Why Are We Settling for Mediocrity?

As most of you know, my kids swim competitively. We are constantly talking about goals and achieving the best that they can be. Of course, when we talk about this competitively, it is not to say you should simply be statisfied with where you are at. Lately, their coach has really been talking about this idea

Aim for the moon, that way, even if you miss you'll still be amongst the stars! - W. Clement Stone

Unfortunately, as I look out at the romance publishing industry, I am not seeing people aiming for the moon or the stars. Instead, I am seeing people aiming up and if they make it up, they are happy. For me, this is not something I am happy with. I personally am not happy with mediocrity and it frustrates me to no end when I see other people "just settling."

I am always hearing the romance industry complaining about how they are not taken seriously in the publishing world. They hate the stigma of the romance being nothing more than a cheap "bodice ripper." Even when I tell people that I represent romance and women's fiction, many will say, "You know, I just don't read that stuff. Oh I did when I was a kid but I have matured." For them, they still see the romance industry as cheap fluff written by writers that can't handle it in the business.

So where does this problem stem from? Those people in the industry that are content with what they are doing and not willing to push the envelope. Now please do not get me wrong. I am not suddenly making a call out there for people to send me stories that, in their mind, push the envelope. The stories still have to be marketable. A large population of readers will want to read the story. What I am talking about is the over-all attitude of publishers, agents, editors and writers of stepping it up a notch.

I am calling for editors to not just publish anything. I don't care how great of a book selling history a writer has, if the story they submit is not satsifactory, then turn it down and make them fix it. I don't care if it is inexpensive to put the book out there on a server and let someone download it, if it isn't good, then don't publish it.

I have two writers who are in great hands with their editor Joanne Grant at Mills and Boon in London. This is one editor that I honestly have to say is not settling for that middle of the road. She is not afraid to really hold her writers to the grindstone and demand the very best. When Mills and Boon said it was time to refresh their look, Joanne was right in the thick of it demanding covers that moved as far away from the covers "your grandmother used to read." This is great editing.

But this issue goes beyond the approach the editors have. It has to start with the writers. I applaud those writers that are still unpublished but keep on trying to get there. They attend conferences, they work with the comments that come back from agents in those rejection letters, they work. More importantly, they don't just run to the nearest "publisher" that will take their work. The are not willing to settle for mediocrity just to "claim they are published." Many of these writers say this is "just a step in their writing career." Really? I honestly have to say that this is nothing more than a justification on their decision to settle for something less than what they want.

Please don't get me wrong. I am not saying anything negative about these publishers, or those writers that "want" to take this approach. Some writers are happy with this and I applaud them for standing up to that. I am referring to those that just took the route.

I would love nothing more than to see the romance publishing world redefine what they are expecting in their writers. Stories can be fast reads, but it doesn't mean we should eliminate the depth. Stories can take on daring subjects, and not be afraid to shy away from the issues. And most importantly, all of us in the industry can take a serious look at the quality of the over-all writing. Grammar, punctuation, voice, character development, theme, setting and so forth need to be amped up a notch if we want to really do something with this.

Of course, maybe I am the only one that wants to see the movement forward. Who knows.

Scott