Genre Fiction Writing Convention - Impressions

[MWagner]

I attended a local convention for genre fiction on the weekend. Around five hundred attendees and dozens of seminars, speeches, and workshops spread over three days at a hotel convention centre. It was my first time attending, and I was impressed.

The sessions I got the most out of were Live Action Slush, where attendees anonymously submit the first page or two of a work to be read out loud in front of a panel of editors and published writers. The panel members assume the role of slush pile readers, and raise their hands at the point they would stop reading and move on to something else, then offer their criticisms. Thoughts:

• Speculative genre fiction has become remarkably diverse. Urban fantasy is huge. Paranormal horror, fantasy noir, humorous scif-fi, romantic history, YA of every stripe - any possible genre mishmash you could imagine was in evidence.

• Young protagonists and modern settings. These two elements were very common. Lots of students as POV characters.

• Overtly clever voices. Seems many writers are trying to mimic the bantering tone and quips of characters from TV and movies. This is very tough to pull off.

• Immediate story. The story has to kick off with all its essential elements - character, conflict, and story question - not in the first chapter, or even the first page, but in the first two paragraphs. This was the takeaway from the judges gonging most of the entries by the fourth or fifth sentence.

• Ruthless judging. The judges, especially the editors, upheld severe standards. Of the sixty or so manuscript openings I heard over four sessions, only about eight made it through without being stopped. This was all to the good, as it kept the proceedings moving, and demonstrated the high standards for professional publication. And the criticisms were often laugh-out-loud funny. However, it raised the question of how many popular novels would make the cut. Apparently, when this exercise has been carried out at other conventions, they've seeded the pile with openings from popular books and they almost always get gonged.

• Historical fantasy prose. The quality of the prose in the Historical Fantasy session was markedly better than the others I attended (Sci-Fi, High Fantasy, Misc), though that didn't safeguard the submissions from being stopped for other reasons. Worth noting that the historical fantasy writers were generally a fair bit older, too.

I submitted the opening of my WIP. The reader got through about half a page before it was stopped for not having presented a story question yet (it was in the next paragraph!). The judges, (including Diana Gabaldon) did all comment that it was well-written, which took some of the sting out.

Another highlight was a session on pitches and query letters offered by one of the seniors from a major Canadian agency. Genuinely useful stuff tips, though the numbers are sobering: four hundred submissions a month, of which two or three impress enough for the agents to request a manuscript. Of the thirty or so unsigned writers a year who get to that stage, five or six are signed. And that's just getting an agent.

I was surprised by the scope of the convention. Five hundred aspiring writers (it was standing room only at many seminars), and two hundred panellists and presenters who were almost all local writers with some kind of publication history under their belts. It just shows the scope of the democratization of the genre fiction world.

 

[Toby Frost]

Interesting observations. And congratulations on getting that far. It sounds like your entry was well ahead of most. Thanks for posting this. Was the event in the US?

 

[MWagner]

In Canada.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

Great insight, thank you.

 

[Zebra Wizard]

I know this may seem silly to some. But I really don't understand the way these people sort through submissions.

If I was in charge of a publishing company, I would first and foremost be looking for books that would sell big, ones with hooks and the types where people would highly recommend, you can't judge that from one page or even the first chapter (Plenty authors had to re-write/add or change their beginning completely.

The many of the biggest selling books are from ones who got rejected countless times.

I'm not a person who has gotten rejected a ton (still starting) so this isn't just a rambling from a bitter soul. I just thought, that if i paid someone to find me the next best thing, I expect them to do a thorough job and not just throw things away because they are basically too lazy.

 

[MWagner]

I know this may seem silly to some. But I really don't understand the way these people sort through submissions.

If I was in charge of a publishing company, I would first and foremost be looking for books that would sell big, ones with hooks and the types where people would highly recommend, you can't judge that from one page or even the first chapter (Plenty authors had to re-write/add or change their beginning completely.

The many of the biggest selling books are from ones who got rejected countless times.

It's a numbers game, and they only have so much bandwidth. As the agent told us, the only way the publishing industry survives in even its marginally viable state is because everyone involved does the work of two people. From the way she talked, if the editors had to read even six or seven pages of each submission, they would simply be swamped and never catch up. These agencies aren't big places. We're talking six or seven people of varying degrees of responsibility, who spend most of their time working with the clients they already have signed. And they have 100 submissions a week to go through as a small part of their job, which is presumably handled by a couple of the junior staff because the seniors spend their time dealing with high earning (and high maintenance) clients.

And to be fair, the people on the Live Action Slush panel did say that they would give genuine submissions more consideration, and stick with a manuscript until it had three strikes against it. If a story is compelling they can work with the writer on prose ticks, or if the writing is strong they might read on to see if the story picks up. For the purposes of the exercise they were being extraordinarily strict so they could get through more submissions. One author joked to the most ruthless fellow panelist that none of the 14 novels he had published would have gotten past her.

