Time for a Rant

[dancinghorse]

There is horse neep and farm blather to come, and the book is proceeding apace, but I have just had a major peeve petted till it sends off sparks, so here we go.

It's fairly well acknowledged among fiction writers that for sheer fantasy and willful distortion of the facts, you need a journalist. I've given many an interview only to find that the result was, shall we say, creative in its interpretation of what I said. Which I always put down to the nature of oral discourse and the fact that most people (imnsho) never listen. They have a set of assumptions, and as long as what you say fits those assumptions, you're fine--but if you depart from the template, those departures will just not register.

So I did an e-mail interview for my alma mater's alumnae quarterly, thinking it would be less subject to error than a phone interview which I couldn't do anyway because I can't hear well enough. I supplied numerous dates and facts. I supplied a cover flat of a recent book, and a photo of myself. I looked forward rather cheerfully to the article.

Ah, delusion.

You will all be glad to know that Judith E. Tarr is a fantasy writer of extremely minor distinction who did her junior year of college in England and made her first fiction sale, a short story, to an anthology. She sounds like a nice person, and she's a horse person like me, from the evidence of the photo that accompanies the article. However, even though we supposedly graduated in the same year, I don't seem to have met her.

Now I don't excessively mind the screwup on the story sale (I had already sold six novels and published one) as the chronology isn't glaringly obvious from the resume I gave them. The England thing was specifically stated as "I did a master's degree at Cambridge" but it's not a huge deal really, it doesn't affect the way I make my living.

But really, they could get my name right. Seriously. It's on the book cover. I've written almost thirty of the things over the past twenty years--the college library has a fair number of them. I gave them the URL for my bibliography, and I signed myself with no middle initial. I honestly do not know where they got that particular nom de plume.

And people wonder why I feel like chopped liver so much of the time. Everyone else featured in the article got her name right, got lots of mention of how much she's written and how illustrious she is and how wonderful a writer she is. I got "Fantasy writer Judith E. Tarr sold her first short story to Much More Illustrious Alumna" and that was pretty much it, except for the inaccuracy about where I spent my junior year.

From which I have learned the following lessons:

Don't trust a written interview to result in accurate copy.

Don't expect an interviewer to check the facts in any way, shape, or form--up to and including the correct form of your name.

Do blow your horn as loudly as you can--brag on every award and nomination, spell out how many books you've written, trumpet your achievements in every possible way or you'll come across as, well, liverwurst. The interviewer never heard of you before she got the assignment, never read a book by you and has no intention of doing so, and modesty or reluctance to brag will only get you the damnation of faint (if any) praise. If you take the low-key approach--you'll get what you deserve.

PR is about the noise, baby. The louder the better.

And damn I'm bad at selling myself.

At another time I might be less honked off and more wryly amused, but right at this point, it's making some things just a little too painfully obvious. I've been in sf and fantasy for over twenty years, written scads of books--and it seems to be signifying essentially nothing.

Editors love my work. Just about every genre editor is a fan and gets excited when I wander afield from my usual-suspects publisher, and a new project always has at least two of them duking it out for the book. Reviewers adore it, I have a file box full of rave reviews and good-better-best notices, starred reviews, best-of-year mentions, you name it. Fellow writers show a lot of respect and a gratifying amount of admiration for what I've done.

Then it gets to the next step and basically dies. Awards? One of my publishers said once, "She might as well write in invisible ink for all the notice she gets at awards time." I've won a couple of minor ones, but I had to get Fantasy off the spine and Fiction on it before I got a World Fantasy nomination. I don't get upset about this, awards aren't what I do this for, but I do regard it as a symptom--though of what, I'm still trying to figure out. Lack of hornblowing? Lack of the common touch--or the lit'ry touch depending? Can't be lack of quality or the editors and writers and reviewers would be letting me know it. Especially the reviewers.

So here I am, finishing up my second pseudonymous 'Way Cool Blowout Project that I did purely for fun (well, profit, too, but mainly it's about the fun) and because I needed a fresh outlook on life, and book one got the kind of editorial and reviewer reactions that I'm used to (so it's not the name, with or without initial)--and readers are reacting more actively than they ever have. And that's good. Because ye gods, I need it.

