tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35866870.post5876330197845290990..comments2023-12-20T02:09:03.416-06:00Comments on Redemption Road: History Repeats.... picking the bestsellers of tomorrowMerry Monteleonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09435956005780500310noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35866870.post-17146688050507520352009-02-21T13:32:00.000-06:002009-02-21T13:32:00.000-06:00Personal responsibility has been bread out of a lo...<I>Personal responsibility has been bread out of a lot of people </I><BR/><BR/>Oops, that was supposed to be "bred", obviously... no yeast necessary. :-)Merry Monteleonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09435956005780500310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35866870.post-39836131711122598112009-02-21T13:29:00.000-06:002009-02-21T13:29:00.000-06:00Hi Shelly,I think you're right about the sarcastic...Hi Shelly,<BR/><BR/>I think you're right about the sarcastic edge... collectively, the tastes in literature have changed a great deal over the years, and I think a lot of the better selling literature combines an excellent grasp of language with fast-paced story and wit.<BR/><BR/>I don't think you can use any of this kind of information to pick out a story to write that's a guaranteed seller... I don't really believe in formulas. I could be wrong, but I think the better selling fiction is well-written, has a message that's paramount to the author, and hits that lucky place where society is collectively on the same page.<BR/><BR/>The thing most have in common is great writing. And that doesn't necessarily mean high brow or elite literary skills... it means the author has the ability to connect in a way large segments of the population can identify with... communication is less about impressing and more about being understood.<BR/><BR/>I can't judge my own writing at all... which might explain the lack of publishing credits... then again, I do very little with short fiction and maybe I should have been spending more time on those submissions.<BR/><BR/>Hi Mary,<BR/><BR/>No, this is definitely not the depression. Actually, I'm not looking forward to the hardships in the next few years, because I think there will be some... but at the same time, I really think it's almost Darwinian and necessary. Society had a collective mindset of too much emphasis on living above their means and material possessions trumping everything. Personal responsibility has been bread out of a lot of people in my generation and under... I think we needed a wake up call. Besides, the housing prices were ridiculous. It's terrible that so many people are losing large portions of the worth of their homes, but if it kept accelerating at that rate, the next generation would be hard pressed to buy a shack, even on what should be a professional salary. <BR/><BR/>It'll come back around. I think we'll all be better off if people got back to basics and remembered what's really important.Merry Monteleonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09435956005780500310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35866870.post-41859309940509199742009-02-21T11:37:00.000-06:002009-02-21T11:37:00.000-06:00I can't predict what readers are going to want eit...I can't predict what readers are going to want either. Will people want a message of hope? Will they want to read about others who've gone through harder times, or will they take refuge in fantasy? It does interest me that all the bestsellers of the Depression years had a message of hope -- and survival against great odds.<BR/><BR/>You are so right about this being different from the Depression. Both of my parents lived through the Depression and I've heard their stories. God forbid we ever find out what it was really like.Mary Witzlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06458299046574564155noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35866870.post-24729772173719542492009-02-20T19:44:00.000-06:002009-02-20T19:44:00.000-06:00I have no real prediction for what is going to wor...I have no real prediction for what is going to work in terms of genre, either. I kind of think that whatever sells in the next few years will be about survival, as you say, but it is also going to have a big of a sarcastic edge to it. One way or another, I think you are right that good writing and audience resonance always work. Understanding where we are will help the writer put together a piece that is not only of good quality, but also salable.<BR/><BR/>I am not always good at predicting which pieces of my own work others will like. It seems like, if I send in 5 poems, I might think one is the most likely to get rejected, and then it will be the only one of the lot accepted. (That just happened recently.) It can be hard to figure out, especially because we are often too close to our own writing, but I figure you just have to keep sending work out there, tweaking it when it needs it, and sending it again.<BR/><BR/>Of course that's all talking about poetry. Which is just another way of saying that the best seller list isn't something my work would ever see. :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com