Fragments Goes to Fantasy Land
You know you'll old when you remember the Disneyland television program that had its first broadcast not long after the disappearance of the last DoDo Bird. You remember that the Sunday night programs were thematic, each designated to a particular topic. But you're really old when you can't remember what the heck those themes were. I remember Adventure Night; and Fantasy Night. There were a couple of others. I'm blank.
At Fragments, Fridays--for some reason-- have become Introspection Day! So gather 'round, boys and girls, and let's get ready for a day of navel gazing from the Frozen Banks of Goose Creek!
But seriously. I truly would value your opinions and advice. Especially from those several of you who have been visiting Fragments regularly over the past year or more, bless your l'il hearts. Here's the deal: As I work through this B & N online course on "Thinking Like an Editor", I realize how important it is, if hoping to be published by a commercial publisher, that a book be clearly classifiable for marketing, shelving, and other placement reasons. Books that can't be classified--while they may be well written and of interest to some reader-base, are just not very appealing to an editor who has to predict reader appeal and sales.
As you may know, I'm going through the process of submitting a book for publication--to small presses who don't require an agent, first; then ultimately, will likely self-publish, or get a life. Whatever.
Envision the book. It will (tentatively) be called "Fragments: Field Notes from an Appalachian Year". If you've come around regularly, you'll see that the book consists of some eighty selections through the four seasons. These are drawn from the posts that examine the who and the where of living here--entries that attempt to bring the reader into the moment using all the senses; to pick up the small wonders in ordinary things, turn them over in their hands, and pay close attention. Some are self-revelatory tales--about me, the dog, our neighbors, the house and how we arrived here. All have been amplified, massaged, tweaked--from their original form. Sorting back through the archives since June, 2002, there seems to be enough of adequate quality for a small book of about 55 thousand words. Probably without images. Too expensive, but lending itself to a CD version complete with images later.
So. Here's where I'd like opinions. If you were going to Barnes and Noble (or your favorite mom-and-pop corner bookstore) looking for this book, where in the stacks would you head? If asking for the book, where would you say it it would be shelved? If asked about similar books you've read, what books would you name? Is this book narrative non-fiction? Regional/Virginia-Appalachian? Nature? Memoir? None of the above?
In the "read more" below, I've appended the "marketing plan" that was part of my submission package, just so you can see what I said about the book. What else should I say? What should I leave out? And do I really expect readers to spend their time with my publishing problems? Nah. So I'll be pleasantly surprised if someone does. Ya'll have a good weekend!
Marketing and ReadershipComparable seasonally organized natural histories with philosophical overtones include Sand County Almanac, where Leopold instills an abiding "land ethic" in his readers, teaching them to care about the commonplace in its beauty and frailty. Sue Hubbell received excellent endorsements for her 1986 seasonal narrative A Country Year in which she gives an account of her solitary life alone among her beehives, exalting everyday wonders and the economies of nature to a place of high praise. More recently in Green Thoughts: A Writer in the Garden, Eleanor Perenyi uses plant life to draw lessons for daily living. Annie Dillard sees the ordinary with new eyes in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. I count myself fortunate to have seen her “tree with the lights in it” in my own wanderings and regard nature as Dillard does with a mystical reverence and awe.
Fragments: Field Notes from an Appalachian Year, by contrast to these other related works, is perhaps more personal than practical, less political than aesthetic, and includes more wide ranging sources of inspiration than gardens or beehives. In it a reader will find a variegated and pleasantly unpredictable mixture of topics and voices— from nostalgic narrative to self-mocking wry humor to highly sensory and evocative poetic prose. Like every new day in the author’s life, each entry in the book brings some new joy or vision.
The genre of creative nonfiction— into which this work falls— is gaining readership. In addition, the southern Appalachians are coming to be recognized as a place worthy of attention for the creative personalities and arts the region engenders as well as for its quiet beauty. Floyd County, Virginia, is bounded on its southern border by the heavily visited Blue Ridge Parkway. The county is increasingly visible regionally by virtue of recent cultural tourism endeavors here and stands to gain additional attention in coming months, bringing the potential of a growing readership eager to discover what life is like in this beautiful out-of-the-way place.
