Writers in the Storm

by James Preston

I remember being 14 years-old and getting my first driving lesson, which consisted of sitting behind the wheel of my dad’s 1960 Ford Galaxy while it was parked in our driveway. The idea was for me to get familiar with the pedals and controls, but I used the time to entertain my mom.

“Truck! Look out, big truck!  Oh, no, we’re on the train tracks — train, it’s a train!”

I let go of the steering wheel and dove down into the footwell. Next to me, my mother was laughing so hard she couldn’t stop.

The Ford was a stick shift, with the lever mounted on the steering column — the infamous “three on the tree.”

She took the time to get me familiar with the care because changing gears adds a new level of complexity to driving, and so does shifting writing gears.

What does shifting gears with your writing mean?

What does it mean to shift writing gears? Why would you do it? Below, I’ve offered a few examples of writers who cross genres successfully. Hopefully, by the end of the post, you will be able to describe the process involved and state whether or not it’s for you.

And if there are big trucks ready to run you down, we’ll try to show you how to avoid them.

Shifting Gears Definition

If you are like me, you write genre fiction. In bookstores and on the web you are “siloed” into mystery, romance, science fiction, or into the smaller subgroups like paranormal shapeshifter. Shifting gears means that you want to try another silo — write a historical romance instead of a ray-gun-filled space opera.

It’s important to remember that these categories exist for a reason. Whether they are in a bookstore or browsing online, readers can search for “Romance” and find the books they are interested in all in one place.

(And if you’re thinking, “My novel is totally new and different. It crosses all genres and cannot be pigeonholed,” see the WITS essay by Chuck Sambuchino in the Reference section below.)

Examples of Successful Gear Shifts

Mary Higgins Clark

Clark wrote short stories with some success until her husband died and left her with five children to support. She tried a novel about George and Martha Washington that flopped, then turned to mysteries. The rest — fifty, yes, fifty — books later is history.

Michael Crichton

I have read that while in medical school at Harvard he supported himself writing mysteries, before switching to science fiction. That’s amazing. I’m in awe (and a bit jealous), just as I am of Mary Higgins Clark.

Geez, usually I enjoy writing these essays. This one’s making me feel inadequate.

Stephen King

The master of horror switched to mysteries and wrote The Colorado Kid and then Joyland. The latter went on to be nominated for the 2014 Edgar as Best Paperback Original. In this case I do not feel inadequate since he’s probably not human.

Jayne Ann Krentz

Amazingly prolific, she writes under the names Amanda Quick for historical, Jane Castle for science fiction, and Jayne Ann Krentz for present day romances. I may have missed a few. And here’s a twist: she follows the same families and organizations through all three genres and settings. 

J. K. Rowling

She only wrote stories that are probably the Wizard of Oz of our time, now she’s done the Robert Galbraith modern mysteries, which have been turned into a successful tv series.

And finally . . . 

Yours Truly

I broke into fiction writing science fiction short stories, selling my first one to Analog Science Fiction. But I had a clearly articulated goal: I wanted to write for a living.

I looked at my work and realized two things. First, I needed to write novels. I could not sell enough short stories to support myself. Second, my sci-fi stories were really thrillers with ray guns. (Ok that last is not strictly true. I’ve never included a ray gun in any of my stories.)

Also, I met the editor who bought my first story and asked him why he didn’t buy the sequel — boy, you talk about young, stupid, and brash. I blush to share that. If you take nothing else away from this essay, remember that. He said, “You’re really writing a novel. Why don’t you go away and write it?” I did and after a bumpy road it became Leave A Good-Looking Corpse.

And that leads to . . . 

First Gear

Ok, in a stick shift first is the lowest gear, designed to overcome the inertia of the car and get it moving.

If you switch, move to a genre you love. I have never met such an individual, but I’ve been told there are “writers” who say things like, “I’ve never read one, but I know sexy teen vampire novels are hot right now so I’m going to write a few before I do my serious literary work.”

Don’t switch for marketing. Do it for love.

Second Gear

Ok, so you are ready for a change. Deciding what you want to write next should be easy. What was the last book you read that you loved? That’s it. Enough said.

Third Gear

With this gear, you’re ready for the freeway. A new genre should be, above all, fun. You’re exploring new territory. Instead of the new governess wondering why the attic room is locked, you’re world-building in a geosynchronous space station. You’re on the freeway with the radio blastin,’ cruisin’ just as fast as you can.

I suggest taking a novel out of the new genre and taking it apart. I did this with Robert Crais’, excellent Lullaby Town, scene-by-scene, and what a learning experience. 

Choose carefully because (1) it’s a lot of work and (2) the novel will be ruined for you. You’ll know it so well you won’t be able to reread it.

