In this blog post I read about an epic fantasy panel at the World Fantasy Convention. What I liked most about the panel was when they spoke about new writers trying to break into epic fantasy. They suggested that new writers would have a harder time trying to sell the typical trilogy, and that they may be better off trying to sell stand-alone epic fantasies, though each book may still reside within the same make-believe world.
Hey, this is what I am already doing! I have five stories prepared within the fantasy world that I created, and I expect I will come up with many more. All of them are so far designed as stand-alone stories. There are some characters who are the same in each, but none of the stories follow directly after another.
I didn't set out to avoid the trilogy model. I set out to write one epic fantasy. But the world I created had a whole history, or the book wouldn't have been any good, and creating that history naturally led to events in other time periods that were interesting enough to warrant books of their own.
So, I like the stone skipping analogy in that blog post. It fits nicely with what I am planning for my own fantasy world. Now if I can only get an agent or publisher to share this vision with me!
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11 hours ago
I can think of a couple science fiction series that skipped around in the same world.
ReplyDeleteThere's an agent's blog I follow and she said recently that she's been getting 1600 emails a DAY.
ReplyDeleteI can see why some agents close submissions every so often. There may be a lot of good books out there, but with so many other writers competing for agent time, it's not surprising that potentially good premises are missed.
If the query didn't pique the agent's interest in the first few sentences, she doesn't have time to read further. There are too many other writers who might hit the mark faster and more succinctly.
Manuscripts can be edited. But queries have to be near perfect.
To me, it's like trying to get a job. You might be a great employee, but if you can't present yourself well during that ten minute interview, the job will go to the guy who can--even if he turns out to be inept.
Even in romance it's the same way Ted. I have 4 books in a series, but can only query one at a time. Hopefully, I'll get an agent on one, but will be able to sell all 4 to a publisher at the same time. If they were all written, that would be sweet too. (But I don't want to wait that long for an agent.)
ReplyDeleteJust keep swimming, you'll get there, I have no doubt.
i like your idea of stand-alone books in the same world... and i wonder if the nature of high fantasy lends itself to this??
ReplyDeletefor fun, my hubs and i work off and on on this high fantasy book together. nine years of world-building togetherness fun has left us with a massive amount of unconnected bits of history leading up to the time of the story. but it's funny because i think there may be more actual writing in the unconnected bits than in the actual story... actually i'm certain of that.
but i wonder if that comes with the history needed for high fantasy... does that make sense? i'm feeling convoluted this morning... need caffiene! :)
Victoria, I love people writing within the same fantasy world. One of my favorite series was Thieves' World, which used a lot of famous fantasy writers to all do short stories set within the same fantasy city. It would be great to do that someday.
ReplyDeleteI think that's a smart way to go, Ted--that way the order people read them doesn't matter--they can pick up any one in the collection and then follow up with your others.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard numbers like 1600 a day--holy CRAP! Suppose I should keep nurturing the relationship with an agent I HAVE--figure out what she'd like me to clean up instead of stubbornly sticking with my personal favorites...
I think stand-alones are better to start with, maybe with the option of going duo/trilogy. If one book doesn't sell, why do they want to publish up two more, and most times the author is selling one book and the promise of two more.
ReplyDelete- Eric
That's an excellent idea. I've had similar thoughts in the world I created; rather than follow 'the hero' for 3 or 4 novels, find out what's going on to others (it's a big world, after all). It's a damn good idea, and I fully support it :)
ReplyDeleteIt does seem like a no-brainer. It even gives me the option of several different historical points in time from which I could do a trilogy if a publisher later wanted to.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome Ted. If you can just keep at it and get one of them sold, the rest should fall into place very nicely.
ReplyDeleteCool. I've been thinking about doing this, a separate story for another novel in the same world, but not connected directly. What a timely post for me, thanks!
ReplyDeleteHey, Ted. I came across a new publisher on Twitter today that's looking for fantasy novels and thought of you: http://www.candlemarkandgleam.com/
ReplyDeleteCyndi
I have a similar ambition, more serial than series, like Indiana Jones or Dresdon Files, because I hate waiting for the next installment, and it's irritating to find something interesting in the used book store or bargain bin by an unknown, only to find that it's a Book III in a series. With this plan, people won't be so discouraged by the scope of the work if they don't need to find two more books to enjoy the one they just found!
ReplyDeleteExactly, Will! People can pick up any of our books and be just fine.
ReplyDelete