Ready for beta readers!!! (See OP)

4pom

Wed, Apr 21 2021, 6:47 pm

Good luck!! Sounds fantastic.
Ive been meaning to read your latest book and didn’t know you had more in different genres. And now I have a novel to look forward to!
Hatzlacha with whatever direction you choose. Hope you can get more pragmatic advice here.
Whatever path you choose please keep us posted. I want to read it!

Kiwi13

Wed, Apr 21 2021, 6:50 pm

amother [ Gold ] wrote:

My dream is to publish secular and then market frum. Especially if people know your other books. You can market it to the frum community and those who rely on the publishers haskamah won't read it, but they anyway wouldn't consider it appropriate anyway, and people like those posters here who are desperate for good quality frum literature will, but their standards aren't as constricting won't necessarily mind the lack of frum publisher. JMHO

Good thinking. I might try pitching it to a couple frum publishers once I have it solid. I'm not willing to raunchy it up for the secular market, but I don't think I would have to, given the plot line. It's got plenty of excitement and plot twists without intimacy scenes. In a very different context, the primary plot twist is reminiscent of Shutter Island. Not every book needs to "heat things up" to be exciting.

Still, if I could choose whether to contribute this book to the mainstream world or to the frum world, I want it in the frum world. Maybe it'll happen. Who knows?

Kiwi13

Wed, Apr 21 2021, 6:50 pm

4pom wrote:

Thank you so much!!!! Heart

Orchid

Wed, Apr 21 2021, 7:25 pm

Kiwi13 wrote:

-Minor language advisory (rump, hell, "oh my God," etc. nothing worse than that).
-Main character has a boyfriend
-Some mention of drugs (nothing too detailed)
-The plot on the whole is "out there" by frum standards, but in my opinion it shouldn't be a sticking point, even with the acceptable guidelines issue.

Premise: Grown woman wakes up one morning as a high school student, has to unravel the mystery which involves some dark secrets. It toes the line between YA and adult fiction and blends a few genres, mystery/thriller/drama with a heavy dose of humor. MC is a firecracker. (Funny how you grow attached to your characters when you write a book!)

I worked very carefully to develop full, believable characters. MC, ancillary, villains... doesn't matter. They all have their own side and believable motives. Eventually I want to write a companion book for this one, telling it from a different perspective since there's a whole lot more beneath the surface. I could probably the entire story from at least two other character's perspectives and create an entirely new book out of each. I've been mapping that out as well, making sure any aligning points match up, in case this book is hopefully successful.

I'm thinking of my favorite Jewish novel, Sun Inside Rain, which is somewhat out of the box as well. I just looked it up and see the publisher is Menucha publishers..so maybe they'll be ok with this stuff. This is similar to Sun Inside Rain, in fact, which explores a forbidden relationship, racism, the overly machmir bubby from Meah Shearim being the deeply flawed character...it really toes many lines.

Kiwi13

Wed, Apr 21 2021, 7:27 pm

Orchid wrote:

Interesting... maybe I'll try Menucha!

Kiwi13

Wed, Apr 21 2021, 8:29 pm

amother [ Red ] wrote:

What about self-pub options? I buy a lot of books on amazon that are, and some authors seem to be doing pretty well going that route.

I'd consider it, but it's not my first choice. There's a lot to consider when you self-publish. Someday when I have more time to devote to writing and publishing my own stuff I have plans to self-publish a few things, but I'm nowhere near that phase now.

PinkFridge

Wed, Apr 21 2021, 8:53 pm

Kiwi13 wrote:

Do you remember Freaky Friday? (Yael Mermelstein's The Face in the Mirror wasn't a multi-generational switch.)
You mention different perspectives. You could have a series of the same time frame experienced by different characters a la M.C. Millman's Classified Information.

Kiwi13

Wed, Apr 21 2021, 9:02 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

I have a plan for which characters' perspectives to tell in companion books. It's possible that I would combine them into a single companion book with multiple POVs. That's probably the best way to maximize the impact without letting anything get stale.

Kiwi13

Wed, Apr 21 2021, 9:03 pm

Or, what would make the most sense for this book/series would probably be to write the entire timeline from a different single POV, and then make the third book a combination of the remaining characters' POVs.

ETA: I'm excited that there's interest in this! I'm joining the JWWS this year, so maybe I'll have a chance to network a little on this.

keym

Wed, Apr 21 2021, 9:26 pm

I'd love to read the prototype. I love reading but I'm very critical of most Jewish books.
Things that get under my skin is unrealistic settings and historical inaccuracies. Cell phones during the Cold War?!?! I'm not going to say more because I'm sure some authors might read me here and recognize themselves.

With that said, there's a frum book Freedom to Be by Chaya David (Israel Bookshop) that's probably the most edgy that I've read. Two cousins. One severe ADHD but works on himself. Chassidishe cousin goes OTD badly, describes several explicit drug scenes, mentions suicide, etc.

I avoided letting my 15 year old daughter read it until a few months ago. Finally I let her because I was getting tired of the stereotype of the ADHD boy being the screw-up.
This book is so touching because the boy with the ADHD ends up being the hero and calling out the other character on making excuses.

Kiwi13

Wed, Apr 21 2021, 11:36 pm

amother [ Sapphire ] wrote:

My vote:
Go with where you're heart is, with the option that you feel most excitement and enthusiasm about.
Don't worry about what the frum world needs, or what anyone needs. Write and publish to satisfy you, not anyone else. That's my philosophy and that's how I do it.

I like this advice. When the author enjoys the process, it shows, for sure.

Still, writing for yourself is different than writing with an audience in mind. I can write whatever I want for ME, but the stuff I aim publish has to take into account whether or not other people would be interested in reading it too! ;-)

The idea of pitching to the mainstream secular market IS exciting. But it's also got some drawbacks I'm not excited about. Plus, I originally set out to make this book a new and fresh addition to frum bookshelves. I don't want to abandon that. Also, there are some heavily Jewish references I'd need to rework, which isn't a big deal, but I like the symbolism and I'd have to cut out a lot of that.

I've always seen the "acceptability standards vs. quality books" debate as a challenge. I don't know if I'm ready to give up and jump ship. Not quite yet.... Hence my dilemma.

amother

Papaya

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 2:20 am

Kiwi13 wrote:

Also, there are some heavily Jewish references I'd need to rework, which isn't a big deal, but I like the symbolism and I'd have to cut out a lot of that.

Not necessarily, Own Voice genre is all the rage now. Think shtisel. Yea, you'd need to explain a bit but you might not need to completely rework.

singleagain

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 6:44 am

amother [ Papaya ] wrote:

Not necessarily, Own Voice genre is all the rage now. Think shtisel. Yea, you'd need to explain a bit but you might not need to completely rework.

The voice to text

Just to say though you wouldn't necessarily want to heavily write an exposition it might be better to have an index at the back