But really, it's enough to let my original byline just die. Twenty years, thirty books, they can't even get my name right. Why even bother?

Good thing writers get to reinvent themselves as often as they or the market will bear. In fact, I think I feel another pseudonym coming on....

Comments

[smoemeth.livejournal.com]

Oh, for cripes' sake. What is wrong with people?!? Do they have students writing the magazine there?

I trust a letter to the editor of the Alumnae Quarterly is forthcoming?

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

...were you registered at your college as Judith E. Tarr? That's the only reason I can think of that they might add in the initial. o.O

[raithen.livejournal.com]

You need a good PR rep, clearly. That is HORRID. And BTW, you write the books, your publisher is supposed to build up the hype, do the PR and the Marketing and get the readers out there to buy your book. Because it is sinful if they don't.

Now, I confess, I am late to your work. Your journal came to my attention because of the horse neeps -- I am horsey, and that is reflected in some of my LJ connections. But I am also over-edumuckated in ENglish (MA, English Lit, almost MA #2, Language and Professional Writing). And, well, I read. Not 12 books a week, because I have a job, and horses, and school, but I read. And thus, I appreciate journallers who can blend the horses with something well written. YOu do this.

And, coincidently, I found your journal just as I was reading A Wind in Cairo, which electricland reccomended to me. And it is WONDERFUL. I am thoroughly enjoying it (and no, I am not just saying that - though I think I sound all fangurly, which isn't my style).

Which is why I do not understand how come you don't get a greater readership. Great reviews, great editor respones etc should all lead to great readership, if stewarded correctly. And again, THAT IS NOT YOUR JOB. You write the books, your publisher & agent are supposed to do the rest. That is why they get such a big cut. So I think I might have a LONG chat with your agent about remedying this situation.

Oh, and I am looking forward to the next horse neep. Our foal has decided she likes drinking directly from the farm hydrant tap, getting water ALL over her face. Tis very cute :D.

[raithen.livejournal.com]

and now I am afraid I might have gotten the title wrong, because I didn't check my facts. If I did, I apologize.

[madwriter.livejournal.com]

Since I'm easily amused, I particularly liked the "I don't seem to have met her". I personally don't seem to meet people all the time, especially when I'm on my all-too-rare time travelling jaunts that force me to write in mixed tenses.

[janni.livejournal.com]

Speaking as someone who writes alumni interviews as part of her freelance career, that just sounds like an incompetent interviewer.

Is this already in print? If you were given a copy to review before publication (as every university I've worked with does--but that only amounts to two, so procedures might differ), ask to talk to the editor (you may already be in touch with her, depending who your point of contact is) and express your concerns, and ask for corrections.

Actually, even if the thing is in print, you can ask for corrections of the factual info, at least. Their goal in printing a magazine like this is partly to make the alumni they're interviewing happy and interested in the institution, so in theory they're going to want to at least try to get it right.

It is true, btw, that doing print interviews doesn't help any with accuracy. I find that wherever I get my information for articles, it comes down to trying to take it and slant it in a way that's both true to the career of the alum, and compelling to the reader.

But the slant being different from what you'd like is one thing. There's no excuse for out and out inaccuracies, which are another.

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

Good things are often passed over for awards, because what wins awards is generally trendy things.

You do good work.

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, all you can do is try to become better at marketing yourself. Check with your agent, see if there are things that you could be doing- or that they could be doing- that you're not.

I know it sounds cheesy, but there are some books out there about marketing yourself that might help.

Personally, I think that you are a voice that needs to be heard. Everything I've ever heard about you as a writer is exemplary. (In fact, one of my college profs is using "Household Gods" in his lit class. That's gotta count for something!) I love reading your blog and getting to see the horsey neep and getting a little feel of the real person behind the awesome books.

You've been an inspiration, a little peek into a world that I hope someday might be something *I* can create for myself.

--K

[maryosmanski.livejournal.com]

The next time this institute of higher learning asks you for money, you should not only tell them no, but tell them "hell, no," and explain exactly why.

[larryhammer]

What They All Said (mostly).

But now I wanna know what E. is for. Elizabeth is, to put it mildly, very unlikely — Eleanor? Erin? Ellen?

---L.

