This week our guest blogger is a Senior Editor on the Collins History and Military list who has a huge wealth of experience in acquiring non-fiction titles.
Like most creative tasks, acquiring manuscripts for book publication is partly done by instinct, a ‘feeling’ that one proposal stands out from all the others that you’ve seen. In that sense, the process is the same for fiction and non-fiction, although of course the standpoint is completely different. I specifically look for an author who has a real passion for their subject; or rather that passion will invariably shine through in the writing without the author having to profess it.
There’s a trend in history publishing at the moment which is very much about personal narrative, about history ‘from the bottom’. I’m very interested in poignant and powerful oral history. That is what makes history so fascinating to me, true-life stories and a chance to really understand what it was like to experience a certain event from people who were there. Being able to weave together these stories and give them a context is an important skill. In this sense, the distance between fiction and non-fiction is becoming somewhat closer.
Partly due to the speed of communication, history has almost also become immediate in some ways; in military history people are reading about the conflict in Afghanistan whilst it’s still on-going.
I spend as much time as possible getting to know my subject (although I don’t profess to know everything about world history – yet!). But keeping abreast of what books are coming out, what anniversaries there are up and coming, as well as TV and film, is really important.
Non-fiction writers can’t afford to let their imaginations run riot, as fiction writers of course can and have to in order to produce successful work. Rather, they need to be fully versed and grounded in the facts of their chosen subject, and able to talk about it with ease. Of course the real skill is in being able to make new-comers to the subject able to understand, engage with and enjoy it too. I would suggest trying your text out on family and friends, and of course websites such as this are a great way to get feedback on your work.
In summary, I think it’s the history of ordinary people doing extraordinary things that’s really resonating with readers at the moment, although the ‘classic’ history written by experts certainly has not lost its appeal. I think the future is bright for history publishing, as more and more readers come to these books for authentic experiences, tales of bravery, personal histories and learn to about past events.
12 comments:
How true that the world of historical non-fiction hinges on accuracy of fact so much more than the rampant imagination of pure fiction! At the same time the non-fiction writer's passion comes through all the more when that is the genre that he truly expresses himself in best..it will show.
In any case, within non-fiction, there are diverse realms to explore: pure historical; biographical history; narrative and so on. The scope for expression is wide and varied - the techniques and skills required are equally distinct; in my field, African biographical narrative, there is yet a further dimension which, for me is both unique and compelling.
How useful to have an editor contribute to thoughts on non-fiction from the publishing perspective. But it is such a huge field - from the how-to-garden manuals to toilet joke books to serious history. To say my work is non-fiction tells the reader very little.
Yet maybe that is also the excitement of non-fiction - scanning the non-fiction shelves in Waterstones can turn up so many surprises that those who get stuck on the fiction shelves miss out on.
As a writer of mainly non-fiction work, I read this with keen interest.
Thank your for your time. Would you have any advice relating to biographical works?
Anne
I'm so pleased your outlook is generally optomistic. As a non-fiction writer surrounded by masses of competent novelists, I was beginning to feel a little lonely on authonomy.
One agent told me today that the non-fiction market is not particularly buoyant at the moment. What, please, is your view?
I have been told more than once on this site that I should rebrand my memoir as fiction in order to reach a larger market.
I couldn't disagree more. I think that personal narratives are not only popular right now, but necessary.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Have you taken a look at the small collection of non-fiction on Authonomy, or will you just wait for more of it to make it to the Editors Desk?
I'm writing a book that is a mixture of the authentic letters of a WW2 fighter pilot, fictionalised scenes relating to the letters and essay. I'm not sure whether this falls into any category (biography? creative non-fiction?) but there is a lot of military history relating to material that is largely unknown. I'd love to know your thoughts on how to pitch this book.
Well, the Authonomy "project" is revealing its true colours. Rather than concentrating on the business of writing, it is rapidly moving towards the Facebook social networking vision of the world. For all those who don't know how Facebook makes its money, it's by advertising. You can be sure that advertising will feature on Authonomy in the next few months. Also, HarperCollins will no doubt start sending emails to members of Authonomy to advertise its new book releases.
This site has nothing to do with writing and is just a cynical exercise by a cynical publisher (led by the reprehensible Rupert Murdoch whom Dennis Potter memorably wanted to shoot because of his malign influence on the world).
I once thought that Authonomy might throw up one or two quality books. I now revise that opinion. Nothing good will ever emerge from this site. No serious writer would want to spend any time on Authonomy. Unserious writers who want to chat and lark around with other unserious writers will no doubt sing its praises...that's only to be expected.
