RE: Is it commercial suicide to write in different genres?But as with all writing, it's easy when you break it down into little blocks - chapters, scenes, paragraphs. 100 word blocks even. Need to write 2000 words? That's 20 100-word blocks. Write 100 words - tick. Another 100 words - tick. And again - tick. That's 3 down just 17 to go... |
RE: Is it commercial suicide to write in different genres?For very popular authors, the huge success of an early book can carry over to later books. Look at JK Rowling... when she wrote her first adult book, sales followed her popularity, not the genre. And when she came clean about her adult pseudonym, sales of that book did the same. In fact, the pseudonym thing is interesting, since I understand before JK told everyone it was hers, that book (the crime one) had only sold averagely for its genre - which seems to prove that once an author becomes popular enough, their name becomes their brand. It does seem that authors who write series are more commerically successful - but only if their books sell! I don't know the stats, but I'd guess that for every successful series author, there are others who write series that do not sell. I also know of children's publishers who create successful series around pseudonyms, and employ several different authors to write the books... e.g. Erin Hunter, Daisy Meadows, Adam Blade, etc are all several 'real' authors writing under the same pseudonym. |
RE: Is it commercial suicide to write in different genres? |

RE: Is it commercial suicide to write in different genres?On the issue of writing across genres, I would second what's been said about writing what you enjoy but there's also the problem of reader expectation - the risk of being perceived by a reader as having deceived them. I write short historical romance and longer fiction that has been described as 'off-beat' romance. It is romance but it could also be described as contemporary women's fiction and it doesn't adhere to the norms of the romance genre. I find my historical romance does much better than the longer stuff commercially, so I would say that readers looking for a particular genre do just go for that, and will probably ignore anything you've written that they don't like the look / sound of. Beyond that, I also find that the romance genre is a bit of a minefield in itself, particularly in the US market, in terms of clean and more erotic romance. I write across both these sub-genres and have been alarmed at reviews on Amazon.com that are obviously the result of readers who've enjoyed my 'clean' romances objecting to the more erotic ones. So, even if you think you are sticking to one genre, there seems to still be scope to alienate readers who have very specific tastes for sub-genres within it. My conclusion is that you have to be true to yourself. I'm not sure how it would feel to have written a commercially successful book that you didn't really understand the appeal of. But if you like it and readers like it, that's great. I also think it's interesting to see which of your books do have appeal and which don't, and to take readers' feedback on board. It's a learning process. |
RE: Is it commercial suicide to write in different genres?I'm grateful for the point about links - I haven't even created any, let alone kept them up to date, so that's one thing I will certainly do. |
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RE: Is it commercial suicide to write in different genres?Indies seem to be at the forefront of this move, and the Indie market is the fastest growing one. I think in ten or twenty years time it won't be such a big deal as long as genre is clearly identified in the blurb. |

RE: Is it commercial suicide to write in different genres?http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/CatherineChapman You're right about indies leading the way, Ray, and, on a positive note, my experiences of outraged romance readers have been from the US market, not UK, so we seem to be at an advantage on these shores having a native readership who already seem to be broad-minded and open to reading beyond defined generic constraints. |
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