Fairy Tales: talking down to one's audience

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Patty Jansen

I'm sure this site has a WHOA policy. I've been a member here for a number of years.

OK, you don't like what I said. Call me an idiot in private discussions, it's all the same to me. Please remove the link to the blog where you *asked* for comments.

You did not offer your comments privately. Your comments were posted in a public blog with open comments and open replies to comments. Why would you expect no comments back? By what right or logic do you ask to remove the link from one public discussion area to another? Links are what the web is made of. I suggest you ask to have your comment post removed from the blog instead. Public discussion was apparently not what you intended, but it is what you chose.

[Dr. Drib]

Patty Jansen - no one called you an idiot. Trust me: If that happened, I would be all over that person and would personally suspend him or her, because it goes against our guidelines. Too, I detest childish, ill-tempered behavior in adults.

Your comments (to my way of thinking) were helpful and you offered your honest assessment of Becca Price's book. Personally, I agree with your opinions. But whether I agree or disagree is not important to this discussion as a Moderator.

You must expect serious comments and disagreements with your advice, whether your comments originate on your site, this site or on another site.


Don
(Moderator)

[BeccaPrice]

Patty - I'm so sorry you're taking my questions this way - I did not imply or even think that you're an idiot. Your questions and comments made me think twice about stylistic and other decisions I've made, which is always a good thing. Dragons and Dreams is set and done, but I have another collection in the works, and I'm taking some of your advice to heart in re-writing some of the stories for that collection.

I think that part of the issue is that I'm not really writing for a modern audience, and that's showing in the sales. My decision now has to be whether I want to continue to write for lovers of old-fashioned fairy tales, or change my style to reflect more modern sensibilities.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

[...]I think that part of the issue is that I'm not really writing for a modern audience, and that's showing in the sales. My decision now has to be whether I want to continue to write for lovers of old-fashioned fairy tales, or change my style to reflect more modern sensibilities.

Obviously this is something that only you can decide, but I believe it really comes down to deciding why you are doing it at all. If you are doing it in the sincere hope of making some money from it then you must pay at least some attention to what will sell.

If you are doing it primarily because you enjoy creating the sorts of stories you want to tell, then I recommend you try to be satisfied with that. That doesn't mean you can't learn and improve (you probably will whether you want to or not, particularly given your apparent attitude so far), and your next books may sell better as a result (which will have a flow on effect to your older books).

Overall I think it is too early in your publishing career to be getting too stressed about how it is selling. I think your efforts would be better spent on learning from your experience and creating your next works (all in my humble opinion and all that ).

[ApK]

I'm no expert on the market, but I think a new book by an unknown author, self-publishing in a low-profile genre, with very limited promotion, after two months is doing pretty well to be selling like it is. And it's not even priced as a 99 cent impulse buy.

ApK

[teh603]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

I'm preparing a second collection of stories, and now I'm wondering - should I simplify my vocabulary? if so, how much? I don't mean down to Dr. Seus level, but using words like chivalry.

I'd argue that childrens' lit needs to be as simple as possible, because children won't stick to anything that challenges them. I've had to work with too many runts who will just throw down a book if you try to correct a word they misread, or won't even pick one up to begin with. So yes, take it all the way down to Dr. Suess (sp?) if you want to write for children.

[kidslumber]

FWIW, Roald Dahl often used words that seem advanced for MG readers. His books still sell better than just about any other children's author.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by ApK

I'm no expert on the market, but I think a new book by an unknown author, self-publishing in a low-profile genre, with very limited promotion, after two months is doing pretty well to be selling like it is. And it's not even priced as a 99 cent impulse buy.

ApK

This!

[BeccaPrice]

Actually, I'm always astonished that anybody buys my book. unillustrated fairy tales aren't exactly a hot commodity. I seem to sell about as many books in print each month as I do in eformat, too.

[kennyc]

Maybe I need to get into fantasy instead of science and poetry.

[BeccaPrice]

if you really want to make money, write erotica. I understand that m/m is hot.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

if you really want to make money, write erotica. I understand that m/m is hot.

Not that I don't believe you.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

Actually, I'm always astonished that anybody buys my book. unillustrated fairy tales aren't exactly a hot commodity. I seem to sell about as many books in print each month as I do in eformat, too.

I must admit that I did wonder about the "unillustrated" part when you first started talking about the book here. It seems to me that you've been doing very well. Would you consider partnering with an artist if the opportunity ever arose? (I'm not offering, I'm not an artist, just curious.)

[crich70]

I just looked at some of the reviews for your book "Dragons & Dreams" Becca and I don't think you have much to worry about as far as talking down to the readers. It seems a lot of people like your writing style (in the fairy stories) just fine and don't consider it to be too mature a style as far as words.

[BeccaPrice]

Originally Posted by gmw

I must admit that I did wonder about the "unillustrated" part when you first started talking about the book here. It seems to me that you've been doing very well. Would you consider partnering with an artist if the opportunity ever arose? (I'm not offering, I'm not an artist, just curious.)

I would love to do an illustrated version, either fully illustrate each story as an individual book, or have 2-3 illustrations per story in the one book. Alas, I can't afford an illustrator, but if anyone offered, I'd jump at it if the illustration styles were to my taste.