The Fantasy Authors Handbook Interview Xvii Donald Maass

THE FANTASY AUTHOR’S HANDBOOK INTERVIEW XVII: DONALD MAASS Don Maass worked as an editor at Dell Publishing then shifted over to the function of agent, finally founding the eponymous Donald Maass Literary Agency in 1980, where he and his workers work with such science fiction and fantasy luminaries as Cherie Priest, Jay Lake, Nalo Hopkinson, and Jim Butcher. Happily for us all, Don has taken a while to put pen to paper himself and is liable for what I suppose are a number of the finest books for writers on the market. I was so enamored of his 2001 guide Writing the Breakout Novel that I wrote an in depth suggestion here at Fantasy Author’s Handbook and have labored onerous to use its classes to my very own writing. Literary Agent Donald Maass Philip Athans: Please outline “fantasy” in 25 phrases or less. Don Maass: Fiction that entails magic. Athans: Please outline “science fiction” in 25 words or much less. Maass: Fiction primarily based in science and hypothesis, significantly (however not essentially) in regards to the future. A thans: In your e-book, Writing the Breakout Novel, you mentioned straight out: “The midlist is in trouble, and this time it is real.” You wrote that in 2001. Ten years later, the publishing enterprise is altering dramatically. Will the e-book, and/or print-on-demand, save the midlist author? Maass: If anything, e-books make it tougher for the “midlist” creator. Weak fiction is weaker still in digital type, the place it has less writer help (if any) and little paper guide momentum to construct shopper consciousness. The Kindle bookstore could be a lonely desert. Ask authors who've self-published in e-e-book kind. Sure, there are a couple of success stories but valuable few. Athans: Social media helps authors join with readers, and making it easier than ever for authors to deal with a minimum of a few of their very own advertising and publicity. What do you suppose is the one social media supply no writer can do without (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and do you have any quick advic e for a way best to use it? Maass: Unless used correctly, social media could be no help in any respect. You’ve got to know the methods. That said, Twitter seems to me to have the greatest attain. Athans: In Writing the Breakout Novel you wrote: “If a powerful drawback is a novel’s spine, then a powerful theme is its animating spirit.” Is it really attainable to put in writing a novel without a theme? Isn’t the query considered one of intent, or degree of success in conveying theme? Maass: It’s actually potential to don't have any theme, or a generic one, nevertheless it makes for fiction with less impression. Look, writers get confused by this subject of “theme.” They suppose it means “message.” It can, however more importantly it means that which you need the reader to see and understand. What would you like your reader to think about as they’re reading your novel, or later? That’s your theme. The Breakout Novelist Athans: Do you learn evaluations of novels you’ve represented? Have you found any evaluate to be particularly useful or harmful? Do you encourage the authors you work with to read evaluations? Maass: We learn reviews, pull quotes from them, and thank the gods when they’re good. They assist. Oddly, I generally don’t discover negative critiques all that instructive. Once in a while there’s a useful point made, however usually not. Whether or not to learn evaluations is an creator’s alternative. Some do, some don’t. It’s a matter of temperament. Athans: What is the most typical mistake that aspiring fantasy authors make of their writing? Maass: Just one? Flat characters, low line-by-line tension, generic story components, worldbuilding that’s solely half completed . . . I could go on. A favourite grievance is magic that’s too straightforward, costs nothing, is pointlessly unlawful, and could be done by solely a select few. I mean, actually? Nuclear engineering is far more troublesome than magic seems to be in most novels, yet in our world there are way more nuclear engineers than mages in a typical fantasy. Economics alone would mean that magic is widely practiced. And the place’s the profit motive? Mages in fantasy by no means (I imply by no means) appear to get paid! Athans: What is the most typical mistake that inexperienced authors make of their skilled lives? The Career Novelist Maass: Rushing. Rushing to get finished, dashing to search out an agent andâ€"as soon as underneath contractâ€"speeding to stop the loathsome day job earlier than the brand new business is bringing in not simply contracts but steady clients (repeat readers). Athans: Give me some common phrases of encouragement for the aspiring SF/fantasy creator. Maass: Hard conventional science fiction written for adults has fallen on onerous occasions. But that’s not as a result of people have lost interest in wanting ahead and imagining alternate worlds. Look at the explosion of dystopian tales within the YA market. W hat’s changed is the way we see the long run. It’s not rocket ships to the celebs. But we do see a future for humanity that’s totally different than our current actuality. I suspect that SF that resonates in the next ten years will be essentially sociological, like Vonnegut was within the Sixties. Fantasy writers have seen readers’ tastes shift decisively towards modern urban settings and paranormal characters. Nothing incorrect with that, in fact, but it’s a pattern identical to Sword’n’Sorcery once was. Fantasy used to be about quests. Now it’s about slaying (or being) demons. But the genre really is broad and flexible. I don’t find out about you, however I’m already on the lookout for the following huge thing. What will it be? All I know is that it will be magical. Athans: Tell us about a number of books you’ve represented that are out there now and that you simply’re particularly enthusiastic about. Maass: Coming up are terrific new novels from Jim Butche r (city fantasy) and Anne Perry (historical thriller). Cherie Priest is doing amazing work within the steampunk vein. Check out exciting new authors like Mary Robinette Kowal, Nnedi Okorafor, Brent Weeks. And that’s just SFF. Horror great Robert McCammon is doing terrific new work like his present novel The Five. Delilah Marvelle is turning the staid historical romance genre on its head with non-traditional characters. There’s at all times something new. That’s what makes this business exciting. And I couldn’t agree extra. Thanks, Don. â€"Philip Athans About Philip Athans Good interview. Mr. Maass’ comments on rushing are well-mentioned. One merchandise that’s sort of glossed over regarding social media is that the work a minimum of leaves the writer’s desk and goes into the actual world. Contemporary mainstream publishing solely offers the slightest hope of that taking place. BTW: If Mr. Maass want to know what actual nuclear engineers do, within a thriller setting, my novel “Rad Decision”, is on the market online free. Just Google the title. I actually have worked within the US nuclear trade over twenty years. The event depicted is a lot like Fukushima, oddly enough â€" identical reactor type, similar initial downside. Reader reviews have been very constructive â€" I didn’t “rush it.”