What fiction genre sells the best?
You’re going to be smart. Strategic. You’re going to look at the books readers are going crazy over right now and write one just like them – but better – and copies will sell like hotcakes because you’re giving the people what they want.
As you’ve probably figured out, it doesn’t work like that. You can look at the market now and see that Twilight* is popular and decide to write a novel about the forbidden romance between a vampire/werewolf hybrid and a dog lover who runs a blood bank. It’s going to be huge! The problem? It’s going to take you a few years to write and edit the book, another couple of years to find a literary agent to represent you, another couple of years for your agent to find a publisher willing to take a chance on you, and another year before it sees print. Next thing you know, a decade has gone by and paranormal romance is so blasé now. Steampunk zombies are the new hot topic.
Don’t write for the market; write for yourself. This sounds narcissistic at first, but when you really think about it, it’s quite the opposite. If you are writing for the market, what’s your motivation? You want to sell a million copies, become rich and famous, and be interviewed on Regis and Kelly. But if you write for yourself it’s because there’s a story you need to tell. You want to write the kind of book you’d enjoy reading, and you want to share a bit of your soul with the rest of the world.
Now this soul bit you create may or may not be a huge commercial bestseller. It may or may not sell at all. But it will be honest, and it will be a good story, and because of that, it will be more likely to succeed than any produced-for-the-market book would ever be. When you like your own story, you put more tender loving care into it. You take the time to get it right, and your readers can tell.
With that being said, you must also be conscious of your responsibility to your audience. Writing talent is a privilege, having your work read by others is an honor, and in exchange for these things you owe honesty, quality and completeness. So write from the gut, rewrite like a critic, and be sure to tie up all your loose ends.
–
*If you’re curious, I’m team TARDIS.
Team TARDIS?
I can’t read your blog anymore.
Well you can’t really blame me – given the choice between a boy who wants to suck my blood, a boy who frequently turns into a dog, or a magical machine that can take me to faraway places and times (and comes complete with a witty Timelord guide) – what would YOU choose?
Good point. lol
I couldn’t have said it better.
wow, that’s cool. I’ve kinda lost motivation to continue my book, I just feel like a horrible writer, I’m stuck in a combat scene, I’m tired of sounding repetitive (He slashed, he cleaved, he plunged, he lounged, he dove etc.), and i got writers block. Which sucks. but I couldn’t agree more with your post. Your advice has always been inspirational, thank you.
Just plough on through, Jeremy. You’ll get there. Don’t worry about sounding repetitive during your first draft – just get the facts out there. Change it up on the second time around. As for motivation: you have a story to tell, and no one else can tell it but you. So for heaven’s sake, tell it.
Thanks, Scribbla. I’m so glad you’re back.
I couldn’t agree more. Thank you for the inspiration to keep writing, even if the only eyes to ever see it are my own.
This feels like a safe place, a place an unpublished (yet) writer can breathe. Watching from the stands for now.
Absolutely. We are all in the same boat. : )
The part about how long it takes to get published is quite an eye-opener for a newbie. Write from the gut, rewrite like a critic . . . . got it! Great advice.
Yeah, the process of landing an agent and finding a publisher could be even longer, but from signing the contract to holding the finished book in your hands, it is about a year. Thanks for reading!
Amen! For one thing, it’s hard enough to write something that you desire to write.
I would be on team TARDIS too, save in this case I must, on principle, be on Team Abraham (Van Helsing)
Well, the Doctor did fight vampires at some point, though presently it has slipped my mind whether he ended up killing them or just helping them find a new home…
I remember two vampire episodes… the more recent one, the vamps died. I can’t remember what happened in the earlier one. With the Doctor, if can so easily go either way.
Theory time:
I think everyone has some kind of character or creature in fiction that they have VIEWS about. For instance, person A wants Dragons done “right” in fiction and cannot stand books where they are not. Person B gets irritated when a book doesn’t represent policemen in a certain way. Person C likes a certain type of protagonist, and has little patience for anything else. I think it has something to do with what resonates with us, and why.
For me, I have VIEWS on vampires. I find vampires to be a societal barometer of a sort, and how fiction represents them is very telling of the period in which that fiction was written. I find that I have very little patience with most modern representations of our bloodsuckers. Therefore my being on Team Abraham isn’t so much about killing all vampires, as it is an objection to “tame,” angsty, objects-of-desire vampires. I want vampires un-watered-down. I figure sicking Van Helsing and any other vampire hunters I can find on them, might toughen them up and put them in touch with their monstrous roots. If I ever finish the vampire story I have, I doubt anyone will want to read it, because it completely rejects most of what makes vampire fiction sell… no sex, no sympathy for the vampiric condition, and only a normal story’s worth of angst. …and no sparkles.
Amen! Vampires OR My Little Pony. Not both.
Hehehe, exactly.
Thanks – that’s actually helped more than you know.
PS Team TARDIS all the way!
I’m glad. : )
Gallifrey forever!