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Commercial Fiction?

Can you tell me what commercial fiction is?

 

I think I’ve read a lot of it this past year. Generally easy and quick reads with limited character development. Sometimes the plot takes some outstanding twists but usually not so much.

 

I think it’s possible to write meaningful commercial fiction like Vince Flynn’s novels definitely are, but most of it remains forgettable. Ordinary. Recalling their plots or characters blur with others and leave little to separate them from others of their kind.

 

Successful commercial fiction seems like it would be an agent’s and publisher’s dream. Churn those puppies out to consistent sales and, yeah, keep the dependable income flowing. Successful being the operative word. Nothing wrong with writing stories that sell.

 

I think I’m to the point where very few of the commercial novels appeal to me. Maybe I really have been reading too much. Is that possible?

 

What’s your definition of commercial fiction?

 

Father, you give the gifts and talents. Bless your writers, Lord, with the individual encouragement and hope that they need to continue to write the stories you’ve given them to tell. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

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12 responses to “Commercial Fiction?”

  1. Brenda Avatar
    Brenda

    Good question and hard to define. To me the distinguishing difference between commercial or mass market (I”m not limiting the definition of mass market to the size of the paperback in this case) and non-commercial is probably similar to what you are thinking. Commercial books are the tried and true plots–plots that are fairly limited in scope, and, as you said, forgettable characters and storylines. Good writing but doesn’t stick in memory.
    These books are meant to be used like plastic cups and paper plates. Use it, toss it, forget about it. You won’t be washing it up for another go.
    I don’t know what the percentage is but the vast majority of books seem to fall into this category–my opinion 95% if not more.
    Off the top of my head, I can only think of maybe 5 books I have read in my life time that weren’t the paper plate variety so that shows how difficult it is to write one that stands out from the crowd. A lot of authors have certainly tried over a great many years.
    The bigger bugger to the whole thing is that it’s too bad there’s no way to easily identify the standout.
    I was actually thinking about this over the last few days. While it would certainly be nice to earn an income from writing, I would much rather write one knock-out book than publish several average, ala Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. But only a few authors will ever make that kind of mark. So then the choice we have to make is—do we want to write badly enough to produce books anyway, even if only a few will reach that stratosphere?
    It’s humbling to think about.

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  2. Nicole Avatar
    Nicole

    Good anaology, Brenda. And, yeah, it’s difficult to think of being able to produce a novel in the 5% stratosphere.
    If I took the 350+ novels I’ve read in recent times and established a percentage of the forgettable and unforgettable, I’d probably go with 50% forgettable. If I then took the 50% of unforgettable books and established that number which would go on my all-time favorites list, the number would probably be around 25%. I’ve read some excellent CBA fiction.
    What kind of fiction do you like, Brenda? (And no T-shirt entry for you?)

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  3. Brenda Avatar
    Brenda

    What kind of fiction…oye. What I love most to read is a sweeping historical epic–which is an extremely rare find, so I don’t read much historical.
    The most recent cut above book I read was Charles Martin’s Wrapped In Rain, which I think is classified as general fiction. Also enjoyed Lost Mission. So my taste is all over the place.
    In short, I can’t answer the question. I’m always trolling, trolling, trolling for books but find few that tempt me to read them. But the reason I have a harder time than most readers is I’m looking for non-romance fiction—which is extremely hard to find and eliminates most of the books on the market. That’s why I read so few novels per year.

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  4. Nicole Avatar
    Nicole

    I’ve heard great things about Charles Martin’s writing. He’s got a place on my TBR pile.
    I would suggest Tom Morrisey’s In High Places even though there’s a bit of innocent romance in the story, but it’s really secondary. Or Wind River by Tom, both contemporary, thoughtful, very well-written novels. Or June Bug by Chris Fabry. Or Dogwood by Chris Fabry which also has a romance running in the background.
    Do you equate romance with love stories–are they one and the same for you?
    (And if you wanted to enter the contest, Brenda, you already would’ve gathered two numbers! ;0 )

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  5. Dayle Avatar
    Dayle

    I’ll go with Brenda’s description.
    I also agree with her that I’d rather have one transcendent novel than 4 forgettable ones. Not to knock those forgettable ones, they make money and I’d be honored to have one published.
    t-shirt

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  6. Nicole Avatar
    Nicole

    True, Dayle. I agree. Brenda gave us a good definition.
    But I maintain it isn’t necessarily up to us to determine the value of our work. The “success” or the position of the novel in the grand scheme belongs to the Lord. In saying that I’m not suggesting we plod along without aspirations or inspiration or putting forth our best efforts. I just believe He opens and closes the doors and His evaluation is really the only one that counts.

