I realize while I have absolutely done several of the things recommended here for my fantasy...I may not have conveyed that in the query letter 😅 I guess if we exercise these "uniqueifying" codes, its important to communicate that in the actual Query!
Exactly. It’s the only way for us to know. I was literally pitched the same story, in person, by three different people. Only the names were different and the city where it was set.
Pitching “a teen girl, Sally, gets powers she didn’t realize she had and now must do xyz to save her world/family/self… all sounds the same.
Thanks for posting this subject Renee. I imagined the novel I'm working on while your post and I think it fits in well with merging two unrelated ideas. I've always felt that my most creative work is taking two concepts and crashing them together to create gold. Look at the brilliance of Sharknado.
Great stuff here Renee, super helpful! I just finished watching Paradise this week and am obsessed with it. And it’s a perfect example of what you are talking about. All of the themes in it are things you’ve seen before…but totally repackaged in a super new and cool way. Mixed & matched too!!
Exactly. It’s not the usual “post apocalyptic” I didn’t know what to expect when I watched and as soon as I saw what it was I was like “aw come on!” But it’s not what I expected and it’s so well done. It’s really interesting how they’re working the time line too.
Always appreciate your insights, Renee, but find that doesn't explain the "not right for my list" general response to my feminist Civil War spy thriller inquiry. My beta readers love it, the query has gotten high marks whenever reviewed, but not even getting full reads. It's not the first time I've written something a few strides off the straight and narrow and watched everyone pass on it.
Andrew, I know it’s frustrating. I’m going to take a guess on this one and point to time period. You’ll see a lot of agents that note no WWl or WWll settings. Civil War may be the barrier at this moment — timing.
There’s also a fun saying in publishing right now that “historical fiction isn’t selling”…. This might be looped into that as well. I finally found a historical fiction about 2 years ago I wanted to rep and seems I was already too late. Add that to cozy mystery which just prior had been hot . So I know your pain.
My suggestion is to put it away for awhile. Work on something else until the time comes where it might be sought after.
We need to listen to mothers : ) And again what an excellent post Renee. With today's emphasis on new and more bizarre plots, writers are losing the basics. Of course there's a million love triangles. But only one Gatsby.
Interesting although in my experience both agents and publishers are very risk adverse and generally want more of the same. My first novel found an agent and then a publisher who eventually didn't go ahead because it was too quirky. The second novel, a speculative thriller, fell into the same trap so the new one is is much more conventional. Will be interesting to see what happens!
I can’t speak for other agents, but I don’t take the same thing because it competes with what I already have. I also know first hand that it’s difficult to pin down what a publisher wants at any particular time. I too have had them change their minds on a client’s book a few times.
Great stuff. Identifying tropes and subverting them is a fantastic way to solve story problems.
I realize while I have absolutely done several of the things recommended here for my fantasy...I may not have conveyed that in the query letter 😅 I guess if we exercise these "uniqueifying" codes, its important to communicate that in the actual Query!
Exactly. It’s the only way for us to know. I was literally pitched the same story, in person, by three different people. Only the names were different and the city where it was set.
Pitching “a teen girl, Sally, gets powers she didn’t realize she had and now must do xyz to save her world/family/self… all sounds the same.
Love Spiro. I should read those books. Great advice. 👏
Thanks. I’m going to check out the books as well.
Thanks for posting this subject Renee. I imagined the novel I'm working on while your post and I think it fits in well with merging two unrelated ideas. I've always felt that my most creative work is taking two concepts and crashing them together to create gold. Look at the brilliance of Sharknado.
Awesome, Chris. Good luck on the book.
I have no answer for Sharknado… I can’t make myself watch it yet there are multiple installments. I never know what to think of that. 😳
Haha, so true. I've never watched it either.
Great stuff here Renee, super helpful! I just finished watching Paradise this week and am obsessed with it. And it’s a perfect example of what you are talking about. All of the themes in it are things you’ve seen before…but totally repackaged in a super new and cool way. Mixed & matched too!!
Exactly. It’s not the usual “post apocalyptic” I didn’t know what to expect when I watched and as soon as I saw what it was I was like “aw come on!” But it’s not what I expected and it’s so well done. It’s really interesting how they’re working the time line too.
Yeah I thought the same thing. I typically don’t love flashbacks but really liked how they used them.
Me too.
Always appreciate your insights, Renee, but find that doesn't explain the "not right for my list" general response to my feminist Civil War spy thriller inquiry. My beta readers love it, the query has gotten high marks whenever reviewed, but not even getting full reads. It's not the first time I've written something a few strides off the straight and narrow and watched everyone pass on it.
Andrew, I know it’s frustrating. I’m going to take a guess on this one and point to time period. You’ll see a lot of agents that note no WWl or WWll settings. Civil War may be the barrier at this moment — timing.
There’s also a fun saying in publishing right now that “historical fiction isn’t selling”…. This might be looped into that as well. I finally found a historical fiction about 2 years ago I wanted to rep and seems I was already too late. Add that to cozy mystery which just prior had been hot . So I know your pain.
My suggestion is to put it away for awhile. Work on something else until the time comes where it might be sought after.
Excellent Renee. "It's not what you say, but how you say it." Wish I said that, but that's Kerouac : )
My mom used to say that to me all the time…
We need to listen to mothers : ) And again what an excellent post Renee. With today's emphasis on new and more bizarre plots, writers are losing the basics. Of course there's a million love triangles. But only one Gatsby.
Thank you, Richard. 🙂
Interesting although in my experience both agents and publishers are very risk adverse and generally want more of the same. My first novel found an agent and then a publisher who eventually didn't go ahead because it was too quirky. The second novel, a speculative thriller, fell into the same trap so the new one is is much more conventional. Will be interesting to see what happens!
I can’t speak for other agents, but I don’t take the same thing because it competes with what I already have. I also know first hand that it’s difficult to pin down what a publisher wants at any particular time. I too have had them change their minds on a client’s book a few times.