A Rising Tide Floats All Boats

30th July 2012

50 Shades of this, 50 Shades of that. It seems like everywhere you look someone has an opinion on the bestselling book. If only someone had thought of writing erotica before 2012.

Of course they did, and Sylvia Day's Bared To You is creeping up the bestseller lists in 50 Shades' wake, as is Marina Anderson's Haven of Obedience. The whole erotica genre is enjoying a resurgence as readers finish E.L. James' trilogy and ask, "if I liked 50 Shades of Grey, what else will I like?"

This is great news for writers such as Laurell K. Hamilton, whose work steams like an orgy of kettles. But there's a lesson in here for anyone involved in publishing, I think.

Dragons, Magic and Swords, Oh, My!

Epic fantasy is hot with commissioning editors at the moment, according to this post at Pubrants. It seems that in the wake of A Game of Thrones and The Hobbit, people are starting to remember what they loved about the genre, and the search is on for the next big, sprawling, dragon-infested quest to save a world we'd never heard of and can't pronounce.

This news gratifies me no end. For one thing, I have my own epic fantasy novel, Melody of Demons, in submission. Moreover, if I read nothing for the next six months except books about elves, dungeons, high magic and weird places, I'd be in heaven. Or the Six Duchies, Rolencia, Cenaria, or even Villjamur. There's so much you can do with made-up worlds.

Also, it's about time someone made Robin Hobb's Farseer books into a movie. That would be awesome.

Leather Pants

So with all this evidence that one author's success breeds success for others in their genre, I really don't understand Stephen Leather's approach. There's a good round-up of the kerfuffle on Steve Mosby's blog. If you're not already familiar with it, Stephen Leather has been called out for sock puppetry and bullying tactics by Jeremy Duns, and in particular for writing scathing one-star reviews of the work of rival author Steve Roach.

The ethics of this tactic are pretty pathetic, that much is obvious. But what the buzz around 50 Shades and epic fantasy shows is that wantonly knocking fellow authors is also counter-productive.

I don't believe writers have to hold off from ever criticising each other's work, because that would stifle free speech and seem a bit phoney. But nor should they treat other writers as competition that must be sabotaged at every opportunity. Even for those who don't get caught (or admit to such behaviour at a packed crime festival), it's a waste of energy when being supportive and nurturing talent in your genre is so much more profitable.