Re: Who's doing short fiction?

Catja Pafort wrote:
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <seawasp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Catja Pafort wrote:

Oz as in 'the franchise'? If so, this might not be a saleable
proposition.
Public domain is my friend. The 14 original Oz books (which are all
that I use for background) entered public domain quite a while back (the
last of them in, IIRC, 1985). There is a small market for Oziana, ranging from actual new Oz books that try to be similar to the originals, all the way to things like "Wicked".

The market might be too small and too specialised to attract an agent.

Oh, I wouldn't be using that for an agent hunt. I'm not even sure I *WANT* to sell this one. It's the only thing I've ever felt embarrassed about writing (well, aside from one sex scene I had to write in one fanfic). But it won't let me NOT write it. It held my other writing hostage.


Not saying that one might not with to handle it if they sign you up
_anyway_, but as the bait, you probably need your juiciest, tastiest
work.


Alas, that's almost certainly Grand Central Arena.

and the other a sequel to Grand Central Arena (the latter having been bought by Baen).
The sequel to a book already bought is also a bad proposition - it's
very difficult to get a different publisher to pick it up, so the agent
would have very little room for negotiation.

Your best bit is to put together a proposal - outline and three chapters
- of something that *isn't* related to anything Baen publishes right
now, and shop that to agents.
I could hand them Demons of the Past; that's set in the same universe
as Digital Knight, but (A) in the deep past, with relatively little connection, and (B) DK itself is OOP and if they don't reprint it very
soon reverts back to me.

Sounds like a reversal will be your friend - with a fresh novel and a
proven one that might ride on its shirt tails (or vice versa) you're
much more interesting.

The only problem with Demons is that it's a standalone. Other things in that multiverse aren't -- the Balanced Sword and the Spirit Warriors are both likely trilogies in the high fantasy vein -- but Demons is a single book. I *COULD* turn it into a trilogy -- there are plot events that could be un-backgrounded and yield more detail -- but it would definitely stop there.



--
Sea Wasp
/^\
;;;
Live Journal: http://seawasp.livejournal.com
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Whos doing short fiction?
    ... Public domain is my friend. ... The 14 original Oz books (which are all ... originals, all the way to things like "Wicked". ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: Submitting is easy once you stop thinking about it
    ... >>Did either Mellencamp or Springsteen have an agent? ... using for comparision was that he signed an initial contract when he ... offered contract, while I would hold copyright to my books, I would ... dump him when the contract negotiation came back. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: Critical Mass
    ... > Patricia C. Wrede wrote: ... > two books a year, a considerable amount of time; ... > - sent agent RTF version. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: The Star Wars Novels
    ... But I want to be sure and read originals. ... The whole 6 movie arc is from an original concept by George Lucas. ... under the assumption that the movies were adapted from the books, ... decided to return to making Star Wars movies, ...
    (alt.fan.starwars)
  • Re: Books most deserving of a hardcover edition
    ... What are the best books only produced as paperback originals, ... SFBC, or private press)? ... publisher OEM and sends them out. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)