Let’s Stretch that Analogy 

If you haven’t noticed, the world of publishing has changed dramatically in the last few years. What does that mean for genres, when readers can search on anything, anything at all?

Well, so far they haven’t gone away. I personally believe people have limited time to read, and many of them like to know what they’re getting. That Search function— like Perseverance — can drive for you.

Yes, our new Rover is in large part autonomous; it drives itself around. Truthfully I have no idea where this will go, but I know two things: story will not go away. And stories will always have labels, and folks like you and me will try to entertain and enlighten. 

And in the end . . . 

The bottom line? Story is story. Tell a good one and you can dress it up in any genre you like and it will work just fine.

It’s all about story. Stuff it into a romance, a thriller, a vampire western, it’s still a story. Your character wants something; something is preventing them from getting it. So go for it, gentle reader, and good luck. 

References and Further Reading

Changing genres is work. Yeah, I know, you thought writing that first novel was work, and it was, and here we go again. The good news is Writers in the Storm has addressed genres in several excellent essays that all provide more information that will help when you decide to get behind the wheel. (Can I torture that poor analogy any more? Sure.)

I’ve picked a few that I especially like. 

Genres Explained: Insights, Tips and Definitions From Literary Agents by Chuck Sambuchino is filled with apt quotations from agents.

Pros & Cons of Skipping Genres by Laura Drake (May 2015) - Gets into POV, Voice, and Research. IMHO, essential if you want to do this.

Creating an Author Brand When You Write Multiple Genres (Nov 2016) - this post from June Stevens Westerfield contains an excellent case study.

Now it’s your turn. Do you write in a genre? Have you thought about switching?

About James

James R. Preston has always considered writing an adventure, but the last convention he appeared at was over the top. At Left Coast Crime San Diego last March he did a panel discussion. A few hours later the convention was canceled and he got a call from the people running the bookstore, saying, “James, the truck is here. We’re packing up your stuff.” He doesn’t really think it was his fault; people seemed to like the panel. 

And it was pouring rain. Note the wet pants in the selfie below.

By Janice Hardy (@Janice_Hardy)

I’ve always been drawn to writing science fiction and fantasy, which means that I’ve written a lot of first drafts based on “cool ideas” but no real conflict. Sure, I had a sense of what the problems were, and maybe even a few key scenes unfolding in my mind, but the books were about the idea, not characters with specific problems. 

No surprise, those drafts never got beyond the first draft.

Many a novel has been started with a vague idea and a lot of pages that explain why that idea is so cool. They’re even well-written novels, but in the end, they fail because there’s no point to them and no problem driving the plot.

Are you making this mistake in your novel?

Take a look at your current manuscript. What’s the problem of the novel? Is it a specific, concrete problem to solve (such as catch a killer, find the money to save the farm, defeat the evil wizard before she enslaves the realm) or is it a vague issue (such as find love, learn to rely on yourself, show how X came to pass)?

If the point of the novel is a vague issue, odds are you’re going to have trouble writing the first draft, because there’s nothing for the protagonist to do. Without a problem to solve, there’s no plot. 

Evaluating Your Story

Here is a template to help you evaluate. Test your novel and fill in the [bracketed information] of this statement:

My novel is about [the protagonist] who [has a problem], because [the reason the problem exists]. To fix it, [the protagonist] must [risk something of value] and [specific action that has to be done to resolve the problem] or [what happens if they fail].

For example:

My novel is about [Lisa] who [is part of a government experiment], because [she was born with a special gene that allows her to sense emotions]. To fix it, [Lisa] must [risk her life and defy her government] and [make people aware of what’s being done to people like her] or [they’ll kill her].

Can you tell what this book is about?

There’s a general sense, but the specific plot isn’t there, because “defy her government” is a vague idea, not a problem to resolve. Her “problem” is also that she was born with a special gene. There’s nothing here that says how that’s affecting her life or what problem she has because of that gene.

Let’s dig a little deeper. I’ll add the parts we’re filling in as a reminder:

[has a problem]: [is part of a government experiment]. How is this a problem? Captain America was part of a government experiment, too, but he volunteered to serve his country. This is a good example of a vague idea that feels like it’s enough to carry a novel, because odds are you know it’s bad and an issue, even if you don’t know how yet. It feels like enough to plot with, yet it’s probably not.

[the reason the problem exists]: [she was born with a special gene that allows her to sense emotions]. This gives specifics, and is good, because it tells us why the protagonist is special. You can instantly picture several reasons how this might work, how it might help her, and how it might hurt her. But it doesn’t say how this is a problem.

