Purgatory's Pit of Doom

I have sworn to spend two hours working on revisions tonight.

And you know, if you feel depressed sometimes about the current state of affairs in American publishing, take a cruise over to @m@zon France. In perusing the YA bestsellers list, it took me nearly 9 pages to come to a book originally written in French by a French person from a wholly French perspective. The books on the previous 8 pages were all translations of American books, or translations of Harry Potter books, or French knock-offs of popular American & British YA series.

Think about that. Imagine the publishing industry in your country completely dominated by the literature of an entirely different language. And the adult bestsellers list was nearly as bad. Comment dit-on 50 Ombres de Gris?

Ouch, Red. That is a sorry state, considering the cachet that French authors have always had in the American market. Well, in some markets.
Probably not NASCAR.

Go Red! And yeah... that's a sad commentary.

So work has been making stabbity today (what's new?), and I haven't heard back from the agent about my revisions so I don't know whether I should go ahead and start working again. But on the upside, if such a thing exists, work bitchery is giving me lots of fuel for how my MC's father verbally abuses her in my SNI.

{{{Ink}}}

Hey, Silver! and {{{Silver}}} for subbasement

LOL, Cat. She's milking it for everything she can, but like Fili said, this won't last because the initial product was a fluke. Did you hear that she was working on re-writing the trilogy from G's perspective? Yep, the same exact books but from a different character's POV.

Red, that is Pittish. But it's the French. A lot of Pittish stuff has been happening to them over the last 100 years.

SteveCordero said:

LOL, Cat. She's milking it for everything she can, but like Fili said, this won't last because the initial product was a fluke. Did you hear that she was working on re-writing the trilogy from G's perspective? Yep, the same exact books but from a different character's POV.

.

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I read this and thought, how did we get a dwarf from The Hobbit in here?

Wow, crazy stuff about the 50 Shades. Filigree, that is such an astute observation.

<Waves axe.> Yo, Amarie, honorary dwarf here.

My point is that marketing and its permutations are evil and subtle sciences, and they often reveal startling truths.

James saw money from the moment the 'Masters' fanfic started getting traction, and she openly said so. Random House saw a way to grab more money and notoriety for other similar RH products, by bringing the 'Fifty Shades' books to print. The RH people are cold hard realists when it comes to bankable properties. I can almost guarantee that the Grey-viewpoint book won't come to print, or that it will fizzle soon after publication. James is not going to admit in public that she cannot write; it's to her advantage to grandstand about her abilities and 'the high bar' she's raised. But since she's so money-driven, she has to know that quick merchandising is the only way to extend her winning streak.

If I'd written a massively bestselling series, I'd be merchandising my ass off. Bring me the moneys! All the moneys!

Parametric said:

If I'd written a massively bestselling series, I'd be merchandising my ass off. Bring me the moneys! All the moneys!

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Sadly enough, I second that. Fuck integrity.

Yep. Sick sad truth: integrity won't pay the mortgage. Not when clever marketing can make you a bundle.

Oddly enough, I would have cheered on E.L. James's efforts - if she was a better writer to begin with. I read three chapters of 'Fifty Shades' and couldn't go on.

That is all. Carry on.

RedScylla said:

Comment dit-on 50 Ombres de Gris?

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I love it when you speak French. Comment dit-on, get your ass in gear and send your ms?

ink wench said:

But on the upside, if such a thing exists, work bitchery is giving me lots of fuel for how my MC's father verbally abuses her in my SNI.

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And yay for SNI!

Catwoman said:

Sadly enough, I second that. Fuck integrity.

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A good Pittism, this one.

Yay for SNIs, Roly.

Snappy, that looks painful.

Yay, Roly!

I with Cat the others - fuck integrity. Just give me enough money to quit my job and you can laugh at my terrible prose and cliched ideas all you want.

ink wench said:

Snappy, that looks painful.

Yay, Roly!

I with Cat the others - fuck integrity. Just give me enough money to quit my job and you can laugh at my terrible prose and cliched ideas all you want.

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Yeah, this for me too...seriously. Then I can write all the literary crap in the world.

*skips off to convert her porny fan fic to orginal erotica*

Mornin', Pit

Parametric said:

If I'd written a massively bestselling series, I'd be merchandising my ass off. Bring me the moneys! All the moneys!

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This, a hundred times over

BethMac said:

Yeah, this for me too...seriously. Then I can write all the literary crap in the world.

*skips off to convert her porny fan fic to orginal erotica*

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Seriously, I'm still trying to figure that out.

SteveCordero said:

Did you hear that she was working on re-writing the trilogy from G's perspective? Yep, the same exact books but from a different character's POV.

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I'm not surprised. Yet another stolen idea from S. Meyer. She was going to write Tw1l1ght from 3dward's perspective. It got leaked on the web, though, so she threw a tantrum and flounced.

Filigree said:

James is not going to admit in public that she cannot write; it's to her advantage to grandstand about her abilities and 'the high bar' she's raised. But since she's so money-driven, she has to know that quick merchandising is the only way to extend her winning streak.

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on the high bar!! But kudos to her for milking this. I would!

Parametric said:

If I'd written a massively bestselling series, I'd be merchandising my ass off. Bring me the moneys! All the moneys!

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Exactly!

Cricket18 said:

I love it when you speak French. Comment dit-on, get your ass in gear and send your ms?

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I did work on revisions last night. For almost two hours. While I wasn't busy freaking out about the fact that I agreed to go on a date with a butcher.

Snappy said:

That is all. Carry on.

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Is that a brain slug?

((Snappy)) what happened to your brain?!

Butcher = free or discount steak. Do verify the species of animal, though.

I <3 Snappy's smileys .

Red, dating a butcher might be useful--like Fili said, free or discount steaks!

Beth, I'm with you re: converting fan fic into original erotica. I've already come up with a pitch; "Tess of the D'Urbervilles meets the Marquis De Sade in this scintillating tale of virginal innocence, lush moors and riding crops."

RedScylla said:

I did work on revisions last night. For almost two hours. While I wasn't busy freaking out about the fact that I agreed to go on a date with a butcher.



Is that a brain slug?

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Indeed it is.

soulcascade said:

((Snappy)) what happened to your brain?!

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Eaten by a slug. Seriously, that's the way it feels right now. So much work at day job. So much! I need this week to be over.

Gah. Work. Keeping with the Futurama theme, sometimes the Hypnotoad is good at helping you block out work related nonsense

{{{{Snappy}}}

Hester, I like that pitch. LOL