1984
“Human Wave Writing” is the new thing in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Or maybe it’s the old thing, resurrected.
For a long time it has been hard, not make that damned near impossible to buy SF&F books that are INSPIRING. Sorry for the caps. I really didn’t mean to yell at you. But it is true. For far too long most “Professional Publishers” have seemed to only wanted to print books which were inspired by George Orwell’s 1984.
Guess what guys, 1984 was nearly thirty years ago. For a short time that sort of book was topical. Now, it isn’t. Is it any wonder readers are showing less interest in the books you are selling? Is it any wonder writers don’t want to write for you anymore?
The Human Wave
Humans are the most successful species to ever live on this planet. As a species we went from being food for large feline carnivores (see the articles about ancient hominid skulls found in Southern Africa with leopard bite marks) to practically wiping out most of the larger predators, and having to institute conservation programs to preserve the remainder.
Humans are generally optimistic. We have reason. We’ve conquered nearly every challenge we’ve faced, and are working on the ones we haven’t solved yet. So we like reading optimistic stories, stories that tell about a hero overcoming great odds and winning a princess, or becoming Empress of the Galaxy.
Sure, there’s a place for stories where everyone dies. I write them myself, for Horror fans. Different genre, different reason for reading.
Most Science Fiction and Fantasy fans read expecting a happy ending, or at least a middling ending leading to a happy ending three books further on. That’s why they read SF&F, for the affirmation of the strength of the human spirit.
And that’s why the Human Wave exists.
Self Publishing
The Human Wave couldn’t exist without self publishing. The major publishers that handle SF&F, with the exception of Baen Books, don’t understand SF&F. Because they don’t understand it, they’ve been slowly destroying it. Writers can’t get perfectly good books published because they don’t meet criteria that the publishers have set up. Don’t take my word for this. Do a Google Search on “Human Wave Fiction” and read the articles that come up.
In particular I recommend the posts on Sarah Hoyt’s site, starting with:
Sarah’s done a lot of thinking about the subject. While I’m concentrating on the “positive story” side, because that’s what I miss the most, there’s other sides to this too. All my fiction sales have been short fiction, so I’ve missed out on all the problems the novel writers have had. Mind, I’ve heard all about them…
Every story, novelette, or novel that the publishers have blocked is something that the readers haven’t had to read. And there’s a huge market for upbeat fiction. Most people want to read about good things. Except for Horror fans. They want to read about everyone getting eaten by the werewolf at the end. Different tastes…
The Human Wave is going to change fiction. I know a lot of readers who have complained that they just can’t find good stuff to read. Stuff like Doc Smith, Bob Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Lester Del Rey, Clifford Simak, A. E. van Vogt, etc. Now they’ll have a chance again, and they’ll take it.
Self publishing fixes this. I allows writers to bypass the publishers who’ve long since lost sight of the reason they exist – to satisfy the reading appetite of the readers.
Regards
Wayne Borean
Wednesday March 28, 2012
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