THE DEATH OF THE FIRST FICTION

[Ghetta Life]

http://www.mobylives.com/Lasner_two.html

Ignoring the hot MFA grad you read about in Publisher's Weekly whose novel 
starts a big house bidding war, literary first novels are almost impossible 
to introduce into the marketplace. Bookstores will only order them in small 
quantities, if at all, and it is difficult to get reviews, especially in 
places that really matter. Additionally, getting a bookstore reading for a 
first fiction author is an effort that would make Sisyphus proud. A 
well–established independent bookseller once told me flat out that he would 
never book a first fiction author into his store.

Furthermore, to even have a chance of selling, a first novel has to 
classifiable, meaning it has to fit neatly into a genre or niche—mystery, 
thriller, crime, etc. A one sentence selling line also helps. However, 
literary fiction often cannot be easily classified or described. Try boiling 
Ulysses or Crime & Punishment down to one sentence.

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