Is it commercial suicide to write in different genres? -

catherine chapman Reading Loosely Translated by Simon Hugh Wheeler

22 Oct 2014, 05:59 PM | Post: #41

Indie Author

Posts: 57
Joined: Jul 2011

Thanked 1 times

What I Read

RE: Is it commercial suicide to write in different genres?

(21 Oct 2014 09:06 PM), JMac!CatherineJMac Wrote: Wrote: Thanks Catherine, that's very helpful - it's on my list of things to do soon.

You're welcome

http://romanceornotromance.wordpress.com/
http://www.facebook.com...
http://twitter.com/CathEChapman

Website Find

Thank (0)

Reply

William Peter Grasso Reading Their Finest Hour by Winston Churchill

23 Oct 2014, 04:58 PM | Post: #42

Junior Member

Posts: 17
Joined: Aug 2012

Thanked 0 times

What I Read

RE: Is it commercial suicide to write in different genres?

I wouldn't say it's guaranteed suicide but from my own experience, a book that deviates from a genre in which you've found some success will not sell as well. Bear in mind I have no broad-based empirical evidence other than this anecdotal offering.
Oddly enough, the novel in question (my second) did very well in its early months, and still holds a "personal best" record for most sales in one month over any of my other four books. In the long run (3+ years now), its sales rate has slowed to a trickle, though.
WPG

Find

Thank (0)

Reply

cecilia_writer Reading Murder by the Glass by Lynda Wilcox

23 Oct 2014, 06:12 PM | Post: #43

That Singular Anomaly the Lady Novelist

Posts: 2,692
Joined: Dec 2010

Thanked 232 times

What I Read

RE: Is it commercial suicide to write in different genres?

I enjoy writing my main mystery series (the 'other' one is harder work, as it has a historical setting) and I always find it easy to settle back into that world when I start a new one. I do get the problem of minor recurring characters as in Tim's post above, as it's so hard to keep track of their names, and I now have an extremely simple spreadsheet which I try to fill in when a new one comes along - this is particularly true of odd policemen and librarians, but it can happen to anyone!
Something that put me off branching out even slightly was that, when I published a romantic suspense novel under my same pen-name, its first review was absolutely appalling and the reviewer was obviously cross with me for not writing in the same style as I had for the mysteries. It didn't sell for a good while after that but it seems to have made a recovery since then with a few better reviews.

Website Find

Thank (0)

Reply

Jennie Lee Reading Course notes for Pilates Teacher Training

24 Oct 2014, 02:02 AM | Post: #44

Aussie Kiwi

Posts: 2,034
Joined: Mar 2012

Thanked 156 times

What I Read

RE: Is it commercial suicide to write in different genres?

A while back, I had a glowing 5* review for What Happened to Polly, followed by a 1* for my flash fiction collection the very next day - with the usual complaint of how short it was! The reviewer had obviously bought Teatime Twists on the strength of WHtP and was thoroughly disappointed.

Jennie's Website

Breathe, Relax, Read.

Website Find

Thank (0)

Reply

Dorte Hummelshoj Reading Blood Harvest by S.J. Bolton

24 Oct 2014, 06:01 AM | Post: #45

Master of Verbosity

Posts: 1,156
Joined: Jan 2012

Thanked 78 times

What I Read

RE: Is it commercial suicide to write in different genres?

It doesn't seem to be suicide to me, but perhaps that is because I am switching from light and humorous crime fiction to more serious and (I think) better crime stories. Things may change when I get more reviews, of course, but I have 17 reviews for the first one on Amazon.com (4.2 stars) and 7 on the next one (4.7 stars).

Besides, I write supernatural stories which involve crime but not much detection, and that does not seem to cause problems either. But perhaps I have just been lucky and my readers have noticed what I actually say about genres?

Writer of traditional crime fiction. My blog

Gem
[font="Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,sans-serif]Gem[/font]

Website Find

Thank (0)

Reply