Perils of the Writer: Your Genre Isn't Dead

Genre is wierd.

I mean, when it comes down to it, it's just a shorthand to tell your readers, "If you like this sort of thing, then this is the sort of thing you'd like."  It's a marketing tool.

But it should never be something  you should be afraid of.  It shouldn't be something that keeps you from writing the story you want to write.

Now, it's true, that while  you're writing, you don't always realize what genre you are writing.  To be honest, I didn't quite realize that The Thorn of Dentonhill  was a superhero story until a few drafts in, and even then I kind of resisted it.  I resisted flat out saying it was a fantasy/superhero story, but if you've read Thorn, you know that's exactly what it is.  (And if you haven't read Thorn, get on that, you hear?)  

Similarly, A Murder of Mages and An Import of Intrigue are fantasy/police procedural, and Holver Alley Crew is fantasy/heist.  There's more depth to all of these-- as there are to any novel-- but giving a sense of the genre lets your reader base know what to expect.  

But back to my main point: genre, by and large, doesn't matter.  Write a good yarn, and the rest will come.  If you hear that the genre you write is dead, do not care.  Maybe what you write will bring about the resurgence.

The Stability of Dead Genres

Jeffe's post from Sunday was spot on about the marketing cycles and unpredictable sharp turns of mainstream publishing's trend-watchers.

No genre ever dies in self-publishing. It doesn't matter how sub or niche the genre, somebody is writing those stories. It's one of the joys of zero gatekeepers telling the market what they are and are not allowed to read.

Sure, even in self-publishing, the sales within popular genres will fluctuate with the trends. It's basic supply and demand. Whatever the "it" genre is will attract more authors to pump more books into the field, which leads to the issues of quality, quantity, and discoverability. If you're writing to a popular genre, prepare for an extreme emotional roller coaster. The competition for consumer dollars is fierce and it doesn't always translate to net revenue. The 1% who achieve anomalous success will face a backlash as the trend hits its apex. Self-published authors who are paying attention will know when the popularity bubble is readying to burst because their reviews and sales will show the indicators. (If the publishing houses were smart, they'd keep a closer eye on self-pub sales to detect the dying trends earlier as fair-weather readers tire of one trend and move on to the next "it" genre.)

If you're writing in an off-trend genre--a "dead" genre--you're more likely to have stable sales. That is not to say you'll ever have a predictable paycheck, especially in a creative field where having a "steady income" is like having a unicorn farm. But most readers who find your books are readers who are already committed fans of the genre. These readers are also more likely to stay with your series, post reviews, and virally market your books within their reader-community.

For the long game--for the career writers--writing to a "dead" genre is actually a great strategy to build a dedicated fan base that allows you some semblance of stability. The key word there is "build." No flashes in the pan. No get rich quick scheme. You are the ant, preparing for the seasonal fluctuations in sales. You'll know the highs, lows, and expectations of your genre's market. You'll become a bonafide member of the genre's community, tapped into all the benefits therein. Should the fickle tastes of consumers come 'round to elevating your genre to an "it" genre, you get to ride rising tide, enjoy the short-term boost, and then get back to normal.

Write the stories you want to write. Write them to the best of your ability. Sell them with an understanding and respect for your targeted audience.

But THEY Said that Genre Is Dead!

Our new creepy collection of toothy tales, TEETH, LONG AND SHARP, is out! And so gratifying to see it as an Amazon Best Seller. Many thanks to catnip author Ilona Andrews for giving it a shout out that helped push it there.

This week's topic is all about "dead genres."

For those not in the industry swim, this terminology is used primarily by agents and editors. (Maybe by in-house marketing people, I don't know.) They use the phrase in panels at conferences, or during one on one pitches. They'll sadly shake their heads and say, "that sounds like a great story, but that genre is dead." By that they mean, the agents don't think they could sell it to a publishing house and the editors don't think they can sell it to their acquisition board or marketing team.

You'll also hear them say it with confident scorn - largely when asked what they're looking for and what they don't want to see. "Vampires are dead!" they'll scoff, perhaps with an eyebrow waggle for the pun. "I'll set my hair on fire if I have to read another vampire story."

There's a couple of things going on here, one real and one not.

