Comments on Nathan Bransford, Author: Query Trends: I'm Seeing Triple

Hmmm...I've just written two romances featurin...

2011-09-25T20:57:41.189-07:00

Hmmm...I've just written two romances featuring plus-sized heroines. Each character is different - one shy, one fiery, and I'm currently writing the third in the trilogy. I've found a very favorable response amongst readers. Yep, I reckon it's simply that plus-sized readers want to read books that they can relate to!
Yes, after having 18 novels traditonally published through a smell press publisher, I did these two myself. And loved it. The market is there, if only the big publishers would take a punt on it - and us!

"...do you think people will buy a book in an e...

2008-08-27T16:38:00.000-07:00
"...do you think people will buy a book in an escapist genre with an unapologetically overweight character? Let's assume it's totally well written, the protagonist "owns" her overweightness -- do you think a book like that would sell?"

Well, Nathan, I fervently hope so, because I have written just such a book and am hoping one day to become obscenely rich on the proceeds, assuming someone out there can summon up the cojones to publish it. (Sample chapters, jacket blurb and/or synopsis available on request).

In my view the fact you feel the need to pose this question at all is an indication of just how deeply rooted fat phobia is in society – as are some of the comments that have appeared in the light of it. Firstly, fat women aren’t some curious subspecies; we’re p-e-o-p-l-e. Lots of us buy chick-lit, some of us read your blog, and many of us are writers – or even agents. What’s more, if Globesity hysteria is anything to go on there are millions of us. Why wouldn’t we want to escape into a world where happy, confident women who share our physical attributes get to wear manolos; ride in sports cars; sip Mojitos and have hot, rip-roaring sex with cool men for a change? Duh?!

Practically every existing novel in this allegedly escapist genre boasts a heroine with a Hollywood-approved single-digit dress size, or else a very slightly larger one who can be relied upon to bewail her imaginary and inherently unlovable blubber throughout. Viz to wit Bridget Jones, a neurotic, self-obsessed ninny whose chronic self-denigration makes me want to whack her upside the head with her own bathroom scales. Actual fat heroines are as scarce as hen’s teeth and seldom permitted a happy-ever-after until epic tragedy or Weight Watchers whittles them down to a weight more palatable to the likes of anonymous and Jana Lubina. Forgive me but thus far I’m having trouble seeing anything that transports me away from the mundanity and frustrations of my everyday life – one of which is having to endure people making egregious presumptions about my “unhealthy lifestyle” based on my weight.

I suggest the reason the infernal Bridget is so damned popular is because, depressingly, she actually is most women, if not Everywoman, a fact I find infinitely depressing. Of all the women I know the ones most likely to give their bodies an even break are the ones Ms Lubina seems to find so odious – those who work towards self-acceptance in a world that consistently mistakes aesthetics for health and health for morality. Precious few of my average -sized female friends like their bodies; in fact most of them actively dislike them. I fail to see anything remotely healthy about that, though I will agree with Ms Lubina that books that are purely polemical can be rather tedious, and make better non-fiction reading – for those open minded enough to read it, obviously.

Fat people, as anonymous casually mentions in passing, are generally invisible – in books; on stage and screen; in the media and to the fashion industry – all outside influences that shape our view of ourselves and of others. It is, I would suggest, the cumulative effect of this, combined with the fact that fat is equated with a list of negative character traits as long as your arm, that leads to the ill feeling and bitchiness anonymous experiences. Perhaps, if fat people were portrayed more frequently in fiction – and as the regular human beings they are – fat, thin and aspiring-thin alike would cease to be so defensive and censorious.

In other words, Nathan, take on some fatchick lit. You’d be doing a public service.

A little over a year ago I launched an online phot...

2008-08-04T08:43:00.000-07:00
A little over a year ago I launched an online photography project featuring a growing collection of images I've made of fat women. The hope was to change minds about a narrow and exclusive beauty ideal. I've since gotten over half a million hits, and I hear daily from women who're moving from body shame (far more widespread than I'd previously believed) to self-acceptance, and even embracing their unique beauty. It appears to be a struggle which requires a buttload of support materials. People are hungry (sorry) for fat-positive imagery, and if I'm late with a site update, I get concerned e-mails. So I'm not surprised at the fat heroine query trend you note. Additionally, recent press coverage of the fatosphere has sent agents and publishers farming its rolls to sign bloggers.

I very much look forward to the result.

(And I'm with Tom Geller on use of the word 'overweight.' It's a judgement word, and in enlightened fat circles, its use is generally thought to be uninformed.)

