Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Question from a Writer - WWII

just got a rejection from an agent who said, among other things, that novels about World War II are not popular right now. Any thoughts??

Agreed...

I think the biggest issue is that, while WWII is historical, and there are certainly stories out there that would make great romances, it is a bit too close in history.

Now, this is not to say that the story will not sell. You might have the next great story and crack open a time period that no one else has done.
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5 comments:

  1. Margay Leah JusticeMarch 29, 2011 at 8:42 AM

    I've actually been reading a lot of buzz about a book called Letters From Home by Kristina McMorris that is set in this time period.

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  2. James R. BennMarch 29, 2011 at 1:36 PM

    I've had good luck with my WWII mystery series (7th book due out this fall). So if you believe in your work, stick with it. As that WWII guy WSC said, "Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never.."

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  3. BackfenceMarch 29, 2011 at 5:12 PM

    Scott Turow's ORDINARY HEROES and Ken Follett's JACKDAWS come to mind -- both were published within the last 5-6 years and are excellent stories based on that conflict. Of course, we ARE talking Scott Turow and Ken Follett here! (I'm currently reading Follett's FALL OF GIANTS, by the way, which is set during WWI but is the 1st of a trilogy so we'll be getting into WWII in the sequel).

    I would think as we watch the veterans of that war approaching extinct, plus people like Ken Burns drawing attention to their service, there would definitely be an interest in that era.

    My question is: Is there a market currently for stories about the Civil War? I expected to see more of a focus on that one given 2011 is the sesquicentennial of its start.

    Carol



    .

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  4. BackfenceMarch 29, 2011 at 5:14 PM

    Ack! Correction to above post: Read "Extinction." Sorry.

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  5. Scott EaganMarch 30, 2011 at 7:40 AM

    Thank you for all of you sending in great reads. I do agree that all of these are good. I am assuming though, the original comment dealt with historical romance. Witht he romance genre, there is a limited market (if any). All of the books people have been suggesting are general fiction books.
    The only one I recently read in the romance market (which I have to say I loved!!!!) was an inspirational romance by Renee Ryan.

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