Writers in the Storm

by Selene Grace Silver

Several times in the past year, I’ve heard indie-published authors describing their published romances in a way that clearly defines them as another genre. I also coordinate a romance book contest in which at least one entry every year is not a romance, but something else.

Why does it matter what genre an author chooses for marketing or promoting their books?

The answer is: READERS!

Categorizing one’s books is an unspoken contract with potential readers. If an author or publisher advertises a book as a specific genre—any genre—to readers, those readers will have specific expectations about the story they buy to read.

Basic Overview on Fiction Genres

Avid readers are well aware of the genre conventions that accompany their favorite types of books and they will judge a book’s merits on those conventions.

Horror readers expect to feel thrills and chills. Mystery readers expect to see a crime or enigma solved. Fantasy readers expect to escape on an adventure in a world completely different from their own. Science Fiction readers expect a story driven by the positive and negative aspects of technology. Even literary fiction readers have expectations: usually an elegantly written story exploring the human condition.

Every genre, at least in broad terms, promises to deliver a specific kind of story to readers, including romance, which is definitely more than a love story.

Romance readers expect to see the progression of a courtship between lead characters concluding in a happy-ever-after (HEA).

Why It’s Important to Assign the Right Genre

If an author or publisher mis-categorizes their books as romance, they risk upsetting or angering readers and tanking that book’s potential popularity.

Why do authors mis-categorize their books as romance?

One problematic motivation might be to sell more books. Romance is the largest fiction market, so authors and publishers might label a story as a romance to attract romance readers, even when the story doesn’t meet the expected conventions for a romance.

Another reason might be honest confusion. Genre definitions can be complicated, especially in popular genre fiction, and the definitions can change when large book retailers like Amazon or Barnes & Noble reclassify books. Book marketing has come a long way since the Greeks divided narratives into comedies and tragedies. Today, there are a 100+ genres and subgenres in literature.

A third reason might be that the author or publisher lacks experience. Books don’t always fit neatly into one genre or another, many straddling two or more possible categories. Is a book a romantic thriller or romantic suspense? Could it be both? Is a mystery simply a thriller, or is it a psychological thriller? Is a novel historical fiction or historical romance?

How to Check If Your Story is a Romance

To avoid disappointing romance readers, though, it’s important to honor romance genre conventions if you’re going to list your book as one. Here is a short questionnaire to determine whether your story is, in fact, a romance.

(Answers should be yes.)

1. Do your lead characters get a committed happy-for-now or a happy-ever-after relationship in the final scene?
2. Is the primary plot a courtship between your lead characters?
3. Does your story have a meet-cute, or a significant, memorable moment when your protagonists first meet (or meet again) in the timeline of your story?
4. Do all or most of your scenes focus on the courtship between your lead characters?
5. Do your lead characters spend most of the book in each other’s company?
6. Do readers increasingly root for the lead characters to fall in love and be together?
7. Is an antagonist trying to prevent the relationship between the lead characters?
8. Does your story include a declaration scene near the midpoint in which one lead character confesses their love for the other lead character(s)?
9. Is there a time near the end of the story in which readers fear the relationship will not last?
10. Are the lead characters’ personal arcs tied to overcoming their personal resistance to the relationship?
11. Do the lead characters’ stakes tie directly to the relationship working or failing?
12. Is the most vulnerable lead character—usually the female lead—the one who gets to choose the outcome in the end?

The Romance Genre vs. Associated Genres

What about other genres with romance subplots? Here’s a brief comparison of definitions of similar genres.

Contemporary Romance vs. Women’s Fiction

Contemporary Romance foregrounds the developing courtship and HEA between characters falling in love and making a commitment to each other in a contemporary setting. Women’s Fiction focuses on a female protagonist exploring a personal journey towards self-knowledge, self-confidence, and even self-actualization, which may include multiple facets of her family, work, friendship, community, marriage and love life. In Women’s Fiction, a romantic relationship is simply one of several subplots.

Historical Romance vs. Historical Fiction

Historical Romance foregrounds the developing courtship and HEA between characters living in a historical setting. Historical Fiction uses a historical setting and its people as characters in a story, and may include subplots like mystery, romance, political intrigue, and adventure.

Paranormal Romance vs. Urban Fantasy

Paranormal Romance foregrounds the developing courtship and HEA between characters—at least one who is a creature from mythology. Urban Fantasy uses mythological settings and creatures to tell a story, usually a mystery or an action-adventure, and may include subplots like romance and intrigue.