Substantia Jones

"My question is (and put on your agent's cap): do ...

2008-07-26T10:58:00.000-07:00
"My question is (and put on your agent's cap): do you think people will buy a book in an escapist genre with an unapologetically overweight character? Let's assume it's totally well written, the protagonist "owns" her overweightness -- do you think a book like that would sell?"

Like hotcakes.

There's a reason why they sell so well with ePublishers - you can't find them anywhere else. Urban fantasy, paranormal, chicklit, suspense, contemporary, scifi... you name it and you can find an eBook featuring a plus sized heroine, who's pretty happy with herself the was she is.

Personally I'd be all over something that's NOT chicklit featuring a heroine who is besides all the other things plus-sized. As in sized 14-20 plus sized. Not the Hollywood 6-12 version.

Something funny: I have been wanting to read a wom...

2008-07-25T20:16:00.000-07:00
Something funny: I have been wanting to read a women's fiction novel with an "overweight" (because most of them are actually just average-sized women!) protagonist - so there's definitely a market there! Also -- what about Bridget Jones? And a famous romance novel with an "overweight protag": Bet Me - which was loads of fun!

Nathan,
What about global warming novels, with ...

2008-07-25T05:05:00.000-07:00
Nathan,
What about global warming novels, with sci fi theme, year 2500 or so.
there is a book here. mebbe.

http://pcillu101.blogspot.com

danny bloom
Tufts 1971

contact me if interested in chatting. i am thinking of sci fi novel and movie rights. but this is not about money. i am dying. this is about future of human species, if anyone cares....

sigh

The
2008-07-24T22:57:00.000-07:00
The phentermine side-effects is the most important cause that saw the end of this very effective and one of the first weight loss drugs. Though even the modern weight loss drugs contain certain side-effects that phentermine had, still their effects were much more acute in case of phentermine.

The wish fulfillment element probably comes fro...

2008-07-23T19:39:00.000-07:00
The wish fulfillment element probably comes from the aspect that we wish it didn't matter - that women can have glamor, excitement, boyfriends, and the rest regardless of weight.

That's not "wish fulfillment"--it's absolutely true.

@ adaoraOK, it wasn't ironic.

2008-07-23T19:38:00.000-07:00
@ adaoraOK, it wasn't ironic.

Sorry, Alanis Morrissette has left me oversensitive to this. :)

And did you agree or disagree with the rest of my post

I think that the obsessing about her weight and lusting after the office cad were part of the same problem, yes.

Will it sell?

I think your answer is yes. S...

2008-07-23T06:27:00.000-07:00
Will it sell?

I think your answer is yes. Start with She's Come Undone, proceed to Bridget Jones, Good in Bed, and In Her Shoes (although the movie version didn't emphasize it, as I recall the heroine liked shoes because they were the only wardrobe element she thought looked good on her), and follow with Jemima J, Size 12 is Not Fat (and the rest of that series) and The Next Big Thing. All of these are off the top of my head, happen to be on my own bookshelves, and are written by well known chick-lit/women's fiction authors. They have all been on the front tables in my local Borders (whether or not that makes them big hits, I don't know). I think this is not a trend that is "coming"; it is a trend that is here.

The wish fulfillment element probably comes from the aspect that we wish it didn't matter - that women can have glamor, excitement, boyfriends, and the rest regardless of weight.

"...nobody ever thought of looking there...”

2008-07-22T19:42:00.000-07:00
"...nobody ever thought of looking there...”

Re: "The next big trend: the vampire diet. Simply drink 8-12 ounces of blood before every meal. Lose pounds and inches and your reflection."

The next next big trend - women can not only make thousands selling their eggs - now they can sell their menstrual fluid as a diet supplement. Move over Ensure, here comes Mblood!

Hey, there's a company offering to freeze the red stuff for stem cells (for a fee, of course):

http://news.bbc.co.uk
/2/hi/health/7086548.stm

and

http://www.nytimes.com/
2008/01/29/health/29bloo.html

Hilarious quote from health care professional:

So the prospect that “the curse” might be a source of stem cells to sustain life was a surprise to some experts.

“All the years I’ve been working in cell therapy, nobody ever thought of looking there,”

Yeah, I bet :)

The next big trend: the vampire diet. Simply drin...

2008-07-22T18:08:00.000-07:00
The next big trend: the vampire diet. Simply drink 8-12 ounces of blood before every meal. Lose pounds and inches and your reflection.

@Julia - OK, it wasn't ironic. And did you agree ...

