They say 'know your market'. Well, let's admit it right here, folks. I'm clueless.
I don't know what the market wants. I never have. I only know what I want. And since I'm one of those weird eclectic readers, I want all sorts of stuff. Thus, I write all sorts of stuff.
I happened to be talking with the manager of my local smoke shop the other day. I hadn't seen her in a while and she asked how the writing was going. I, of course, reached into my magic bag of all things and pulled out a bookmark for her. She was blown away that I had nine books out. (Last time we talked, it was like three. Like I said, I hadn't seen her in a while - she's usually in the office in back when I stop to buy cigarettes.) And as she looked at the bookmark, she's like 'you write all sorts of stuff'. And I'm all like 'yes. yes, I do'. She was excited about the suspense, but really excited about the supernatural stuff. So I gave her my Once Upon a Djinn postcard, and then another bookmark and postcard for her mom.
Sometimes I give people bookmarks and they're 'ooo, I love mysteries' or 'I'm not into paranormal stuff', though. :shrug: I like to be a little bit for every reader, if I can.
So far, I have two suspense novels, two mystery novels, four paranormal novels, and one political/medical thriller. Now? Now, I'm putting out a dystopian. Which pretty much makes me nuts, I guess.
I'm in the process of editing said dystopian novel and I bounce back and forth like a rubber ball between 'I love this' and 'Everyone's going to think this is lame'. Could be people will love this as much as I do. Could be it'll languish in obscurity like Blood Flow (which I thought would fly off the shelves and hasn't). I really have no clue.
And that's okay.
You see, it's like I said. I know what I like. And it's also like I said that I'd like to be able to provide something for every type of reader. Will every reader buy all my stuff? Not likely, unless they're an eclectic like me. Will that build me a following? :shrug: I guess I have a minor following out there. As I put more books out and more people discover me, the readership will grow. Hopefully.
Anyway, it's probably not the smartest marketing plan in the world, but I gotta do my own thing. I hope you'll come along for the ride, and maybe find something new.
Speaking of new, my editor is not typically into reading dystopian, but she really enjoyed Blink. Said it reminded her of her past love for Brave New World. Yay! If you were ever into BNW, or Anthem or Fahrenheit 451 or 1984, then look for Blink of an I in February.
I'm with you. I read all sorts of stuff. And I write all sorts of stuff, though I tend toward suspense and paranormal, both in the mix. Sometimes I find an audience. Sometimes I don't. I love my Penumbra world. It's never done well. *shrug* I'll keep writing the stories that come to me and stick.
ReplyDeleteFYI. I read all your stuff. And totally enjoy it! So there's that. :)
I mostly read mystery and fantasy. Some science fiction, a little suspense.
ReplyDeleteI call my audience 'fantasy readers', which is probably too vague. Sigh.
I wonder if Blood Flow is slow because it's hard to find. When I went looking for it on Amazon a while back, the title was Bloodflow. No space. I had to get creative to find it.