not a real dead horse, of course. I would never forgive myself, though I do remember a time when I threatened Abe (psycho horse from hell) with the glue factory.
Two days ago, my daughter and I went to the local B & N bookstore. I have no qualms at spending $$ on books. I love books. My daughter likes books--specific authors only at this point in her life--third grade, yanno. She wanted a Judy Moody book. Did they have any in stock? NO. But they did have about twenty to twenty-five copies of Stink books (Judy's brother).
Minor rant to follow. This is just my opinion as I do not have any data to back up my stance on this topic.
insert rant: I KNOW publishers/parents/agents/editors want to encourage boys at this age to read. I'm all over that. I totally agree and loved it when J.K. Rowling did what no one had been able to do--she got a whole generation of children to take an interest in reading. More to the point, boys started reading. And this was prior to my personal interest in middle grade (pre-child and pre-writing of middle grade novels).
But while the interest is focused on encouraging boys to read, they are forgetting about girls--girls who already read and want more. My daughter doesn't want to read about Stink. But I understand why boys wouldn't want to be caught dead carrying around a book labelled Judy Moody or Junie B. Jones. It isn't because the protagonist is female, it's because of the 'girl' title.
I conducted an unofficial survey of third grade boy's reading material. It covers a wide range of topics, and many of the books feature a female protagonist. Boys at this age don't care who the main character of the story is, they just want a good story. The key is not to use a 'girl' name in the title of the book, or series title. The Magic Treehouse books feature Annie and Jack, sister and brother. Both of the characters have roles in each story. Inkheart is one other example. Female protag. Excellent adventure.
I think this topic irritates me because I'm trying to generate agent interest in my story, MISSING: One Garden Gnome. Generic title, but female protag. I just got a rejection on one of the partials. Though the agent was interested, he couldn't think of any editor who would enjoy this novel. Okay. I get it. It isn't about me, but about the story.
But it does make me wonder if it is because I have a female protag and not a male one.
When I started collecting names of agents to query, there were quite a few of them who wanted middle-grade novels with a strong male protagonist. Yeah, I subbed to those agents--but will probably get an auto rejection. Trends change. I'll still write my female protag, but I would like to think this story would be a good read for a boy just as much as a girl.
Do you have an opinion on the topic?
Do you have a boy who won't read a book because the protag is a girl? If so, what age is he?
What type of books does he read?
Continued from FB:
ReplyDeleteYou could always give your tomboy a generic name. Maybe they won't figure out she's a girl until it's too late. LOL
Sometimes it's hard to change what we're doing--especially when we're right!
In the end though, this is a business and the guys who buy the stories are the boss.
I'm not saying you should write boys or even change names. It's totally your bag.
This actually sounds like a blog post I should be writing. "Would you totally change your work to sell?"
I'll let you know if I do. ;)
Marilyn tried to comment, but my word verification blocked her *bwahahaha*. I thought what she said needed to get posted, so here goes cutting and pasting!
ReplyDelete>>Though the agent was interested, he couldn't think of any editor who would enjoy this novel.
Sounds a bit lazy to me. It's his JOB to "think" of an editor. If the story interested him, logic says it'll have to interest someone else. He can't be the one soul in the whole world who "gets" it. JMO, but it sounds as if he means, "Selling this might involve a little work that I'm not willing to do." I've found that some agents only want to make the easy sales.
>>there were quite a few of them who wanted middle-grade novels with a strong male protagonist.
I wonder if this isn't another way the pub industry is shooting itself in the foot. They see a project that succeeds and try to hammer it down to one reason -- say, it had a male protagonist -- then they say that's what we want to see.
H/S has had that problem for about 10 years. They say, "Oh, Jane Doe's amnesia book sold really well, so we're going to publish six amnesia books next month." Or cowboys and brides, or vampires and shapeshifters, or gazillionaires and sheiks . . . They never understood that one of the reasons they USED to sell so well was because they offered a wide variety of books; a reader could find everything she wanted, so there was no reason to go elsewhere.
Writers are always insisting there's no formula to writing, but publishers want a formula to selling so badly that they're narrowing the market and passing up some great books.
Gee. I didn't realize I was going that way, but I guess MY rant's over now.
Marilyn
Passion to Die For, SRS, October 2009
Criminal Deception, SRS, 2010
Too funny, Suse! I tried changing the name thing before--Chris instead of Christine--and I couldn't pull it off! In fact, I changed her name to Larissa and painstakingly went through each find and replace only to discover I inadvertently made Christmas into Larisstmas! Yeah, I gave up on fixing THAT one!
ReplyDeleteIf I had an editor tell me to change Rhee into a boy--BAM!--it's done. Until then, I'm writing what I enjoy and if someone is interested it it, then that's just the icing on the cake. :-)
Thanks for your comments, Marilyn!
ReplyDeleteI think I'll write my story with Rhee, the tomboy (Hey, it's better than Puck in Leprechaun. . . uh, actually, Rhee IS that protag in Leprechaun, though her name has been changed to protect her stupidly challenged author!)
Trends change. Who knows? Maybe I'll be the next cutting edge trend--NOT!
Speaking of the agent: I glad he turned me down NOW instead of stringing me along.
At this point in my career, I do have to agree with the axiom that 'no agent is better than a lousy agent'.
Apology accepted. By ME anyway. Murray is still thinking it over.
ReplyDelete:)
My apologies to Mr. Murray, too!
ReplyDeleteBut he didn't really know Abe in the same way I did . . . or was Abe in Quincy's time?
Hrm...I never gave much thought into what the agent or editor is buying now. I've always been, write what you love because what's hot now has already been bought.
ReplyDeleteNow that I think about it, I think you said that, Margaret. lol
My boy is 11 and he reads joke books, so I don't think he is a fair assessment. :P But I can see where boys would want a boy protaganist. I can see that. But if the agent enjoyed your story, it shouldn't matter. --ditto's what Marilyn said.
You keep sending it out. I know you'll get someone to bite. :D
Let's see...I got Murray in 1994. Did you have Buster by then?
ReplyDeleteI'll just do what I do, Kira, and leave the stuff out of my control for somebody else to worry about. :-)
ReplyDeleteHmm Jody, let me think. I had neck surgery in 1990, damage courtesy of Abe, and I think I sold him before I married Todd in 1992. So, yeah, Murray wouldn't have know Abe and I don't think I ever threatened Buster with the glue factory. He was such a good horse
ReplyDeleteMy friend Jody Allen, of Scottish Scribbles, has a dog named Murray. For a minute, I thought she was the Jody who was commenting. lol Though I'm guessing this Murray is a horse, I wonder what the odds are on that.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, it's a tough market out there. Keep sending out until it gets to the agent who loves it!
Thanks, Edie! You hang in there, too!
ReplyDeleteI've always wondered if we change things in our stories, thinking we are improving them only to fail no matter what?
It's tough without someone in the biz offering direction--this is where an agent would sure come in handy!
Edie, you are correct, Murray is a horse. Although if you asked him, he would probably tell you he was a person and that HE owned ME.
ReplyDelete