Another one for the "Smack A Bitch" files.
Nov. 7th, 2007 11:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
megwritesI take time out of my day job (and Nano'ing) to present to you the world's least helpful, most insulting definition of Science Fiction and Fantasy (amongst other genres that get backhanded). Brought to you by Manus Literary Agency. I had the misfortune of running across them in the course of doing my job as Intern Extraordinare.
I'd link you directly to it, but the entire site is in flash (annoying!). You should navigate to their "Info For Writers" and then "Genre Definitions".
Let me give you some quotes, however, from their definition for the link-phobic amongst you:
"The genre is highly beholden to the culture and expectations of its cult-like, primarily young male audience"
Or even better: "where Sci-Fi novels represent an egaliatarian world in which knowledge, not inherent abilities, is the key to discovery, Fantasy novels are predicated on the belief that some people are special...."
I keep looking for the words "the internet is not a series of tubes" to pop up. Because this that caliber of FAIL. It is epic fail. The kind heretofore unknown to modern science.
Oh, and let's not leave out this gem of a statement about the romance genre: "Marriage is almost without exception the desired goal of a Romance plot".
On behalf of my fellow writers who work in the romance genre, either in crossover or by itself, I would like to say: Blow me. Blow me like a french horn at band camp.
You've got to be kidding me. A literary agency should know so much better. All of this could have been achieved without insulting people, which is what gets me the most.
I'm used to my genre getting less credit than it deserves. I'm used to the Nerdy White Boy stereotype. I'm used to seeing agency after agency and publisher after publisher that says "WE DO NOT ACCEPT SCIENCE FICTION OR FANTASY" in big bold letters. Mostly, I don't take it personally. That's the business, and usually they also make sure to say they don't take poetry or screenplays or children's books or non-fiction.
But when an agency goes out of its way to be this insulting and condescending (and since the definition is borrow from another agency, the amount of fail multiples exponentially), I see red.
I'd make snarky comments about some of the books that Manus Lit is holding up as its great achievements in the literary world, but that would be hypocritical of me. Because maybe those books are good (even if the agency behind them has pissed me off royally).
More than that, I'm not going to snap to a judgment out of some feeling of superiority.
99.9% of everything is crap, that's pretty much the way of the world. 99.9% of literary (mainstream) fiction, or mystery fiction, or even, yes, science fiction is utter crap.
But that still leaves a .1% that's brilliant. And I don't think it's fair that they get to disregard our .1% because it's not to their liking.
Fine, it's not your cup of tea. I get that. I don't find myself needing to pick up books that are about someone's "journey of self discovery", but I'm sure as hell not going to act like that book, just because of it's genre, is inherently bad.
It's also shameful for Manus Lit to even think of putting that up on their website because they're in New York. And any New Yorker that falls back on stereotypes makes me want to spit.
You want to see who's reading science fiction and fantasy? It's not who you think. I ride these subways and buses every damn day and I see who's reading. And it's not just the nerdy white kids, okay? Because I've seen my genre in the hands of people of just about every color, gender, and persuasion that this city has to offer.
It's people of color, and women, and people ranging from ages 10 to 100.
Oh, by the way, Harry Potter IN YOUR FACE. Flying wizards, on broomsticks and it outsold probably everything you're gonna put out in the next decade.
If I could flip the bird on the internet, I would.
I'd link you directly to it, but the entire site is in flash (annoying!). You should navigate to their "Info For Writers" and then "Genre Definitions".
Let me give you some quotes, however, from their definition for the link-phobic amongst you:
"The genre is highly beholden to the culture and expectations of its cult-like, primarily young male audience"
Or even better: "where Sci-Fi novels represent an egaliatarian world in which knowledge, not inherent abilities, is the key to discovery, Fantasy novels are predicated on the belief that some people are special...."
I keep looking for the words "the internet is not a series of tubes" to pop up. Because this that caliber of FAIL. It is epic fail. The kind heretofore unknown to modern science.
Oh, and let's not leave out this gem of a statement about the romance genre: "Marriage is almost without exception the desired goal of a Romance plot".
On behalf of my fellow writers who work in the romance genre, either in crossover or by itself, I would like to say: Blow me. Blow me like a french horn at band camp.
You've got to be kidding me. A literary agency should know so much better. All of this could have been achieved without insulting people, which is what gets me the most.
I'm used to my genre getting less credit than it deserves. I'm used to the Nerdy White Boy stereotype. I'm used to seeing agency after agency and publisher after publisher that says "WE DO NOT ACCEPT SCIENCE FICTION OR FANTASY" in big bold letters. Mostly, I don't take it personally. That's the business, and usually they also make sure to say they don't take poetry or screenplays or children's books or non-fiction.
But when an agency goes out of its way to be this insulting and condescending (and since the definition is borrow from another agency, the amount of fail multiples exponentially), I see red.
I'd make snarky comments about some of the books that Manus Lit is holding up as its great achievements in the literary world, but that would be hypocritical of me. Because maybe those books are good (even if the agency behind them has pissed me off royally).
More than that, I'm not going to snap to a judgment out of some feeling of superiority.
99.9% of everything is crap, that's pretty much the way of the world. 99.9% of literary (mainstream) fiction, or mystery fiction, or even, yes, science fiction is utter crap.
But that still leaves a .1% that's brilliant. And I don't think it's fair that they get to disregard our .1% because it's not to their liking.
Fine, it's not your cup of tea. I get that. I don't find myself needing to pick up books that are about someone's "journey of self discovery", but I'm sure as hell not going to act like that book, just because of it's genre, is inherently bad.
It's also shameful for Manus Lit to even think of putting that up on their website because they're in New York. And any New Yorker that falls back on stereotypes makes me want to spit.
You want to see who's reading science fiction and fantasy? It's not who you think. I ride these subways and buses every damn day and I see who's reading. And it's not just the nerdy white kids, okay? Because I've seen my genre in the hands of people of just about every color, gender, and persuasion that this city has to offer.
It's people of color, and women, and people ranging from ages 10 to 100.
Oh, by the way, Harry Potter IN YOUR FACE. Flying wizards, on broomsticks and it outsold probably everything you're gonna put out in the next decade.
If I could flip the bird on the internet, I would.
no subject
Date: 2007-11-08 02:01 am (UTC)