"Personal" question(s) to John Jarrold

Hi Chopper,

Thanks a lot for your reply!

chopper said:
if it is original and striking, then there's no reason why it wouldn't fit onto UK shelves anyway. bear in mind that the current market (ie: what's in the shops now) was being written and bought up to a couple of years ago. so the market may change in the near future.

never write to the market, but do write to your strengths.

(snip)
speaking of which, and it's already been brought up on this forum somewhere but i can't quite reach the search button from here, have a look at Zeno's past wants list while they were (briefly) open for submissions. that may guide you a little. but again, don't be swayed by what others want now. make them want yours.

*nearly everybody, in fact
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Thank you - I certainly hope they're going to go want my story, I am working blooming hard on it and have had good feedback from various readers. I suppose part of me is worrying that it's too small in scope. Though from what I've read of Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold (several chapters so far), it's more along those lines than anything else I've read... So hopefully there will be some demand for an intriguing character's story.

And don't worry - I don't do writing for other people - it's great if they enjoy it, but that's incidental! I just wouldn't want to get geared up to send it out when it's finish only to get turned down for something 'obvious' (like only having it 70,000 words or something like that!).

Thanks again. :)
 
Clare, your book sounds like a sweeping narrative to me. Certainly in the same way that the term could be applied to many of the books that are being published and that get the most attention now.

darkpowers, stick to the double-spacing. You could indent the "newspaper clippings" as you would a poem, but otherwise leave making it look like anything but a properly formatted manuscript to the book-designers, if and when they come into the picture.
 
Thank you, Teresa - you've made me feel a lot better. I suppose I was after clarification that 'sweeping' could apply to the narrative and didn't have to include war and the Whole Wide World!

Also, I've noticed you and others have offered loads of brilliant advice throughout this thread - so thanks to you and to John J and to everyone for their answers, questions and thoughts. It's a wonderful resource!
 
Well thank you, and you're welcome.

Always nice to meet someone who even knows what Fantasy of Manners is. Maybe you can pave the way for a revival.
 
Teresa Edgerton said:
Clare, your book sounds like a sweeping narrative to me. Certainly in the same way that the term could be applied to many of the books that are being published and that get the most attention now.

darkpowers, stick to the double-spacing. You could indent the "newspaper clippings" as you would a poem, but otherwise leave making it look like anything but a properly formatted manuscript to the book-designers, if and when they come into the picture.
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Thank you. Idents it will be then.
 
Teresa Edgerton said:
Well thank you, and you're welcome.

Always nice to meet someone who even knows what Fantasy of Manners is. Maybe you can pave the way for a revival.
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i'll admit to being in the dark about that one myself. but then since i have none, perhaps it's no surprise. :D
 
aha. i see. would it push the envelope too far to include Scott Lynch's Locke Lamora in that description? (having read one volume of Stross's Merchant Princes, i'm not convinced it belongs there, however...)
 
One woman revival of FoM coming right up? No pressure or anything :eek:

Agreed on Locke Lamora and picaresque - I'd say mine is more that way inclined too. My initial idea for the central character came from reading Moll Flanders several years ago and she's still a big influence in many respects. The FoM influence comes more from Pride & Prejudice, which I give a few nods to in the story, too.
 
ClareCSager said:
One woman revival of FoM coming right up? No pressure or anything :eek:
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If it makes you feel any better, I've been working on a space opera of manners.

The problem I've found with this 'manners' thing is it can get very aimless, everyone chatting about the wallpaper etc. In my own case I neglected to put a main plot in entirely. Ho-hum.:rolleyes:
I've just begun to address this problem, but its like trying to transplant a spine into a (albeit quite pretty) jellyfish.
 
J-WO said:
If it makes you feel any better, I've been working on a space opera of manners.

I've just begun to address this problem, but its like trying to transplant a spine into a (albeit quite pretty) jellyfish.
Click to expand...

Lois McMaster Bujold managed it in A Civil Campaign.
 
A Civil Campaign

One of my favourite books, very re-readable, just flows so well.

BUT

Read the rest of the series first because if you like A Civil Campaign, you will want to and it does of course give away the earlier plots. I know it is readable as a stand-alone, because that is how I met Lois McMaster Bujold's writing (no idea how I missed noticing for so long!). I then read through the whole series, but already knew some of what would happen. :-(

(Holly the computer in Red Dwarf would delete a book from his/her brain so he/she could read it for the first ever time again.):)
 
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