Holiday Book Queries During The Holidays

It is that time of the year when decorations are going up and celebrating is happening around the world. OK, so maybe it started in August at your local Big Box Stores, but you get the idea. Everyone is in the mood. But, along with these decorations and uber-commercialism, comes a rush of authors with their Christmas romances. And, unfortunately, I find myself rejecting so many of these.

I understand the fascination of this type of book for authors. They know these books sell since we get 27/7 streaming of those holiday stories on TV. In fact, my vet has these running beginning the hour they hit the airwaves. With this popularity of this genre, it would seem that this is a high demand product in publishing.

Let me first say, it is a high demand product, however, for new authors, it is not something that is going to be an easy sale. Let me explain why.

First of all, it is important to know when the "hot spots" are on the publishers' calendars for authors. Contemporary authors really want those fun beach stories to show up around Spring Break and Summer. And the Holiday Season (November and December) are amazingly hot! Since sales are the ultimate goal for authors and publishers, there is always a huge fight to get those coveted spots. I often picture editors in the middle of a cage match fighting to get "their author" on the calendar. So, this means, that the established authors will primarily be getting those slots.

But what about the movies, you ask? 

Again, these are going to be going to authors who have already had that book published. You will also find that many of those movies we watch have been recycled from prior seasons.

Does this mean that a debut author cannot get that book sold? Absolutely not. However, it is again going to be an uphill climb. Too often, these stories I see being submitted to me are nothing more than copies of the same tropes and storylines. There is really nothing new and original here. What authors have forgotten is that to compete in that competitive market requires really bringing something new and unique to the table.

I don't want to discourage you from writing that story of your heart. Please, write it. Just understand that selling it might not be the easiest thing you have done.