Hello, writers. I've been thinking about markets lately. I talked to my agent the other day. We spent a lot of time talking about what the editors are and aren't acquiring. (Item: No one seems interested in acquiring any YA paranormal. If you were thinking of writing one, now may not be the time.) When I've talked to editors, they often talk about what the audience is and isn't buying. When authors talk to each other, a lot of the time they talk about markets and audience.
Sometimes we talk about our ideas that way-- is that sort of thing selling, or isn't it? If it's not, we might write the story anyway to see if it turns out well. Or we might just let it slide, for now or forever. Especially if we're not too attached to it. There are more ideas where that one came from.
If selling your writing isn't your goal, that's fine. There's no reason writing, any more than any other art form, should be required to make money. But if you do want to sell your work, then you're going to have to think about audience. You'll have to write something for which there is a pre-existing audience and hence a market.
Example:
Market:
- 80,000 word mystery novel about hard-bitten female detective
- 50,000 word middle grade novel about time travel
- 100,000 word fantasy novel about quest for Jewel of Togwogmagog
No Market:
- 7,000 word mystery novel, written in haiku, which ends with the murder still unsolved, but invites the reader to write his/her own haikus in the several blank pages provided
I don't diss the “no market” example. Thinking outside the box is great. It's how human progress is made. But it's unlikely to tempt a publisher to risk thousands of dollars on the off-chance an audience might appear. (It's no good bitterly blaming publishers for this. You probably wouldn't want to risk thousands of dollars on a stranger's untested idea, either.)
If you're not sure what the market is in your particular area of writing, then:
- Read the magazines/anthologies/websites where the stuff is published.
- Go to a bookstore and browse. What's on the shelf and who published it?
- Join a professional writer's organization in your genre if you're eligible. (If you're not eligible, you can still probably read a lot of their info online.)
My sister was a member of SFWA. I find myself sitting on her porch, right now, next to a stack of their quarterly bulletins which came after she was no longer able to write. While much of the magazines' space is taken up with the neverending struggle, there are also a few pages of market listings. I'm looking at one for an anthology series called War World. Prospective writers are warned that there's “an extensive author's bible (100,000+ words) available in electronic format upon request.”
Whoa.
Thing is, at least they are very precise about what they want. Most publishers and publications are more vague. All you can usually be sure about is the intended audience, plus (if you've got your ear to the ground) what the publisher or publication does not want.
The important thing is to make sure your ear is to the ground. Hard to type in that position, I know. But we make these sacrifices for our art.
Tonight's challenge is courtesy of the wonderful Wonderful World, who writes:
I was wondering how would an advice columnist deal with 'Fantasy-World Problems', so of course I thought of our old pal the Callow Youth and his sidekicks. You could play it from either direction, Cal writing in for advice or one of the creatures he's bothering in his endless quest asking for help.
So let's play it from both directions. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to write an advice column, "Dear Froop", in The Togwogmagoggian Tocsin. You receive a letter from a Callow Youth and/or his/her Stout Companion, who are seeking the lost Jewel of Togwogmagog. (You pick the problem. They've got plenty.)
You also receive a letter from someone they've fled/fought/hassled/sought help from. (The Least Grebe, the Innkeeper, etc.) This letter addresses the same problem, from the opposite point of view.
Answer both letters.
You can take the Ann Landers approach, taking the side of whoever wrote to you, or the Dear Abby approach, giving pretty much the same advice to both sides.
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