literary/contemporary publishing

Hello gjerej,

I have a literary novel( my first), which is under submission by an agent. It took me six months of querying agents who had literary novel listed at all, even if only eighth on a long list of genre fiction that they represent, to find someone eager to represent me. The next hurdle I am facing now is with the submission process. Most editors of major publishing houses who read my book for possible acquisition also have a history of mostly buying genre fiction, which sells. More than once I've heard them say, they loved my novel but couldn't find a commercial hook.

I think the competition is stiff, nonetheless, with less chance of success for a debut literary writer. The few literary works I see coming out these days, either border on literary/commercial fiction, or are written by well established giants in the field.

I sound discouraging because I am discouraged.

It would be nice to hear from more people in this forum, either looking for an agent, or looking for a publisher, who squarely belong in the category of literary fiction.

There are fewer agents interested in literary fiction and fewer publishing houses willing to take a chance with it but in my experience it is by no means less competitive.

Hi, fellow literary fiction writer here. I'm in the process of shopping my first novel to agents and it hasn't been fun, to say the least. I have three partials out right now out of 24 queries. I, too, think it's tough out there for literary fiction, especially for debut novelists. I think there's still a market but it's definitely not as vibrant as, say, YA or thrillers, but the readers are out there, and there are publishers who will fill that need. Just have to keep plugging away and know it's going to happen. That's what I'm doing. Good luck to you both.

That's always been my problem. I don't write genre, and everytime I get anywhere it always flounders because my stuff is perhaps on the precipt between literary and a particular genre, and they want me to push it forward into one camp or another. ....And I've never responded constructively to those comments. Literary books do get published--they certainly stick around longer in history, so we know they are succesful eventually--but people are unwilling to take the chance and publish them more often than not. :/

I think I write borderline literary/ Suspense. I always try to push it more into the suspense side, rather than the literary side. I made this decision because I really would like to get published one day, so it was mercenary, more than artistic.

So far I have written several novels (unpublished as if yet) in which there is a mystery, or is a threat to the main character, in which the main character might die or be injured, in which there are plenty of awful people doing damage to other people's reputations and so on. Now, that said, I also write character based writing, although there is a definate "plot" often the plot is rather "thin" and not independant of the characters. So I might say it is " an extremely well written, character based suspense thriller," rather than "a literary novel with suspense thriller aspects."



I like to think of Hemmingway or someone like that. If their work had not been literature, it would have been suspense thriller or some other kind of escapism. In fact, really, most "literature" can settle into a genre. So I think if literary writing straddles a genre, you have more likelyhood of finding a publisher.

This might sound like it's out of left field, but does anyone have an opinion as to whether a 1st person story/novel sells better/worse than a third person one?

I personally think third person is a better mode for literary stories, but that's just my opinion, and I was wondering if there was a preference in the publishing world.

Personally I believe that first person would be better for a more character-driven literary work as it gets into the mind of said character even deeper than a third-person narrative ever could. Just my 2 cents....which isn't worth a whole hell of a lot.

Small Independent Presses are the best home for literary fiction these days

Bushdoctor, assuming you're still coming back to this thread (or anyone else), what would be the best sources/sites for finding info on the indpdt presses out there? I'm spooling out the query process, and tho I've had 15-20 partial requests, everyone keeps telling me how tough the market is -- it's looking like I'll probably have to go that route.

Here's one link: http://www.newpages.com/book-publishers/

I'm going to go that route, too.

guptatomic-

Don't give up! The fact that you aren't getting a form rejection is a great thing! You're query letter is doing the right thing if you've gotten so many requests for partials. You've got something going!

Keep in mind that you might not find the right agent in your first 1-30 queries. Some really successful writers have had to query over 100 times before they found someone willing to be a cheerleader for their work. Don't sell yourself short.

Look at the partial you've been sending out, and see if there's polishing that can be done, or if there is a stronger hook in the work that doesn't come out early enough. Sometimes character driven fiction takes time to get moving.

You can do it. You can.

Good luck.

Alecya

I'm currently writing what I consider to be a 'literary' novel. It's first-person.

Will it get published? Don't know, I'm unheard of. That's why college is still my main priority at the moment. Though I still write about 1500 words per day...

Should be done by April/May.

My first novel is "literary". I've had a little interest from agents - who have said things like "it's well written but not commercial enough" and "the almost mythical style of the narrative might put readers off"(!) - so I've made it available to buy as an eBook as I shop it around; I'm hoping that I can sell enough copies to prove to agents that people will buy it and like it.

Unless I don't, in which case I shall flounce off, loudly complaining that everyone is an idiot except me.

Ho hum.

EChampa said:

I'm currently writing what I consider to be a 'literary' novel. It's first-person.

Will it get published? Don't know, I'm unheard of. That's why college is still my main priority at the moment. Though I still write about 1500 words per day...

Should be done by April/May.

Click to expand...

EC, don't believe people who tell you that unknowns can't get published. Every writer was unknown once: publishers are looking for writing which will sell and if yours is good enough, you're going to get published.

But you're right to make college your priority. That's very important.

I've just begun submitting my own literary novel. I think what's difficult at this early stage is knowing whether there's anything wrong with my query (which is about to hit SYW Query Hell and face the squirrels), or whether it's simply the market's view on LF from a debut author. I'm giving the opening pages a second look, as well, to make them more inviting, if possible, but I don't know if I'm just fixing a bunch of things that aren't the crux of the problem.

It doesn't hurt to polish the query and sample pages, but at the same time, if it's more a matter of the market and just plugging away until I find that right agent, I could be spending that polish time on the next book.

Anyway, I feel your dilemma, folks. Will report back if I get any bites. It's too early to know.

ultimate_manifesto said:

This might sound like it's out of left field, but does anyone have an opinion as to whether a 1st person story/novel sells better/worse than a third person one?

I personally think third person is a better mode for literary stories, but that's just my opinion, and I was wondering if there was a preference in the publishing world.

Click to expand...

How about both in the same story? Whatever works, whatever the story demands, do it, and don't worry about whether it will sell or not. I don't think POV plays much into a publishing house's decision to buy, or their idea of projected sales - it just matters if it's a good book. If you prefer 3rd person, then write 3rd; don't write 1st if you hear that the industry likes that better or whatever, because if you aren't true to yourself, it will come across in the writing.