Very interesting. I don't know if you saw the whole SH article (with responses in the SH forums and a response article on IROSF [registration needed to access, free]) about elistism in the genre, but you just hit the nail on the head about most of it.
I have often mused on this subject. I've read some tie-ins that are crap. Mostly in the WotC/TSR empire. When I worked for Locus, we didn’t cover any tie-ins. WotC kept sending them and we kept not listing or reviewing them. That was the editor's choice. However, I've read some good tie-ins and I know that some well respected authors do tie-ins. I just completed a novel submission for a WotC open call.
I did that knowing what I was getting into. Knowing that I could forever be thought of as a "tie-in" writer because if I get this contract my first novel will be a WotC novel. Knowing that even if I do a good job, I will still be judged as one of "those" writers. Which sucks. It sucks to think that by trying to break into the field, in any way possible, I will be considered less than good for my choices. I want to become a writer full time. I will do nonfiction articles, interviews, short fiction stories and novels (and hell, even nonfiction books!) to do this. To me, that is what a full-time writer does. If I believed I could do it all on my fiction, I would. Currently, that is not an option.
If absolutely necessary, I will use a pen name. I've already got one picked out for any erotica work I do [whether or not people want to find me I don't want some teen to look me up on Amazon and get an erotica when they were looking for fantasy]. I don't mind using another for tie-ins. Will it hurt me when I try to cross-over? I don't know. I know I could get a bigger advance if I had a "following", but I don't know if I could get the advance if I was already pegged as a tie-in writer.
I hate that perceptions can do this. On the other hand, I have my own set of perceptions as a reader. And I believe that the vast majority of tie-in work is not the author's best material. Not on purpose. Not because "they didn't try". But because most authors work best when it is *their* world. And it shows. I know I was happier with any of my original stories than with my novel submission. But others liked it.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2004-08-30 09:50 am (UTC)I have often mused on this subject. I've read some tie-ins that are crap. Mostly in the WotC/TSR empire. When I worked for Locus, we didn’t cover any tie-ins. WotC kept sending them and we kept not listing or reviewing them. That was the editor's choice. However, I've read some good tie-ins and I know that some well respected authors do tie-ins. I just completed a novel submission for a WotC open call.
I did that knowing what I was getting into. Knowing that I could forever be thought of as a "tie-in" writer because if I get this contract my first novel will be a WotC novel. Knowing that even if I do a good job, I will still be judged as one of "those" writers. Which sucks. It sucks to think that by trying to break into the field, in any way possible, I will be considered less than good for my choices. I want to become a writer full time. I will do nonfiction articles, interviews, short fiction stories and novels (and hell, even nonfiction books!) to do this. To me, that is what a full-time writer does. If I believed I could do it all on my fiction, I would. Currently, that is not an option.
If absolutely necessary, I will use a pen name. I've already got one picked out for any erotica work I do [whether or not people want to find me I don't want some teen to look me up on Amazon and get an erotica when they were looking for fantasy]. I don't mind using another for tie-ins. Will it hurt me when I try to cross-over? I don't know. I know I could get a bigger advance if I had a "following", but I don't know if I could get the advance if I was already pegged as a tie-in writer.
I hate that perceptions can do this. On the other hand, I have my own set of perceptions as a reader. And I believe that the vast majority of tie-in work is not the author's best material. Not on purpose. Not because "they didn't try". But because most authors work best when it is *their* world. And it shows. I know I was happier with any of my original stories than with my novel submission. But others liked it.
Zhaneel