Ready for beta readers!!! (See OP)

sequoia

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 7:06 am

Exposition bothers me too, but there’s a way.

Certainly people write from all kinds of perspectives and cultures. Even The Joy Luck Club, way back in the 80s.

wordsmith

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 7:08 am

Own Voices is definitely a trend in publishing today, particularly when it comes to children and YA books. However, that movement, which encourages mainstream publishers to publish books that highlight minority communities, hasn't trended down to mainstream books with Orthodox Jewish characters. Jewish books in general aren't considered "Own Voices" in many publishing corners. Are there exceptions? Absolutely, it's just a challenge.

amother

Firebrick

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 7:12 am

I'm not knowledgeable on this topic but trying to help.
Mayer Bendet and Sender Zeyv are two authors that come to mind who wrote books for a frum audience that wouldn't be published by the classic frum publishers.
I just checked and the books were published by BP Publishing and TMS Publishing. Does that mean they were self- published or could you possibly use those publishers?

PinkFridge

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 9:22 am

wordsmith wrote:

In response to one of the earlier posters, there are handful of Orthodox authors who write for the secular YA market.

Like who? Thanks.

PinkFridge

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 9:23 am

amother [ Firebrick ] wrote:

But you did find them in sefarim stores and Jewish libraries. They may have self-published but they marketed frum.

amother

Powderblue

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 9:29 am

Just a warning that traditional publishing has changed a ton over the last 10 years because of the competition from self publishing. Especially in fiction. Houses don’t want to take chances anymore, they only take books they feel certain will sell and authors are responsible for marketing the same way they would be if they’d self published (with a few exceptions of course). I’d say talk to people who have trad published their first fiction book within the last few years and see what their experiences were. It sounds awful to me.

Kiwi13

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 9:31 am

amother [ Powderblue ] wrote:

This is the same across the board. Traditional, indie press, niche, self... everywhere. A lot depends on author platform. Which, yeah, I still need to build up. :-/

cbsp

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 9:35 am

I'm late to this thread.

OP, you mentioned LinkedIn. Yonah Klein has discussed this exact issue many times in LinkedIn. I'm not sure if he has resolved his particular circumstance, but he did conduct several surveys trying to get a feel of what the audiences would go for in a not-quite-frum but not-quite-secular market. (and while you're at it, check out his Klonah Yein series for a laugh or 3)

I can try to find that thread and his contact info if you think it would be helpful.

On a different note, the Ender's Shadow series came to mind when you described your companion books...

amother

Powderblue

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 9:40 am

Kiwi13 wrote:

This is the same across the board. Traditional, indie press, niche, self... everywhere. A lot depends on author platform. Which, yeah, I still need to build up. :-/

Yes and once you need to create your own platform why not self publish? That way at least you get the profits.

Although I know self publishing really needs to fit into a specific genre and hit the right tropes to get easily marketed.

I thought about doing this at one point but the idea of writing a whole series exhausted me. So I didn’t write at all Wink

bigsis144

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 9:47 am

PinkFridge wrote:

Like who? Thanks.

Leah Cypess wrote the YA fantasy books Mistwood, Nightspell and Death Sworn; she just came out with a middle-grade fantasy book called Thornwood about Sleeping Beauty’s little sister; she publishes short stories and novellas in science fiction/fantasy anthologies and magazines all the time.

She publishes Jewish books under the name Leah Sokol. Books include The King’s Horse: A Purim Story and The Spanish Plot (a choose your own adventure-style book)

She’s very cool! (And lives in Silver Spring 😄)

Kiwi13

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 10:15 am

This is good food for thought. Alright. I might try the frum route first and then explore self-publishing. Maybe I'll set up more of a platform.

amother

Powderblue

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 10:30 am

Kiwi13 wrote:

This is good food for thought. Alright. I might try the frum route first and then explore self-publishing. Maybe I'll set up more of a platform.

Mark Dawson is the guy to follow when it comes to self publishing. There are lots of “gurus” out there trying to sell it as a quick rich scheme but he’s the real deal. He does promote writing in series though rather than stand alones, so you have sell through. That way you can afford to spend more advertising the first book.

cbsp

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 10:38 am

cbsp wrote:

Here's Yonah Klein's LinkedIn profile
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yo.....45a99

And here's his survey :

https://docs.google.com/forms/.....wform

I'm guessing it's closed by now (he started it more than 3 months ago) but there are plenty of fields where you can give your text input, so maybe this is a good way to connect...

PinkFridge

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 11:24 am

amother [ cornflower ] wrote:

Leah Cypess

Cool. Looks like she does fantasy. I didn't check out all the books on the library site.

PinkFridge

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 11:25 am

bigsis144 wrote:

Oh, that is cool. I know those books. I hope it's worth it for her to write more for the frum community.

amother

Powderblue

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 11:28 am

cbsp wrote:

Yonah Klein posts a lot on soferet. From what I understand he’s writing for the frum market but self publishing. Which is very different.

cbsp

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 11:56 am

amother [ Powderblue ] wrote:

Yonah Klein posts a lot on soferet. From what I understand he’s writing for the frum market but self publishing. Which is very different.

He wasn't intending to self publish. And he's trying to broaden his target market while not excluding the frum consumer... His posts on the process sound very similar to OP's...

Goody2shoes

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 12:02 pm

whatever ends up happening Id love to know when its out so I can get it! cant wait to curl up for a good read and this sound like a good read

amother

Beige

Thu, Apr 22 2021, 12:42 pm

Thinking back, I remember 'jewish' books I've read that aren't the frum ones. ANd I'm not including Faye Kellerman or Naomi Ragen etc. There was a book 'brother can you raise a million?'-just googled it and it seems it was published by 'devora publishers'. There's also a few others I remember enjoying that weren't the mainstream. So it seems you're not the only one.