Amanda Hocking, a self-published genre author who writes about monsters and identity and of course love, just got a $2 million deal for 4 books. Which is pretty good, especially since she's already written and published the books (or maybe they're new? I don't know). This is being
celebrated in shopping malls across America, in the graphic novel / YA
sections, and generally among people who still wear 3 or 4 wallet
chains.
Here's a little bit of promo copy from her Trylle series. The first is for her book Switched:
When Wendy Everly was six years old,
her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. It
isn't until eleven years later that Wendy discovers her mother might
have been right.
And then from Torn:
Wendy thought she finally understood
who she was and what she wanted, but everything changes when the rival
Vittra come after her.
Sure, I might be a little jealous, I've tried to convince myself to write genre fiction, the only problem is I don't like it very much.
But the real issue is not my jealousy, perceived jealousy, or where the heck Austin, Minnesota is.
The real issue is that goths are starting to make a heckuva lot of money. Anne Rice and Stephanie Meyer, they aren't goth, but savvy marketers looking into the goth scene. But now, now the game has changed. One has been promoted to favored status. I shouldn't look down upon the kids playing roleplaying games wherever they play them, one of them could be a major literary player. I should start hanging around those tournaments and tables, like how shoe execs stalk middle school basketball games. Looking for the next payout, the next big thing.
I wonder what the next big lit phenomenon is. Revive some mechanical robots. High society Edith Wharton mess. Some organic gardening and chicken coops by Robinson Crusoe.
Maybe it's not too late for hipster fiction. Maybe there's still time for that $2 million payout. So now's the time for the Cake Shop kids to get their writing going. For the penetrating story about a girl that woke up one day and secretly thought she was a hipster, only to discover her true identity and of course love. The most authentic and enduring story of our time.