2008-07-22T16:02:00.000-07:00
@Julia - OK, it wasn't ironic. And did you agree or disagree with the rest of my post out of healthy curiousity?

ironically Colin Firth plays Darcy in Bridget J...

2008-07-22T14:25:00.000-07:00
ironically Colin Firth plays Darcy in Bridget Jones and in BBC's Pride and Prejudice

It's not "ironic" at all--that was Fielding's intention all along (and made the second Bridget Jones movie a little complicated, since Bridge interviews Colin Firth about what it's like to be confused with Mr. Darcy).

Also, for heaven's sake, people, BRIDGET JONES WAS...

2008-07-22T13:25:00.000-07:00
Also, for heaven's sake, people, BRIDGET JONES WASN'T "PLUS-SIZED"!!! She was heavier than she wanted to be, but unless she was 5'1" or shorter, the highest weight she records in her diary isn't even in the "overweight" range.

an escapist genre with an unapologetically over...

2008-07-22T13:03:00.000-07:00
an escapist genre with an unapologetically overweight character

Sounds like a niche. I imagine it could be done if the story didn't focus on weight, if the wish fulfillment were something else and the character happened to be overweight with other priorities than weight loss. Unapologetically overweight sounds too militant.

A fine discussion, Everyone. (Love the Human Snacr...

2008-07-22T12:02:00.000-07:00
A fine discussion, Everyone. (Love the Human Snacrifice concept!)

For what it's worth, the trouble with trends is that they can so easily become cliches.

I won't read anything hyped as something "like" or "in the style of."

I frown on somebody writing somebody else's coattails to success--or, in this case, "suckcess."

But the theme in BJ was that she won over the good...

2008-07-22T11:58:00.000-07:00
But the theme in BJ was that she won over the good guy - the one she over looked before - being who she was before (overweight, overworked etc and so on) - and that when she had the choice (having finally 'worked over' the 'goodlooking Daniel, she went for the 'right' guy anyways. There is that (to some) pesky self-fulfilment thing again. What looks good on paper, and what works in real life. That point you make about Austen in BJ, I can see a bit. That line about 'one person having all the goodness and the other all the appearance of it,' which Lizzie makes about Wickham and Darcy (and ironically Colin Firth plays Darcy in Bridget Jones and in BBC's Pride and Prejudice). The whole thing leaps to mind. And the good guy character is named after the good guy Austen character. Then you've got the Daniel Cleaver who mirrors Jane Austen's Wickam who (as Mr. Bennet says) "smiles, and makes love to us all." Lots of bouncing off of previous sucess and hopefully putting your own spin on it. Last thing we all want is a broken record.

The pubescent-vampire soap--it's many clones and s...

2008-07-22T11:51:00.000-07:00
The pubescent-vampire soap--it's many clones and suddenly popular predecessors included--currently sweeping through the general female audience with no prejudice for age causes myself laughable slights.

It seems like what was once a literature taboo for women is now popular. Especially with this latest installment featuring aliens of the body snatchers type.

How did this happen?

I don't even bother with concern about the Mayan deadline for life.

Chick Lit and Romance are basically forms of Comed...

2008-07-22T11:47:00.000-07:00
Chick Lit and Romance are basically forms of Comedy, and they have to adhere to the fairly rigid constraints of comedy. That's where the whole "wish fulfillment" part comes in. Something has to be gained at the end.

Bridget Jones' Diary had to play off of Austen to get some humor out of the tight constraints, for example. It's not easy to expand the formula without getting away from what has to be done.

Having said that, winning over the cute guy or finally being comfortable with being independent are among the possible outcomes with an overweight protagonist. Just remember to make use of the outsider status, as in Jones', as a big part of the plot advancement.

In fact, I'd say that any good comedies with a geek girl in them would be acceptable starting points.

I am a 6' tall proud Mayan Princess warrior
and...

2008-07-22T11:26:00.000-07:00
I am a 6' tall proud Mayan Princess warrior
and so what if you think I look down at you? I do.
I do take exception over being lined up as a vampire and have you ever seen a 6' Mayan warrior who weighed a mere 120 pounds?
You need muscles to survive in this jungle!

My question is (and put on your agent's cap): d...

2008-07-22T11:20:00.000-07:00
My question is (and put on your agent's cap): do you think people will buy a book in an escapist genre with an unapologetically overweight character? Let's assume it's totally well written, the protagonist "owns" her overweightness -- do you think a book like that would sell?

