In fantasy and sci-fi books, you get a few pages about the terminology that appears in these types of books. My question is, do you send this when you first contact an agent, or wait until they accept you?
Replies
Hi Antoinette,
I agree with Jeff. If you read Tolkein in fantasy, or Clarke or Asimov in sci-fi as examples of masters of their trades, they didn't put indices or explanations other than at the rear, and those were rare. One exception was Asimov's short story series about a tiny alien (can't remember his name) who lived with a human. This was just to explain that he'd originally thought of using an elf but changed the character for publication.
Let the story tell it and keep explanations to a minimum. Index-come-explanation at the rear if really needed.
No. The story is what will sell the book to an agent, not an index that only adds understanding of a complex or invented construct. But perhaps in your covering letter, mention there will be a terminology index. Personally, I always skip those pages when I'm reading, only refer to them if I absolutely don't understand something...
Hi Antoinette,
I agree with Jeff. If you read Tolkein in fantasy, or Clarke or Asimov in sci-fi as examples of masters of their trades, they didn't put indices or explanations other than at the rear, and those were rare. One exception was Asimov's short story series about a tiny alien (can't remember his name) who lived with a human. This was just to explain that he'd originally thought of using an elf but changed the character for publication.
Let the story tell it and keep explanations to a minimum. Index-come-explanation at the rear if really needed.
Good luck and keep on doing.
Regards,
PabloJ.
No. The story is what will sell the book to an agent, not an index that only adds understanding of a complex or invented construct. But perhaps in your covering letter, mention there will be a terminology index. Personally, I always skip those pages when I'm reading, only refer to them if I absolutely don't understand something...