(no subject)

[alg]

Selling Books with GLBTQ Characters

Why can't you sell your "gay" book into the mainstream? Here are some thoughts on it.

Comments

[huntergal.livejournal.com]

I'm confused, tcastleb. Why limit yourself with a tag like "character-driven fantasy novels featuring alternative lifestyles"? Why not just call it a "fantasy novel?" Whether or not you feature alternative lifestyles (and I do in just about every book) doesn't matter. If you do it WELL, nobody will notice anything other than that you've made real, believable people. That's the point. Same with "character driven." It's limiting and invites negativity without giving the book, as a whole, a chance.

Look at the Mercedes Lackey "Herald Mage" series. It was written like 20 years ago and nobody cared one whit that Vanyel (sp?) was gay. He was a great character and that's all that mattered. But it would have been a more difficult sell for her if she'd described the character's lifestyle and not given the actual BOOK a chance to be read.

Does that make sense? :)

[1st-folio.livejournal.com]

Basically exactly what casacorona said, and that's damn good advice.

C, following it