by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
This is another one of those posts that comes with a proviso…as a writer, you’re in control of your book and no one else makes the rules. The advice I’m about to give isn’t for everybody and it isn’t for every book. It’s directed more to writers who are looking for a leg-up in their commercial fiction category and who are primarily writing to a specific audience.
It’s also a post that goes hand-in-hand with others I’ve written on how much easier it is to write in a particular genre (if you have a mind to). That’s because there are specific reader expectations per genre.
I know a lot of traditionally-published books are rejected by agents and editors because they don’t follow genre expectations. An agent knows that makes a story tough to pitch to an editor…who knows it’s tough to market to an audience.
I’ve also been asked to read books by some indie authors who asked why their cozy-ish book was having a tough time making it in the market. Of course, I looked at the usual problem-area suspects first (cover, book description), but what it really boiled down to was the focus of the story. A cozy is (again, this is broad) typically focused on the mystery. The other aspects of the story (a romance, supporting character hijinks, the culinary/crafty/pet-related hook itself) come in second place. When it’s the other way around, it’s typically a really amazing author who is skilled in developing an audience for his or her characters.
I don’t like to rock the boat myself, so I tend to follow the genre guidelines very, very closely. In fact, I go farther with it. If I’ve gotten feedback from readers on anything that they find objectionable, I make a note and take a tally. That’s why, in my books published in the last 8 years, you’ll find zero profanity. No one was writing to compliment me on my profanity in the earlier books, but I was getting some negative feedback on something that wasn’t important to me one way or the other…and so it was eliminated.
I’ve also received emails from readers asking me to give them spoilers when I’ve had missing pets in my books. And I’ve emailed them back to say that (as per genre guidelines) there will never be an animal killed off in my books. People? Most certainly. :) Don’t get too attached to the humans in my books. But I know enough about my readers that I wouldn’t imperil animals or kids in my mysteries.
That’s also where it’s important to know a lot about your specific subgenre. Mystery is a wide-ranging field. In thrillers, you’d definitely have imperilled animals or children…in fact, the more the merrier. In police procedurals or noir, the same. But cozies are different.
Using cozies as an example of a subgenre with well-defined conventions, reader expectations include an amateur sleuth, little if any profanity, no gore, and a puzzle solution that’s academic and not forensics-based.
Some writers will, understandably, find this limiting…and there are ‘limits’ or parameters in every genre. For me, though, I find the parameters more of a challenge: how can I deliver something unique with every book that still works within the confines of the genre?
Do you write for a specific genre or subgenre? What conventions are in your chosen genre?
The Importance of Genre Conventions to Commercial-Fiction Writers: Click To TweetPhoto on Visualhunt
Hi Elizabeth!
I read some of your stories on WP and subscribed to the blog for the simple reason I like how you deal with cozies. The post is spot on – don’t stray from the genre expectations – or else.
However, you make an interesting point about the subgenres. Mine are magical realism, which means there’s another dimension. I got pets, a dash of romance, humour (for me that is also important in cozies) and I have the magic. Murders and magic are interwoven. Magical murders, sometimes the magic is a red herring – whatever.
But otherwise, my Myrtle like yours needs to SLEUTH, find what you call the “academic solution”.
As to profanities – I keep them low key, but people, especially the younger ones do swear once in a while, but I don’t progress beyond blast or crap or stuff like that. It’s actually fun to invent creative swearwords.
Cool post, love it. I’ll shoot it out via Twitter later.
Happy witing!
Lina
Thank you for subscribing and sharing, Lina! I think with a subgenre like magical realism (which you sound like you have a real handle on), readers are drawn to the books for all the elements that you’ve mentioned. Maintaining the balance sounds tricky because you’re also needing to deliver all the cool elements, too. I like the way you’re doing it by interweaving the elements together, having magic be a red herring, etc. That’s such a smart way of handling it.
I like your profane placeholders, ha. And every once in a while, I’ll write in a “Myrtle cursed.” :) That way, she’s doing it, but *not* at the same time.
Some genres allow for some wiggle room and bit of surprise. DLP’s had two sci-fi books with twists that surprised readers in good ways. But with other genres, often it’s the mis-focus that leads me to reject the manuscript.
I think it’s a good idea for writers to read books by authors who took the conventions and were able to bend them a little. This helps to give some ideas about how that might work and whether they could get away with something similar.
You really make some strong and interesting points here, Elizabeth. Different genres do have different conventions. Whether you’re traditionally published, self-published, or something else, you do need to know what those expectations are. To me, a big part of that is that that’s what readers want and expect. That’s what makes it hard for an author who does things differently, or whose work doesn’t fit neatly into one or another genre. That’s why I give so much credit to authors like Agatha Christie who knew very well what the conventions were – and had a lot of success not following them…
Oh, she was the master at it! I think she actually *changed* the conventions for future authors. When you’ve got that much talent, you can get away with anything. :)
One of the authors I kinda follow has rebranded one of his series as urban fantasy. The premise is that a no-nonsense guy starts a detective agency, but his first ad in the local paper is screwed up. He’s listed as a parnormal detective when he absolutely doesn’t believe in the paranormal or magic. But he’s deluged with calls so he doesn’t change the description and goes out to prove that it’s some rational explanation. It’s ALWAYS a rational explanation. So, essentially, the author is offering a Oreo milkshake to people who love Oreo shakes, but it’s really a vanilla shake, and he makes fun of the reader for loving Oreos. With this “brilliant” marketing strategy urban fantasy lovers will be angry that there is no magic or paranormal, and those who enjoy a good suspense novel but don’t like the paranormal or magic will not buy his books.
Wow, that sounds like a recipe for trouble! Readers don’t want to feel silly for enjoying the type of books they enjoy…especially when an author is making them feel that way. And not delivering on a genre promise isn’t the best for business. Plus, as you mentioned, it would be tough to attract suspense readers to books that appear to be part of a paranormal series.
I like having genre expectations as a writer – especially as one who doesn’t plot comfortably. Even without an outline, I’m able to stay mostly within those expectations. Probably because I’ve read so many in my genre!
That’s the best tip of all! If we’re super-familiar with our genre and all the subgenres in it, we really can’t go wrong.
Hi Elizabeth – being sure of yourself, your writing, then the content provided, your audience and then you can settle in … Jemi’s ‘tip’ is as you say so right … great information we can all use in one way or the other – cheers Hilary
Thanks, Hilary, and thanks so much for stopping by!