What Would You Do to Get Published?

Fiction authors, particularly first time writers trying to break into the publishing world face a growing dilemma. Publishers want an author who “lived the story.” See a novel about a woman and her kids overcoming death and divorce and starting over? Flip to the author’s bio and you will see “the author recently moved to Atlanta following the death of her husband. She is the mother of three children. This is her first novel.”

James Frey was rejected fifteen times, according to the Smoking Gun expose. The story states:

“Of course, if "A Million Little Pieces" was fictional, just some overheated stories of woe, heartache, and debauchery cooked up by a wannabe author, it probably would not get published. As it was, Frey's original manuscript was rejected by 17 publishers before being accepted by industry titan Nan Talese, who runs a respected boutique imprint at Doubleday (Talese reportedly paid Frey a $50,000 advance). According to a February 2003 New York Observer story by Joe Hagan, Frey originally tried to sell the book as a fictional work, but the Talese imprint "declined to publish it as such."

And now the author Nasdijj, who says he's of Navajo descent, may be a white writer impersonating an Indian.

According to a Washington Post story, LA Weekly is, “Citing documents and interviews with scholars, Indian authors and his acquaintances and colleagues, the magazine alleges that Nasdijj is really named Timothy Barrus, a writer of gay and pornographic literature.”

We will probably get bogged down on the details of what constitutes “the truth” in many a book (not to mention juicy tidbits about Mr. Barrus' other writings.) But remember the budding fiction authors for whom simply making up an interesting tale is not enough to get onto the shelves.