It's nice to see reviews continue to trickle in for Incel (and corresponding sales). I read somewhere that if a novel has been for sale for a certain number of years (20? 50?) it is likely that it will remain for sale in the next 20 or 50 years. This speaks to the feedback cycle you reference... Secondly, I think few writers understand the concept of the sales funnel - using shorter-form content as a way to push your longer-form content. Marketing is such a different skill than writing. I ran into this problem when I published my long-form essay on Substack, which garnered some fair attention at the time but then rapidly died off after it was finished. I realized there needed to be some feedback mechanism to draw future attention to it -- hence the second Substack (which has morphed into its own thing anyway)...
>Marketing is such a different skill than writing. I ran into this problem when I published my long-form essay on Substack, which garnered some fair attention at the time but then rapidly died off after it was finished.
There's so many talented novelists who fall into this trap and I don't blame them one iota. Fairly orthogonal skillsets IMO.
"One thing that frustrates me in a lot of modern literary fiction is how many elite writers seem to lack curiosity outside of a purely literary domain." This is a valid point, and sometimes I feel that their curiosity is even limited to the literature of a certain era. Not many are self-aware where and how they are situating themselves within the history of literature.
Great article as always. My only gripe is that your analysis of book popularity is consistently deterministic in that you leave out the x factor which is the novel’s aesthetic merit, and just how good it is. Call me an optimist but I do believe this is in fact step 0 and beyond of achieving long term “virality”.
I just subscribed. I'm of a different generation but I think I resonate with what I've read here so far. Congratulations on your novel. Funny, I've been pushing my, so-far, unpublished fictionalized memoir to publishers to no avail.... so far. It follows a young man, just back from overseas (in 1968, Vietnam, then a hospital stay in Japan). He's a virginal naif, trying to set a course in 'the world,' as GIs in Vietnam thought of home. But he slips into the hippie ethos... dope and shit jobs.
My son is your age (I believe). I've talked to him about young men and women, about how tough things must be in this day and age. Strangely, this is one area we don't disagree much on. It's long bothered me that neither my son, nor my daughter, both mid-thirties, have married or had children. But, the more I talked to them and other people their age, the more I understand. The problems are both social and economic. But I think more social. And I think the great divorce of men and women, and modern feminism, is at the core. Feminism 'gone too far.'
My so-far unpublished memoir gets into this, as the protagonist, was around to see the big change that has brought us to where we are now, the reason for Incels, the collapse of the family, and other unseen fallout. A tiny little thing had a lot to do with this. Yes, there was science and politics/sociology behind it. That tiny thing... 'the pill.' In my memoir, a young man, trying to 'score,' to have sex, can only get so far in his lower middle class working (and very Catholic) neighborhood. Then he meets a wealthy girl from the suburbs, whose father owns a large pharmacy/notions store. She's on the pill, of course, and they take off... him making up for lost time.
Anyway, I think that the book would do well, but having written 13 of them, it's a daunting task to get any one off the ground, especially if you 'self-publish.' I've had four books commercially published and self-published the last nine or so.
So, looking forward to thoughts on the current culture/situation and also, books, writing, and other entertainments.
One more thing, as the sloppy detective used to say, I'm trying desperately to get reviews of my last sci-fi title (Escape From the Future and Other Stories) and I would be willing to gift someone a review copy if they'd be interested. Especially you, ARX-HAN.
A very nice essay. You are certainly a model of Indie publishing for me, and Hyun Woo's review of your work has led to a very fruitful dialogue about the novel, poetry, translation, and other things. So thank you!
I've published quite a bit, mostly in academic/quasi academic settings. But there is a lot I haven't published, too. Originality is generally punished, sometimes with regret ("I'd love to publish something like this, but . . . ") Trade publishing is narrowing alarmingly, and getting so shallow. Academic publishing is disappearing, and institutions now pay for publication.
By way of example: yesterday, I received news that a book on surveillance in which I coauthored a chapter (on counterterrorism) had appeared from Routledge, a storied house (J.S. Mill). The book cost $180. Open access electronic versions were paid for by the Max Planck Institute. And so the Indie Scene . . . I have a ms coming up soon, I hope.
For now, congratulations, and keep up the good work!
What if the future is artificial social networks of AI bots reading and reviewing out work (as well as getting in a public spat or two) and we’ll all just be too old and senile to know better.
