tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6492807304940108695.post7090466586815750931..comments2023-05-03T12:02:30.067-04:00Comments on Judith Mercado: “Write What You Know,” Marketing, and MeJudith Mercadohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13739476600999112092noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6492807304940108695.post-38349063816858268792010-08-21T17:26:58.848-04:002010-08-21T17:26:58.848-04:00Brent, I so appreciate your thoughtful and intelli...Brent, I so appreciate your thoughtful and intelligent contribution to this discussion. I suspect there is no such thing as coming late to this discussion. It will probably still be ongoing, though not necessarily on this blog, years from now. Thanks for the link. I will go read it now.Judith Mercadohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13739476600999112092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6492807304940108695.post-9313188745235255172010-08-21T08:40:50.453-04:002010-08-21T08:40:50.453-04:00Joining this discussion very very late, but it'...Joining this discussion very very late, but it's a never-ending concern. When I self-published my book a year ago, I was not only writing what I know but in a genre I know: the most uncommercial of all, literary short stories. The collection has spiritual/philosophical underpinnings that in my view are crucial but are so subtle that most likely the "spiritual" label won't stick. But I suspect they also undercut the book's "literary" market success. I understand the business need for categories, but (sigh) I cannot write to a market. And I resist the branding idea because as you say, I am not uni-dimensional. So I go along slowly (I mean REALLY slowly) seeking the public that wants this type of work. I count on the long tail, and go on to the next project.<br /><br />Also appreciated what you said about "not belonging." The poetry of my friend Djelloul Marbrook may appeal to you. Here's my review of his prize-winning book: http://gentlyread.wordpress.com/2009/04/01/story-in-the-spaces-brent-robison-reviews-far-from-algiers-by-djelloul-marbrook/<br /><br />Thanks for your insights--<br />BrentBrent Robisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06882060411376854563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6492807304940108695.post-42753288535466908442010-03-28T19:15:35.569-04:002010-03-28T19:15:35.569-04:00"Marketing is a puzzlement when its connected..."Marketing is a puzzlement when its connected with the arts"<br /><br />Indeed. They often even seem incompatible, but since writers have been published and have been successful, it must not be an impossibility to be both artist and commercial success. I just have to figure out how to do it.<br /><br /> Thanks for stopping by, Malcolm, and good luck to both of us.Judith Mercadohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13739476600999112092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6492807304940108695.post-67687346483020143912010-03-27T12:08:09.155-04:002010-03-27T12:08:09.155-04:00I often argue that what a writer knows is a collec...I often argue that what a writer knows is a collection of a thousand things about the human condition that have come to him or her through experience more than having an expertise in a particular subject matter, genre or style.<br /><br />The point of saying this is an attempt to set aside the notion of young writers that writing what you know means having first hand experience within some of the larger-than-life arenas of bestselling fiction. Young writers as how they can possibly compete with famous authors who have the time and money to visit exotic locales, conduct interviews, pay for legions of researchers or develop fiction out of former careers as high-priced hookers, advisers to the rich and famous, crime of all kinds, and infamy of the variety that makes the front page.<br /><br />All of that sells, to be sure, but Joe and Sally in Two Egg, Florida and Bill and Jean in Big Fork, Montana can't compete when "what you know" must be larger than the everyday lives of most writers.<br /><br />Yet, I understand the need of publishers to pigeonhole books and authors, create brands and genres and identifiable shelves. I, too, have used the "classification" literary, not out of presumption so much as a way of saying I don't write beach reads. But I worry about the classification, for it might also be interpreted as I don't write anything that will sell.<br /><br />Marketing is a puzzlement when its connected with the arts--how to we ramp up excitement about our work without prostituting it through identifications with current fads or purple back-cover copy. I don't resume to know.<br /><br />MalcolmMalcolm R. Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07840134761199335243noreply@blogger.com