They already do sell. Meg Cabot is cleaning up with the Heather Wells mysteries (Size 12 Isn't Fat, Size 14 Isn't Fat Either, and whatever the new one is).

Jennifer Weiner's heroines range from "curvy" to "plump", and she's all over the best-seller lists.

Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan is a best-selling detective who wears size 12. Nobody's ever called Tess "overweight," though, until her latest adventure with murder on a TV set--Tess is an avid rower and quite tall, so I imagine her as kind of Venus Williams-shaped.

"My question is (and put on your agent's cap): ...

2008-07-22T11:18:00.000-07:00
"My question is (and put on your agent's cap): do you think people will buy a book in an escapist genre with an unapologetically overweight character? Let's assume it's totally well written, the protagonist "owns" her overweightness -- do you think a book like that would sell?"

Echoing your earlier post, Nathan: this is all premise. What's the plot?

I believe a book with convincing, engaging characters and a great plot would sell whether the protagonist were big, small or vampiric.

Of course, writing those characters and that plot is always the hard part...

Having said all of the above, the main character i...

2008-07-22T11:09:00.000-07:00
Having said all of the above, the main character in my novel is an architect turned wedding cake designer. I thought it would be fun (in a stealthy feminist kind of way) to create a faux chick lit type character, who's kind of Bella Azbug (obscure 70s feminist reference), Martha Stewart and Yoko Ono (for a concert she once threw dried peas out of a bag, and the sound of the peas hitting the floor was the "music"), all rolled into one.

At least I am amused. Is my character the feminist version of a Mary Sue? Only time (and a pile of rejections) will tell.

Back to the manuscript...

Re: "the chick lit genre is basically a wish fulfi...

2008-07-22T11:01:00.000-07:00
Re: "the chick lit genre is basically a wish fulfillment genre."

This Chick's Wish Fulfillment List:

1) Murder rate of 0 in Detroit! Woo-hoo! Number 1 on my list of wishes.

2) Federal funding for massive undertaking - creating infrastructure (i.e., "a station on every corner") to support clean (0 emissions, woo-hoo!) fuel for transportation. More mass transportation (SE Michigan birthplace of Model T - nope, no regional cooperation and no mass transit (just barely) to speak of. Racism big part of problem.

3) Peace in the Middle East - translation: Democracy, jobs and less SEXISM.

4) Oh yeah, bring good-paying manufacturing jobs back to US in "green" industries.

5) Independent trade unions (free of government intervention) in SE Asia.

Etc.

When I think of "escapist" women's fiction, I prefer something like "The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard," about an "ordinary" woman who becomes prime minister of UK. Loved it!!!!

Moral of the story: There are millions of women who "don't give a shit about chick lit." Don't find it escapist at all. Makes them feel like a pinch of tobacco being tamped down into some guy's pipe, so he can have a good smoke and mull things over in a manly way. (I get this pipe metaphor from a poem by Sylvia Plath I believe.)

***

Re: "The main thing that folks get out of reading books of the chick-lit genre (with the main thread that you pointed out as being 'fulfilment'), is a women going after what SHE wants. A woman who is working actively to change her life for the better, no matter who might be in her way."

For many women, it's not "working actively to change HER life for the better," it's "working actively to change THE WORLD for the better."

Ambition: It's a beautiful word.

Comments on Nathan Bransford, Author: Query Trends: I'm Seeing Triple

Hmmm...I've just written two romances featurin...

"...do you think people will buy a book in an e...

A little over a year ago I launched an online phot...

"My question is (and put on your agent's cap): do ...

Something funny: I have been wanting to read a wom...

Nathan,What about global warming novels, with ...

The wish fulfillment element probably comes fro...

Will it sell?I think your answer is yes. S...

The next big trend: the vampire diet. Simply drin...

@Julia - OK, it wasn't ironic. And did you agree ...

ironically Colin Firth plays Darcy in Bridget J...

Also, for heaven's sake, people, BRIDGET JONES WAS...

an escapist genre with an unapologetically over...

A fine discussion, Everyone. (Love the Human Snacr...

But the theme in BJ was that she won over the good...

The pubescent-vampire soap--it's many clones and s...

Chick Lit and Romance are basically forms of Comed...

I am a 6' tall proud Mayan Princess warriorand...

My question is (and put on your agent's cap): d...

"My question is (and put on your agent's cap): ...

Having said all of the above, the main character i...

Re: "the chick lit genre is basically a wish fulfi...

Nathan,
What about global warming novels, with ...

Will it sell?

I think your answer is yes. S...

I am a 6' tall proud Mayan Princess warrior
and...