Michelle Buckman

riveting drama and interesting characters might just appeal to parts of BOTH those audiences instead of neither?

Yeah, I’m not sure how to get that across in a couple of sentences, though, which is my biggest problem. “Riff off Hamlet” has become my go-to Q&D answer.

This is why I think that authors should focus on creating a property (and some speculative fiction authors and I would guess romance authors are quite good at doing this)

This is the conclusion I’m slowly coming to, Wm. Have you been following David Nygren’s side of our conversation on monetizing fiction?

1. The ability of its artists to make money via touring and merchandise.

2. The shortness of the dominant form (pop song vs. novel) and what that means for the social nature of the two art forms/industries. Music is much more easily shared, discussed, listed, reviewed, consumed, etc. Yes, there are book clubs and GoodReads and all that. But it’s a lot easier to develop a lifestyle around a band than an author. Not that that doesn’t happen (JK Rowling, Stephenie Meyer, Neil Gaiman, etc.). But much more difficult.

Okay, I’m going to cheat and add a three:

3. It’s much easier (although not easy) to build and promote a scene with music. More opportunities for collaboration, cross-promotion, shared aesthetics, shared knowledge, shared touring, etc. And for all those to spill into ways for fans to benefit and participate.

This is why I think that authors should focus on creating a property (and some speculative fiction authors and I would guess romance authors are quite good at doing this) that can lead to more indie music-like activities (including fan fiction, products, conventions, collaborations, etc.). And the biggest barrier there, imo, is that the marketplace and culture is still so tied in to novels, which take a long time to write and read.

Seems to me that publishing has been handcuffed (or has handcuffed itself?) by its own perception of its audience. I mean, do they ever think that a book that doesn’t quite fit the erotic romance mold or the inspirational romance mold, but has riveting drama and interesting characters might just appeal to parts of BOTH those audiences instead of neither?

This looks to me like an industry that’s too frightened of dying to survive.

I dunno, though; maybe I’m overestimating the independent part of the music biz and underestimating the indie part of book publishing.

Thanks MoJo! Must be Mutual Admiration Society Day or something, because I think your book is awesome, too.

I found Lauri’s book at Web Fiction Guide. They list and review free online books. There’s some cool stuff listed there, with lots of out-of-the-ordinary fare (my book included [/shameless plug])

http://webfictionguide.com/

it’s the oddest thing, I LOVE books that bend genres, that take the old, tired tropes and present them in a new and never-before-seen light

I do, too, and either I’m not looking in the right places for them or they’re not high-profile enough or they’re not being published. Fortunately, I’ve been able to find some of those in the indie-pub world lately. Kel’s book was awesome.

Lauri, you’ll have to ask Kel. She’s the one who thunk it up, but lady, you better believe I’m going to read your book! Servicing the Pole. That’s AWESOME.

Cliff and Lauri, please hang out more!

If you think your cover’s risque, you should check out a memoir by this male stripper I know. I have a link to him on my page…

More power to you…

And I never did get into Southern Angst nee Gothic.

But in all seriousness, I do think it’s being redefined, or at least that it’s ready for a new definition. The more I think about it, the more I like dirty realism. The biggest criticism about my book (so far!) is that the thing is ‘too realistic.’ I took it as a compliment.