If you don’t know what it means to “be more commercial,” then bless you. But by the time you’re finished with this book, you will know, and you will understand why what’s most important in determining whether you get a book deal from a traditional house has nothing to do with how good your book actually is and everything to do with how commercial your book (and by extension you, your idea, your vision, your brand) is or has the potential to be.
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Thank you Brooke, for your insightful and very helpful article. My first finished work of fiction falls in the genre of literary novels. I still have not found any "takers" and its starting to bother me but reading your article has proved to me that perhaps it's not that they don't want my work but perhaps it's not commercial enough or it deals with a different background (East Indian). Anyway, I am at a point where I am seriously considering self-publishing, however, the cost involved seems astronomical since I don't earn enough (gave up a regular job to write full-time) to sink into this kind of project. Lots to think about!
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This is such an important post. It simply tells the truth.
Thank you for it.
Loved this, Brooke. May I have your permission to reprint it in my aspiring writers' Newsletter for December '16/January '17 and my social media pages?
See, I consider myself one of these "unpublishables" for very much the reasons you outlined above. Plus the fact that I adamantly refuse to budge from my métier of worldwide plots and Afro-European MCs! Ergo, I'm "not commercial but try to submit this broadly" - whatever that may mean - over and over again.
I finally decided to go Indie (for anybody interested):
USA: https:/ / www.amazon.com/ Golden-Shana-Chase-Von-KOry/ dp/ 1511638451
/ www.amazon.co.uk/ Golden-Shana-Chase-Von-KOry/ dp/ 1511638451
/ www.amazon.ca/ Golden-Shana-Chase-Von-KOry/ dp/ 1511638451
/ www.amazon.in/ Chase-Golden-Shana-Von-Kory/ dp/ 1511638451/ 254-9478980-5846962?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0
/ www.goodreads.com/ book/ show/ 25359808-golden-shana
UK: https:/
Canada: https:/
India: http:/
Goodreads: https:/
https:/ / www.wattpad.com/ myworks/ 45849485/ write/ 152572171
Thank you, Brooke, for an insightful article that precisely describes my experience this summer when I spent two intense months researching the appropriate literary agents and each's particular query requirements. After 300+ submittals the rejection letters keep trickling in even though everyone who reads my novel thinks it deserves a wider audience. Determined and after a lot of research, I opted to self-publish an e-book (which I did myself - thanks Guido! ) and am engaging in social media campaigns (check out Likable Media) to drum up enough sales to get noticed by a major publisher.
I will gladly give whatever help and advice I can to those who are thinking along the same lines.
HELL HEAVEN & IN-BETWEEN:One Woman's Journey to Finding Love is available on Amazon.
Thank you for this. Self-publishing and assisted publishing seem to be the way to go. Oh, and yes, there's "Lab Girl," too. Check it out.
https:/ / www.amazon.com/ Lab-Girl-Hope-Jahren/ dp/ 1101874937/ ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479505594&sr=8-1&keywords=lab+girl
So glad that you included H is for Hawk, a nature book. I am a nature writer and I hope that more women will get into nonfiction, which sells more books than fiction. This book is interesting to both men and women, too. A few reasons to think about adding nonfiction to your repertoire.
So frustrating and yet, the general public is more intelligent that the corporate world realizes probably because they're too busy looking down the money trail.
Thank you Brooke for these words of encouragement.
Beautifully said Brooke: I think handling the rejection and getting caught up in the number of sales is one of the most challenging things for writers. Your message of not letting it diminish the work you have done and what you have to say is very important. Thank you.