On Angels and Editors
I’ve launched an all-out campaign to finish a first draft of “…And the Angels Sing.” The reason for my hyperactivity? School ends in a month. And that means no time for writing after that because it will be all kids all the time and time and inspiration will drop off markedly. So, if I’m going to move on to something else in the fall (something light, funny, and dripping with sex), then I have to finish “Angels” before D-Day—the last day of school.
But, I’ll still take the time to rant. No power in the ‘verse can stop me from telling the world what I think. Here are a few unsolicited opinions: Read recently a big-time editor is leaving a big-time publisher and may become a literary agent. Now, that’s a shocking career change! When will we read about an editor stepping down to become a brain surgeon? Or a tree surgeon? I wonder if the editor will be replaced or will finances dictate the job’s elimination? I foresee a future publishing world that looks like this: 10-million aspiring writers, 1-million agents, and only one editor. And with the way things have been going with mergers and takeovers, only one publishing house. One lone editor schlepping away in a basement office of Mega-Books Publishers. Hopefully he/she will have a sense of humor and a tough as nails attitude. They'll need it!
The other interesting thing I read this week was an item in the RT Magazine newsletter, noting that a new UK publisher is focusing on fiction for women 45+. Now, I’m tempted to jump up and down and shout halleluiah, being firmly (well, saggily) in that underserved (and invisible) demographic. But I have to ask, what is fiction for women over 45? How can anyone generalize what any group wants to read? Sure, we have a commonality of experience—we came of age before condoms were de rigueur on a date and oral sex on the school bus was just a way of saying howdy—but we have a range of tastes and interests that are impossible to pinpoint just because we’re old bats.
The RT article also noted that critics say it’s patronizing to define women readers in that way and I agree. Just as it’s patronizing to try to cater to the 18-34 year olds advertisers and marketers are constantly wetting themselves over with the same blanket approach. They have a diverse range of interests too, they’re not ALL reading chick lit. My writing group pal has a 20-year old daughter who likes historical romances as much as my 70-something mother. The impetus behind reaching out to the younger reader is the same as advertising cars, clothes, even detergent—hook them on a “brand” and the company will have a consumer for many, many years (unlike us old broads who only have about thirty, forty years left, maybe fifty thanks to good genes and great health care, plus we have a lot more money to spend—but that’s a rant for another day). I understand WHY, but it still bugs me.
I’ll be interested to see what happens with this new 45+ demographic imprint. Who knows what they’ll come up with for us… “The Lovely Old Bones,” an arthritic version of Sex in the City with the Carrie character complaining that she can’t find a good chiropractor? “I’ve Got a Secret Grandbaby?” “Granny PI on the Go…” in which a Metamucil swilling granny solves sex crimes? Hmmm, that one might just be a keeper.
Janet – No power in ‘verse (not even those painful corns) can stop me.
But, I’ll still take the time to rant. No power in the ‘verse can stop me from telling the world what I think. Here are a few unsolicited opinions: Read recently a big-time editor is leaving a big-time publisher and may become a literary agent. Now, that’s a shocking career change! When will we read about an editor stepping down to become a brain surgeon? Or a tree surgeon? I wonder if the editor will be replaced or will finances dictate the job’s elimination? I foresee a future publishing world that looks like this: 10-million aspiring writers, 1-million agents, and only one editor. And with the way things have been going with mergers and takeovers, only one publishing house. One lone editor schlepping away in a basement office of Mega-Books Publishers. Hopefully he/she will have a sense of humor and a tough as nails attitude. They'll need it!
The other interesting thing I read this week was an item in the RT Magazine newsletter, noting that a new UK publisher is focusing on fiction for women 45+. Now, I’m tempted to jump up and down and shout halleluiah, being firmly (well, saggily) in that underserved (and invisible) demographic. But I have to ask, what is fiction for women over 45? How can anyone generalize what any group wants to read? Sure, we have a commonality of experience—we came of age before condoms were de rigueur on a date and oral sex on the school bus was just a way of saying howdy—but we have a range of tastes and interests that are impossible to pinpoint just because we’re old bats.
The RT article also noted that critics say it’s patronizing to define women readers in that way and I agree. Just as it’s patronizing to try to cater to the 18-34 year olds advertisers and marketers are constantly wetting themselves over with the same blanket approach. They have a diverse range of interests too, they’re not ALL reading chick lit. My writing group pal has a 20-year old daughter who likes historical romances as much as my 70-something mother. The impetus behind reaching out to the younger reader is the same as advertising cars, clothes, even detergent—hook them on a “brand” and the company will have a consumer for many, many years (unlike us old broads who only have about thirty, forty years left, maybe fifty thanks to good genes and great health care, plus we have a lot more money to spend—but that’s a rant for another day). I understand WHY, but it still bugs me.
I’ll be interested to see what happens with this new 45+ demographic imprint. Who knows what they’ll come up with for us… “The Lovely Old Bones,” an arthritic version of Sex in the City with the Carrie character complaining that she can’t find a good chiropractor? “I’ve Got a Secret Grandbaby?” “Granny PI on the Go…” in which a Metamucil swilling granny solves sex crimes? Hmmm, that one might just be a keeper.
Janet – No power in ‘verse (not even those painful corns) can stop me.
posted by Janet at 12:44 PM
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