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/lit/ - Literature

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6102754 No.6102754 [Reply] [Original]

How comes that many of the patricians out here can't get published but someone like E.L. James or Stephenie Meyer can?

>> No.6102759

>patricians
>out here

You mean on /lit ? You're going to have to try harder, OP.

>> No.6102766

The so-called patricians on /lit/ are pretentious, deluded plebs.

>> No.6102774

These are two separate questions with two separate answers.

The first,
>How comes that many of the patricians out here can't get published

Is mostly because "many of the patricians out here" spend most of their time not writing. 40 unfinished "works" they never even tried to publish because that would require actually sitting down and writing it to completion.

>someone like E.L. James or Stephenie Meyer can

It requires no magic nor skill to be published. Particularly with the internet, literally anyone can reach an audience. James and Meyer know what average women want to read, and they supply it. If you read their books, you'll see it took no great skill to write. But they did finish them.

>> No.6102780

>>6102759
I'm just saying that some of the people on this board are more well read than some of those "authors" that we have today.

>> No.6102860

>>6102780
its because its not about being good, its about being commercially appealing. The published doesnt give a shit about how well read you are or your artistic integrity. They want something that will sell and be made into a movie

>> No.6102870

>>6102780
Being well-read as little to do with being a good writer (most good writer are somewhat well-read, but the reverse is mostly not true). Otherwise Harold Bloom would be a way better writer than Shakespeare.

>> No.6102881

Although the points made itt on commercialization and knowing what the audience wants are fair, you should remember that most people on /lit, including some of the most patricians, can't write anything without being either obtuse as fuck or bland as cum.

>> No.6102885

>>6102860
Don't you think that's sad? Aren't we living in a bad time to be a writer?

>> No.6102915
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6102915

Do any of you Anons ever wonder how literary fiction survives at all? Like how does New Directions or Dalkey Archive break even? I remember this DFW interview where he compared literature's "Fandom" to that of contemporary Classical and said that there were probably half a million to a million Americans who were into it (lit or contemporary classical) Where did all these hundreds of thousands of readers come from? I mean we've all seen stats like this:

http://www.statisticbrain.com/reading-statistics/

who are the outliers who read like a good /lit/izen, and how did they become this way?

>> No.6102964

>>6102754
Simple answer. Corruption in the publishing industry.

>> No.6103003

>>6102881
Actually, most people on /lit/ just can't write.

>> No.6103012

>>6102915
>how does dalkey archive break even
because i spent 40 bux on the recognitions
most books published by them are quite expensive

>> No.6103072

>>6102754
It's quite simple, really. The answer is just money. Just that. If an editor doesn't think your writings will sell, then it doesn't matter how good it is.
After all, it is just another industry.

>> No.6103232

>>6102885
i do think its sad man. I really do. Honestly though, i dont write with the intent of getting published. I write for the fun of showing my friends and expressing these ideas i have. Being a published professional writer would be cool though.

>> No.6103313

>>6102915
Those statistics are pretty brutal. But still, 58% of colleges graduates keep reading after college, if only 10% are into "serious" lit, that's already quite something given how many people go to college nowadays. Plus you have the students, and the regular.

>> No.6103323

>>6102885
Perhaps we live in good time to write for oneself and one's friends. The whole "published serious author" dream is mostly a vanity fest anyway. It used to be a glorious, and profound vanity, a pride even, but now ? Unless you want to finish like those poor saps who are trapped in the social circles of the NYT, not wanting to be published is better for you. And perhaps also for your writing.

>> No.6103404

>>6102915
Another thing to consider is many publishing housed will produce work they truly "believe in" as long as they predict it will at least break even.

Some high brow books are a risk, no matter what you think, but they also add to the prestige of a publishing house.

If your publishing house is producing work that is winning awards and is still seen as a beacon of literature it adds to the prestige of all the work.

Many art forms have analogous aspects. Galleries that will deal in higher price works often dont sell them very often, but you will hang a couple 1-4 milli paintings up because the 100k paintings in the same room are suddenly in a peer group with truly expensive taste.


also i'm sure literary agents are always looking for their holy grail. their "trophy"; "I found X, the modern classic!"