Comments on: Business vs. Art

By: Shira

Shira — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 05:19:32 +0000

I only just discovered this blog, but I agree with this entire post! I know people who put art on this tremendous pedestal and look down on mass marketed books as trashy or not literary, without even attempting to see that it’s possible for modern, mass-marketed books to be well-written and literary, too.

By: Dan Holloway

Dan Holloway — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 11:19:00 +0000

What people who fall for the stereotyopes need to do is look back at the art scene in the 90s (or just at Andy Warhol for that matter, and apologies that I’m talking about the UK scene, but the principal applies both sides of the Pond). Thanks to exhibitions like Freeze and Sensation, and with the growth of the Turner Prize, and the hoopla created by larger than life curators like Jay Jopling, Nick Serota and Charles Saatchi, the average person in the street started talking about high art and incredibly conceptual pieces became mainstream and fetched large sums. Sure, there was sell-out talk, but the fact is many of the very biggest booms in the art world start with bizarre, underground work that finds a champion and a moment. We as writers (and those who are publishers, too – I can understand the need to be reactive, but new tech and the climate for new contract models gives you the chance to test the proactive water) need to stop being so frightened of “the market” and to stop seeing art and business as being in conflict

By: Rob Kent

Rob Kent — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:09:48 +0000

I know I’m late to the party, but I really enjoyed this post. Just a great outlook on the industry and what we as writers should be striving for. Good luck with your move and keep these great posts coming!

By: Margo Gremmler

Margo Gremmler — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 04:58:57 +0000

Thanks for the great sum-up, Mary. Gray areas abound, and I for one am grateful. Sure, purely commercial books usually dominate – but it seems to me more YA lands on the literary scale than ever before. We have so many good books to read – and write.

By: C. R. Boone

C. R. Boone — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:03:30 +0000

Thanks for covering difference between sellable and good. At a recent SCBWI conference, I heard an agent say she’d occasionally received a “good” story but passed it on to a colleague because it wasn’t something she normally represented. She also talked about trends and timing in the market in relation to selling a work. And on the business vs art point, I try to balance both keeping in mind what Robert McKee said in his book Story, “The writer must believe in what he writes.” He also talks about vision and understanding why we’re motivated to write what we put on the page. Hopefully, with thoughtful crafting, the result will be fulfilling on the art side and sellable on the business side.

By: Joan

Joan — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:34:44 +0000

Though I read the Twilight books, I’m not a fan. However, I’m thrilled they got people reading and have done well because it does help the industry. There will be fans and foes of any work as long as people think for themselves; this is as it should be.

Art is great, but it doesn’t put food on the table if business doesn’t come into it at some point.

By: Claire Hennessy

Claire Hennessy — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 10:01:50 +0000

Great post! There’s nothing noble about writing so obscurely that no one could possibly understand it with some notion that this is ‘true art’. And writing for absolutely everyone leads to completely anodyne stories. The blend is where it’s at.

By: Susan James

Susan James — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 22:07:52 +0000

Wow. I’m not a fan of Twilight but I never saw SM as “selling out.” She’s a writer. That was her story. Who am I to judge her vision? She took the time to write it up and put it out there. She made millions. So did her publisher and hopefully her agent. Fantastic.

As I said, there’s a lot I don’t like about Bella, but my daughter read four fat books and came to me asking what “epoch” meant. And even when we argued about the books- we were talking; discussing theme, religion, boyfriends, how not to treat friends-all sorts of stuff.

I agree with you Mary. A successful book is a win-win all around.

By: Alison Pensy

Alison Pensy — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:18:28 +0000

You only have to look at all the hand-crafted wares on sale across America throughout festival season to prove that art and business are closely connected. Festivals are full of creative people trying to make money from their art. Writers are no different, nor should they be. Why do some people think that you shouldn’t be paid for being creative? That makes no sense to me.

A brain surgeon gets paid for using his talents, why shouldn’t creative people shouldn’t get paid for using theirs?

By: Jean

Jean — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:01:58 +0000

Well spoken!

Jean