[risk something of value]: [risk her life and defy her government]. This is another vague and unhelpful description. How is she risking her life? How is she defying her government? Without those details, it’s difficult if not impossible to plot this story.

[specific action that has to be done to resolve the problem]: [make people aware of what’s being done to people like her] Great plan, but how exactly does she do this? And is this the real climax of this novel? She goes on TV, shares her story and all is well? Odds are no, just making people aware isn’t going to do it, and there’s more here to do before this problem is resolved.

[what happens if they fail]: [they’ll kill her]. This seems like a great stake, but how often do protagonists actually die? Almost never, so readers know this isn’t going to happen, and you as the author know it isn’t going to happen. Which means you don’t really have anything at stake.

See how easy it is to write a pitch line for a book that won’t help you write the novel?

To find the story problem, you’d have to figure out the specifics of these vague ideas.

“Defy her government” might be hijacking the local TV station and showing videos of the treatment or the experiment itself to create public outrage and force government intervention. It might be causing a revolt. It might even be escaping and running away. What does Lisa have to do? Find the specifics, and you’ll find the story problem.

Let’s look at an example that works (my novel, The Shifter):

My novel is about [Nya] who [has a missing sister named Tali], because [Tali was kidnapped by people wanting to exploit her magical ability for financial gain]. To fix it, [Nya] must [risk her freedom] and [use her own magic to break into the Healers’ League and rescue Tali from her kidnappers] or [Tali will die and Nya might get captured and exploited herself].

It’s raw, but what has to be done in this novel is fairly clear. The plot will come from Nya trying to find and rescue Tali from kidnappers. That’s not all that happens, of course, but this is at the heart of the novel and the plot is all about resolving this problem.

Let’s dig a little deeper:

[has a problem]: [has a missing sister named Tali] This clearly states the problem and it’s easy to extrapolate that finding the sister is the goal. I could have added “she must find and rescue” to be more specific.

[the reason the problem exists]: [Tali was kidnapped by people wanting to exploit her magical ability for financial gain]. This sets up the problem and who the antagonists are. There’s inherent conflict here, even if there are still details about the why to work out.

[risk something of value]: [risk her freedom] Freedom is a bit better than life, because it’s quite possible (and likely) that Nya will lose her freedom at some point in the story. If I wanted to clarify this further, I could add “and her anonymity, her only protection against people who would exploit her as well.” That tells me that Nya is very likely going to lose her anonymity and the safety it provides.

[specific action that has to be done to resolve the problem]: [use her own magic to break into the Healers’ League and rescue Tali from her kidnappers] A specific act for specific motives, and also connects back to the original problem stated—has a kidnapped sister.

[what happens if they fail]: [Tali will die and Nya might get captured and exploited herself]. Tali dying is a real possibility, as is Nya being exploited. These are stakes readers can see happening, and stakes I could have happen, that won’t stop the story cold.

Final Thoughts

Could I flesh this out more? Sure, and if I was writing this for the first time, I probably would, since I’m a plotter. But there are enough concrete details here to prove that this idea has a problem, real stakes, and a specific plan of action to solve it.

Odds are I won’t hit a wall at page 100 and not know where the story goes next, which is a common issue with vague goals and unclear story problems.

Try your own idea and see what happens.

If you have trouble filling this template out, that’s a red flag that there’s no problem to solve, just a vague sense of where the problem lies. If you can fill out the template with a concrete and tangible problem, odds are your novel has a conflict you can work with.

How did your novel or idea do? Which of the steps in the "template" gave you the most trouble? Share with us down in the comments!

About Janice

Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, including The Shifter, Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. She also writes the Grace Harper urban fantasy series for adults under the name, J.T. Hardy. When she's not writing fiction, she runs the popular writing site Fiction University, and has written multiple books on writing, including Understanding Show, Don't Tell (And Really Getting It), Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure, and the Revising Your Novel: First Draft to Finished Draft series. Sign up for her newsletter and receive 25 ways to Strengthen Your Writing Right Now free.

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by Penny Sansevieri

For many authors, creating a successful book marketing campaign seems as difficult and mysterious as effectively whipping up a delicious chocolate souffle. What are the ingredients, what are the tricks, what are the best tools and in what order should I be using them?

While there is an art to baking and also an art to marketing, you don’t have to be a professional to find your way to the sweet smell of success. Marketing amateurs can make great progress toward a terrific book marketing campaign by working on bite-sized pieces. So instead of chocolate souffle, think Snickers fun-size – and let yourself have that fun!

Today, I have some small but mighty book marketing strategies for you; many of them are quick and/or free.

You might think about sprinkling them through your week, doing one a night. Or maybe grab a handful and settle in on a weekend afternoon. You’ll find you’re in a much better position, marketing-wise, when Monday rolls around.