Science Fiction Romance vs. Science Fiction Fantasy and Steampunk

SFR foregrounds the developing courtship and HEA between characters in an alternate world and/or outer space. Science Fiction Fantasy and Steampunk tell stories, usually mystery or action-adventure, set in speculative worlds filled with science and technology, and may include subplots like romance and political intrigue.

Romantasy vs. Fantasy

Romantasy foregrounds the developing courtship and HEA between a strong female protagonist and a supporting love interest on a quest of trials or challenges, set in a magical world. Fantasy focuses on one or more protagonists with a large cast of supporting and opposing characters, on a quest, usually against evil, set in a magical world, and may include sublots like romance and political intrigue.

Romantic Suspense vs. Thrillers and Mysteries

Romantic Suspense foregrounds the developing courtship and HEA between characters who are attempting to survive a dangerous, life-threatening situation or solve a crime. Thrillers and mysteries focus on solving cases of murder and other crimes and may include subplots like romance and adventure.

Romance vs. Erotica

Romance foregrounds the developing courtship and HEA between characters falling in love and making a commitment to each other. Romance may or may not include intimate scenes between the lead characters as part of that developing courtship. Erotica explores human intimacy, fantasy, and taboos associated with sex, and may include a subplot of romance in settings that are historical, paranormal, speculative, or contemporary.

Romance vs. Literary and General Fiction

Romance foregrounds the developing courtship between characters falling in love and making a commitment to each other, ending in an HEA. Literary and General Fiction explore the complications of human relationships in all its manifestations, including family, friendship, community, marriage, love and work, though they may use a mystery, crime, or adventure plot to explore any number of themes related to the human condition.

In Conclusion

The best way to avoid mis-categorizing your stories is to internalize and recognize the differences between genres by reading deeply and broadly. Read a thriller, a crime mystery, a cozy mystery, and a romantic suspense to see how they differ. Read a historical fiction novel and a historical romance. Read a hard science fiction novel, a space opera, and a science fiction romance. Read a steampunk novel, an urban fantasy novel, a Gothic horror, a Gothic Romance, and a paranormal romance. Read erotica and romance. Learn to recognize the subtle but important differences.

Occasionally, you may encounter books that seem to effectively straddle two genres. If you carefully analyze the GMCs (Goals, Motivations, and Conflicts) in each scene, you should be able to determine which genre primarily drives the story forward, and where, when, and how the final scene must take place for complete reader satisfaction.

Do you struggle to define your book's genre? Do you tend to "straddle" more than one genre? Has that hindered your sales trajectory? Please share your experience with us down in the comments!

About Selene

Selene Grace Silver resides near the beach in Southern California with her romantic Scottish husband. Trained to read and write literary fiction, she never quite abandoned her early love of the romance genre.

After 20 + years teaching English, writing, and literature at the high school and college levels, she’s retired to write fiction full-time. She’s had to adjust her writing style and craft to suit genre fiction, which includes learning to plot and write complex characters. For Selene, an INFJ, writing is a journey of constant self-improvement. She occasionally teaches online, including the upcoming Orange County Romance Writers’ class Build a Romance Blueprint in Four Weeks.

To read a short prequel to the small-town beach romance series she’s developing, sign up for her newsletter. She’s also on Facebook, Instagram and Threads.

Top photo purchased from Depositphotos.

Previous post from Selene: Deepen Your Character Development Using Personality Theory

by Johnny B. Truant

The biggest question that aspiring authors ask is how to write a book.

To them, an author with even one finished book is a magician. The folks who desperately want to tell their story — but haven’t yet — see the act of writing as beautiful voodoo. How could anyone take the complex and layered fantasy they see inside their head and make it real with words? What alchemy is this, to use letters and ink (or e-ink) to transport an entire world from the author’s mind into the minds of readers?

The biggest question that published authors ask, on the other hand, is how to sell more books.

Once a book becomes a product, marketing boots hit the floor and we go into salesperson mode whether we’re comfortable there or not. For a lot of authors, the book remains a precious piece of their soul, and they can’t be objective enough to sell it. For others — those who are best at selling — the book becomes a cold, hard product that must be tweaked and manipulated until it fits into the right niche, positioned just so to attract buyers in any way possible.

Traditionally published authors can avoid the issue entirely if they want. They can sit back and hope the publisher will handle all the selling, especially since most trad deals severely limit marketing options anyway. Self-publishers like us, on the other hand, have to wear two hats — one for creation, and one for selling. We have no choice but to handle marketing, if we want to be successful. If we don’t find a way to sell our books, nobody will.

Which venues and tools should you use for your promotions? How often should you plug your book, and in what way?

Should you spend money to advertise? How much? Which ads work best, and how long does it take for them to show profits … if they ever do?

