Sometimes writers ask me if we re-publish 'old' material. One lady recently asked if we would consider looking at her book from the '70s, published by Kevin Mayhew, with a view to publication.
Mm, this is a difficult one. Occasionally I do get sent 'old' material, but we have never yet used any. I'm not saying we wouldn't, but generally the following reasons apply, to name a few:
- language and speech change over the years
- relationships change, eg the way we related to our parents is just not the way our children relate to us
- some issues change - not all, but most do, at least in severity and meaningfulness
- technology has changed exponentially over the last 30 years, so a book with no mobile phones, i-players etc would seem out of date
- books are much shorter and snappier now - our kids need continually moving plots to keep their interest!
- kids need to relate to the characters - they particularly need protagonists who act and feel and think like they do (or like people they know)
In our novels, we need to be relevant to the young people of today. The way they live their lives is so different to the children of the '70s (count me in there!), that it's unlikely a book from that era will hold their attention, unless it is a 'period piece' eg Enid Blyton's 'Famous Five' stories from the '50s.
Much better to write a new book with the same plot/ theme, if still relevant, with new characters. And don't write a book about Roger and Susan, who cycle to work in the family business :-)