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  7. Brenda Avatar
    Brenda

    Oh yes, I remember you mentioning Tom M. books in a previous post and have him on my radar.
    Yes, for my purposes, I lump romance/love stories all together. I do not want to read about romantic relations between men and women (or any permutation the mind can come up with). I am much more interested in exploring the many other relationships that make up our lives and am particularly fond of friendship/buddy stories. That’s why, in the absence of non-romance historical fiction, I tend to lean toward reading books that are about special ops teams, for example.
    But that’s not to say I never read romance. Nancy Turner’s These Is My Words has a beautiful romance in it (historical—not your cup of tea). And because I liked CM’s Wrapped In Rain so well, I also read his book The Dead Don’t Dance, which is entirely about a husband and wife and their journey through a tragedy. But to be honest, what was far more appealing to me about that story were his secondary characters, not the couple.
    Wrapped In Rain has an extremely light romantic thread—so light as to nearly be invisible. If books were written with romance that subtle, I would read more. But most of the time, even when the romance is deemed “secondary” it is still too strong a presence in the story for my taste. But oh well. The majority of readers don’t feel that way. So be it. I’ll keep on trolling and hoping…

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  8. Robert Liparulo Avatar
    Robert Liparulo

    Thought-provoking, as usual, Nicole. In the strictest sense, “commercial fiction” is any fiction designed to sell (I don’t necessarily mean sell well), which I think is the goal of every writer who wants to continue publishing or at least have any readers. Using today’s vernacular, I’d classify commercial as non-literary fiction, that is writing that sells primarily because of its plot or genre, not because of its extraordinary craftsmanship or deep ideas/insights (philosophical, theological, political).
    I would not, however, say that commercial fiction is, on average, worse that non-commercial fiction (I should say that “literary fiction” includes ATTEMPTS at being literary). I believe each category can claim its share of true wordsmiths and hacks. Some of the most memorable characters to me have appeared in commercial fiction–Robert Neville in Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend, Ender Wiggin in Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, Jack Torrence in Stephen King’s The Shining. And on the flip side, I’ve read a lot of literary fiction with which I was unimpressed (an example is Bridges of Madison County, which by virtue of its shortness and style would be classified literary, despite selling 50 million copies); albeit Waller’s characters were better developed than in, say, the average commercial thriller. (While probably the single most important element, character development alone doesn’t make a compelling story.)
    Some commercial writers are at least as good wordsmiths (in terms of turns of phrases, wit, plot, character development, and structure) as literary writers…authors such as Peter Straub, Neil Gayman, Thomas Perry, Neal Stephenson, Dennis Lahane, Robert Harris, Tim Powers, even Dean Koontz. Overall, I’d put their writing on par with literary luminaries like Cormac McCarthy, Emberto Eco, and Jonathan Franzen.
    In my experience–reading the works of both published and unpublished writers–there are as many people who have deluded themselves into thinking they are wonderful literary writers as there are those who falsely believe they are wonderful commercial writers. (But I don’t knock them: many writers need a few books under their belts before they become who they always thought they were. More power to them.) The point is, for me, it’s not whether a work is commercial or literary, it’s whether the author is talented or not.

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  9. Dayle Avatar
    Dayle

    I agree with Robert, too.
    Koontz and Tosca are the best. And Koontz sells millions. And Tosca should.

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  10. Nicole Avatar
    Nicole

    Understood, Brenda. And it seems funny to hear “the majority of readers don’t feel that way” about romance novels, but I guess sales bear that out, huh?
    Robert, I would agree literary fiction “attempts” deep thoughts, etc., but can serve as a platform for showing off vocabulary, quirkiness, and pretty metaphors.
    And I agree we all desire to be “commercial writers” in the strictest sense, willing to defer to what the Lord has for us.
    Like you I don’t care what kind of novel it is as long as the author gives me something to take away. Whether it be a thrill, a laugh, tears–just give me something to remember. Don’t make me feel like I’ve just heard canned laughter again. And pretentious writing drives me as nuts as “perfect” formulaic writing. Give me real.
    I think you all know me well enough to understand I value all who “make” it into publishing. They’ve accomplished something extremely hard to do. Every kind of reader needs books to read. Some of us require a little more of writers than others.
    Thanks, Robert, for taking the time . . .
    Dayle, you know I love Tosca. Maybe one of these days I’ll get to Koontz.

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  11. Dayle Avatar
    Dayle

    Nicole, I’ll trade you a koontz novel for the shack. I want to read it to explore the phenomenom, but don’t want to buy it in case it is diametrically opposed to my views.
    Or, I’ll trade Benda Tom morrisey’s Wind River for the shack.

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  12. Nicole Avatar
    Nicole

    I’d trade The Shack for just about anything. And I’ll mail you my copy if you want to see what it says. (Or just read my review.)
    And Wind River was not my favorite of Tom’s, but it certainly surpasses The Shack.

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