Worst of all, how can you possibly stand out in this day and age? More books were published in the past few years than in all of prior history, making your book one of competing millions. Between authors being told that Rapid Release is the only way to survive (it’s not) and the rising tide of AI-written books, the “stand out” problem isn’t going to change any time soon.

But I’ve got a question for you: What if you didn’t need to stand out?

What if you had no competition, no matter how many other books are published around you?

What if instead of fighting to be seen, your book was seen from its inception? What if instead of starting from obscurity, your book began its published life already in the spotlight?

I call this way of thinking about bookselling as “The Bookstore of You.”

The Bookstore of You

Close your eyes for a second, so I can paint you a picture.

Imagine walking into a bookstore in your town. It’s a small place: cozy and intimate, maybe with a little sitting area with overstuffed chairs and soft incandescent lighting. It smells of paper and old vellum. And it’s dead quiet, save the soporific sound of turning pages.

In this bookstore, only your books are sold.

There’s no Tom Clancy. No Sarah J. Maas. No Stephen King. No summer reading books assigned for kids going back to school in the fall … unless, of course, they’ve been assigned something you wrote.

If you only have one book, that book is on every shelf in this magical bookstore. If you have many, your catalog fills the shelves. If you’re an Artisan Author who doesn’t care about sticking to one genre, you might have your own genre sections: sci-fi here, thrillers here, romance over here.

Your book covers are on every poster. You’re on every recommended reading list. Every Staff Pick is one of yours, and if you were to ask the clerk for their latest favorite, you’d get a gushing review of the last thing you wrote. Everyone is talking about you, eager to see how the last book’s cliffhanger will resolve.

Now, as you picture this Bookstore of You, let me ask some questions.

How hard would it be to stand out in that store?

How much would you need to advertise and market to the people who shop there?

How hard would you have to push to sell? You wouldn’t, obviously … because in the Bookstore of You, everyone’s already sold on your work. They didn’t discover you randomly while browsing Amazon, then had to be convinced to buy. No, these people “bought” in advance. They didn’t go into Barnes & Noble to browse around until they found a new read. Instead, they walked right into The Bookstore of You, knowing they’d buy you from the start.

When you’re an Artisan Author, the usual promotional strategy flips on its head. You’ll still do outreach and marketing, but the goal is no longer to sell individual books to cold traffic. The goal, rather, is to sell them on you.

It’s harder, yes.

It’s slower, yes.

But if you put in the time to make it work, it makes you bulletproof. How hard is it to get readers to buy your next book if The Bookstore of You is the first place they shop?

How hard do you have to sell anything if readers, if whenever they want a new book, they look you up instead of browsing Amazon?

How much easier would life be if you didn’t have to worry about keywords or placement or algorithmic visibility … because the only search term that matters to the very best buyers is your name?

When you market like an Artisan Author, you sell up front, sell big-picture, and put in the time to make those early bonds stick. A tiny percentage of the effort is done en masse: running ads, hitting social media, and all the other things most authors do. You’ll do those things, yes … but instead of working hard to sell a single book now and then repeating it all from scratch when the sequel comes out, your careful nurturing in the first go-round will create a growing snowball of people who no longer have to be sold.

For example, I really like selling books in person. It’s the ultimate put-yourself-out-there, woo-people-who’ve-never-heard-of-you-before move, but I like it because every time someone comes over and I’m able to talk to them face-to-face, I’m starting the process of creating a long-term, high-value bond. It’s the opposite of leverage. Those interactions literally happen one person at a time, and I often talk to any given reader for five or ten minutes each.

Yep. Ten minutes to reach one person.

That’s a lot more work than running a Facebook ad or Bookbub Featured Deal, where you’ll reach thousands or tens of thousands of people with very little effort. The difference is that the way people normally promote their books is fast and easy, but it’s also middlingly effective at bonding. If you get 100 sales from an ad, even the people who buy still don’t really know you. They still don’t have any reason to come back to you next time — not any more than they’d come back to other authors they’ve read before.

By contrast, a higher-touch approach like mine — where the goal is to sell yourself, not just a single book — might earn ten potential True Fans right away. True Fans are the name of the game for an Artisan Author. Ten potential True Fans in one day is 1/10^th of a percent toward the my goal of a thousand. Personally, I like those numbers.

Better, not more.

As with all things Artisan, the goal is quality over quantity. You can use any selling approach you’d like (i.e. you don’t need to sell in person like I do), but you must keep one thing firmly in mind: Your goal isn’t to close a single transaction, which is the way most authors think. Instead, your goal is to earn more regular customers in The Bookstore of You … and doing so will take effort and time.

But oh man, will your effort be rewarded.

