It's a wonder

It's a wonder anyone ever gets published. Prowling the internet yesterday I found these words reported in 2008 from a masterclass with agent Luigi Bonomi on the blog Wondering-Mind

Of 200,000 books sold per year, 190,000 sold less than 3000 copies. Of 85,000 debut books published – 60,000 sold an average of 18 books. It costs a publisher £7,500 to publish a book (printing, marketing, design, distribution) and that doesn’t include any advance – generally it is reckoned that 20,000 must be sold to cover costs.

The new writer therefore has to stand out and should check the market to discover what is selling. Literary Fiction takes about 5% of the market and has to have a big theme rather than small town ideas. Somwhat dependant on winning the Booker or some such award to make sales. Original structure and good writing is important – e.g. The Book Thief.
Commercial Fiction takes about 95% of the market. Despite gloomy reports, sales are vibrant – but in specific areas – so check the market.

The agent’s goal is to find the next talent – but they are overworked so they aim to reject – to weed out. The writer’s aim is therefore not to give the agent a chance to reject her. The writer provides a synopsis (3-4 pages maximum), 3 chapters or less, 1 short page covering letter.

Luigi’s agency receives approximately 5000 submissions a year (100 a week). – of these they will look at 60 (5 a month). If the submission has anything more than a simple rubber band for binding, it is rejected. If the cover letter has any spelling mistakes or it is badly presented, it is rejected. The first paragraph of the first page of the text (not the synopsis) is read – then the second paragraph – if it looks interesting it is put aside, otherwise it is rejected.In half an hour he will process 40 submissions and put aside possibly 4, of those he will read pages 2 and 3 – and probably reject – resulting in perhaps 1 a week.He will then read that submission (the first three chapters – or less).

If he likes it he will ask to read the rest of the book.There will be no feedback or suggestions re-revision – though if he is really interested he may send it to a reading agency for a critique. The language, style, rhythm, sound – is very influential. So it is important to listen to other people reading it (reading aloud to yourself is valuable, but hearing other people read shows better how it will be received). Then he looks at plot, storyline and characters.
Frightening to see what we're up against, isn't it?

Literary and commercial fiction

OK, so here's what I've learned in my exploration of fiction and its definitions.

First of all, fiction divides into literary and commercial.

Commercial fiction is broad and covers subgenres such as mystery, romance, legal thriller, western, science fiction, and so on.
Examples: John Grisham, Sidney Sheldon, Danielle Steele, and Jackie Collins.

Literary fiction appeals to a smaller audience. It can fall into subgenres but excellent writing, originality of thought, and unusual style makes it different from commercial fiction.
Example: Charles Frazier, Toni Morrision, Barbara Kingsolver, John LeCarre, and Saul Bellow.

Mainstream fiction describes both commercial and literary works. Usually set in the 20th or present-day 21st century and with a universal theme such as family issues, coming of age initiations, courtroom dramas, career matters, physical and mental disabilities, social pressures, political intrigue, and more. Regardless of original genre or category, most of the novels that appear on the bestseller list are considered mainstream, whether the author is Sue Grafton, Arundhati Roy, Michael Crichton, or David Guterson.

Popular fiction has defined categories of appeal to specific audiences. These are classed as genre fiction, each with its own set of rules and conventions.

Mystery
Mysteries focus on a crime, usually murder. subgenres include spy, detective, and crime stories. Examples: Carl Hiaason, James Ellroy, Robert Parker, James Lee Burke, and Elmore Leonard.

Romance
Romance, the largest, most diverse, and most popular of the commercial genres diverts and entertains women. Romance novels contain elements of fantasy, love, naïveté, extravagance, adventure, and a hero who overcomes impossible odds to be with his true love. Subgenres of romance include regency, historical, bodice rippers, and contemporary. For historical detail and settings, read a regency or historical romance. For tempestuous relationships you want bodice rippers .
Example: Barbara Cartland, Jude Deveraux, Victoria Holt, Daphne Du Maurier, and Danielle Steele.

Women's fiction
Publishers and booksellers have identified a category within the mainstream that they classify as Women's Fiction. Some key characteristics include a focus on relationships, one or more strong female protagonists, women triumphing over unbearable circumstances, and the experiences of women unified in some way.
Examples: Barbara Taylor Bradford, Anne Rivers Siddons, Alice McDermott, Judith Krantz, Anne Tyler, Rebecca Wells, and Alice Hoffman.

Category fiction is often used as a synonym for genre fiction such as Westerns or Thrillers. " Category romance are short and published in clearly marked categories, often labelled sequentially. Harlequin/Mills & Boon is the biggest publisher of category romances, releasing 500 titles a month in 25 different languages.

Lit Lite

Thanks to Linda and her reference to the Independent article, I now have a grip on lit lite. Looking down the list of titles mentioned in the complete article, I think I have managed to avoid every single one. Now I worry - what does that say about me? Not well read? All through my life I've read widely on whatever caught my interest, but I've never done well on the kind of fiction that always figures in lists of 100 best reads. Still, I've enjoyed my reading life and it has given me a huge respect for the written word.

Ms Taylor's article says this of Lit Lite: "the kinds of books that are challenging enough to satisfy the little grey cells of the committed "heavy book buyer", but not too off-putting to the intelligent Richard & Judy viewer who might only buy five books a year. It's a subset that I'm calling "Lit Lite". And it is big, big business.
Lit lite is the kind of book beloved of the reading group: sufficiently approachable and gripping to engage everyone, yet still offering something - some stylistic quirk, some moral dilemma, some social issue - for members to discuss when they meet.

So what exactly is Lit Lite? Andrea Levy's Small Island, with its sassy dialogue and political-historical content (and sales of over half a million) is quintessential lit lite: a ripping yarn with lots of meaty issues to discuss. So is Yann Martel's Life of Pi, with its exotic setting and philosophical musings - and sales now nudging a million. Zadie Smith's Man Booker shortlisted On Beauty is another example."

Read the whole of Debbie Taylor's article here. And thanks, Linda!

Commercial fiction

Still wondering about the publishing world I discover a phrase agents and publishers often use ~ commercial fiction.
From my reading and asking colleagues I have gathered that anything under this heading is aimed at the mass market. It includes romance and historical, and sub genres such as sagas, supernatural, timeslip, fanfic, lit-lite, historical crime and male oriented battle historicals of the type written by Bernard Cornwell.
Poor old category historical romance a la Mills & Boon/Harlequin is not included.
I know that fan-fic refers to the modern follow-ons to Jane Austen's novels. My question is ~ How does lit-light differ from category fiction?