|
|
Post by waldenwriter on Oct 6, 2009 0:53:33 GMT -5
I've been going through my copy of the 2010 Novel and Short Story Writer's Market the last couple days and I've noticed that several of the publishers who publish fantasy say they don't want vampire stories.
I was curious about this until I thought that there must be a "glut" in the book market of vampire-related fiction. Ever since the Twilight series came out, there have been a ton of new vampire series coming out, capitalizing on Twilight's popularity. This is similar to the rise in new fantasy series after the Harry Potter series was such a success.
Do you guys agree? Are there too many vampire stories out there right now? I think so.
|
|
|
|
Post by veryblessedmom on Oct 6, 2009 6:52:23 GMT -5
I went to a workshop back in August and the lady said the vampire market was closed. She also said, if you have a story idea and go to the book store and see the shelves full of that sub-genre, you've missed the boat on that idea for the time being.
I have a vampire ms I've put aside for now for that reason. When all the Twilight hoopla fades, maybe I can work on it then.
|
|
|
|
Post by tonylavoie on Oct 6, 2009 9:37:26 GMT -5
There are definitely too many vampire stories right now, completely due to the success of those shiny vampires. I ran into the same problem. Just as I was finishing up the bones of my pirate story, Disney released that pirate movie thing of theirs, so everyone in the world suddenly was telling pirate stories. Now every pirate story ends up getting compared to Disney's--Stephen L. Rice even described mine as "if Keith Laumer had written Pirates of the Carribean--fast paced and funny". A favorable review, to be sure, but still coming back around to the Disney pirates. I happen to think my characters are deeper and more real (well, real in a fantasy setting) than Disney's, but that's to be expected, I suppose.  The upshot is that I set my book on a simmer then (with much grumbling against Disney's timing and ability to market, it must be said) and moved on to other projects. Slowly I've been editing and perfecting my pirates, and believe that particular market is slowing down enough now that I can release it soon without seeming like I'm riding on Johnny Depp's shirt-tails. Things move in cycles. Vampires will go (mostly) away soon enough. Then it'll be talking shoeboxes or something. |
|
|
|
Post by metalikhan on Oct 7, 2009 2:58:24 GMT -5
I think it goes in cycles. I ran across an old Writer's Market (late 90's) while going through some book boxes. There were publishers back then saying we see too many vampire stories or will only consider vampire stories that are truly unique. It seems vampire stories have always held a solid lead over other monster stories including werewolf stories. It's difficult to come up with a storyline that hasn't been done before in some way.
I don't mean to say that there are no innovative approaches; but with such a tremendous quantity of lore, stories, and films about vampires, it becomes harder to create a story about them that can withstand comparison to other stories, particularly the very successful ones. For a long time, vampire stories were judged according to the standards of Dracula stories and movies. Dark Shadows showed a different aspect of vampires — we saw they had a more complex emotional life (albeit darkly complex) that made them more attractive, more seductive. King's Salem's Lot vampires were undiluted evil; but Rice's vampires evoked some sympathy as well as fascination. Elaine Bergstrom had a different take on vampires; she presented them as aliens from another world rather than undead creatures but showed how the vampire lore developed around them. Buffy the Vampire-Slayer gave us a rather campy version of them while Forever Knight was a more broody adaptation. Probably the most nightmarish and surreal vampire story I've read was Mastery. The comedic aspect of vampires shows up in Terry Pratchett's novels — I still laugh over the scenes of a vampire, a werewolf, and a dwarf going to a bar for a girls' night out.
That's just a pebbles-worth of stories out of a mountain of them. By comparison, I can think of very few werewolf stories to compete with the sheer quantity of vampire stories. Possibly the only other supernatural kinds of stories that could compete in quantity are ghost stories and witch/wizard stories; but few of them have had the impact and staying-power that the vampires have enjoyed.
|
|
|
|
Post by metalikhan on Oct 7, 2009 3:07:00 GMT -5
There are a couple of really interesting threads on vampires and vampire stories in the Demons and Monsters and the Last Days forum. Worth checking out the discussions there.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bainespal on Oct 11, 2009 14:40:55 GMT -5
I think it might be cool to see a high fantasy novel that incorporates some gothic horror elements. The author could include creatures very much like vampires, without actually calling them vampires. They would have their own explanation and function according to the mythology of the setting. It would appeal to the vampire-story market and be more original.