Also, most of the submissions were not anywhere close to being ready for prime time. A shocking number of them were rejected for the basic blunder of the main character describing her own features, or the eye colour of everyone walking past. Or pretty fundamental issues of point of view. And while the panellists admitted that editing and publishing is often subjective, the most common gaffes were so obvious that the arms of all four panellists would shoot up at the same time.

 

[ctg]

I expect them to do a thorough job and not just throw things away because they are basically too lazy.

Don't say too lazy. They are busy on finding a winner, the next big thing. That is what they get paid for and that's what majority of the market will look into. Besides the point it's not easy to judge, and provide useful critique. People are so different. In the industry, a lot of people went through academic course to get a regular job, and they know that they need to get their next paycheck or they won't survive, unlike some writers who go painfully deep on their voyage through the sea of publishing. It used to be that the only ports open were the publishers, but these days, if you look out there, you see much more openness than what it used to be. Then again, a lot of book shops has disappeared from the street scene.

 

[Zebra Wizard]

Also, most of the submissions were not anywhere close to being ready for prime time. A shocking number of them were rejected for the basic blunder of the main character describing her own features, or the eye colour of everyone walking past. Or pretty fundamental issues of point of view. And while the panellists admitted that editing and publishing is often subjective, the most common gaffes were so obvious that the arms of all four panellists would shoot up at the same time.

Maybe i am overestimating the quality of these submissions. I've heard the horror stories, but my mind just can't fathom someone sending something that honestly cannot tell is readable with flaws you just mentioned.

And it is a shame that books are on the decline, though atleast now we have Epub rising (which means super low distribution/production costs) and also rising audiobooks.

But the same thing about retailers can be applied to everything else, electronic, games and basically anything that you can get without needed to see it first.

 

[ZombieWife]

Loved reading this. I'm always fascinated by the slush stuff myself (but have never done it myself). Thanks for sharing!

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

I've always thought it would be an enjoyable job, publisher's slush-pile-reader. I think chucking out the obvious flops (unredable grammar, etc) wouldn't bother me too badly, and you pass all the really good ones on to a higher authority, so you don't have to worry about picking one that costs the company a small fortune to print and market only for no one to buy it.

 

[Susan Boulton]

I've always thought it would be an enjoyable job, publisher's slush-pile-reader. I think chucking out the obvious flops (unredable grammar, etc) wouldn't bother me too badly, and you pass all the really good ones on to a higher authority, so you don't have to worry about picking one that costs the company a small fortune to print and market only for no one to buy it.

No, it's a horrible job. I have done it for a small mag (now defunked), an anthology, and for a number of years I was a member of the Del-ray writing group. (now the http://sff.onlinewritingworkshop.com/ ) I was only reading short stories (for the mag and anthology) and short samples of work, and doing critiques to earn the points to put my own work up on group. But both gave me a twitch, that still starts when I am asked to read someone's work

 

[Ray McCarthy]

I've always thought it would be an enjoyable job, publisher's slush-pile-reader.

Like looking for a piece of thread in a haystack?
Needles are easy. Get a big magnet.
No, I'd go mad.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

Ah well. Let me keep my dreams lol!

 

[Ursa major]

Like looking for a piece of thread in a haystack?

And finding nothing** worth being published would be the last straw....


** - Which must happen most days (otherwise imprints would be publishing a lot more new novels).

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

Yes, but just imagine the buzz when you find one that stands out!

 

[Phyrebrat]

I love your positivity and idealism, @Kerrybuchanan !

pH

 

[Ursa major]

The story has to kick off with all its essential elements - character, conflict, and story question - not in the first chapter, or even the first page, but in the first two paragraphs.

It doesn't sound as if the panel is, in any way, in favour of "traditional" prologues.

 

[MWagner]

It doesn't sound as if the panel is, in any way, in favour of "traditional" prologues.

Your are correct. And of course, my WIP opens with a prologue. Fortunately, my Live Action Slush wasn't until Sunday, so I got a taste of what the panellists liked and didn't like at the LAS's I attended on Friday and Saturday (though keep in mind each one had different panellists). So after the Friday session I went home, decided to submit my chapter one instead of my prologue, and frantically revised it. Then after the session on Saturday I revised it again. By then, I really wanted my submission to make it through without getting gonged. Without feedback, writing can feel like a forlorn endeavour. So the prospect of a specific and immediate challenge was invigorating. And I did end up submitting my prologue to a blue pencil editing session, which was valuable as well.

 

[Dan Jones]

Fascinating insights, MWagner, and a clue as to just how brutal and distant the process is. Yet we keep slogging away.

It doesn't sound as if the panel is, in any way, in favour of "traditional" prologues.

For the unsolicited / unpublished writer, I guess your first couple of paragraphs have to represent dollar signs - nothing more. You're an investment, and one that carries a degree of risk, and that's just business. If you want to indulge your artistic liberty, you've either got to be a) highly successful or b) prepared to SP it. Of course, you could always be c) a genius

 

[Brian G Turner]

Great report and write up overall.

However, I'm curious about this bit:

The reader got through about half a page before it was stopped for not having presented a story question yet

What was specifically meant by this?