So, in the brief interim between finishing a first draft and starting revisions, a funny concern has risen to mind. Actually, it's been there for a while, but I pushed it to the back when I was scrambling to finish the first draft, realizing how irrelevant it was at the moment. Now though, the draft is done, and onward the thought comes...
I'm having doubts about my title.
I love my title. It's one of those moody, evocative things that came to me in a dream, and it's unique (I did a search and everything to prove it!) But I worry it may convey the wrong idea to readers and, subsequently, turn some of them off. The book is science fantasy, and "faith" being one of the two words in the title will, I fear, turn off some of the more science fiction-biased readers away, if the fantastic content doesn't.
The book does include some supernatural creatures and events, but I fear that broadcasting that word across the cover may make it seem much more preachy or heavy-handed than it is. Don't get me wrong, I'm a religious person and it's natural that my work will touch on themes of faith and spirituality. One of the two major characters is very religious, and the other takes the existence of the supernatural stuff almost for granted, as a given in their world. But these are just the characters and the way they view their world; there are no attempts to proselytize, no beating over the head. I am far from the first SFF writer to include spiritual themes, creatures, or events in their work. There's not enough there to make the book more suited for a religious publisher than a mainstream one, and I believe the book could be accessible and enjoyable to many people, regardless of their religious conviction or lack thereof. The "faith" in the title is more of a reference to the religious character, who claims she is capable of seeing "everything"--including the future and the course the two must follow through the book--and whether her faith is founded in anything else and whether the other character should have faith in her.
So now I ponder: should I change it to dispel false preconceptions and make it more accessible? Find a less loaded synonym, though the title won't have the same flow? Let an agent/potential publisher worry about it, and figure they'll change it for me? I'm inclined toward the latter unless I think of a better title in the meantime. This assumes a certain amount of trust that an agent won't get hung up on the title, either, but it's my job as the writer to craft a strong query that will hook them no matter what the title is. And in that case, I've got nearly a year to worry about it, since I decided not to begin querying until I finish grad school next May. By then, I could have another book I want to query more, or at least first. Hmm. Things to ponder.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Finishing the first draft and smelling the sweet scent of success
So if you couldn't guess from the title of this post, I finished the first draft of my latest novel just now. The feeling of accomplishment just can't be beat! My spirits are especially jubilant for a few reasons:
What about you? What do you do to celebrate?
- Though it's still too long for what it is, the overage is not too extreme and I have no doubts that it can be tightened up. This is real progress because, if you have not guessed, I am very wordy.
- There are lots of things to add or fix, but I feel pretty aware of the novel's faults and imagine these are all minor and cosmetic, rather than huge structural issues.
- I started writing it in a pretty low point in my life, but still finished it well ahead of my self-imposed deadline. I think I'll be able to finish the revisions in time, too.
What about you? What do you do to celebrate?
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Literary Orange starting up again!
Literary Orange 2011 was just about two months ago now, but it is already time to get started on next year's event! Tomorrow's the first meeting for the author committee, and I'm psyched to begin once again.
Yep, that's right. We start our recruitment of authors nearly a year in advance. If you'd asked me three years ago how long it took to plan an author panel, I would have guessed a couple of months. But it takes a year! A year! And we're still a fairly small festival. I can't imagine how it works out for bigger events like the LA Festival of Books or San Diego Comic-Con. (Of course, they have more money and prestige than we have, and can probably attract many more authors that way.)
Why does it take us a year? First we have to decide on which panels we would like to have, then come up with a list of potential authors for each one. Invites go out to the first batch, and some authors respond right away. Others take a little longer, caught up in writing or promotion or vacation. Some say no, unable to attend because of other events, travel expenses, or any number of reasons. So we send out more invites, modify our list of panels if necessary, and continue on from there until September. At that point we try to have our authors locked in so the committees for publicity, event planning, web design, event programs, and so on can ramp up their work.
We've had good results from this, though. Last year we reached max capacity and got excellent feedback from attendees. We got more media coverage than ever before, and had a broader diversity of panels and speakers. I got the opportunity to moderate another panel with some of my favorite authors. So if you're in southern California and free next April 14, I would encourage attending! And if there's anything you want to see, let me know and I'll pass along the word.
Yep, that's right. We start our recruitment of authors nearly a year in advance. If you'd asked me three years ago how long it took to plan an author panel, I would have guessed a couple of months. But it takes a year! A year! And we're still a fairly small festival. I can't imagine how it works out for bigger events like the LA Festival of Books or San Diego Comic-Con. (Of course, they have more money and prestige than we have, and can probably attract many more authors that way.)
Why does it take us a year? First we have to decide on which panels we would like to have, then come up with a list of potential authors for each one. Invites go out to the first batch, and some authors respond right away. Others take a little longer, caught up in writing or promotion or vacation. Some say no, unable to attend because of other events, travel expenses, or any number of reasons. So we send out more invites, modify our list of panels if necessary, and continue on from there until September. At that point we try to have our authors locked in so the committees for publicity, event planning, web design, event programs, and so on can ramp up their work.