Oddly enough, the old slush pile system now seems wonderful in comparison. Your manuscript would languish in an intray but would stand some chance of being glanced at by some vaguely credible person. Now your typescript languishes in a much larger electronic intray where it may occasionally be perused by some wannabe writer...with an eye to the main chance of promoting their own material. Unless of course, you spend hours every day nauseatingly screaming at others to read your work - a tactic efficiently invoked by every "successful" author on Authonomy. (Even HC hasn't been shameless enough so far to agree to publish any of them.)
I think Authonomy is one of the most misconceived writing initiatives I've ever encountered.
You have to laugh, I suppose.
Laughing.
Well, smiling wistfully anyway.
I have three works on this site and all of them lie in some shadowy world between fiction and non-fiction. One of them, Pigafetta's Dilemma, is so non-fiction that it requires exposition through mathematics (not uploadable on this site)but it features Santa Claus, the Artful Dodger and Osama bin Laden as characters, because that is the only way I can see to get my non-fiction message across.
Another is a biography of Ferdinand Magellan that sticks closer to the known facts of his life than many books passed off as history, but it includes invented dialogue because that is the only way to adequately expound the man's extraordinary character.
The third book deals with historical facts such as the collision between two Australian warships, the death of Prime Minister Harold Holt, the Vietnam war, but it, too would be classified as fiction by a publisher.
There has been considerable debate on this site about the line between fiction and non-fiction and most of us don't know where to draw it.
Interested to read Nemo's off thread grumble - and I thought I had coined the phrase 'Facebook for people who can read and write' Great minds then. I have seen the odd cynical view of HC Auth~~ etc. I suppose it is like the TV, you can always turn it off. As I speak you are all in front of a battery of switches with which to do this. I found some sympathetic views and some useful tips here but what I did learn is that you should not fanny around on here instead of printing, editing and sending off. If you have time for social networking then fine - it can be a lonely desk you sit at though. To Nemo and anyone interested - I have in mind setting up some 'Indie' publishing. Vanity is out and self publishing seems the road to madness - like delivering Yellow Pages at your own expense because you don't know whether your story is worth a sh&* - "I was taken up by aliens" by Jade Goody may get 'The Sun' beating a path to your door but I agree that HC aren't. To anyone who needs to have some free reviews, I would suggest 'youwriteon.com' At least there you might learn something you didn't know - whereas here you are reminded constantly of what you do know and ignore - the printer and the post office. On Auth~~ as Lucian James or bd-eye if the 'Indie' thing appeals.
Hi everyone, thanks so much for all your comments to my blog piece. I thought I would try and respond to some of them:
Colin: of course, you're right, non-fiction does cover such a range of subjects and so it's just as easy to express yourself as in novels. It certainly sounds like you're working in a pretty unique field!
Jo: I'm so glad that my comments were useful. I was particularly writing about the standpoint of history publishing - I agree that in many ways the label non-fiction doesn't say much. We have to think of more inventive or evocative ways to tag things - such as oral history for example, or memoir. But as you say, it's the chance to exlore a wealth of subjects that makes it so interesting - that counts for books as a whole, I guess!
Anne: re biographical works, obviously a lot of research needs to go into the person and background - but i think this is a really good example of making sure that you translate your knowledge to someone who knows little or nothing about the person. I also think context is key - it's hard to understand a person without knowing how they lived and why their circumstances were as they were.
Cordelua: Yes, i think that non-fiction is a little under-represented on authonomy at the moment, and I'd certainly like to see a lot more on there! I think in terms of the market, it depends what you're looking at - I'd say history, cookery, biography are pretty buoyant at the moment, whereas for example gardening is taking a bit of a back seat at the moment. It certainly depends on the subject. In general, people are buying more books than ever before, so I think the future is probably bright (credit crunch aside!)
Lissa: yes I totally agree with you - there's no point branding something as fiction when it isn't. Stick at it! I'll be certainly monitoring the non-fiction collection on authonomy closely. Thanks!
Jill: hmm, this is tricky. I think it would have to be fiction to be quite honest, 'based on a true story', as you've obviously invented some of it. I think it's perhaps going to be difficult to pitch like that. Are you not able to find out more about the real-life story of the person and write it as non-fiction? Or perhaps just use the letters as a basis for the fiction. It sounds to me as though you'd be best trying to come down on one side or the other - without knowing specific details of course.
Nemo: I'm sorry you feel as you do - there are others out there who are finding this a useful experience, from the feedback we've had.
Thanks everyone!
I have a great market for my Non- Fiction book titled, "Bionic Bull Rider." The hard part is finding a publisher. Once published I will be able to sell thousands myself. Thanks for all the info.
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