do the agents work more as middleman between the author and editor - or does it depend entirely on the agent/editor relationship? Or is it usually editor/author only?

This all depends entirely on the people involved. Some agents are very hands-on. Some agents are very hands-off. Some agents don't need to involve themselves in the day to day editorial aspects of publishing. Others want to be CC'd on everything.

Some authors are prima donnas.

Most prima donna editors do not last long in the business.

It is rare for an author and editor who don't get along to work on more than one book together -- the author or author's agent will ask that the author's work be assigned to a different editor (or the editor will!).

In my opinion an editor should be able to request whatever they want...

That doesn't mean an author should give it to them!

I can't speak for other editors -- although I will do a post about this in a few weeks and maybe the editors who read this will contribute their thoughts -- but I try very hard to make sure that my relationships with my authors are balanced. Most of my authors write because they love it, because they have stories to tell -- and that means that my job as an editor, as I have said before, is to figure out what story they want to tell, what story they are telling, and how to make the two come together in a way that will engage a reader.