Sarah, never a big fan of beanie babies. I just didn’t see the point. Anyway, I have come across quite a few self-publishers and PublishAmerica victims that see me at just being jealous of their “success” and because their “published” and I’m not. The Stephen King reference is far-reaching but the point is there.

Actually Lulu is POD. POD is a technology, not a scam even though many of the scam publishers use POD technology in their operations. The technology itself is a rather revolutionary technology that would save a lot of trees if the publishing world were to ever pick it up. Unfortunately it’s name has been soiled by vanity publishers like PublishAmerica. I just found out last week that one of my long-time internet friends released her first book through PublishAmerica. I want to ask her about it but I haven’t figured out how to word what I want to say. My heart broke when I saw that because she is a good writer and she deserves so much better than to have her work held hostage and not see a cent for it.

Mind I’ve read the hyperbole via the sales gimmicks of vanity presses or POD sites, but that doesn’t really count, as naturally they’re selling their service and want to make it sound like the greatest thing since beanie babies.

And I think your last statement there is a bit reversed. I think you mean the lack of chapters is denied. And yes. Unknowns new to the slush pile and without so much as s debut novel on their hands need to play as close to the rules as they can get. We are not afforded the same luxuries and stylistic creativity as the money-makers like Pratchett simply because no one knows if we’re good enough to get away with such things. 99% of the time, authors must play by the rules. 1% are actually good enough to be able to write something without chapters and get away with it. The other 99% need to show that they have a modicum of control with their writing. If an agent were to see this book in a slush pile from an unknown, they’d see a writer’s inability to properly edit or control their writing. I can’t vouch for the content though since a slush pile varies by agent.

The bottom line is, if you’re an unknown you play by the rules and you play it safe. The chances of playing with context and style and getting shot down are enormously high in a pile where the odds are already stacked well against you. Even if you can manage to impress with stylistic abnormalities in a query or a couple of pages, your book will be under much tighter scrutiny to see if the differences pay off, if they’re pivitol to the writing or if the writer just got luck in the first 20 pages and it’s a crap shoot after that. From everything I’ve read from agents themselves, it’s best not to shoot yourself in the foot from the get-go. Write a good book and play by the rules. The rope slackens A LOT if you turn into a money maker for the publisher. They’ll be willing to let you do anything if it makes them money but you need to prove yourself first. They’re much less willing to take their chances on something stylistically risky than a standard book format when it comes to a new author.

As for head-hopping, I didn’t find the narrative at all distanced from the characters. Each section restricted itself to one character’s POV in third person. You were very much in their heads, in their voice and behind their eyes when it was time for them to tell their part of the story. I fail to see the distance and thus to see how it’s not head-hopping. This is yet another instance of rule-braking for the known authors. If an unknown were to send this a story with this much head-hopping in it, it’d get rejected as unfocused and lazy writing. Essentially you need to earn your way into flipping the bird to standard writing style. I’m sure Pratchett didn’t start off where he is now, stylistically. He had to earn his right to be able to head hop and not use chapters.

it’s very frustrating but something, as a writer, I need to just grin and bear. Personally, even if given the opportunity, I would still write with chapters. I like the break ups like that.