1 of my relatively recent Tumblr posts: Thoughts on why Harry Potter books were Such a Phenomenon

[capri0mni]

Back when I was a senior in college (back in the mid-to-late 1980s), I actually wrote a fantasy novel for kids aged ~8 - ~11 (in a self-designed course for a single credit, under the guidance of my Literature advisor), inspired by a series of dreams and recurring characters that showed up in them.

My advisor encouraged me to try and get it published. And so, I arranged with teachers from my old school to have a class of 30 or so 10 year-olds beta read it, and give me feedback for revisions. The kids also encouraged me to try and publish it.

So I did.

Now, back then, there was no "Self Publishing." The closest thing was "Vanity Publishing," where you would pay 100% of the publishing cost of your book, which would be printed in hard copy, for the benefit of having 500 -1,000 books shipped to your personal address, which you were then responsible for storing and selling out of the trunk of your car in a parking lot, somewhere. And if word got out that you were trying to claim credit for being a "published author" because of a Vanity Press book, actual publishers wouldn't touch you with a 40-foot pole.

If you wanted to get published, you had to buy that year's copy of Writer's Market: a listing of magazine and book publishers, and agents, with a brief description of what material they published, and what they wouldn't touch.

Guess what genre no agent or publisher was interested in handling?

That's right, Gentle Readers: Fantasy for children aged 8 - 11. I would have happily sent out a dozen queries for each story I wrote, if there were publishers and agents willing to look at them. But for three to four years of trying, in directories of two-columns of tiny print, and several hundred pages long, I'd be lucky to find two or three outlets even willing to look at fantasy for kids.

The general consensus, across the publishing business, was that fantasy was a dead and obsolete genre. If it was for kids old enough to read chapter books and novels, it must also be firmly grounded in realism and actual history, because everyone knows the only people buying books for kids that age were teachers, who wanted stories with practical applications in the classroom.

***

After 3 - 4 years of trying, while I was in grad school, I finally got a rejection from the one agent who agreed to read my novel. A few days later, I received news that my mother had died from the breast cancer she'd been fighting, and my heart just went out of the project altogether.

A few years later, the first Harry Potter book was published. And it became a worldwide phenomenon. And it was the kids, themselves, who were driving the sales.

See, I think the real reason the books were such a success, even though they were never really very well written, was because they were in a genre the audience was hungry for -- a genre they'd been denied access to for all of their young lives.

Someone who is starving will think even moldy bread is delicious.

Comments

[siliconshaman]

All which shows that quite often editors have not a clue about what readers want!

[capri0mni]

Indeed. But even more than that:

A) that Publishing is a Capitalist Business (even more so, now, than it was 30 years ago, what with traditional publishing houses merging into mega-corporations), and editors' jobs aren't so much "Publish what Readers want" as "Publish what people with Buying Power are willing to spend money on."
and:
B) Adults routinely underestimate and devalue the thoughts and opinions of children.

I am glad, therefore, that Self Publishing does now exist, and also that it's earned some modicum of respect.

[lizbee]

I've heard from multiple agents and editors that they like my middle grade science fiction novel, and they know that the kids who are growing up with Star Wars and Marvel want to read original science fiction aimed at them, but unless it's a graphic novel or has a strong tie-in with the STEM curriculum, it won't make it past the twin gatekeepers of marketing and school libraries. (Not individual librarians, who concur that there's an audience, but the ones driving management and purchasing policies.)

[capri0mni]

That "Strong tie-in with the STEM curriculum" is my arch-nemesis, especially now that the STEM Curriculum is also being narrowed down to what the current CEOs of mega-corporations consider "profitable skills." Add into that mix the fact that more and more people are using generative, so-called "A.I." to write and produce images, instead of learning the practice of expressing themselves, and I can't help but wonder how we'll imagine a better future.

(Old Woman Yells at the Cloud™)

[soc_puppet]

From the time before JKR had decided to go completely mask-off with her bigotry, I remember Tamora Pierce acknowledging her and thanking her for showing publishers that yes, young adults would read books more than just two hundred pages long. I will be thankful to Harry Potter for that, if nothing else.

I can't help but wonder how Harry Potter might have been received in a world where young adult and middle grade fantasy were more common...

[capri0mni]

*Nod*

As I replied to siliconshaman, I'm grateful that self-publishing is a more viable alternative, now.

[callibr8]

You make a cogent point about moldy bread.

I suspect we are age contemporaries; I graduated from a university in my home state in 1985.

I enjoyed reading the Harry Potter books, and I think the reasons are along the lines of what you allude to, being starved for input of a particular type. I don't re-read them often, though, because of the overall darkness of the story arc, and the pervasive relationship dysfunctions.

Are you thinking about making another try to get your story published? Just from the minimal description you have provided, it sounds interesting, and you are clearly an articulate writer. I'm all for encouraging people who labor to share good stories with the world; both good stories and good people are sorely needed.

[capri0mni]

Not that particular story, no.

I've changed and grown over the intervening decades, and A) I now see the weaknesses that were in it, and B) I have different stories to tell (which I am working on).