Opinions are like... something else everybody has one of...

I received a newsletter in my junk mail today containing some advice from a bestselling author on how to break into the publishing industry. Even though such advice is as ubiquitous as the particles of dust on my desk (and sometimes of equal use), it’s always worth checking out, just to see if there are any pearls of wisdom I haven’t seen before.

In this case, there were none. In fact, most of the “advice” consisted at best of platitudes (“If you try to please everybody, you’ll end up pleasing no one”) and at worst of shameless self-aggrandizement (“For my own first novel, I wanted to do something that I’d never seen done well before … and I guess I pulled it off, because in his review of my book, Orson Scott Card said I’d created ‘the deepest computer character in all of science fiction’”). It also included the now-requisite Dan Brown-bashing that has become a cottage industry among writers and wannabes alike.

But one particular bit really stuck in my craw:

“Once you start publishing, you may be offered the chance to write a media tie-in; don’t do that, either. Your job is to establish your name; you are branding yourself in a competitive marketplace, and you do that by telling unique, original stories about characters and events you’ve devised while exploring issues that you are passionate about. Many experienced writers of media tie-ins do so under pseudonyms—precisely because they don’t want the association with hack work to taint their own original writing. And, for Pete’s sake, don’t even think about starting your career with a media tie-in; they are not entry-level work in this field; rather, they are dead ends. No, to launch your career, write your own wholly original first novel.”

I find this argument to be worse than unpersuasive; I find it to be just plain stupid. Let’s break the argument down:

Your job is to establish your name (True); you are branding yourself in a competitive marketplace (Uh huh) and you do that by telling unique, original stories (Not always, but I’ll go with it) about characters and events you’ve devised (SCREECH. This is where I get off the bus. Sure, that’s how to make a name for yourself in the mainstream market, and plenty of us are interested in doing that. But is there nothing to be said for making a name for yourself in the HUGE tie-in fiction market? It's certainly a pretty good way of keeping the work steady. And doesn’t it guarantee a large existing fan-base -- and thus sales -- for your work? Am I missing something?) And, for Pete’s sake, don’t even think about starting your career with a media tie-in; they are not entry-level work in this field; rather, they are dead ends. (Ick. Will someone please call the punctuation police? I'm going cross-eyed here! )

As many of you know, that last sentence (well, the second-to-last, actually) describes my experience with tie-in fiction. That is, I’ve looked at it as a way to get my foot in the door. Never mind that it has given me the opportunity to hone my craft (and I don’t care if you’re sitting at home in your PJs cranking out Star Wars fanfic, it’s not a waste of time if it improves your writing) working with WotC has given me exposure to the world of publishing – story edits, line edits, galleys, contracts, royalties, distribution, etc. It has given me a readership I could never have gotten on my own, one that may someday follow me into the mainstream. And hopefully, future work with them (fingers crossed) will help me land an agent, which is the golden ticket I need to take a tour of Willy Wonka’s World of Big Publishing Houses. Agents have a tough time saying ‘no’ to a free lunch, and if I approach one with a contract in hand, chances are he or she will think very seriously about taking me on. Hell, one agent has already told me rather bluntly that while he wasn’t interested in representing Key, he’d be pleased if I’d consider him (if I would consider him! ) for future WotC work.

Am I being naïve here? Am I really just a hack? Maybe. Or maybe this HUGO! and NEBULA! AWARD! WINNING! author is just another example of the yawn-inducing snobbery so prevalent in the arts. Sure, there’s a lot of terrible tie-in fiction. There’s also plenty of terrible mainstream fiction.

Yes, it’s your job as an author to write original and insightful stories. Apparently, though, it isn’t your job to write original or insightful advice for other authors.