Why we refuse to tell you what we want

I used to get frustrated at the lack of information coming from editors about what they were looking for. The comment "We will know it when we see it," used to really send me into fits. But guess what, they were right on the money and I truly see the merit in what the editors are doing (as well as the agents).

If we come out and tell you the type of story we want, a majority of the writers out there will madly rush out and attempt to "dive into this new market". They will proceed to flood the market with stories that far from do what the announcement asked for and, in the end, will just close more doors for new writers.

Let me explain this last comment. When any of the - Lit's came out, there was a huge rush to write these humerous stories about the lives of the urban woman. I loved these stories. Each was a great "summer" read - the type of book you just need to unwind at the end of the day. The problem is that the editors and agents were simply flooded with stories, all attempting to write these stories. The majority of writers had no idea what they were doing. Now, the door is closed. "We're tired of them," is the comment we hear. I think what the comment really says is, "we're tired of reading that garbage you are sending to us."

We saw the same thing in erotica. "We want stories that are beyond hot and steamy." We don't want to hear all of the traditional euphemisms we see in traditional romance. We want it real." The market opened up, and suddenly everyone begins writing what they believe to be hot and spicy. Where has the "erotica" gone? Oh, it's still there, but it has been shifted off to the e-book market, and the print stories are sticking with the "traditional writers." I know for myself, I just quit saying I would look at it because it was just bad writing with sex every other page. This is not what erotica started out as.

So, what is it that we want? What are we really looking for? We want GOOD writing. No, we want OUTSTANDING writing. We want a GREAT story. Prove to us you can really write and not just attempt to follow the trends (whatever those might be).