You create those new “regular shoppers” by being a real human being. By not thinking of your leads as leads, or numbers on a dashboard. You do it by enticing people to join your email list not with short-term tactics and cheap prices, but instead by being honest, open, and interesting to your new readers. You do it by asking people to reply to the emails you send, after you’ve lured them. You do it by answering their email replies when you’re lucky enough to get them — not via dismissive, 30-second standard responses just to clear your inbox as fast as possible, but instead by taking as much time to answer that email as you would for a friend.

Quality, not quantity. Effectiveness, not speed.

“Friend” is the right word. If you want to create regular patrons to The Bookstore Of You, you’re not just collecting readers; you’re making friends. Not customers, not prospects, not leads … but friends.

This is why Artisan Authors will have an advantage as “the usual way of doing things in self-publishing” gets harder and harder. Do you think visibility will get easier if you keep putting all your eggs in Amazon’s basket? Do you think royalty rates will improve? Do you think KU readers will become more loyal than they are right now (hint: they’re not), or that those all-you-can-read readers will decide one day to ditch Amazon’s buffet to shop only at The Bookstore of You?

Nope. Ain’t gonna happen.

Of course the hands-off, non-Artisan way of publishing will continue, and of course it will work for some authors. The name of that game is “Rapid Release,” and it’s only getting more rapid.

It works for some authors, but will it work for you?

Long-term, do you have the stamina (to keep producing as fast as possible), the budget (to out-advertise the bigger players), and the shining uniqueness (to stand out in a growing flood of new books) to survive that way as the Rapid Release market grows more and more intense?

Or might it instead be better to slow down, focus on an entirely different crop of readers, emphasize quality in your reader acquisition instead of always rushing for quality?

When all the high-churn authors start crying about declining visibility and sales, the author who’s focused on building up that Bookstore of You won’t have to worry. They’ll simply throw open the doors of the Bookstore and keep treating the readers who come looking for you first — ignoring the noise in the market entirely — like gold. 

How do you feel about this approach to selling? How is this different from the way you're selling your books now?

About Johnny

Johnny B. Truant wrote the indie cornerstone guide Write. Publish. Repeat and hosted the original Self Publishing Podcast. If you'd like to learn more about the Artisan Author approach to publishing, check out Johnny's forthcoming book The Artisan Author, which launches July 15th on Kickstarter and November 4th on booksellers. You can also read this post on his Substack for a bigger picture of what it means to be an Artisan Author.

On the fiction side, Johnny is the bestselling author of Fat Vampire, adapted by The SyFy Network as Reginald the Vampire. His other books include Pretty Killer, Gore Point, Invasion, The Beam, Dead City, Unicorn Western, and over 100 other titles across many genres.

Originally from Ohio, Johnny and his family now live in Austin, Texas where he's finally surrounded by creative types as weird as he is.

Top photo purchased from Depositphotos.

by Dr. Diana Stout

Nobody likes to fail. And yet, failures are a part of life. We don’t learn lessons during happy times. We learn through pain and conflict.

A Recent Conversation

Recently, at a monthly chat meeting with other screenwriters where many of us are teachers, editors, writing coaches, and mentors, and have been writers most of our lives, we talked about the frustration of writers who seek our help, but then insist their scripts are wonderful and ready to be sent out, disagreeing with our advice of more work needed before submitting.

We were nodding our heads as this conversation was recounted.

“Everyone is telling me how good it is.”

“Who’s everyone?”

“My family, my friends. Classmates.”

“Of course, they’ll tell you it’s good. They love you.”

“But I got all A’s in English.”

“High school English isn’t the same as writing a screenplay (or novel). Your manuscript/script has issues. How many drafts have you written?”

“What?” Major pause while this wrinkle is absorbed. “How many drafts do I need?” (They appear reluctant to admit this is their first draft.)

“As many as it takes to become the best story possible, hooking the reader from the first page all the way through to the last.”

“How many drafts do you write?”

When we give them a double-digit number, the incredulous response is, “Seriously?”

Signs of a Successful Writer

Learning there’s more work to be done can be daunting and frustrating. But, the sign of a future successful writer—actually, anyone with any project or goal in any field—is how they react to failure.

• Do they accept that more work is needed?
• Or, do they get angry, not accepting the critique or advice?

Through our shared stories of failure, we agreed the best thing that ever happened to each of us was having someone heavily marking up our scripts/manuscripts. We learned from those critiques. These were the mentors we cherished.

We never saw their criticism as personal; we saw their criticism as a learning opportunity.

We agreed we learned through our failures, which led to our successes. Don’t be fooled; we still get our share of failures, and we are all still learning.

