The ingredients for a good book

Characters. If the reader cannot relate to your characters she will not continue reading. She may love them or hate them, but the author has to draw the reader into their lives so she keeps reading. If a character is Too Stupid To Live (eg. walking alone into a possible murderer’s house) you will lose the reader right then and there.

These days, female characters are expected to make an effort to solve their own problems. The hero may still come riding up on his white horse to sweep her away, but she should have been endeavoring to solve her own problems, not crying in a corner and wringing her hands.

Plot. There must be a plot. It is through the plot the characters show their development. This plot has to make sense. No big gaping holes allowed. In an erotic romance the sex may be part of the plot, but there must be something else happening as well—a bad guy to defeat, the world to save, or whatever.

Genre: Be sure the blurb and publicity material accurately depict the genre. Don’t call it a cozy mystery if there is violence, blood and horror described carefully and at length. If you are marketing your book as an erotic romance there must be detailed sexual encounters as well as hot, steamy looks. Otherwise what you have written is a mainstream romance.

Fiction writing is a very tough, competitive world. Be sure to get these three basic necessities correct.

helen.woodall@gmail.com

Business Musings: What Market?

Author Kristine Kathryn Rusch has written a very long, detailed, and thought-provoking article about the market for fiction stories.

The key point she makes is that there is “no” market. By the time a genre or style or interest is discernible to the average person, the peak has passed.

Historically speaking the big print publishers decided what readers wanted to read and that was what they produced. For those who weren’t interested in reading such books it was simply too bad. No one actually surveyed readers and asked them what they wanted. Even today if a particular genre is selling well publishers buy more and more books in that genre until readers are sick of it and sales taper off. But because of the long time lag in print publishing, dozens of books will still be in production and coming along after readers have tired of that genre. Those authors, who submitted as instructed, and wrote what they were told to, are unlikely to make much money.

There are no gatekeepers in indie publishing, no one telling authors what genre they should write. Writers who try to copy the “market” might make some money, but are unlikely to strike it rich or really enjoy themselves.

I have ALWAYS advised writers to write what their passion is. That way their love will shine through in their writing.

Ms. Rusch says the same thing. “…what makes a book unique and different isn’t the plot or the subgenre…It’s the writer himself. His perspective. His voice. His take on something that the writer—the writer—loves. The books that breakout, the ones that become memorable breakouts, the books that everyone else is chasing—those books are written from the heart, not from some cynical analysis of a market that no one understands.”

So write what you want to write. Maybe you’ll make some money and maybe you won’t. But at least you’ll be having fun, not getting burned out.

Ms. Rusch’s comprehensive article is here: http://kriswrites.com/2015/11/25/business-musings-what-market/

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Do I need a new name?

Writers sometimes agonize over whether or not to change names when they change genres. They worry that all their cowboy fans will hate them and stop reading their cowboy books if they start writing fantasy.

But the problem with a second name is all the promotion. A second website, a second blog, another Facebook account. Then there’s Pinterest, Twitter, Google circles and more. Since most authors also have a day job, they’d rather be writing their next book than trying to think up two totally different blogs.

There’s no right or wrong decision here. It has to be what works best for each individual writer. But I would make a couple of cautioning remarks.
If you decide to write two very different genres under the same name you must be very clear on each blurb which genre that book falls under. Your cowboy readers have little grounds for complaint if the blurb clearly says, “Prince Handsome and Princess Pretty climb on their unicorn and depart for the Magical Kingdom…”

If you decide to keep a different name for each genre be aware that unless you change your writing style some readers will work out who you are. An author’s voice seldom changes much between genres. Be prepared to be discovered and plan how you’ll deal with that.

Some writers choose a middle path. They write under two different names, but their blogs and Facebook accounts etc are all linked. They make no secret of the fact they’re the same person, and that the different name is just to keep the two genres clearly delineated.

Whatever you decide ultimately needs to be what will suit you, personally, best.

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.