What's with the zombie aversion?

[blacbird]

Originally Posted by KateM

Before Vampires were sparkly and something to have sex with, they were the bad guys. I guess this is what someone else said about trends.

"Different" is what agents are looking for.

Yes. They all want something "different", just like all those other bestsellers.

caw

[celoise]

Originally Posted by Pearl

A few days ago, I tweeted literary agent Marisa A. Corvisiero about the chances of a vampire book being picked up, especially if the vamp is the villain/protagonist.

She tweeted me back a few hours ago saying:



This gives me some hope because Marisa has said in interviews that vampires are no longer acceptable, yet she said this. It also gives me hope because my vampires are different from YA paranormal romances. Its sort of like an anti-Twilight, though I didn't write it to go against the Twilight books.

This is great! From the horse's mouth.

[Old Hack]

Important points to consider.

It's one thing writing a blog post in which you're addressing no one in particular; it's another thing to answer a tweet from a specific person, and much more difficult to say "No!" under those circumstances.

Of course there are places which will still consider vampire, zombie and wizard books. But would you want to be published by those places?

If your book is unique, and brilliant, and wonderful, of course agents and publishers are going to want it. But everyone thinks their book is all those things, and usually, it isn't.

What you're writing about isn't the biggest factor in acceptance or rejection. How well you write about it is.

[TrixieLox]

My friend got a 6-figure deal for a YA series featuring vampires late last year. How did she do that? She's an amazing writer.

[celoise]

I'm feeling that the consensus is that though some naysay vamp books or zombie books, if you write an amazing-stunning-badass novel covering either of those topics, you can still get published. Which holds true for every other topic out there. If the writing isn't there, you got nothin. But if it is there, your topic won't hold you back.

[Tromboli]

Vampires aren't going anywhere. They just need a little break IMO.

It's most likely the same for zombies. If editors already have a few zombie books on the shelves or in the works, and they keep getting new ones to look at, of course they won't want any more-- right now.

If I had a zombie or vampire book on my hands (that I was finding no luck at all with) I'd most likely set it aside (but finish i first. Make it sparkle-- no pun intended-- so when I pull it back out it would be worth my while) and work on something new. Because if you find luck with the "something new" novel your vampire and zombie novels may have much better luck. If not I'd pull it out in a few years and it will be fresh and new. My opinion.

And of course there are exceptions. Maybe that can be you. Good luck.

[Rhoda Nightingale]

Agreeing with everyone else so far--it's just a burnout phase. All trends have them. And just like I said for vampires, zombies have been around in fiction for a good long while, they aren't really going away. They're just shifting to the backseat for a snooze.

[CrankItTo11]

Originally Posted by BenPanced

If an agent doesn't want any more zombie novels (or paranormal YA, etc.) and you send them a query for a zombie/Alice In Wonderland mash-up, that's an invitation to an automatic rejection.

I want to read that.

[HoneyBadger]

Originally Posted by CrankItTo11

I want to read that.

Here you go.

If you can think of it, it exists on the internet. Also there's usually porn of it. And it's usually terrible.

(But I repeat myself.)

[CrankItTo11]

Originally Posted by HoneyBadger

Here you go.

If you can think of it, it exists on the internet. Also there's usually porn of it. And it's usually terrible.

(But I repeat myself.)

Thank you!

And.... er, I take it back. I don't want to read that.

[ajoker]

This thread makes me wary. I am just beginning to shop my novel, and it's got a lot of zombies. I don't know if it makes it fresh or not, but it's set during the Roman Empire, and I never call them zombies. They just happen to be shambling undead (but I do break a lot of Romero's rules). Anyway, not trying to sound too self-promote-y, but you all have given me a lot to think about.

[acelticdream]

ajoker ...

Well, your particular "zombie" story doesn't sound like a typical one. You said you don't refer to them as zombies and you break with a lot of the traditional canon concerning them.

If vampires went from being the evil villain to being the romantic heartthrob and got a resurgence ... then why can't your different type of zombie get a chance?

Don't give up. Finish it, polish it, and put on your bestest smile (yes, I said it ... bestest!) .... send it out!!!!

[ajoker]

Bestest smile. I like that. I'll definitely keep it on while sending stuff out. Thanks, BEyre!

[Kathleen42]

Originally Posted by BEyre

Don't give up. Finish it, polish it, and put on your bestest smile (yes, I said it ... bestest!) .... send it out!!!!

I tend to agree with this. If you've already finished something and you think it's strong, then you have nothing to lose by querying.

I heard more than one person say werewolves were over while I was querying a werewolf book. I still had a decent request rate.

[Once!]

I'm just about to do the same thing with my zombie novel. I think (hope!) that the trick is to big up the reasons why this book is different, new, fresh. Not just your standard "Late morning of the Living Dead" sort of thing.

I like the idea of Romans and zombies. Might need to watch that you don't overdo the word "legion" as in "legion of the undead". But a gladiator in the collisseum fighting a zombie horde? I'd probably pay to watch that!

[ajoker]

Originally Posted by Once!

I'm just about to do the same thing with my zombie novel. I think (hope!) that the trick is to big up the reasons why this book is different, new, fresh. Not just your standard "Late morning of the Living Dead" sort of thing.

I like the idea of Romans and zombies. Might need to watch that you don't overdo the word "legion" as in "legion of the undead". But a gladiator in the collisseum fighting a zombie horde? I'd probably pay to watch that!

Heh. I'm actually calling it Empire of the Undead. I don't think it's a perfect title but it gets the point of the story across. And there is one zombie/gladiator fight, where it ignores being stabbed by the gladiators and proceeds to eat them. The zombie (aka lifeless) hordes are mostly outside the city though.

[Once!]

Originally Posted by ajoker

Heh. I'm actually calling it Empire of the Undead. I don't think it's a perfect title but it gets the point of the story across. And there is one zombie/gladiator fight, where it ignores being stabbed by the gladiators and proceeds to eat them. The zombie (aka lifeless) hordes are mostly outside the city though.

I can well imagine that, in real life, the Romans may have been terrified by these uncivilised nations all around them. Terrified enough to want to build a giant wall to keep the scots out.

So perhaps it's not too big a leap to translate that fear of heathen hordes into a fear of undead hordes.

Ancient civilizations would look at the unexplored bits of the map and say "here be dragons". Maybe they'd also write "And a horde of undead too..."