In today’s world, regrettably we are often too busy to notice the small wonders that come and go through the seasons just outside our doors. There is growing interest in the slower and simpler life as our technologies and economies create more unease than efficiency. In rural Floyd County, it is has been possible to find both the slower pace and attention to beauty in the ordinary. This book celebrates these increasingly uncommon riches of the simple life and should find wide interest among those who live in or visit this popular part of the mountain south.
The author is an experienced and comfortable speaker and presenter and looks forward to the personal interactions that will be associated with the promotion of this book. His experience, extensive contacts and community of readers, and his facility with computers and the internet will facilitate the development of markets for the book. The author is committed to full time work in this capacity to assure that this will be a successful publication.
Comments
I'm afraid that I'm too much of a yokel to be of much help, but I couldn't pass on the chance to say I want a signed first edition for my collection...
Posted by: ronbailey | February 6, 2004 1:33 PM
Within your local area, I'd envision your book as being shelved in the regional/local interest section. But on a national level (hey, we're thinking big!), I'm thinking it would be shelved under nature/outdoors.
City folks love to read & dream about rural places, but these same city folks might not know which "region" to explore. (Heck, there are probably some city folks--particularly out west--who've never heard of Appalachia...)
Your book is memoir, but I'm leery of that label. Celebrities write memoirs, as do victims of horrible tragedies. Your book might get lost alongside the celebrity tell-all du jour.
Ideally, your book is Americana, but I'm not sure there's a specific bookstore section for that. I've seen the Foxfire how-to books shelved under "Rural/Outdoors" in some bookstores, and this always seems to be in the Nature/Outdoors section.
Good luck!
Posted by: Lorianne | February 6, 2004 2:12 PM
I agree with Lorianne, but here's the ultimate answer. Go to B&N in Richmond next time you're in the big city. I'd check Nature/Outdoors, but wander widely. Find the books, like Dillard's etc., that most resemble yours. What rubric are they shelved under? You want the known categories, and the best way to identify that is at the bookstore itself.
Posted by: travelertrish | February 6, 2004 3:34 PM
Wherever it is they file "Under the Tuscan Sun," unless it's the cooking section.
When I worked at B&N, stories of place where usually in the travel section.
Posted by: Bigwig | February 6, 2004 3:51 PM
I knew you were a special kind of writer all along but honestly, I think they will need to find a new classification for your writing. I've been inside a few libraries and found the book I was looking for because I knew the title, the author, etc. I've never stepped foot inside a book store, so I am without a source of reference.
Creative non-fiction doesn't really describe accurately enough what you write. There is a "folk" quality about it, similar to a mountain doctor that uses herbs for healing. Wise to the ways of nature, self taught folk writer that employs stream of consciousness commentary.
Folk, nature walk, story teller, rural observations and creative compositions.
OH Heck! I got nothing.
Posted by: Clarence | February 6, 2004 6:24 PM
How about right next to Walden by Henry David Thoreau?
Posted by: Jenny | February 6, 2004 7:45 PM
I'm going to have to second the vote of "travel" being a possibility. If I were wandering into my local B&N, and was looking for a book to "take me away to somewhere else", I'd most likely be browsing among the travel section. I might be there looking for Fodor's or some other travel-specific book, and would be pleasantly surprised when I found a charming piece of Appalachia mixed in among the titles.
I can only speak from the perspective of a reader, but I'd also like you to consider the possibility of directly "creating a theme" within the tales you choose for this book. In other words, you may want to consider pointing it in the direction of "discovery" or "reflections" or "inspiration", in which case, you might be shelving your book in a different section altogether. Just a thought, from a reader's perspective.
Posted by: ntexas99 | February 6, 2004 8:00 PM
I would be remiss if I didn't also offer this --- someone (and I'm sorry, but I can't for the life of me remember who) suggested this book to me. I found it inspiring, clever, witty, and informative, and I hope you'll take a look and see if it might be helpful to you as well.
The book is titled "The Forest for the Trees" by Betsy Lerner, with the sidebar description of "An Editor's Advice to Writers".
Irreverant, funny, seriously informative, and really gave me glimpses into spaces I hadn't known existed. Good luck to you in your quest.
Posted by: ntexas99 | February 7, 2004 5:31 PM
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Posted by: joyles | June 24, 2004 6:38 PM