Trend?
Oh . . . they don't know how to advertise to me. I got an email from them . . . telling me that not only are there trends this season, but this is what I "should be wearing." The surest way for me to NOT buy something is to tell me I SHOULD or I MUST. Particularly with clothes. I have a closet full of black outfits, and they may not be trendy, but then again, I don't waste brain cells trying to decide what color to wear.
Which got me thinking. About trends.
I was in B&N with Baby Girl this week and MY GOD, but HOW MANY BOOKS can there be on vampires for teens. Paranormals for teens? It's insane. And each cover, each book, seems a variation on the other so that none really stuck out--even the covers are pretty stylized to look alike. Trend.
Now, if you happen to LIKE writing paranormals, then you're in luck. But to pursue the trend because it's what you "should" be writing? I don't think so . . . because won't the fact that it's not your passion show through?
On the flip side . . . if you plan to be published commercially, by a publisher of nearly any size, you would also be wise, I think, to know your genre. You can break the so-called rules--in fact, audacity is often rewarded--but break then because you know them. Mark Terry writes thrillers. I have been struck by how many of his reviews have this theme: Thriller lovers are in for a wild, non-stop action ride! Thriller lovers! That is, the people who go out of their way to find thrillers that grab them from word one and then never let go. That's what they want. That's what they expect.
There are genre expectations for a reason. It's NOT that readers can't think for themselves, or that all NY books are cookie-cutter [trust me, I know even amongst all those paranormals are tremendous books with great concepts. She's not a best-selling author for nothing!]. It's that the expectations exist because that is what makes readers happy--the ones who read thrillers . . . that's what they like. The ones who read horror [and long-time readers know that isn't me] expect gore and creepiness. We like our cop heroes to be grizzled around the edges or wounded. We respond to that.
Trend? I won't follow it unless I love it. But delivering the goods? Yeah, I am well aware of expectations.
Thoughts?
14 comments:
Thanks for the mention. I did a signing at a B&N yesterday and was more or less positioned by the front door, which allowed me to say hello to people as they came in the door. (Good training for my next job as a greeter at Wal-Mart). But I was sort of situated facing a display of, well, teen vampire books (and Chelsea, Chelsea Bang Bang, which I don't believe is aimed at teens or about vampires, go figure; spend 2 hours with that cover in front of you!), and I watched all the teen girls head for that display.
A lot of it, from a genre perspective, comes down to: give them what they want. That isn't to say we shouldn't try to give them MORE or even something a little bit different, but does a romance novel work without the couple eventually getting together? So a thriller should thrill, a mystery should puzzle, an SF novel should be filled with wonder, etc.
At the same time, I think of Jim Hines' Goblin Quest, which is a fantasy novel that has a treasure hunt, a goblin, elf, men, magicians, sword fights, a quest, monsters ... but here's his twist. Imagine The Hobbit told from the point of view of Gollum!
Erica, I don't have to tell you again that we were separated at birth. Oh how I hate being told what I "should be" wearing (especially those "age appropriate" styles - screw 'em; I go with my flow).
Anyway, writing trends baffle me a bit. There seems to be and obsession with vampires, which isn't a bad thing but how many different ways can a vampire suck?
P.S. I don't read thrillers, but can't wait to read Mark's. Sometimes the thrill is in knowing the author.
Erica- thanks so much for the shout out!
When I wrote Evermore it's because I had to--I'd just gone through a boat load of grief and it was my way of dealing with it. I wasn't thinking about the trends, in fact, as it got close to release date I started to panic ---in all my usual pre-pub ways, but also about being A- lumped in with "the trend" and/or B- having readers flee from the concept of reincarnation, metaphysics, chakras, etc, because it wasn't a regular part of "the trend."
Complete madness.
Anyway, I have a new series brewing, fantasy based, but it's one that I just have to write- trend or no trend--it's been calling to me for some time. And as a commercial writer I think that's the best I can do, write the books I'm driven to write, hope others will want to read it, and yeah, fulfill those genre expectations along the way.
Great post as usual! :)
Hi Erica!
I have a pretty eclectic taste in most things such as books, music and films. I DO read thrillers and am intrigued by Mark. Hi MARK!
The important thing for me in choosing a book is the Voice. The outside cover may describe a super plot but if I open the book and start reading and DON'T like the voice then I won't buy it. I don't care if it's been on the Bestseller list for a year or if everyone else I know has read The Book. I must have been one of the only people on the planet not to go and see 'The Titanic.' I don't mind so much if the story is 'YET ANOTHER' as long as it is told in a clear and unique style.
I also have a wardrobe FULL of black with splashings of primary colours. Boots, shoes and accessories also reflect this preference...it's SO easy to wear although my hubby tells me sometimes to wear something more cheerful...
THANKS ERICA.
Hi Mark:
I think "outside the box" can be rewarded--but I also think even Hines's book couldn't succeed without the genre gone before it--i.e., to twist something, you have to know what you are twisting. Interesting.
E
Kath:
You and me, Babe. Rebels. :-)
Alyson:
I go through pre-pub angst all the time. Oddly enough, when I started, I wrote Spanish Disco having NO (none, and I'm not kidding) inkling that "chick lit" existed. In the time from when it was bought to when it came out, it was maybe . . . 16 months. There was an explosion of chick lit, and suddenly, I wondered about the genre, about expectations, all of it.
Ann Marie:
I think you read like I do. I respond to "something"--usually voice. And so I will read across genres. I read Mr. Clarinet--unlike ANYTHING I would usually read--because I found the dark voice very intriguing.
Let's put it this way. I'm well aware of genre conventions. And Shakespeare wrote how many sonnets using the exact same formula? I ain't SHakespeare, but I think there's a lot you can do within a certain format. That isn't to say I want to break out of it, but, I'm also curious to see just how creative I can be within a certain format.
I was never one to follow the trends and therefore have been tastefully "out of style" my entire life. But I love the clothes in my closet!
I don't follow the trends in writing either although I did try recently. After reading what agents are looking for at the moment, a great idea hit me, but once I started to write it, it wasn't my passion and the story fizzled. So I'll stick with my ideas that I love.
Mark:
I think that's my take, too. What envelopes can I push and still give readers a book they love.
Nadine:
I think, when I try to do proposals, I just think, "It has to be special"--so a trend isn't enough. I guess that's a little bit where the term "high concept" (an overused term, admittedly) comes into play at times.
No vampires or paranormalcies?! Well, crap there goes my WiP down the drain.
Actually, when I look at the remains, I see a stripped down story. Something that just might work. Something that may mean something to someone one day. Something real.
If I were to Wordle this comment, how huge would 'something' be?
Seriously, I don't know where they get this overdone idea with vampires and YA. I love YA paranormals, and you can read just about everything on the market in about two months. I'm about dried up, if there weren't a number of sequels coming out in May.
Still not enough. I hope editors don't start thinking there's too many. There are not enough, there really aren't. Maybe the editors are sick of it, but the readers aren't.
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