We've had good results from this, though. Last year we reached max capacity and got excellent feedback from attendees. We got more media coverage than ever before, and had a broader diversity of panels and speakers. I got the opportunity to moderate another panel with some of my favorite authors. So if you're in southern California and free next April 14, I would encourage attending! And if there's anything you want to see, let me know and I'll pass along the word.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Not enough female SFF writers? Well, how can we get more?
So everyone saw the Guardian piece last week about the results of their poll of readers' favorite SF novels, yes? If not, it's worth a read here. Author Nicola Griffiths went through the suggestions and found, out of more than 500 suggestions, only 18 female authors. General horror and many thought-provoking suggestions ensued. I got to thinking, "What can be done about it?"
It's a slightly different issue than including female characters, or characters of color, or characters of different faiths or orientations or political opinions. We're talking authors here. How can we solve this problem? The easiest answer, of course, is to support female authors by buying their books. If we can't afford to buy them, we create demand at libraries so they will buy them. Libraries buy an unbelievable number of books, so this will help catch the attention of publishers. Every sale counts.
But it's also important for us women to write. And for those of us within SFF fandom, we have to make people take us seriously. Too many times have I seen stereotypes about the SFF fandom come true. I have witnessed an undercurrent of "this is a boy's world" in many of the conventions and various events I've attended. At the best, it seems female authors were accepted, but with the idea that most of their work is for women; girls will read anyone, but guys only read guys. I've had male friends ask me for reading recommendations, and watched their eyes light up as I described a book, only for it to fade when I mention the author's invariably feminine name. It's disheartening. Frankly, it's bull. It seems like only aggressive tactics will work, but I can't just force everyone I encounter to read a few pages until they get sucked up by the story and forget the author's gender.
Still, we have to push. Suggest female authors when we can. Tell them Justine Musk's novels are just as gritty as anything else they'd want to read. Tell them N.K. Jemisin and Ursula LeGuin craft words and worlds just as complex and beautifully as any male SFF writer. I really, really hope Mira Grant wins the Hugo this year, because being able to tell guys that a woman wrote a kick-ass zombie book that was voted the best SFF novel of the year would be incredible.
I'm just not sure how much of a solution this is. I feel like it's what many of us have been doing anyway. I do so just because I don't care what gender the author is so long as the story is good. I try to have an awareness of who's writing what just so I can make recommendations, especially if I ever start working in the public library sphere where I'm more likely to get asked for fiction titles. (Most people asking for fiction in the academic world already have specific books in mind.)
And I can try to make it as a SFF writer myself, to be the change, and hope to increase that count to 19. But that's a few years away at best, and I'm aware that some of my success may be based on how saleable publishers think my name is, which is partially dependent on how well other women sell in the genre--another reason we should support these authors. I was thrilled to see how many men attended the fantasy panel at Literary Orange this year, since our line-up was all women. But I want more ideas I can implement now to raise the visibility of female SFF authors and get people reading their works. I'll just feel like I'm rambling, my voice echoing in the dark, until then.
It's a slightly different issue than including female characters, or characters of color, or characters of different faiths or orientations or political opinions. We're talking authors here. How can we solve this problem? The easiest answer, of course, is to support female authors by buying their books. If we can't afford to buy them, we create demand at libraries so they will buy them. Libraries buy an unbelievable number of books, so this will help catch the attention of publishers. Every sale counts.
But it's also important for us women to write. And for those of us within SFF fandom, we have to make people take us seriously. Too many times have I seen stereotypes about the SFF fandom come true. I have witnessed an undercurrent of "this is a boy's world" in many of the conventions and various events I've attended. At the best, it seems female authors were accepted, but with the idea that most of their work is for women; girls will read anyone, but guys only read guys. I've had male friends ask me for reading recommendations, and watched their eyes light up as I described a book, only for it to fade when I mention the author's invariably feminine name. It's disheartening. Frankly, it's bull. It seems like only aggressive tactics will work, but I can't just force everyone I encounter to read a few pages until they get sucked up by the story and forget the author's gender.
Still, we have to push. Suggest female authors when we can. Tell them Justine Musk's novels are just as gritty as anything else they'd want to read. Tell them N.K. Jemisin and Ursula LeGuin craft words and worlds just as complex and beautifully as any male SFF writer. I really, really hope Mira Grant wins the Hugo this year, because being able to tell guys that a woman wrote a kick-ass zombie book that was voted the best SFF novel of the year would be incredible.
I'm just not sure how much of a solution this is. I feel like it's what many of us have been doing anyway. I do so just because I don't care what gender the author is so long as the story is good. I try to have an awareness of who's writing what just so I can make recommendations, especially if I ever start working in the public library sphere where I'm more likely to get asked for fiction titles. (Most people asking for fiction in the academic world already have specific books in mind.)
And I can try to make it as a SFF writer myself, to be the change, and hope to increase that count to 19. But that's a few years away at best, and I'm aware that some of my success may be based on how saleable publishers think my name is, which is partially dependent on how well other women sell in the genre--another reason we should support these authors. I was thrilled to see how many men attended the fantasy panel at Literary Orange this year, since our line-up was all women. But I want more ideas I can implement now to raise the visibility of female SFF authors and get people reading their works. I'll just feel like I'm rambling, my voice echoing in the dark, until then.
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