That's good news. I loved Susan Hill's article about the last competition in the Guardian (?) a few weeks back.

Emma

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The article must still be in the Guardian archive, for anyone who wants a few ideas of what they're looking for.

Brilliant tip, thanks Emma. I chased down the Guardian article, and it's here:

http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/generalfiction/story/0,,1582150,00.html

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Susan pulls no punches! But that's got to be a good thing.

That's really good news about the interview, Anna. I'll look forward to reading it.

Have just read this article - ouch! Out of 3741 submissions, she only asked to read 7 in full.
Gave a short list of books one should read...I've never heard of Tristram Shandy...?

Sammy

Erm, reading that perhaps it isn't for me...

My book is written in present tense and first person narrative...oh dear...

Well, I've always said that reading anything of any length in present tense makes me feel as if I'm being hit over the head with a teaspoon. On the other hand, a good third of my current novel seems to be, at the moment, written in... yes, you've guessed.

Depends how and why you do it, I suppose. I don't think present tense should be a default mode, any more than any other aspect of your writing should be un-thought-about, except possibly that you write left-to-right and top-to-bottom, and that it's in English unless you're bilingual). Everything else you should do for a reason.

Emma

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And Tristram Shandy is a hoot. This may be heresy, but you don't need to finish it to get the general idea, though there's more to be gained if you do.

My immediate reaction to this post was suspicion, but that Guardian interview turned it around. It's good to see small publishers doing well. Considering the kind of novels that made the top 7, I am fairly confident my stuff will be out of the running Unless you suddenly fancy taking a leap with teenage sci-fi (shit, when I put it like that, even I lose interest!! I'll have to pitch it as post modern fantasy )

Very interesting to hear that agents snubbed the competition. What do they do, try four big publishing houses and give up?

Colin M

Lola, please don't feel that because your book is written in the first person present tense that it's not worth sending it in, I agree totally with Emma's comments about it, and it certainly wouldn't be dismissed solely because of the tense you have chosen to use.

Colin-M - I'd be interested to hear why you were initially suspicious of this?

Is the entire industry only driven by genre then? I read it was, and that a budding writer needs to define her genre else forget it. I guess it makes it easier if you're sifting through 10 billion manuscripts!!!

Jess – not having a go by the way. This sounds really interesting though and fair play to you for posting it on here. I wish more publishers were like you!

Anyway, I might send you something (I know, I’m just too kind) but I just worry that my chosen “genre” is still waiting to appear to me in some moment of Divine inspiration.

I’m still writing stuff I enjoy at the moment, regardless of what genre it is (hopeless probably) - silly old fashioned (not to mention selfish) me!



Regards


DS

hi Davy Skyflyer - where did you read the comments on genre that you mention?

This sounds like a great opportunity and I think it's very brave of a publisher to do it (much as we would all like to think our books should be published, I bet there is tons of dross that gets touted too!). Little daunting to think of how many go for it, but definitely worth trying. Thanks, Jess, for posting.

Little daunting to think of how many go for it,

It's the same with any publisher, isn't it? And there is plenty of competition; that's why what you send in has got to be worked on until it's great.

Best of luck to anyone who's brave enough to give it a go.

Thanks for the opportunity, Jess.

Nik.

The industry's driven by genre, yes - they have to think in categories because they try to supply things that the reader knows they want, and labels are the only way. Unfortunately, books don't label easily. The better the book, the more irrelevant the label. Genre is absolutely central to - say - M&B romance, but you can hardly park William Golding under 'historical'.

I think you should write the book you absolutely have to write, because that's your best book, and it's only your best book that's going to get anywhere. It's noticeable in the flurry of recent WW publishing deals that all those books are ones that the authors, it seems to me, have been absolutely, irresistibly driven to write, and re-write, and re-write again, and the hell with the labels.

Call me an unrealistic purist (or a preachy and sentimetal old bat) but I do believe that if someone says a novel doesn't fit into a genre, it's because the novel isn't convincing enough in its not-fittingness. In other words, it's not good enough. If what happens is written so well that it seems absolutely, compellingly, skin-shiveringly inevitable, it'll sell. That's when the book trade smites its collective brow and says, 'Well, who'd have thought a detective story with an autistic adolescent detective would capture every heart in the country?' Answer: the author did.

Emma

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Colin - I think they try more than one editor at each of the eight big publishing houses, and unless they get a blanket dismissal that makes them decide it's not a goer, then the six or eight big independents, and then the small independents, and then they give up.

Nik,
It's the same with any publisher, isn't it?

Well, yes and no, because in this case the publisher is essentially opening its doors. Although not everyone knows about agents and not sending straight to publishers etc these days, a hell of a lot us DO know, don't we? So they probably don't get anything like the number they used to get.....

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Ha! What a risible attempt at a quote box! If anyone can enlighten me what I did wrong, I'd be grateful!

It was in a book called "Novel Writing" I think by...an agent! Can't remember, I've got it knocking aorund at home and was reading it the other day.

Soz, I know this isn't much help. Basically there is a whole section where the author defines genre, under various sub-sections and everything is kind of inter-related. Then at the end it says choose your favourite. Okay, so you choose fantasy (for example, as we all know as a genre in Britain it's as dead as Findus, the Warlock of Riverfell Mountain - that's very by the way) and do your research - off down the local Waterstones etc. You find fantasy is dead, unless you include tortured teenage wizards and goblins with bazookas, so you either write something in that vein, hoping to hit a zeitgeist with the agents, or you change to another "hip" genre that shares the same characteristics, so in our case, we see what we like about fantasy, say, stupid names and beardy magicians, and see what is currently in. So, well, let me see, so we change that into "Zandor's Diary": a contemparary tale of an old washed up wizard trying to make his way in metrosexual London, complete with one huge beard. He writes a diary:

"Monday 24th: Saw Zeldreth today, but couldn't muster up the majika to approach her. Wish I was more like Gandalf!!!

Mother rang - oh God, another engagement party. Zorrodrel getting hitched! Always had a crush on her. Better start looking for a new robe..."

Er...or something...

Anyway, so I'll find that book and let you know Jess!



Luv

DS

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Oops - this is for Jess, soz when I started the reply there was no other comments other than Jess' question!