The not-real thing is that this is their job and, like everyone does with their jobs, they get tired of certain things. It's easy to wear thin on stuff and cast your scorn for it in a stronger light than you might otherwise. There's also a huge component to that job that's reading the future. In traditional publishing, they're trying to forecast what readers will want to buy as far out as two or three years. Being able to prognosticate confidently is half the battle. (Being able to accurately do it is the other!) Most of them want to sound smart and savvy, so being able to declare what's hot and what's not is part of that.

If you press them, they'll pretty much all concede that no genre ever "dies," that it's all cyclical, and they mainly mean that it's a hard sell right then. It just doesn't sound as sexy to put it that way.

That leads us to the real part. It's a fact that the publishing market gets glutted. What happens is this:

1. NEW BOOK BREAKS MOLD AND SELLS LIKE CRAZY (e.g., Fifty Shades of Grey, Harry Potter, Twilight)
2. READERS LOVE THIS AND WANT MORE
3. PUBLISHERS SEE CRAZY SALES AND WANT THAT, TOO
4. AGENTS AND EDITORS SCRAMBLE TO PUT OUT MOAR BOOKS LIKE THAT
5. MOAR BOOKS LIKE THAT GLUT THE MARKET
6. READERS BEGIN TO TIRE
7. SALES DECLINE
8. AGENTS AND EDITORS DECLARE THAT KIND OF BOOK DYING OR DEAD
9. NEW BOOK BREAKS MOLD AND SELLS LIKE CRAZY

So, really, it's not like a genre dies on its own. Arguably the industry flogs it to death and leaves it dying on the compost heap.

Still, what authors need to know is that a "dead genre" doesn't mean there's not a market for it. It means they're unlikely to interest an agent in it or sell it to a publishing house.

It doesn't mean that the well-established authors in the field aren't still producing and selling books. They very likely are.

It doesn't mean that self-published books in the genre won't sell well. They very well might! But a little numbers comparison explains that. If an author self-publishes a book and sells 1,000 copies for $2.99, she makes $2,000 on it. Considering that she likely spent no more than $1,500 producing the book, she's already ahead. If she sells 5,000 copies, she's made over $10,000; if 15,000 copies, she's made over $30,000. That's a decent income.

Now, to many publishing houses, selling 15,000 copies is a failed book. They work on an entirely different scale. 

It all depends on what you're trying to do. 

Where do I Write? And other Trivia

Forgive me if you've seen this photo before, but I do all my writing (and my social media surfing and my e mail) at my great grandmother's desk, which I inherited years ago. I keep an ever changing collection of knickknacks on the top but usually ancient Egyptian themed, even when I'm writing science fiction romance. Since I currently live with just my two feline supervisors, the desk is in my living room, with their chair beside it. I have a boring office desk chair with ergonomic features. Cats are nothing but ergonomic.

See anything wrong with the framed cover photo above the desk by the way?

Song of the Nile was the original title of my first novel to be published by Carina, but before the release date someone else came out with a novel of the very same name so we switched to Priestess of the Nile for my book. It amuses me to have the original title cover art...

I also do a lot of good thinking and plotting outside on my

balcony, usually in the wee hours of the morning, or late at night.

Sometimes I sit at my dining room table and do some aspects of plotting by hand, on a lavender legal pad.

Driving the freeway with the music blasting and just thinking about my stories is also useful.

Since  I've shown you my first cover art, let me show you NOT the cover art, but the special illustration we commissioned from artist Nyssa Juneau to go with my story "Star Cruise" Stowaway" in the PETS IN SPACE  anthology. We thought it'd be fun to have her do an illustration for each story. My original came in the mail today and I dashed off to Michael's to get a frame. It's just SO cool and fun for me to see Midorri the alien pet especially depicted with her ring tail and big eyes and more than four feet!

Remember to get your copy of PETS IN SPACE, either by pre-ordering now (links below) or at the Amazon link which won't go live until Tuesday the 11th!!!

Since one of our authors is a veteran and almost all of us have relatives who have served in the military, we selected a charity to benefit which provides service dogs to veterans.

The blurb for Pets In Space:

Even an alien needs a pet...

Join the adventure as nine pet loving sci-fi romance authors take you out of this world and pull you into their action-packed stories filled with suspense, laughter, and romance. The alien pets have an agenda that will capture the hearts of those they touch. Follow along as they work side by side to help stop a genetically-engineered creature from destroying the Earth to finding a lost dragon; life is never the same after their pets decide to get involved. Can the animals win the day or will the stars shine just a little less brightly?

