In this post, a couple of months ago, I bemoaned the fact that I didn't seem to fit the current market. I wasn't mainstream enough for the mainstream; I wasn't experimental enough for the experimental market; I definitely didn't fit a genre.
Not long afterwards, I submitted a piece of work - I took a risk and suggested it might work as Romance/Contemporary. Now, I had no problem with Contemporary, because it's set today; but Romance was more of a gamble because it's not a happy-ever-after piece that I assumed Romance readers required.
Then - then! - it occured to me that if I marketed at least some of my work as Romance, I'd immediately be challenging, daring and surprising - the words that confused me so much in my last post - within that genre.
Have I - eventually - found my niche?
Oh, and if you're wondering, the gamble paid off and I've had some positive feedback on my submission; although I'm not sure whether they agree with the Romance/Contemporary tag yet. I'm hoping I'll have some news about it in the next couple of months!
I think it's great that you can write what you and and have found your niche! It's very odd that we feel we have to fit neatly in to a box when we should just be able to let our pens (or keyboards) flow freely, but it's the way the market is sometimes isn't it. And congratulations on the positive feedback!
ReplyDeleteI don't fit at all. I never write the same style from one story to another, let alone genre/non-genre. But if you squint and turn the lights off and really try very hard, you can usually find some romance in my stories (if the characters stay alive long enough!)
ReplyDeleteOh, I know all about the 'niche'. I'm so worried The Wedding Favour doesn't really fit. It's not Mills and Boon enough - too long for a start. It's definitely contemporary romance, but is it really contemporary romance? I think it's a bit simple lol!
ReplyDeleteGood luck! I hope that you have success with your submission.
Hi Teresa, I think it's been a very long time since novels fitted neatly into genres. When you look into the sub-genres, they're all overlapping and mearging. It would be so refreshing to not have these tags at all - just an A-Z bookshop and lots of happy readers!
ReplyDeleteSome say that we shouldn't have to think/worry about which genre we're writing in. We should just write from within and then worry about the market afterwards. That's great until you try and get published. Good luck with your contemporary romantic fiction ms.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I tend to do, Rosalind, not worry until I'm trying to place it. But that does mean I've got an awful lot of unplaceable stories that I really love to read.
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