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This week: Genre Audiences Edited by: Jeff  
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"In three words, I can sum up everything
I've learned about life: it goes on."
-- Robert Frost
Trivia of the Week: Mainstream fiction writer Iain Banks also wrote science fiction under the name Iain M. Banks. The 'M' stands for Menzies, which was to be his intended middle name if his father hadn't made a mistake on the birth paperwork resulting in Iain not having a legal middle name at all.
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GENRE AUDIENCES
Today's editorial is inspired by a situation that Quick-Quill  wrote in a comment to my last newsletter. The exact comment can be found in the feedback section below, but the basic gist that I wanted to explore today is the idea of genre audiences, specifically what they're looking for and what writers can to do address those expectations.
I'm the kind of person who enjoys multiple genres, and crossover genres even more. Depending on the mood I'm in, I might be reading a thriller, crime mystery, sci-fi adventure, fantasy epic, or even a horror or romance tale on occasion. If you can combine a handful of the above and give me a sci-fi thriller or a fantasy crime story, you're really hitting my sweet spot. I also go through phases in my reading. In 2014, I binged on more than 15 epic fantasy novels. In 2015, it was an almost equal number of post-apocalyptic fiction works. 2016 was the year of mysteries and thrillers, and now 2017 has thus far shaped up to be the year of sci-fi adventures. The point is, I like a wide variety of genres and really appreciate a story that can mix, match, and blend the elements of two or more distinct genres.
Unfortunately, I'm more of the exception than the rule.
Most readers have a much narrower scope in terms of what they like to entertain them. Some people are police procedural people. Others are sweet romance people. Still others are action aficionados, historical fiction fans, or lovers of westerns. That's not to say that these readers refuse to read anything else; just that they're much more fervent consumers of particular genres than someone like me who spreads his reading interests out over a variety of genres. I read around 100 books a year, but it's usually pretty equally divided between nonfiction, thrillers, sci-fi, fantasy, etc. There are a lot of readers who also read 100 books a year, but where 80-90 of them are in their preferred genre be it romance, cozy mysteries, or horror.
If you're an author who likes to write in multiple genres, it can be tricky to attract an audience because the fans you've made with one genre won't necessarily follow you to another. Sure, there's a percentage of your fans that will follow you and be open to trying new things, but there are also a whole lot of them who will go, "I like your books when you write about cops investigating murders in New York, but I'm not interested in reading about aliens and intergalactic travel and giant starship fleets."
Authors with multi-genre interests tackle the challenge in a variety of ways. Some just put everything out there under one name reasoning that some crossover is better than no crossover. They may use elements like distinct cover design and carefully-worded marketing materials to make it clear that not everything they write is in the same genre. Others use pseudonyms to keep the different genres and audiences separate. There are pros and cons to both approach, and both are effective ways of managing genre audience expectations.
The one thing that's not a good idea is mixing and matching genres within the same series of books. It's one thing to have a trilogy of, say, sci-fi romance novels, where there are familiar elements of both science fiction and romance in each book. Those books may have a smaller and more targeted audience (since they have to appeal to people who like both the imagination of sci-fi and the relationship focus of a romance), but readers who find and like the series know what to expect in every book. If, on the other hand, you write different genres of books in the same series... say, a sci-fi intro which shifts to a romance in the second book and becomes a dark drama in the third book... that can be a very hard sell because you're telling readers that they need to be invested in all three very different types of books to truly appreciate the arc of your trilogy. More importantly, the tropes and conventions of each genre are different, which means the expectations and storylines will be drastically altered from book to book.
If it's your intention to write in multiple genres, that's great. In my experience, fanbases that like multiple genres are smaller than those who are devoted to one in particular, but they're also rabidly enthusiastic when they find you because you're giving them something unique that hits all of their sweet spots. Just make sure when you're writing your stories that you're being consistent in what you present. Make sure the audience knows what the genre is of each story you write, and don't throw them off by changing it up on them from book to book in the same series. Either apply all genres consistently throughout each book in a crossover genre series, or write different series for your different genres.
Until next time,
Jeff
If you're interested in checking out my work:
"Blogocentric Formulations"
"New & Noteworthy Things" |
This month's official Writing.com writing contest is:
I also encourage you to check out the following items:
EXCERPT: Additional information on writing for multiple genres from a previous newsletter of mine, which includes a poll of Writing.com members.
EXCERPT: How to write and what to write go hand in hand. One is not more important than the other. I have gone through many genres before I settled on non-fiction and steam punk.
EXCERPT: Writers are artists and entertainers, and as artists and entertainers we need to know how our written words are understood by our audience. A reader's ability to understand what is written will enhance their enjoyment of our works. This goes way beyond mere vocabulary.
EXCERPT: The purpose of this writing is to share some experience in my travel of understanding and experiencing spirit and at most can be viewed as informative. I am not arguing a perspective or persuading a righteous perspective. It is just thoughts on my experiences and research. It was inspired from conversations with my late best friend who discussed spiritual warfare. Another influence was from a film I watched today. I will include a link to it in the paper. The last thing I considered was, where am I in all this?
EXCERPT: Do you understand yourself? There have been times when I think I do but looking at my life as a whole, there are pieces of me I fail to recognize and/or misinterpret. I think I can safely say I am in better shape in this analysis than I was ten years ago. The reason is I have taken some time to scrutinize who I really am. |
Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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Feedback from my last newsletter about writing for the love of it ("For Authors Newsletter (October 25, 2017)" ):
Quick-Quill writes: "Jeff, could you address cross genre writing. I wrote an everyone-can-read book. I have a couple of novels in progress that are genre specific. Some of it may offend my current readership who loved the first book. How do I handle this? Should I writer under a separate pen name and look for a new market? Dummy down the story to fit my readership? I'm in a quarry as I keep getting asked when I will be writing another book."
I wrote a whole newsletter editorial about it this week! 
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For Authors: November 22, 2017 Issue [#8617]
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