Tag Archives: New York Times

A ‘Shultz Hour’

27 Thursday Apr 2017

Posted by in Personal Posts, Writing Process

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source: Macali Communications

A departure from historical fiction to consider life in general. One of my favourite newspapers is the New York Times. We get the Sunday NYT in Toronto as well as reading it whenever we’re in the US and I almost always find time to read the Op-Ed section. (I like the Sunday business section but that’s another story.)

On April 18th David Leonhardt wrote Why You’d Benefit from a Shultz Hour, which spoke to me.

Leonhardt draws wisdom and perspective from George Shultz, a former Secretary of State who dedicated one hour a week for uninterrupted reflection. Leonhardt uses that notion to talk about the search and need “for a reprieve from our smart-phone addled lives”. Further, he makes the connection between taking time for such idleness and creativity. Such “task-negative” time according to Daniel J. Levitin of McGill University is “responsible for our moments of greatest creativity and insight, when we’re able to solve problems that previously seemed unsolvable.”

Hmmm … I’m in the business of creativity. Better start having my own Shultz hour!

FOR MORE ON READING & WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION follow A WRITER OF HISTORY (using the widget on the left sidebar)

M.K. Tod writes historical fiction and blogs about all aspects of the genre at A Writer of History. Her latest novel, TIME AND REGRET was published by Lake Union on August 16, 2016. Mary’s other novels, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads or on her website www.mktod.com.

 

Is Fiction Changing for Better or Worse?

20 Friday Jul 2012

Posted by in Historical Fiction, historical fiction survey

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In its online home, The New York Times offers a series of topics under the banner Room for Debate. One of these topics discusses whether fiction is changing for better or worse. Having read what all six debaters had to say along with many comments offered by readers, I’ve concluded that most are optimistic about the novel’s place in our world.

This is good news.

Jane Smiley “In our dangerous world, the freedom and empathy that fiction develops in its readers remain essential.”

Matt de la Pena “We’ve grown terrified of sadness and self-reflection, and we actively avoid ideas that challenge.” De la Pena seems less optimistic.

Robin Sloan “Novels, on the other hand, are just about the most durable home for words we’ve yet discovered.” Sloan argues that new forms of writing prompted by technology are far less durable.

Thomas Glave “For it is at last undeniable that for all of us, wherever we may be, the opportunity to experience other people’s stories — their fiction — is a powerfully human one, that requires the uncommon and invaluable skills of careful listening and the ability to enter the lives of people different from ourselves.”

William Deresiewicz “the novel continues to do what it has always done best: compile the atlas of private experience, show us what it feels like to be alive at our particular time and place.”

Historical fiction is a particular type of novel. Survey participants responded to a question about why they enjoy this type of fiction.

What do these responses suggest?

To be fair, I did not frame the question to reflect whether historical fiction is better or worse, but look at the number one reason for reading this type of novel: to bring the past to life, appreciating how people lived and coped in very different times.

The stories of the past are highly relevant today which seems to me to resonate with Smiley, Glave and Deresiewicz. I would also argue that this top response is consistent with what Sloan has to say given that the notion of reading about history emphasizes the popularity of durable stories.

Just a thought.

Historical Fiction Survey Musings

19 Saturday May 2012

Posted by in Connecting Readers & Writers, historical fiction survey

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After an incredible eight weeks consumed with survey responses and results, I’m attempting to pause and think. The process reminds me of wading through reams of consulting analysis to find the few gems that would make a significant impact for a client. After twenty years in that profession, such synthesis was relatively straightforward but today I feel less confident, as though I’m trying to find my way through a faintly lit tunnel.

Here’s a diagram I created a few months ago:

Coloured boxes represent the main players in the book business whose primary roles are listed beneath each box. Forgive the simplicity but I hope it helps illustrate a few points. Each player faces challenges, I have chosen what I think are the main challenges. The question I’m musing on is whether the survey augments this diagram in any way.

  • When asked about favourite authors, 404 different authors were chosen by only one person; a further 99 authors were chosen by only two people. Not only are historical fiction authors faced with a highly competitive marketplace but the chances of becoming a top twenty or even top forty author are very, very slim.
  • In response to questions about favourite digital and non-digital sources for recommendations, survey respondents told us that they do NOT look to publishers for that information. Only 3% mention industry sources such as Publisher’s Weekly or Ingram Advance. Only three publishers are mentioned by name – Random House, e-Harlequin and Harper Collins – and these only once.
  • Traditional book reviewers like The Guardian and New York Times were mentioned, but I believe one of the most interesting statistics is readers’ overwhelming preference for small blog sites as a source for recommendations and a place to connect over books. Readers are pushing traditional reviewers out of the endorsement space.
  • In the retail space, the survey offered no surprises. Historical fiction readers, like all other readers, have moved online. The selection role of retailers is seriously threatened. And what about Amazon? Readers told us that although they buy online,  Amazon is not a favourite source of recommendations.
  • Readers have embraced social media as a way to share their love of books. Faced with abundance, they seek like-minded people to discover new books. Readers also look to author sites for recommendations. I believe authors should ask themselves what else readers expect of them.
  • Readers told us they intend to read more in the future than they do today. Those readers who discovered historical fiction early in life continue to select historical fiction as a significant percentage of their reading and in higher than average volumes.

I’ll leave you – and me – with a few questions: (1) are readers becoming more powerful? (2) is this a good time for historical fiction authors? (3) can new authors find markets for their books through the blog community? (4) what should historical fiction authors do differently?