It's nice to see reviews continue to trickle in for Incel (and corresponding sales). I read somewhere that if a novel has been for sale for a certain number of years (20? 50?) it is likely that it will remain for sale in the next 20 or 50 years. This speaks to the feedback cycle you reference... Secondly, I think few writers understand the concept of the sales funnel - using shorter-form content as a way to push your longer-form content. Marketing is such a different skill than writing. I ran into this problem when I published my long-form essay on Substack, which garnered some fair attention at the time but then rapidly died off after it was finished. I realized there needed to be some feedback mechanism to draw future attention to it -- hence the second Substack (which has morphed into its own thing anyway)...
>Marketing is such a different skill than writing. I ran into this problem when I published my long-form essay on Substack, which garnered some fair attention at the time but then rapidly died off after it was finished.
There's so many talented novelists who fall into this trap and I don't blame them one iota. Fairly orthogonal skillsets IMO.
"One thing that frustrates me in a lot of modern literary fiction is how many elite writers seem to lack curiosity outside of a purely literary domain." This is a valid point, and sometimes I feel that their curiosity is even limited to the literature of a certain era. Not many are self-aware where and how they are situating themselves within the history of literature.
Great article as always. My only gripe is that your analysis of book popularity is consistently deterministic in that you leave out the x factor which is the novel’s aesthetic merit, and just how good it is. Call me an optimist but I do believe this is in fact step 0 and beyond of achieving long term “virality”.
You're right and I agree - that's implicit in my model, but I could've articulated that better.
I just subscribed. I'm of a different generation but I think I resonate with what I've read here so far. Congratulations on your novel. Funny, I've been pushing my, so-far, unpublished fictionalized memoir to publishers to no avail.... so far. It follows a young man, just back from overseas (in 1968, Vietnam, then a hospital stay in Japan). He's a virginal naif, trying to set a course in 'the world,' as GIs in Vietnam thought of home. But he slips into the hippie ethos... dope and shit jobs.
My son is your age (I believe). I've talked to him about young men and women, about how tough things must be in this day and age. Strangely, this is one area we don't disagree much on. It's long bothered me that neither my son, nor my daughter, both mid-thirties, have married or had children. But, the more I talked to them and other people their age, the more I understand. The problems are both social and economic. But I think more social. And I think the great divorce of men and women, and modern feminism, is at the core. Feminism 'gone too far.'
My so-far unpublished memoir gets into this, as the protagonist, was around to see the big change that has brought us to where we are now, the reason for Incels, the collapse of the family, and other unseen fallout. A tiny little thing had a lot to do with this. Yes, there was science and politics/sociology behind it. That tiny thing... 'the pill.' In my memoir, a young man, trying to 'score,' to have sex, can only get so far in his lower middle class working (and very Catholic) neighborhood. Then he meets a wealthy girl from the suburbs, whose father owns a large pharmacy/notions store. She's on the pill, of course, and they take off... him making up for lost time.
Anyway, I think that the book would do well, but having written 13 of them, it's a daunting task to get any one off the ground, especially if you 'self-publish.' I've had four books commercially published and self-published the last nine or so.
So, looking forward to thoughts on the current culture/situation and also, books, writing, and other entertainments.
One more thing, as the sloppy detective used to say, I'm trying desperately to get reviews of my last sci-fi title (Escape From the Future and Other Stories) and I would be willing to gift someone a review copy if they'd be interested. Especially you, ARX-HAN.
Have a good day, y'all.
Wonderfully put and I 100% agree with your points. Skibidification is THE successful model for better or worse
Thanks for the shoutout! Please keep writing!
A very nice essay. You are certainly a model of Indie publishing for me, and Hyun Woo's review of your work has led to a very fruitful dialogue about the novel, poetry, translation, and other things. So thank you!
I've published quite a bit, mostly in academic/quasi academic settings. But there is a lot I haven't published, too. Originality is generally punished, sometimes with regret ("I'd love to publish something like this, but . . . ") Trade publishing is narrowing alarmingly, and getting so shallow. Academic publishing is disappearing, and institutions now pay for publication.
By way of example: yesterday, I received news that a book on surveillance in which I coauthored a chapter (on counterterrorism) had appeared from Routledge, a storied house (J.S. Mill). The book cost $180. Open access electronic versions were paid for by the Max Planck Institute. And so the Indie Scene . . . I have a ms coming up soon, I hope.
For now, congratulations, and keep up the good work!
Thanks very much!
What if the future is artificial social networks of AI bots reading and reviewing out work (as well as getting in a public spat or two) and we’ll all just be too old and senile to know better.