[lynnesite.livejournal.com]

Well, I was a fan before ever hearing you had horses, let alone the Ladies. When I ask friends who also like SF/Fantasy, they've all heard of you.

In the FWIW column, I collaborate often with 3 journalists--all horse people--and they all have integrity and can listen. I so understand that they're the exception, and treat them with the respect they deserve. I would be on the keys to that person's editor, that's incompetence on a grand scale, and if that editor is worth a damn, they'll deeply regret all of it.

Awards. Hmmm. In photography, shooting for contests is sort of a specialty; I'm always surprised when I win one, because I won't compromise my eye just to fit the mainstream's POV.

My single favorite short story of all time, not-genre-specific either, is "Classical Horses" and I make everyone read it. :-) Feel a little bit better.

[hippoiathanatoi.livejournal.com]

"Classical Horses" is my all time favourite short story too. I just wish anthologies would stay in print for longer, as people rarely go through the effort to find out of print anthologies based on recommendations of specific stories.

I really like the Orb reissues of the Hound and the Falcon and the two Avaryan trilogies, as their 'always in print' state make them safe bets to recommend to people. Plus, people with good taste in books usually like 'em. :)

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

I still haven't read the article. I hope I didn't throw that issue away by mistake. Frankly, though, given how our alma mater feels about fantasy writers, I'm not surprised they messed up that much.

[galeni.livejournal.com]

Cripes. How frustrating. Maybe it's true what I was told as a kid, "If you don't blow your own horn, who will?" Of course, I was also told that children should be seen and not heard, so who knows.

Maybe your books need more kinky sex. That would get one banned and make you a household name! Violence doesn't seem to do it these days (American Psycho hit the pinnacle in that territory, I think), and regular sex doesn't, but maybe something burnable would work. Of course, it would have to be in addition to your usual excellent stories and words and characters.

Caryn
(only partly joking)

CRIMINY!

[kladruber1.livejournal.com]

Oh for the love of PETE! I hate it when this bunk happens to good people that I care about. grr. But you know what, even the Helenator is discovering that you just have to blow your own horn for anyone to listen to you. For those of us with some manners it sounds so rude to do. But if we don't do it, those with less talent and integrity get all the glory. While it may never really be about the glory for many of us....it is about the HAY! So get out the bull horns and start shouting from the rooftops!! You deserve the recognition! :-)

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

OH yeah.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

That's probably it. I can't think of any other reason, either.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Awwww. Cuuuuute.

We have had those discussions for years. At all levels. Steps Have Been Taken. Starting with the new me that came out with the Luna book that's getting all the buzz (and sales!).

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Perils of a classical education. Latin Prose Composition has a lot to answer for.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

It's in print. I got the magazine, opened it, and there it was. There is not one single accurate reference to me or my work--they quote me a time or two and that's as written, but the rest is one error after another.

Obviously she never read a book or story of mine, or made any effort to even determine that she had the right byline for me.

Normally the Quarterly has been nice to me--they've done a couple of features over the years and got everything pretty much right. This is the first time I've been subjected to this kind of stupid chop job.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

Then of course there's the question of whether "good" is good enough. But that needs an entry of its own, and I must finish the book first.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Thanks very much.

We have been addressing this in detail. There's been a fair amount of "just throw it out and let it die" happening, but with the new books, Harlequin's marketing machine expects the author to participate. I have a topic on the Luna site, and do chats and such. Plus this blog. And a better website. And signings and such.

Frankly, after twenty years of missed opportunities, bad publisher decisions, and general lackadasica, the only real way out is probably to step sideways and change bylines. Which I have done, thereby at least tripling sales, just for starters. It's also woken up the tired old veteran. Writing's fresh again and it's fun. I needed that. A lot.

I should add that those twenty years have given me a small (I call them The 4400) but passionately loyal audience of very high quality--with a large number of industry professionals and highly intelligent people. They may be few, but they are choice.

Now we're working on expanding the field.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Believe me, that thought has crossed my mind.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Ellen.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Aww, thanks. It does make me feel better. I've had a little too much "you're nothing and we've never heard of you" lately. Need to know that's not true.

I do just write what I write--but there comes a time when one has to consider the market or one can't make a living.

A set of corrections, well starched, has gone off to the editor.