"Publishing rationale"

[Andrew Okey]

Fellow Litopians (possibly, in particular, those of you West of the Atlantic) -

I'm considering entering a competition that requires me to provide (along with m/s and synopsis) a "publishing rationale" for my novel.

I'm trying to work out if that means - "the interesting things I in any case say about my book when I write to agents" or, more pointedly "why I think this book will sell". Or perhaps it means something entirely different again.

Views, information, all welcome. Cheers guys.

A.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

I agree with you, that it sounds like they're trying to suss out how commercially aware you are of the market. Just be wary, that they're not attempting to induce you into putting money up front to get your work published. This happens a lot, including through the cover of running a 'competition'.

 

[Carol Rose]

Never heard that term. Hard to tell what it means.

 

[Andrew Okey]

Paul - yes, that thought had occurred to me - Facebook, in particular, appears to be filling up with apparent Publishing houses who (as soon as you delve the small print) are actually vanity publishers.

Cheers, A.

 

[lrholland]

In general terms, a publishing rationale is your statement of why your book is worthwhile. Why it was worth writing, and why people will need to read it, what it sets out to achieve, and what if anything new it has to offer. I personally think it's worthwhile thinking about this before you commit a chunk of your life to writing N thousand words.

However, in terms of a bunch of publishing chancers, it's probably a euphemism for "business case". Have they asked you about your "platform" and Twatter followers?

 

[Tom's House]

Anyone who could write "publishing rationale" doesn't know what good prose is.

 

[Charles Ott]

The "publishing rationale" for a book of fiction is to give the reader a couple of hours of amusement. Granted that the book has to have some "meat" in it to be entertaining for that long, it's still true that entertainment has to be the main objective. Nothing in a book works without that.

 

[lrholland]

The "publishing rationale" for a book of fiction is to give the reader a couple of hours of amusement. Granted that the book has to have some "meat" in it to be entertaining for that long, it's still true that entertainment has to be the main objective. Nothing in a book works without that.

That's one of those generalizations that doesn't really work. No one need ever publish any new books ever and we would all have more than enough to read if entertainment was the only goal.

 

[Amber]

Fellow Litopians (possibly, in particular, those of you West of the Atlantic) -

There's a test to answer this post? I don't know where West of the Atlantic is and I no longer care how stupid it makes me look.

I'm considering entering a competition that requires me to provide (along with m/s and synopsis) a "publishing rationale" for my novel.

I'm trying to work out if that means - "the interesting things I in any case say about my book when I write to agents" or, more pointedly "why I think this book will sell". Or perhaps it means something entirely different again.

Views, information, all welcome. Cheers guys.

A.

I imagine truth can intersect with purpose here and you can tell them why you wrote the book and why it's more than something your family and friends might enjoy reading, but something strangers would get something out of reading.

 

[Andrew Okey]

There's a test to answer this post? I don't know where West of the Atlantic is and I no longer care how stupid it makes me look.



I imagine truth can intersect with purpose here and you can tell them why you wrote the book and why it's more than something your family and friends might enjoy reading, but something strangers would get something out of reading.

Amber - West of the Atlantic was actually a British explorer. He never became famous, though - it turns out lots of other people had already discovered the Atlantic.

As for the book. Well, I started writing it in 2014 when the world seemed a slightly happier place. So perhaps back then there was no point to it at all, it was just an idea I had. However, since then, the novel's two key themes seem to have become distressingly relevant: the rise of totalitarianism (and the compromises required to survive it); and how, when deceit gets written into society's very grain, when people unite behind shared lies, when those in power lie openly and outrageously and dare you to do anything about it, then everything - even the affection and desire shared between lovers - gets corrupted.

A.

 

[Amber]

Um ... so... in these troubled times...

It sounds like a good theme.