American Publishing Termed 'Worst And Most Dangerous' By Writer

publishingperspectives.com:

Yes, Random House children's division is going to be selling the rights to Modelland, a three part YA series that "that combines the fashion world with dystopian fantasy." It's author: Tyra Banks. It may not be the most highbrow series of books that will be sold at this year's fair, but does this make American publishing "dangerous?"

Read the whole story: publishingperspectives.com

Comments

[Berlusca]

06:31 PM on 10/03/2010

Dangerous? Yes, effectively. The US industry's attempt to increase profits by utterly abandoning substance, quality and uniqueness for form, volume and imitation has contributed not a little to the dwindling of it's own market, (ie, people who actually read - not glance over - prose stories,) as has the lamentable (and recently imitated) structure of MegaMacMediaBookStores telling publishers that then tell agents what king of diary-of-a-vampire-nerd-and-his-pet-dragon-mystery manuscript to accept. But the arrival of digital media - and it's implied new ways to create and distribute story - does have a huge potential to undue much of that done damage.

[LaFilleEnRose]

03:35 PM on 10/02/2010

We only need to look at blogs of literary agents...those matchmakers who hook up writers with publishers...to grasp that there is something wrong in the publishing industry. These blogs are filled withwhat publishers are looking for -- and that is, something similar to an already successful genre.

However this tendency ails business in general. Senior managers tend to look to what has already proven successful as a measure of any suggestion/plan. So, if one vampire book does well, or one advertising campaign, or one fresh new technology, well, then, lets create another version of that and stay away from the untried.

JK Rowlings and her books of Harry Potter fame are the perfect example. No one wanted them initially. It took the author a long time to find someone who could not only appreciate her first book's creativity, freshness, etc. but had the confidence to publish it. Why? It broke rules -- those pesky rules that evolve simply out of some other success, not out of standards of creativity and excellence. Hers was too long. Too dark. Blah blah blah. And what happened AFTER her huge success? Publishers starting seeking only dark fantasies.

You'll say that's all very well, but it's hard to take a risk. But which really is the risk? Going with the inspired. Or going with the stereotyped. American business and each senior manager has to answer that if we are to get back what made American great.