If anybody writes a personal blog that’s real, people are going to get to know you. Not everybody is going to like you. Some might seek to punish you for daring to be different from what they are or how they wish to define you if you’ve shown that you’re liberal or Republican or black or anything else that irritates them.
But if some of those same people keep coming back to read your words again and again, it could be your writing voice pulling them in despite their declared irritation.
A writer finds it difficult to hide behind her words. Out of all the thousands of subjects available, the one she decides to pick reveals who she is. How she shapes her sentences and the words she chooses to use tells others how she thinks.
A writer’s voice is a personal and intimate as a secret scent. The essence of themselves oozes out of the words of the best writers. Voice is one of the most elusive of all the writing skills because it something that isn’t learned as much as practiced.
How important is voice to you, the reader? Are romance writers submerging their voices in the interests of marketing? Do romance readers want the Stepford Author, an idealized figure that they can gaze at in adoration from afar and imagine she is exactly like them in values, beliefs and politics or do they want individuals, as imperfect, different and flawed as individuals always are?
Stepford Author wannabes stifle their voices. The push to market and sell can also push a writer into squelching her individuality and not developing her voice.
Marketing used to not be such a big deal in romance. Romances traditionally almost sold themselves. The books all fell within a certain perimeter to fit a certain expected type of read. The women who liked these books knew what they wanted. They wanted to read about people like themselves, no, they wanted to read about people better than themselves, ideal people falling in love and getting married at the end. If you wrote a good story, a cut above the rest, you were in. Your readers would be wildly loyal.
Getting into other people’s heads, people who are different from the majority, writing the unexpected, sometimes gritty realities of life used to not be on the romance agenda, but now, romance characters are breaking previous constraints. Sexual mores are widening and plotlines are pushing envelopes and cracking them open. A rainbow of color has leached into the once black and white Leave it To Beaver world of romance and it split into segments, some readers reading that, and not touching this.
Also, there are more romance writers and more books flooding the market. The bar is higher and the publishing biz more competitive than ever. Authors are spending thousands of dollars on fancy videos, advertising and gewgaws. They’re working on branding and image to please readers and trying to squeeze their work to better fit the market.
Instead of, how can I write a better book, an author’s most important question is becoming, how can I get enough people enough of the time to read my book?
Marketing is akin to building a gingerbread house in a perilous and wicked forest full of other gingerbread houses. You never know whether to build a better Stepford suburban ranch because ranches sell well or construct that quirky, little Victorian you love, but aren’t sure anybody else will like.
Personally, I’m going for the Victorian. Some people may think it’s ugly, but it’s unique and I figure that’s what voice is all about.
I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I want to write the very best books I can–books that reflect my voice along with humor and characters that don’t fit into any mold. If I wanted to be all about marketing, I’d be working in sales, ’cause heaven knows it pays better.
I know that I have to face the realities of marketing and venture into the dark and scary forest to get to the sunny meadow filled with wildflowers at other side, but I’m not going to be afraid to squeal along the way.
No related posts.
Yes. And then, if the “take me as I am” thing doesn’t work out, I plan to write under my bird’s name “Cookie”. Let’s face it. Cookie is photogenic, and won’t be saying anything offensive in public because she can only say, “Hello”.
Not every bird will work for every writer, though. At a Dive shop in Key Largo they have a Maccaw that hangs out on the dock cursing the tourists. I’ll use thier bird for the erotica murder mysteries I plan to write.
I figure I can feather a nice little writer’s nest by marketing the avian angle if the “real me” thing doesn’t fly.
Polly want a cackle?
Cindy, thanks for a morning laugh!
Instead of, how can I write a better book, an author’s most important question is becoming, how can I get enough people enough of the time to read my book?
Sadly true. The market is so crowded these days that authors feel they have to pull double duty as writers and publicists just to compete.
A great story will sell itself, and bring readers back for more. I’ve seen it happen too often to doubt it. So those of us who are not inclined to market until we drop are better off focusing on the work and not the hype.
If you’ve got the personality and the energy to handle the marketing, go for it. Just watch out for the witches in those gingerbread houses.