Claim What’s Yours

Claim your Amazon Author Page. It’s Amazon. This is a Must Do and you already know that. If you’ve been reluctant, decide you’ll just add your bio. Baby steps ARE steps.

Claim your Author Profile on Bookbub and get your books listed. It’s free to submit your book to be added to your profile.

Claim and fill out your author page on Goodreads and claim ALL your books. At minimum you should have representation on this site, even if you haven’t taken steps to use all of its features as part of your well-rounded author marketing approach…yet.

Use What You Already Have

Celebrate declining Covid cases by masking up and making your way out into the world to leave five of your author business cards around town this weekend. If you have a way for someone to use a coupon code on your website – jot that down as well to really up the ante!

Brainstorm a bunch of ideas for your next blog posts. Don’t overthink it, don’t commit to all of them, just jot down every single idea that comes to you. Overthinking can be one of your biggest author marketing downfalls.

Publish one of your popular blog posts on Medium. It’s fast and super easy to find new readers and extend your author marketing.

Look at your blog or website and find three improvements you can make. Or, look at other authors’ sites and steal a few ideas you’re missing out on.

Read your author bio on Amazon and social media. Spend five minutes thinking about how you could improve it and make notes.

Plan an upcoming newsletter to send to your mailing list. You don’t have to plan it, write it, illustrate it, revise it, edit it, and send it all in one sitting. Break it into manageable chunks and take satisfaction in chipping away at the process to get to a great product!

Socialize and Network

Comment on a post on a popular blog or on a newspaper article. Commenting is one of the most effective ways to get noticed as an indie author. If there is the option to reply to already posted comments, even better, as you will be entering into a conversation and getting a chance to show off your knowledge or experience in a key area of interest to those who frequent that site.

Join a writers’ group. Sometimes other writers have good ideas you can steal!

Follow 100 people on Twitter. On average about 20 will follow you back. Do it regularly and you will build a solid following to help your author marketing on Twitter.

Follow 10 friends of your friends on Facebook. You’ll be surprised how many will accept your request because they will see that you are in some way connected to them. You never know, you might be connecting with new fans!

Follow 10 authors in your genre on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (or whatever platforms you frequent). Not only is this good networking, you’ll also likely pick up some tips and tricks of the trade and learn from their own author marketing activities.

Share five posts of interest on Twitter, Facebook, or any of your social media accounts. It’s amazing how many people will notice and perhaps follow you back because you are sharing and playing nice, not shoving your books down people’s throats.

Find five new blogs that cater to your genre and add them to your master blogger list. Before you click out of each, leave a comment. Everyone wants feedback and bloggers will remember and be appreciative of whatever tracks you leave behind.

Learn New Tricks

Google search ‘book marketing for 2021’ and read two articles. You won’t ever come up with new ideas if you’re not always trying to learn. Learning does take time, but it’s free – pick your battles.

Read up on SEO and learn to write your blog posts around keywords to increase visitor traffic.

List some new materials or tools you’d like to master and then choose one to spend an hour on.  Maybe you’d like to learn more about using Canva (which is free!) so you spend your time making a few practice social media posts featuring your dog. Perhaps you’ve been wanting to up your Zoom game so you do some research on ring lights and the best way to set up your desk for video chats.

Check out a few websites and blogs for writers and independent authors with an eye toward free downloadable information. You might emerge from a dedicated surf session with everything from a monthly book marketing planner to a reader profile sheet. We routinely offer both of these tools at the end of Author Marketing Experts blog posts.

Final Thoughts

Book marketing doesn’t have to be a scary slog through the unknown if you make use of what you already have, build on your current success, look for holes in your learning, connect to others with like-minded interests, and, most importantly, enjoy the ride.

Best of luck to you!

What small actions have made a big difference in your book marketing efforts? Share them with us down in the comments!

About Penny

Penny C. Sansevieri, Founder and CEO of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a bestselling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. She is an Adjunct Professor teaching Self-Publishing for NYU. She was named one of the top influencers of 2019 by New York Metropolitan Magazine. 

Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most innovative Amazon Optimization programs as well as Social Media/Internet book marketing campaigns. She is the author of 18 books, including How to Sell Books by the Truckload on Amazon: 2021 Amazon Ads Powerhouse Edition, Revise and Re-Release Your Book, 5-Minute Book Marketing, and Red Hot Internet Publicity, which has been called the "leading guide to everything Internet." Her next book From Book to Bestseller is due out in Spring 2021.

AME has had dozens of books on top bestseller lists, including those of The New York Times, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal.

To learn more about Penny’s books or her promotional services, visit www.amarketingexpert.com.