|
|
|
|
Post by beckyminor on Oct 11, 2009 15:51:10 GMT -5
I think it might be cool to see a high fantasy novel that incorporates some gothic horror elements. The author could include creatures very much like vampires, without actually calling them vampires. They would have their own explanation and function according to the mythology of the setting. It would appeal to the vampire-story market and be more original. I think it would be nice to see something fresh along these lines...though as for fantasy/gothic crossover, some of the ground has been covered, I guess, by the Ravenloft novels. (Though I have to be honest, I haven't read much in the way of Dungeons and Dragons novels in a long time, for reasons I won't get into here.) I have a troubled relationship with "things that look like a previously created monster but have another name slapped on them." Though I appreciate that it is really hard to create something totally fresh, given the array of creatures that have already been written. If someone can make a vampire-inspired race that really turns a new corner, that person may just have a built in readership in folks for whom vampires are getting stale. It's an interesting challenge, to say the least. |
|
|
|
Post by waldenwriter on Oct 11, 2009 21:04:34 GMT -5
If you can do it in a creative way, it might be worth it. In my current novel, there are witch-sirens, basically witches with the persuasive voices of sirens. On one of the moons of their planet dwells their allies, the vampires. But the vampires are telepathic and have made themselves immune to usual vampire-killing methods. They run the prisons those of Charmia use for people who break the law.
In another story of mine set in the same universe, the witch-sirens are also allies with a race of werewolves who dwell on one of the moons of Charmia. The main villain, Darien Palmer/Lord Nekros, is the son of a werewolf and a witch-siren. So he has magical powers AND he's a werewolf. His goal is to gather energy from humans for a spell of some sort that can make him a full werewolf. His sidekick/consort is Jade/Lady Nekra, who is a werecat (similar to a werewolf, except that the person turns into a cat). She has the added stipulation that she must change back before sunrise, or she won't be able to regain human form.
So I suppose you could make something new out of old staples.
I'd like to see a fantasy crossover with a traditional gothic novel, the kind with dark, scary mansions and Byronic heroes. Maybe this is because Jane Eyre, an example of this kind of novel, is one of my favorite books.
|
|
|
|
Post by dizzyjam on Oct 11, 2009 22:12:11 GMT -5
Is it your story that caused you to look through your copy of the 2010 Novel and Short Story Writer's Market for publishers who publish vampire stories?
|
|
|
|
Post by waldenwriter on Oct 11, 2009 23:45:41 GMT -5
Is it your story that caused you to look through your copy of the 2010 Novel and Short Story Writer's Market for publishers who publish vampire stories? No, I was just going through the publishers listed for fantasy in the category index. |
|
|
|
Post by misterchris on Nov 12, 2009 18:06:06 GMT -5
Yeah, Waldenwriter, I saw that too.
I read through Writers Market and see many agents and publishers that also say no YA or Fantasy. That obviously affects me directly. Generally it's a preference thing there, but there's a definite glut on Vampires, Zombies, and Werewolves. Perhaps it's Twilight but i think it also goes much deeper into this generation's fascination with death, the undead, and such.
I have to search pretty diligently to find a shirt at Target for my son that doesn't have a skull on it. Yecch.
|
|
|
|
Post by Kristen on Nov 13, 2009 22:06:41 GMT -5
I outlined a vampire story just because I wanted a vampire story in which the vampires were *the bad guys,* for cryin' out loud...
<deep breath>
Wrote 3 or 4 pages of the first chapter, and then I noticed "Twilight" junk everywhere. And my neighbor is reading a series of vampire novels even though she says the writing is poor. And the local Borders had a gigantic display of vampire novels and related tchotchkes in the YA section. I stopped writing that story.
I am so sick of vampires now, I could puke.
|
|
|
|
Post by inkslinger on Nov 14, 2009 8:13:37 GMT -5
I think a good vampire ms will still sell. The problem is that nothing is original. All vampires are the same. All the vampire-romance books are the same. And vampires that sparkle make me want to vomit.
|
|
|
|
Post by tales391 on Nov 14, 2009 14:13:38 GMT -5
I think a good vampire ms will still sell. The problem is that nothing is original. All vampires are the same. All the vampire-romance books are the same. And vampires that sparkle make me want to vomit. Rofl! Me, too! I mean, sparkling vampires? What?! |
|
|
|
Post by rossbondreturns on Nov 14, 2009 14:18:25 GMT -5
I'm writing a series of Vampire Scripts right now and about the only way to get any interest in your Vampire story is to tell a familiar story with unfamiliar elements. While the first script in the series is more traditional those that continue after add elements to the Vampire mythos that I don't feel anyone has used.
Least of all I haven't seen such ideas in use and I have in the past read far too many Vampire novels and stories.
As someone already said, adding fresh ideas to old properties never gets old. The best part is even should the scripts not sell in the current market, I'll have a trilogy in a holding pattern.
My advice then is not to stop writing your Vampire stories but to write them, and edit them as needed later.
Ross
|
|