New York Times, USA TODAY, Award Winning, and Best selling authors have eight original, never-released stories and one expanded story giving readers nine amazing adventures that will capture your imagination and help a worthy charity. Come join us as we take you on nine amazing adventures that will change the way you look at your pet!

10% of the first month’s profits go to Hero-Dogs.org. Hero Dogs raises and trains service dogs and places them free of charge with US Veterans to improve quality of life and restore independence.

And the blurb for Star Cruise: Stowaway:

Cargo Master Owen Embersson is shocked when the Nebula Zephyr’s ship’s cat and her alien sidekick, Midorri, alert him to the presence of a stowaway. He has no idea of the dangerous complications to come – nor does he anticipate falling hard for the woman whose life he now holds in his hands. Life aboard the Nebula Zephyr has just become more interesting – and deadly.

Buy Links:

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/pets-in-space/id1160010182…

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-petsinspace-212756…

GooglePlay: https://play.google.com/…/…/details/S_E_Smith_Pets_in_Space…

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/pets-in-space

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pets-in-space-p…/1124712730…

Amazon   TBD on Release

Trivia to reward you for reading all the way to here: the 8th is my birthday and Ghost of the Nile is up for a RONE Award this evening :) so I have my fingers crossed! It was an honor to be a Finalist but would be so cool to win....Happy My Birthday to Everyone - HUGS!

Where the Writer Is

Anyone with a cat will tell you that if you sit still long enough, you are a cat bed. Trying to write with a cat on your arms is -- challenging. So whenever I write on the boat, I have my choice of spots so long as the first rule is observed: I may sit wherever I like so long as a cat is not occupying the space. I must also observe rule two: if a cat wants the space after I have occupied it, I am obligated to move or suffer being yelled at (at best) and at worst, being occupied myself by a feline indifferent to my deadlines. So it often follows that I remove myself from the household in order to write. Not only for the ergonomic benefits, but also because the distractions at home are legion. Dishes to be done. Wildlife to observe. Cats' whims to be catered to. So while I do write aboard the boat, my very favorite place to write is Miro Tea. It's in Old Ballard - which is (for the west coast) the historic district. Some of the buildings date from the late 1800s. This is an older building. If you look in the middle row of windows, you'll see an I beam running diagonally. Earthquake reinforcing to bring the structure up to code. All of the old buildings in this section of town have them. You get this semi-Victorian exterior and a post-modern industrial thing on the interior. See the two wooden chairs just outside? There's a table tucked right up against that window behind them. That's my spot. I can see the street and the passersby from there. If the sun is out at all, I catch the rays as the sun rises. All lovely reasons to camp that spot for hours at a time while getting words, unimpeded by feline 'helpers'. But the real reason to go there is that the staff are some of the greatest people I know. They've figured out how much I love tea and have started letting me in on the secrets of which teas I ought to be trying. This year's oolong crop has had a stunning array of really excellent teas, for example, and it seems like every time I go in, they have a new recommendation to make for a tea I just have to try. Once I've decided, I can sit down, start the word count, and sip a lovely tea in a warm, friendly environment that doesn't reek of stale coffee oil. Yeah. I know. I live in Seattle and hate coffee. There's probably a law. This is the tea shop that shows up in Damned If He Does and in Nightmare Ink and Bound By Ink (though in the Ink books, the tea shop is Isa's tattoo shop.) If you read Damned If He Does, there's a brief scene in the tea shop - the young woman behind the counter is real and she will make you the same tea latte she makes the hero in the book - a Fireside Hot Chocolate. Dark chocolate, steamed milk, vanilla syrup and Lapsang Souchong. It's velvety heaven. So the next time you're in Seattle, you know where to find me. And maybe what to order when you drop in at Miro.

Where I Work

Here's my challenge: I don't have a singular place I work.  At any given time, I'm working at one of the tables downstairs, or on one of the couches, or at the walking desk.  But I don't have a singular permanent "THIS IS WHERE I WORK".    Partly that's because our home is also our business, and so parts of our house have to be ready for classes, and then different parts for other classes.  And while I love the walking desk, I can't use it all the time.  For one, my feet can't take it.  For another, sometimes it becomes hard to walk and concentrate on the task at hand.  But also because my wife wants to use the walking desk at times, so we share it.  

