Attention m/m novelists

[veronica_rich]

Yes, those of you with publishing contracts to sell m/m books starring OMCs - if you would care to render your opinion on something related.

A friend wants to know if you think repurposed slash fanfic could ever go as mainstream as 50 Shades has for het erotica (I don't know if she means any m/m or m/m erotica; you'd have to ask her, really). I'm not an author, so the opinion I gave isn't informed - do you all have any?

Comments

[slayitalldown.livejournal.com]

I do, I was beta'ing for someone and she had an idea that I thought would make an AWESOME M/M original piece as the dynamics of the character's and their relationship had a lot of chemistry. So, artfully done, yes - most readers are women after all, and we all love a love story!

Srsly, has 50 Shades of Grey taught us NOTHING about who we really are... its a rom-com with extra smut, at best. We look for chemistry and we like the final reaction, its not fair to say we like slash for the sake of slash, we like stories... slash is just another flavour of smut, really.

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

I'm encouraged that you feel that way. At the moment the book market just isn't varied enough - I feel it needs to reflect a wider range of experiences. Not just for the sake of it, of course - a decent storyline is the main thing.

I'm not holding my breath, but I hope the success of "50 Shades" might make publishers more adventurous.

[slayitalldown.livejournal.com]

As a reader I totally agree with you - I get frustrated that the books I want to read aren't there! I know what I likes - stories! Its sad that the stories I want to read are only found on the internet or worse, on TV.

I won't read Game of Thrones books because the TV show satiates my curiosty for the stories far more than the books!! The characters are actually up to more 'no good' and better realised on the screen and yet, if that had happened in the books they would be better!

And writers need to be more bold and adventurous too. Where are my horny elves making naughty M/M scenes so I blush? Where are my fierce woman warriors and corrupt and bored princess's blowing off steam in roman baths by not keeping their hands to themselves? I want to remember wicked human experiences not "They went here, they went there, fight, fight, monster, MAGIC! Its all over! Everyone went home and become monks and nuns - the end!"

That's why I read books as a kid. I'm a grown up now... go behind the curtain!

And for the record, I refuse to read 50 Shades of Grey. Its RUBBISH!

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

I was thinking more of erotica, but actually any kind of book featuring a romantic relationship between two men (or two women, although Sarah Waters has already done that to a certain extent). Historical romance, detective fiction, comedy, anything you like. The only common denominator being the treatment of a same-sex relationship as normal and part of the fabric of life. :)

[johnnypenn.livejournal.com]

Not to mention that there are publisher's the only deal with m/m romance/slash and that's all they do.
And sometimes they'll accept f/f too.

[johnnypenn.livejournal.com]

50 Shades got popular really fast but it's written like Twilight. So people who like to read stuff like that probably helped make 50 shades popular.
I have problems with the ethic's of the BDSM relationship in the book. I don't think the author knew what he/she was doing when they wrote that.

Anyway - I too am trying to turn some fan fic into original fiction.
The hardest thing to do is to take out all the fan fic details and change the characters' enough so that they no longer resemble the characters of fandom.
I think it's okay to do this. I won't promise that anything will become main stream though. I think 50 shades is a fluke. But, you never know and I hope your Author friend does get popular.

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Yes, BDSM aspect aside, "50 Shades" is basically Mills and Boon. (In fairness, I haven't read it, but I have read a very detailed blog about it which made me decide not to.) ;)

Possibly a m/m romance (not necessarily particularly well written but with a classic romance storyline) could be a breakthrough success if the m/m aspect was perceived in the same way as the BDSM one - as the exotic, forbidden ingredient that makes it different from all the other romances on the shelves. Not ideal, but if it gets readers to expand their horizons and possibly read other, better stories, it could work out well. :)

[johnnypenn.livejournal.com]

I would hope that the m/m relationship would be treated like the tradition m/f relationship in most main stream novel's.

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

I would hope so too. But if a reader picks up a m/m novel out of curiosity and likes it, that can only help to destigmatise it in the eyes of the straight public.

[johnnypenn.livejournal.com]

Indeed. unless it's a badly written m/m book and then they think that's actually what happens in RL.

[finding-neo.livejournal.com]

If it's as poorly written as 50 Shades, sure.

The thing about 50 Shades is that it seems to me to have been written for the lowest common denominator reader, one who does not realize that part of the pull of the book is that first person narrative, which is just silly. No one can be having sex, getting flogged, what-the-f-ever sexual pleasure and be texting or writing the action at the same time. But it does create an experience for the reader which is very masochistic. We are all masochists in the broadest sense of the word. The fact that the actions in this book are somewhat forbidden for many of the sheltered women reading it, heightens the enjoyment.

Everyone knows that romance novels follow formulaic writing, right? This is the same thing. Sorry to be so down on it, I'm not down on the fanfic that you all write, just down on shit becoming popular that reads like a 3rd grader wrote it. A very twisted third grader, but still.

And I have read enough of it to have this opinion, I'm not just hating on first person narrative. We sell it where I work now. I can also go in to the socio-economics of it right now too - how women are deprived (depraved, LOL) because they can't go out and spend as much money as they used to, etc etc. This is a cheap thrill. Just the other day there was a report about how many thousands of $$ women spend in their lifetime on things like shoes.

So the publishing of 50 Shades seems very well timed, if nothing else. Find that key and you'll make a million dollars on fanfic too.

[johnnypenn.livejournal.com]

I've read one or two good first person books in my life time, the default seems to be third person.

I think it's badly written because it was based off Twilight, and Twilight is badly written, there fore, badly written fan fic is turned into badly written original fic.

My problem is how the two character's had a Dom/Sub contract made up, and then the guy totally ignores everything and the girl is goes with it. You don't do that sort of thing. Not to mention, to all this vanilla people reading the book for kicks, they'll get the wrong idea about the BDSM community. It's not like that and the Author has the responsibility to do her research and do it the right way - treat it with respect - and not just because it adds an element of novelty to the book.

as an m/m writer who does write BDSM - that just disgusts me!

[finding-neo.livejournal.com]

It's like the writer watched a few episodes of HBO's Real Sex and thought that made them an expert on BDSM.

[johnnypenn.livejournal.com]

I have never seen that show. But I agree with you.
I do a ton of research whenever I've a question about an aspect of BDSM before I even write it. and that's what this author should have done. I wish someone pointed that out before even publishing. It wouldn't have taken much to change/re-write that aspect of the story and make it a bit more realistic.