The question of art versus strategy is a big one, P-Kitty. There are people who want to write one particular work, and if that sells, cool, and if it doesn't, it doesn't. I think that's an entirely valid way to go about doing it, but I also think that if you want to be published, you have to figure out what level of compromise works for you.
So, for example, strategically, the best thing you can possibly do for your career as an SF/F novelist (aside from, you know, writing good stuff, which I'm just gonna take as a given) is to decide whether you want to write standalone books, series, or something in-between.
If you write standalone books, then every book you write is a book you can send out to publishers. By contrast, if you write a series, you have to try to sell it to publishers with the first book; generally speaking, if the publisher doesn't like the first book, that series doesn't sell. You're putting all your eggs in one basket and forcing yourself to market just one book -- and given how many authors say that the first book they sold was the fourth book they'd written, you're hurting your chance of selling.
On the other hand, if you write a series, and it DOES sell, having books two and three already written and book four already outlined is a great way to show a publisher that you can indeed deliver on your promise. Given that most fantasy publishers WANT series fiction, being able to say, "Yep, I've got the first three books ready to go," makes your first book (once it does sell) much more attractive to publishers.
I'm kind of splitting the middle with my own writing. I've written four books that I think are sellable (and three books before that that will never see the light of day again, unless blackmail is involved). The books take place in different universes, and they have different concepts and themes and tones:
1. Victorian Fantasy Murder Mystery -- serious, and it takes place in "the real world", but with a Harry-Potter-esque secret magical underbelly.
2. Modern Comedic Epic Fantasy -- an epic fantasy story that takes place in modern-day America, and has a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor.
3. Swashbuckling Fantasy Romantic Comedy -- a fantasy novel in a fantasy world. Much more humor and much less violence. This is probably the closest thing I've written to a "normal" fantasy story.
4. High Fantasy Heist Caper -- another fantasy novel in a fantasy world. The pitch here is "Ocean's Eleven in Fantasyland".
With the possible exception of (2), which kills off too many characters to really have a normal sequel, all of these could serve as book one of a series. They also stand alone -- they're most definitely NOT the first book of a trilogy -- but if a publisher says, "We like the heroes and we like the world. Give us a sequel!", I can pick right up with that. That's the advantage of my current plan.
The DISadvantage of my current plan is that the stuff I'm writing is different enough that it's entirely possible for a publisher to say, "We loved your Victorian mystery stuff, but this other stuff? It's just too different." That's less of an issue with the later books -- the more I write, the more I realize what works for me and what I have the most fun with -- but it does mean that the first book, while good on its own (I think), isn't a great representation of what everything else I write is going to be like.
And again, it's all a question of how much you can consciously strategize and still be writing what you want to write. If I had finished Book 1 and said, "That's it. I can never write anything but this again," I couldn't really strategize my way around that. Fortunately, the range of "stuff I can write and still really enjoy myself" is pretty large.
Also also, whenever I'm talking about strategizing, I'm talking about comparing what you write to what ELSE you write. I don't think that comparing what YOU write to what's currently on the market is very helpful. Even if you're good enough to consciously emulate (famous author you want to be like), by the time you write the book, edit the book, et the book to a publisher, get the publisher to accept the book, and get the book entirely through the publishing process and out to the market, several years will have gone by. Any particular fad you were trying to capitalize on will most likely be out the door by that point.
Which isn't to say that you can't get inspiration from different sources -- just that you shouldn't specifically aim for a particular publishing fad in your writing, because that target moves faster than most people can write.
Anyway, this has gotten extremely long now, and I should probably hush.
Hope it helped.
So, for example, strategically, the best thing you can possibly do for your career as an SF/F novelist (aside from, you know, writing good stuff, which I'm just gonna take as a given) is to decide whether you want to write standalone books, series, or something in-between.
If you write standalone books, then every book you write is a book you can send out to publishers. By contrast, if you write a series, you have to try to sell it to publishers with the first book; generally speaking, if the publisher doesn't like the first book, that series doesn't sell. You're putting all your eggs in one basket and forcing yourself to market just one book -- and given how many authors say that the first book they sold was the fourth book they'd written, you're hurting your chance of selling.
On the other hand, if you write a series, and it DOES sell, having books two and three already written and book four already outlined is a great way to show a publisher that you can indeed deliver on your promise. Given that most fantasy publishers WANT series fiction, being able to say, "Yep, I've got the first three books ready to go," makes your first book (once it does sell) much more attractive to publishers.
I'm kind of splitting the middle with my own writing. I've written four books that I think are sellable (and three books before that that will never see the light of day again, unless blackmail is involved). The books take place in different universes, and they have different concepts and themes and tones:
1. Victorian Fantasy Murder Mystery -- serious, and it takes place in "the real world", but with a Harry-Potter-esque secret magical underbelly.
2. Modern Comedic Epic Fantasy -- an epic fantasy story that takes place in modern-day America, and has a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor.
3. Swashbuckling Fantasy Romantic Comedy -- a fantasy novel in a fantasy world. Much more humor and much less violence. This is probably the closest thing I've written to a "normal" fantasy story.
4. High Fantasy Heist Caper -- another fantasy novel in a fantasy world. The pitch here is "Ocean's Eleven in Fantasyland".
With the possible exception of (2), which kills off too many characters to really have a normal sequel, all of these could serve as book one of a series. They also stand alone -- they're most definitely NOT the first book of a trilogy -- but if a publisher says, "We like the heroes and we like the world. Give us a sequel!", I can pick right up with that. That's the advantage of my current plan.
The DISadvantage of my current plan is that the stuff I'm writing is different enough that it's entirely possible for a publisher to say, "We loved your Victorian mystery stuff, but this other stuff? It's just too different." That's less of an issue with the later books -- the more I write, the more I realize what works for me and what I have the most fun with -- but it does mean that the first book, while good on its own (I think), isn't a great representation of what everything else I write is going to be like.
And again, it's all a question of how much you can consciously strategize and still be writing what you want to write. If I had finished Book 1 and said, "That's it. I can never write anything but this again," I couldn't really strategize my way around that. Fortunately, the range of "stuff I can write and still really enjoy myself" is pretty large.
Also also, whenever I'm talking about strategizing, I'm talking about comparing what you write to what ELSE you write. I don't think that comparing what YOU write to what's currently on the market is very helpful. Even if you're good enough to consciously emulate (famous author you want to be like), by the time you write the book, edit the book, et the book to a publisher, get the publisher to accept the book, and get the book entirely through the publishing process and out to the market, several years will have gone by. Any particular fad you were trying to capitalize on will most likely be out the door by that point.
Which isn't to say that you can't get inspiration from different sources -- just that you shouldn't specifically aim for a particular publishing fad in your writing, because that target moves faster than most people can write.
Anyway, this has gotten extremely long now, and I should probably hush.
Hope it helped.
) to promote my stuff. I have a MySpace page, too...in fact, I just added you. So there.
