This is very good, and caused me to subscribe here and to your blog. I completely agree with your take on the publishing industry. I haven't tried publishing yet myself ... am still on my first draft ... but mine is set in the 11th-12th centuries and an agent I pitched already said publishers only want "x" time period and it's not that. They only want books of a narrow time period that has previously sold well, as if readers want to read only over and over of one period in time. It's infuriating and I'm looking forward to your efforts to experiment with new (old) ways. Good luck!
I hear you, Donna. I don't know if people's tastes are really that narrow, but I can't help feeling that the publishing industry would prefer it if they were, and are quite happy to reinforce such narrow tastes, making them narrower still. Here's hoping the audience eventually gets sick of Tudors and WWII and suddenly demands the 8th century and the 11th!
I'm loving this so far! And it takes me back to the archaeological excavation I participated in on Lindisfarne (Holy Island) a few years ago in search of the original monastery raided by those vikings (we didn't have any luck, but made some interesting finds nonetheless...) A fascinating setting for a novel!
Oh, that is so cool! I had an archeologist friend when I was in grad school, but I never got to go on a dig. I would love to go on a dig at Lindisfarne. One of my favorite places in the world.
yeah, it's wonderful there! i studied archaeology but went into a different career, so now i do it for fun whenever i can. this group crowdfunds their digs by letting volunteers join in, and they go to Lindisfarne every year (this year looks to be booked up, but there's always next year :-)
This is very good, and caused me to subscribe here and to your blog. I completely agree with your take on the publishing industry. I haven't tried publishing yet myself ... am still on my first draft ... but mine is set in the 11th-12th centuries and an agent I pitched already said publishers only want "x" time period and it's not that. They only want books of a narrow time period that has previously sold well, as if readers want to read only over and over of one period in time. It's infuriating and I'm looking forward to your efforts to experiment with new (old) ways. Good luck!
I hear you, Donna. I don't know if people's tastes are really that narrow, but I can't help feeling that the publishing industry would prefer it if they were, and are quite happy to reinforce such narrow tastes, making them narrower still. Here's hoping the audience eventually gets sick of Tudors and WWII and suddenly demands the 8th century and the 11th!
I really enjoyed chapter one, Mark. I am looking forward to the next chapter.
Thanks Mark. Coming next Saturday!
I'm loving this so far! And it takes me back to the archaeological excavation I participated in on Lindisfarne (Holy Island) a few years ago in search of the original monastery raided by those vikings (we didn't have any luck, but made some interesting finds nonetheless...) A fascinating setting for a novel!
Oh, that is so cool! I had an archeologist friend when I was in grad school, but I never got to go on a dig. I would love to go on a dig at Lindisfarne. One of my favorite places in the world.
yeah, it's wonderful there! i studied archaeology but went into a different career, so now i do it for fun whenever i can. this group crowdfunds their digs by letting volunteers join in, and they go to Lindisfarne every year (this year looks to be booked up, but there's always next year :-)
https://digventures.com/projects/lindisfarne/