Tuesday, June 29, 2010

A little venting

I'm starting to come to a sad realization that my timing is very, very off. You see, back when I started writing (early 2000s), I was a big fan of vampire fiction, which at the time wasn't the craze it is today. Since this is what I enjoyed reading, it was what I enjoyed writing. So I did. I wrote a couple of different books featuring vampires in various ways. And now that I finally have one polished and edited to a point where I feel it's ready to start sending out, that's what I've done.

The problem? I'm starting to suspect agents are sick of vampires, thanks to Twilight and the trend it started. I've had a few query letters rejected almost instantly lately, and after reading a recent blog post by one of those agents where she mentions vampires as being one of the trends she's seeing too much of, I'm worried that my timing is all wrong. Maybe I shouldn't be querying this particular book right now. Unfortunately, if I drop this one, the only other book I have to focus on that doesn't involve vampires (what can I say? I've always loved vampires!) still has a supernatural aspect to it (again, I'm writing what I like to read). So I don't know what to do. Keep on going with what I've been doing and hope I eventually land on an agent that isn't tired of vampires yet? Or give it up and start polishing the other book, and hope it gets a better reception?

I knew vampires were popular right now, and that this might be a problem. But I also thought that, since vampires ARE so hot right now, new books about them would still have a chance. Maybe a year ago that was the case, and I waited too long. I don't know. I'll see what kind of response the rest of my queries get, but after the last two coming back with rejections the day after I sent them out, I'm beginning to doubt myself. For an agent to reject that fast either means I really suck (and I'd like to think that's not the case), or they took one look at it, saw "vampire" and ran screaming the other way.

Damn, this is depressing. Maybe I need to just start from scratch and find a new idea to write. But then I'd worry that, a year or two (or three) from now when it's done and ready to start querying, THAT might be the new trend and I'll have the same problem all over again. How are writers supposed to predict these things?

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