Publishing: Where Art Meets Commerce

Publishing is a very fine balance of discovering and nurturing literary talent while finding a way to commodify and disseminate to the masses.

I wholly appreciate literary fiction, but fiction that borderlines on experimental is difficult to sell in commercial publishing. Experimental fiction plays with form, voice, technique and style. This is to be distinguished between high-concept and genre developing fiction which can be super commercial.

I note the differences because when you search for an agent and seriously pursue trade publishing agents and editors are looking for authors and styles they can sell to editors whose publishing house can then sell to consumers.

Publishing is not creative writing. Publishing is where art meets commerce.

Why Fight Genre Labels? It’s a didactic framework that helps your work find readers

No one likes labels, and genre is the all-encompassing manifestation of them. Not only querying writers, but established writers fight against labelling their work in certain genres. Well, in publishing we need them.

Genres can range from something as broad as commercial fiction to as specific as magical realism. They aren’t trying to pigeon-hole you, especially if you don’t let them. Genre is a didactic framework that helps your work find readers. Genre helps you:

• Find an agent that reps your type of writing.
• Do research for competing titles and what’s selling in your market.
• Write metadata that will improve book discovery.
• Get your work published with an editor and imprint that sees your vision.
• Create an author brand within a strong and specific market.
• Reach your readers when they are looking for books on store shelves or online.

Literary or commercial fiction is a genre in itself, but using the framework of genre to your advantage by being specific (and accurate to your querying material) will help, not hinder your writing. Getting to know your genre and what works is part of having a market awareness as a writer.

The True Beginning

Does your novel start in the right place? Read on for tips...

Do you know where to start your novel?

Successful commercial fiction doesn’t start with first words you ever put on the page. The start is where the true beginning lies. It’s where the book takes off. It’s where subtle character introduction meets engrossing plot. I don’t mean an interesting memory or event. I mean riveting, don’t want to put it down, if I only requested three chapters I need more, stat! In today’s age of short Twitter-like attention spans, online reading communities that give you quick starred reviews as well as editors and agents who have piles of reading on their desk and computers you need to grab someone’s attention and keep it.