This means I've become quite adept at keeping my work mobile.  I have a rolling case for the computer, folders, pens, headphones, cables, and so forth.  So I can mobile-office pretty much anywhere.  Which is handy, because I need to. 

Though I wouldn't mind having a permanent desk and office.  I'll need to sell more books for that, though.  Until then... I keep moving.

And I need to keep moving, of course, as I need to stay down in the word mines until this draft of Lady Henterman's Wardrobe is done.  In the meantime, you can start to get excited for the first Streets of Maradaine novel, The Holver Alley Crew.  You can even pre-order it.  But we'll be talking more about that one soon.  

Where I Do My Best Writing

Where do I write best? The short answer is…Ohio!

Seriously, though, I am not one to work from the local coffee shop or bookstore. I’m no good at write-in’s at friend’s houses. I like a comfy chair or couch with a laptop, and I have done some work in hotels at conventions, but the most work - and best work - is done in the solitude of my own office space when everyone else is off at school or work. I put my music on (movie scores, mostly), fire up incense or candles to infuse the air with some nice aroma, and I’m ready to make word count.

That said, I’m the kind of person who will rearrange the living room without warning and for no reason at all…but once my office is set, it needs to stay. The stability of the environment, as well as the routine, is necessary and conducive to my overall performance. 

In the last ten years I have moved three times.

House #1:

For five years, I had a desk in a living room near sliding doors to a covered deck. I wrote Seph books 1-4 either at the desk or at the table on the deck. I think it is worth noting that I spent a very minimal amount of time working outside the home during these years. Able to focus on the writing, I produced very solid work.  

  

House #2  

For the next five years, I had a desk in my bedroom, then a small office all by itself. I wrote Seph books 5-6 in these spots. I was working full-time, being a single parent, and spent a significant amount of time ‘adulting’ i.e. yardwork, housework, errands/shopping, etc. though my boys helped a lot. My productivity tanked. There was simply no time. 

I do not think books 5 & 6 reflect my best work because of this.

now for the good stuff...

House #3

yes, 3 screens...1 desktop, 2 laptops. new mac book

I’ve been in the new house with my new husband for only a few months now. I started with a desk in a small bedroom, but for the last two weeks I’ve been moving into the medium sized bedroom, which now has a lovely new laminant floor that looks like lovely aged barn-siding, fresh gray paint, new white cabinets and all my geekery on display… 

Yup. I have a shit-load of Star Trek and Star Wars stuff. The kids are giving me back all the cool toys as they find/unpack them, but there are some yet to find a spot. Like the landspeeder, the TIE fighter will need hung, etc. My NCC-1701-D is missing the nacells, and I hope they show up, but the NCC-1701 is my favorite, of which I haven't been able to find one big enough to be worthy of display? I mean, the one-man X-Wing can't be bigger than the Enterprise, yanno? It's bad enough the Millennium Falcon is small...

whiteboards are awesome but not revealing my secrets...

—sigh—

I want to say I’m never leaving this office…but you know what they say about saying never. The bottom line is, I’m writing full time again, delighted to be finding my rhythm amid the routine again. 

my favorite view...needs phasers and a bat'leth, yes?

And who wouldn’t be inspired here? 

I Do My Best Writing In The Dark

I'm a sensitive gal. Sensitive to light, that is. I don't do well in "properly lit" rooms for long stretches. Over bright and too white? I'm out of there. Lighting in my home is best described as "soft" or "moody." During the day, the shades are raised to dog-height. At night, it's bright enough to see the dog before I trip over him, but no so bright that one could see the cracks in my plaster ceilings.

All that is to say, I do my best writing in the dark (and often after dark, but that's a different post).

This is my den, where I do most of my writing. Yes, I sit with my back to the wall of windows with the black-out curtains drawn in the center to eliminate glare on my screen. The side windows filter the harsh morning sunlight to a tolerable level. The lamp on my side table has a 25-watt amber bulb for a gentle glow during the night sessions.

Yes, my writing chair is a twenty-year-old futon. When the dog was younger, he used to sit beside me. Now he only does it when it storms. (That's his pillow at the end there.)

What's my view from the futon? Motivations: my bookcases (aspirations), my Master's degree (determination), and a painting from the 1890s done by my great-grandmother (legacy). It's an unchanging view because I'm easily distracted. It's an unchanging view because my goals haven't changed.