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I really should be writing, but....
It's the first of the month, which means part of my 'writing time' was spent visiting the websites of a collection of magazines I've either submitted to before or am considering submitting to. I like to check for theme collections, check and see if the 'plots we aren't taking' sections have been updated, or see if any special issues or collections are coming out. Themed issues especially, because those are great for me. I've found I work best with a prompt or a starting place.
Anyway, the 'things we don't want' is pretty standard in the horror genre. Plot points that are never accepted are generally gratuitous or detailed child abuse, bestiality, pornography, etc. Plot lines are things that have so saturated the genre that no one wants to see them anymore. Cannibalism, stereotypical zombies, basic serial killer story, the sympathetic werewolf, etc.
But this month there was something new I saw on at least three different websites:
"No handsome teenage vampires or teen romance".
Now at first I just sort of laughed, but then I started thinking. If three different magazines are getting enough teen romance stories to have to say 'don't send us this', there's a genre problem going on.
Vampire =/= horror. There's a reason Anne Rice is listed under Fiction, not Horror. Sure, her books are full of vampires, but they aren't horror. They're gothic romances with pretty, lusty vampires. The same goes for Twilight. Vampires, sure. Horror? No. No way in hell. I've never read a single teen or adult supernatural romance that could be considered horror.
I can only assume that people don't read the lovely summaries of these magazines. It details quite clearly that for a piece of fiction to be horror, it needs to focus on horrific, shocking, or frightening events. (I'm simplifying and paraphrasing, but I believe my Flist can identify 'horror' as opposed to 'happens to have vampires/werewolves/whatever'.) And it boggles my mind. Hell, one magazine actually has a disclaimer griping about how many people attempt to copy Stephanie Meyer's style (which boggles the mind on its own, she has a terrible writing style) or send in straight up Twilight fan fiction.
So apparently the 'trying to publish Twilight fan fiction' is not limited to the most recent 'novel' issue. Apparently there is a large number of fans who have been sending in short fan fiction for publication, enough to piss off at least one group of magazine editors to the point they have to act preemptively against it.
Now, I know there are sane Twilight fans out there. My Flist is full of them, after all! But damn it all, when I see things like this, I can't help but headdesk.
It's the first of the month, which means part of my 'writing time' was spent visiting the websites of a collection of magazines I've either submitted to before or am considering submitting to. I like to check for theme collections, check and see if the 'plots we aren't taking' sections have been updated, or see if any special issues or collections are coming out. Themed issues especially, because those are great for me. I've found I work best with a prompt or a starting place.
Anyway, the 'things we don't want' is pretty standard in the horror genre. Plot points that are never accepted are generally gratuitous or detailed child abuse, bestiality, pornography, etc. Plot lines are things that have so saturated the genre that no one wants to see them anymore. Cannibalism, stereotypical zombies, basic serial killer story, the sympathetic werewolf, etc.
But this month there was something new I saw on at least three different websites:
"No handsome teenage vampires or teen romance".
Now at first I just sort of laughed, but then I started thinking. If three different magazines are getting enough teen romance stories to have to say 'don't send us this', there's a genre problem going on.
Vampire =/= horror. There's a reason Anne Rice is listed under Fiction, not Horror. Sure, her books are full of vampires, but they aren't horror. They're gothic romances with pretty, lusty vampires. The same goes for Twilight. Vampires, sure. Horror? No. No way in hell. I've never read a single teen or adult supernatural romance that could be considered horror.
I can only assume that people don't read the lovely summaries of these magazines. It details quite clearly that for a piece of fiction to be horror, it needs to focus on horrific, shocking, or frightening events. (I'm simplifying and paraphrasing, but I believe my Flist can identify 'horror' as opposed to 'happens to have vampires/werewolves/whatever'.) And it boggles my mind. Hell, one magazine actually has a disclaimer griping about how many people attempt to copy Stephanie Meyer's style (which boggles the mind on its own, she has a terrible writing style) or send in straight up Twilight fan fiction.
So apparently the 'trying to publish Twilight fan fiction' is not limited to the most recent 'novel' issue. Apparently there is a large number of fans who have been sending in short fan fiction for publication, enough to piss off at least one group of magazine editors to the point they have to act preemptively against it.
Now, I know there are sane Twilight fans out there. My Flist is full of them, after all! But damn it all, when I see things like this, I can't help but headdesk.
