By Paula Munier
Historical fiction can be a hard sell these days, but there are ways you can boost your story’s appeal to agents, editors, publishers, and ultimately readers. Milk the following selling points, and you’re greatly improve your odds of getting published.
Selling Point #1
Your story was based on or inspired by true events.
Examples: James R. Benn’s Billy Boyle WWII series, Kate Quinn’s The Alice Network, Laura Knoy’s The Shopkeeper of Alsace.
Selling Point #2
There’s been a renaissance in interest in the era in which your story is set.
Examples: Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Daisy Jones and the Six, Bonnie Garmus’s Lessons in Chemistry, Lara Prescott’s The Secrets We Kept.
Selling Point #3
There’s an upcoming anniversary related to your story (e.g., the 250th birthday of the United States in 2026).
Examples: Julie Gerstenblatt’s The Stargazer of Nantucket, Abigail Cutter’s What the Trees Remember, Rebecca Connolly’s Three Queens.
Selling Point #4
Your personal and/or professional background, experience, or expertise informs the story. Examples: Kristin Hannah’s The Great Alone, Jill Lepore’s Blindspot, Abraham Verghese’s Cutting for Stone.
Selling Point #5
There’s a connection/bridge to the present built into the story.
Examples: William Martin’s Peter Fallon series, Chanel Cleeton’s Next Year in Havana, V.E. Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.
Selling Point #6
Your story is about real people or has real people in it.
Examples: Paula McLain’s The Paris Wife, Jess Walter’s Beautiful Ruins, Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall.
Selling Point #7
If your story takes place abroad and you want to shop it to a U.S. publisher, make one of your leading characters—preferably the protagonist—American.
Examples: James Clavell’s Shōgun, Erika Robuck’s The Invisible Woman, Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms.
Selling Point #8
You’ve shown us a story we haven’t seen before, about a place and time we either thought we knew well, or a place and time we knew little about.
Examples: Caro Claire Burke’s Yesteryear, Amor Towles’ A Gentleman in Moscow, Daniel Mason’s North Woods.
Selling Point #9
Your story’s themes are relevant to today.
Examples: Kathryn Stockett’s The Calamity Club, Maggie O’Farrell’s Land, Benedict Anning’s Atomic Coffin.
The more of these selling points that apply to your story, and the more adeptly you weave them into your story, the more likely you will sell your historical fiction. Because the past can be your prologue to success—with the right selling points.
This post originally appeared at Career Authors