With self-publishing on the rise, you can now bypass the traditional route, but there are still some of us out there that prefer the “submit, submit, submit” method.
So why won’t you get published either way?
Well, let me tell you, young grasshopper. It could simply be that you’re not finishing anything.
Here are five reasons why:
With a few rare exceptions, genre fiction is generally dismissed – even disdained – by “serious” authors and critical reviewers alike. Fantasy book sales are miniscule compared literary fiction; even the other genres outsell it. If you want to get rich, you’re better off writing “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” than “Bonds of Sisterhood.”
So what is it about Fantasy that motivates a writer to sacrifice broad cultural acceptance, fame, and money for the genre?
I asked editors and authors, “Why Do You Write Fantasy?” I was curious what it was about the Fantasy genre that made it the best venue for the stories they wanted to tell. Some weren’t really sure, but others had some very definitive ideas on the subject.
As writers, we ask ourselves this question at one time or another: How can I tell if my work is good?
This is the wrong question. The right question is, “How can I tell if my work is good enough to accomplish my goal?” And that, of course, depends on what your goal is.
If your goal is to sell a novel to a Big Six publisher, you’re going to have a very different standard than if your goal is simply to entertain a small audience on the Internet, or even if your goal is simply to finish NaNoWriMo.
If you’re writing a novel with the goal of finding an established publisher, then the novel only has to be able to impress at least one editor enough that she is willing to give you a contract.
So how can you tell if it’s good enough for that to happen?
It’s hard to know how to get started as a writer. Should you write short stories or a novel? Should you stick with one genre, or try several? Should you get an agent and submit to traditional publishers, or try the self-publishing route?
The answers to those questions depend entirely on what you want. A full-time career as a writer? Financial stability? (That’s a tough one to achieve by writing!) Fame and respect? To simply be able to say that you finished a novel-length story?
Some people say “I want to be a writer!” without really figuring out what that means. Other folks just want to be able to say “I’m a writer” at cocktail parties and high school reunions. They might not even need any publication credits; simply having tried makes them feel like a writer.
So you want to write a really bad fantasy novel, eh?
You’ve come to the right place. After years of practice, I’ve mastered five ancient techniques for writing shitty fantasy. These methods were pioneered by the elves of the Ethereal Empire during the reign of Xerxian Rhafstorr the Sword-Breaker (in the Twelfth Age), so you know they’re good.
Just read on, and you’ll be writing the Ishtar of fantasy novels in no time.