In July, Publishing Deals Took a Walk on The Dark Side
What people are talking about:
One of the biggest publishing stories of the year dropped Friday. A $2.5 million debut thriller deal was canceled due to suspicion of A.I. use. According to an article in The Bookseller, the author had “time-stamped drafts, written notes and dated WhatsApp messages documenting the book’s development.”
One of the bidding editors said, “I read the entire manuscript and found that it had the same flaws other debut novels I’d acquired had: pacing issues, clunky writing, maybe some try-hard metaphors. But nothing that suggested it had been written with AI, and neither did any of my sales, marketing or publicity colleagues who also read alongside me.”
A.I. accusations with sketchy proof are a problem for every author. I don’t use A.I. for any stage of writing, and many authors I know feel the same. But, because A.I. detection programs aren’t always accurate, all writers are vulnerable to accusations.
For now, I’ll be emailing my work to myself every day, and I’ll be on the lookout for other safeguards which I’ll share with you. Someone suggested a program called Ellipsus that might be an option. I haven’t explored it yet but it’s on the list.
But since this Substack focuses on getting published, I also want to weigh in on why the novel commanded such a large advance when, according two key players, it was clumsily written. As writers, we tend to value line-level writing, but for publishers, the concept is one of the most important parts of the submission packet. Writing can be cleaned up, but there’s no fixing a weak concept.
The catchy title of the 2.5 million manuscript was “Call Me I’ll Hide the Body.” The protagonist used to be “a cleaner” in Lagos, Nigeria, containing crime scenes for criminals. He quit that job to pursue a chemistry PhD in Houston. When he’s employed by a cartel operator, his ability to make bodies disappear brings him opportunities and peril.
Film interest in the cinematic premise most likely helped to generate buzz. The double life of the protagonist compels—think of the chemistry teacher/drug dealer Walter White in “Breaking Bad”—and the stakes are high. Also the author, like the main character, is a grad student, connecting him to the material, and the pitch’s multi-cultural aspect doesn’t hurt.
An industry professional suggested that editors “got blinded by the buzz,” and I’m sure that was a factor as well. When everybody wants something, a frenzy takes over.
P.S, If you’re a free subscriber, I’ve lifted the paywall from this post that explains why concept matters so much.
FURTHER READING:
TOP STORY:
Halloween is my favorite holiday, and the stores are already prepared but so is publishing. There’s one prominent theme for July’s deals and its darkness. We’re talking dark lords, hellhounds, apocalyptic plots, and stab-happy fairies.
It’s been said that during bleak times, readers turn to lighter stories but that’s not the case in July. Could be just an anomaly. We’ll have to see if the rest of the year brings more light, but right now a morgue is cheerier than mid-summer publishing deals.
But before we get to that, here’s some of the this month’s highlights:
Best branding goes to author Jessie Sylva who is pairing cozy fantasy with rom-com film titles. Her bestselling debut was How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days, and she has a new deal for a novel called MY BIG FAT HALFLING WEDDING, in which a goblin and a halfling throw a wedding for their best friends, battling cultural misunderstandings, swamp witches, and banquet seating charts—and their own growing attraction. (A halfling is like a hobbit and yes, I had to look it up.)
In the “it was bound to happen,” department, a tale about hockey-playing demon lords earned a significant deal.
This month’s winner of the most inventive deal goes to MEET IN THE FUTURE about a time-traveling Soviet space dog who brings two lonely souls together.
Most on-the-nose title: MARRIED TO THE ALIEN COWBOY.
Best pitch: Like The Martian but with kissing.
Book I would most want to pitch if I were a publicist:
Overall, there were 26 debut deals out of 122 total deals. Five went to men. (Sorry, guys.) Two went to non-white authors.
So how dark were this month’s deals?
My monthly deal reports will give you the best idea of what fiction is selling right now. Every six months, I also identify themes, trends and curent topics that are drawing editorial interest. Next week, if you’re a paid subscriber, you can run a pitch by me and I’ll tell you what I think. All this and much more for $.67 an issue.