Comments on: A couple of free things

By: Kris

Kris — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:24:39 +0000

Good point, Shawn, about promotion. I spend a lot of time going over the sf section, trying to see if the book is something that interests me. Often it’s not. And reviews are generally no help because (as a reviewer recently said about my work), “it does nothing new, so I [the reviewer] am not interested.” In the other genres, reviews point the way. In sf/f they obfuscate. Wish it were different. It is better now than it was when I wrote the essay, but only marginally. Thanks for your great comments.

By: Shawn

Shawn — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:20:10 +0000

I liked the essay. I got into science fiction in the 70s as a middle-schooler, enjoying exactly the kinds of stories you say we still need … heroic fiction with the promise of the hero winning. I love humor, I love the speculation. And then in the early 90s, it started to get harder and harder to find the stories I liked. I’m not a fan of dystopian universes. Science fiction and fantasy both seemed to offer me less and less of what I’d grown up on.

I found myself turning more and more to mystery and romance; romance is now my primary genre. Every now and then I wander through the science fiction and fantasy aisles, but there’s still virtually nothing there to pique my interest.

And added to that, the bookstores don’t push science fiction & fantasy. The new release paperback tables almost never have stuff that is primarily identified as sf/f; urban fantasy is the closest you get.

The thing is, the demand is out there. I’d buy sf/f that appeals to my tastes in a heartbeat. I’m sure there are plenty more like me. But the publishers will have to be aggressive to get my attention, because unless it’s out there where I can see it as opposed to buried in the stacks of dystopian misery, I’ll continue to pass it by.

By: Kris

Kris — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:37:33 +0000

Exactly, J.A. There are editors who will publish well-written adventure. That essay is a few years old now, so the situation is better. Also, check out the romance markets and paranormal markets. They publish a lot of adventure sf. Good luck!

By: J.A. Marlow

J.A. Marlow — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:32:50 +0000

As someone who has been told time and again that I write old-fashioned adventure novels (with happy endings, oh the horror), I say YAY! I loved your essay! It is so spot-on. It articulates so well why I have such a horrible time finding good science fiction to read. I love adventure, great characters and the sense of wonder. And too often I find depressing books that inspire in me the wish to tear them apart and burn them in the fireplace. Life is depressing enough as it is, I don’t need it in my entertainment.

I’ll be submitting my own books before the year is out into a publishing field where I worry about finding homes for them. A lot, though not all, of what is out there is not what I write. Not even close. All I can do is remain hopeful that someone out there is starting to learn what the readers are looking for.

And yes, I’m yet another writer who is writing what I can’t find to read.

By: Kris

Kris — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:21:08 +0000

You’re welcome, Raphael and Tim. Glad to have introduced you to the books, Raphael. Tim, I love media stuff, and hate the prejudice against it, so I feel like you do.