At that point, Doug spoke up and said, “Use me as an example. I wasn’t the typical new writer. When I was young, I sold my first script with its first submission, and it got produced and up on the screen. That was 30 years ago. I haven’t sold anything since, but I’m still trying and still learning.”

While happy with that early success, he acknowledged he was in the right place at the right time with the right script. That he had been incredibly lucky at that time.

Writing isn’t a sprint. It’s a marathon. Failing is merely a message, telling us what not to do. Thus, we need to be willing to make changes and lean into wanting criticism because it encourages us to make changes and improve our craft.

Acceptance of failing isn’t the only attribute of the winning writer. So is patience and persistence.

We need to be patient throughout the entire process, the journey to success. How many times have you heard someone say, “I was a 15-year overnight success”?

And, we need to be persistent. The one thing I’ve learned is that success never arrives via my desired timeline. Usually, it’s been much later after others would have given up or have given up. It’s almost as if I’m being tested on my determination-factor.

Remove Your Ego

My first major critique came back with so much red on the pages, I thought my mentor had cut her arm and bled all over the pages. I remember the initial tears and being angry. I put it away for several days and came back to it, re-examining the red marks. I sighed, realizing she was right about everything.

My tears and anger had been ego-reactionary. Lesson learned. She had spent a lot of time helping me, so I needed to be grateful, instead.

I was improving, so I thought. That’s when she said, “You’re better than this. Why do you keep making the same mistakes?”

I sighed, acknowledging she was right. Another lesson.

And then, finally, after telling her I’d gotten another rejection, she said, “I don’t understand why you’re not getting published. It’s like you’re standing at the cliff’s edge with only your heels.”

I didn’t understand it either, but at least now, it felt more like it was only a matter of time and totally out of my control. I kept submitting.

More years passed. By my early 30s and with more manuscripts written, I told myself if I hadn’t published a novel by the time I was 40, I would quit trying. I’m glad I didn’t. I traditionally published my first novel, at 42. (Indie publishing was still a decade away.)

Be Willing to Learn, Willing to Change

If we are willing to learn, are willing to keep trying, and willing to make changes, our writing does improve. We’re making progress, even if only in small steps.

Not sure you believe this theory?

Examples of Successful Failures

Starting in 1901, the Wright brothers traveled hundreds of miles, toting major equipment from their garage to the hanger they’d built at Kitty Hawk. The first couple years, they flew gliders hundreds of times, always tweaking the design.

When they attached a propeller and then an engine, they had failures until they finally achieved success with a 12-second 120-foot flight. More failures demanded more changes and more tests until they achieved a viable success.

Note: The linked book is a fantastic read of their journey with its many failures.

Other great examples:

• Thomas Edison said it took 10,000 attempts to create a light bulb that was desired by consumers.
• Michael Jordan was cut from high school varsity basketball as a sophomore.
• Walt Disney was fired from a mid-west newspaper for his lack of ideas; his theme park idea was rejected over 300 times by banks and investors.
• Clark Gable failed his first screen test, as did other actors and actresses who later became famous.
• John Grisham’s first book, A Time to Kill, was rejected by 28 publishers.
• William Golding’s book, Lord of the Flies, was rejected 21 times.
• Mary Higgins Clark’s first short story was rejected 40 times.
• Louis L’Amour’s first story was rejected 350 times.
• Theodor Geisel’s first book was rejected 27 times before it was published. We know him today as Dr. Suess.

These are just a few stories of famous, well-known individuals who suffered through multiple failures before they finally found success.

In Summary

You can do it!

• Be Patient. Keep adding and building your portfolio of books written.
• Be Persistent. Keep practicing and rewriting. Keep learning.
• Be Willing to Fail. You’ll be in good company.

What kind of writing failures have you had along the way? What lessons have you learned or are learning?

About Diana

Getting stuck in the writing, getting submission rejections (before indie publishing), and feeling like she would never get published were the three hardest hurdles Dr. Diana encountered as a writer. While she had no control over the rejections (other than improving her craft), she learned that by changing her process, she could get unstuck easily, and keep her passion high from start to finish. An added bonus was discovering she could write first drafts quickly in a matter of 7-10 days.

She’s shared her discoveries in two books: Finding Your Fire & Keeping It Hotand CPE: Character, Plot, & Emotion.And, for two weeks in June (9-20), she’ll be teaching a Master Class that combines the methods of both books: Keeping Your Writing Fire & Keeping It Hot.

In the meantime, she’s thrilled to opening her windows to the warmer, spring weather as she works on her current projects.

To learn more about Diana, visit her Sharpened Pencils Productions website.

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Photo credit: Top photo purchased from Depositphotos.com.