Funny, Cindy! That’s an idea, letting our pets stand in for us. I have an adorable little lhasa apso who at this moment is insisting on licking my toes in a very annoying way.
She doesn’t curse or say anything at all. As long as folks don’t actually have to meet her annoying dog self–she’d go over in a big way.
The market is so crowded these days that authors feel they have to pull double duty as writers and publicists just to compete.
PBW, I’m hoping that it doesn’t come down to the marketing being more important than the book. I just finished a much hyped book yesterday that received a humongous advance. Sloooooow, boring read, twice as long as it needed to be, but the hype, and hype alone, pushed it well and I bet it earned out.
After I cheese off the known universe, I will be writing under my horse’s name, which is Russian (Arabian with a Ruskie name, go figure) and conveys literary creds.
He does bite, but he looks wonderful on camera.
You make a great point Monice.
In my experience inside the publishing building it’s not the market that’s gets all of the power, but FEAR of the market.
I like the idea of letting my pet stand in but I don’t have any pets other than my husband and my son . . . Hmmmm
Apologies, Monica, I do know how to spell your name . . . I just let my pet type it. Bad dog, bad, bad, dog.
Excellent, excellent post.
Thank you.
LOL, Since this has been a fear of mine all summer–Snort, assuming I ever sell–it’s definitely food for thought. Maybe I CAN leave my crappy little website in it’s crappy form! LOL!
You do realize, though, you’re advocating actually writing good books. And that would make sense… Just not sure the world is ready for logical, concise thinking, lol.
Smooches,
Dee
Great column, Monica. I agree that the book should be the foremost priority of the writer. Unfortunately, because the market is glutted, the focus of the publisher is to compete against the other conglomerates, and to expand the profit margin.
But sometimes the publisher forgets that a book is an emotional investment by the reader, and not just a competing product or a “better mousetrap.” And emotions are variable, therefore the market can’t be determined by the regular factors. What appeals to one reader might definitely turn off another or just not pull her in.
Ironically, I think the market uncertainty is good for all concerned, because it does point to an expansion of variety. It is so much easier to sell the same ole thing if the competing product is basically not much different. The publisher could rely on a time-tested marketing plan; that isn’t so, today, because what sells a sci-fi novel won’t push the romance novel. Therefore, marketers have to “push the envelope” themselves, become more creative. I’m not against the writer gaining some business and marketing sense; an investment of time in putting up a website or writing blog or putting together a book trailer (TM?) might be more effective than just a basic book signing. But good marketing should not be at the expense of the novel and most of all the writer’s creativity. If that’s the case, then we become something akin to used car sellers or snake oil peddlers, where it’s not about the product, but about the spiel.
I’m not against the writer gaining some business and marketing sense; an investment of time in putting up a website or writing blog or putting together a book trailer (TM?) might be more effective than just a basic book signing.
Uh-oh. Sharon, did you get permission to use that trademark in this comment? Lol.
Uhm, no. Think I better consult an attorney. Oh wait, I am one. (Just not practicing).
Great topic, Monica! I think hype might push a book once, but not twice.
Cindy, you make me laugh.
Monica,
Your lhasa apso will be the perfect front for a Fetish Romance line. Toe licking … picturing it for a minute … you could make a freaking fortune!
Hmm — Well, I have marketing and publicity experience AND I still want to write what I want to write. Does this make me terribly naive, a happy idiot or neither of the above? So far, numerous people who’ve read Key of Sea have loved it. If someone hates it, they haven’t told me. *g* So far, my publisher also likes the books. Of course, I could find out, with subsequent royalty statements that I’m not selling worth a darn — then I won’t be able to be happily naive anymore. I asked my dog Moe if he’d like to sit in and help. He gave me a look to remind me that he doesn’t even like it when I sit down to write because it takes away from his play time.
I’m Baaack!
Heehee, Pat. A horse would give your enemies ample ammo though about how you likely need cosmetic surgery. Need something cuter, like a bunny!
ME. I don’t worry about typos even to my name. The FEAR of the market is a powerful thing. I think most who are turned off just go away. But the ones who threaten financial retribution because you don’t believe as they do–I gotta wonder what’s that all about.
Sharon C, an attorney! (I could sorta tell by that logical and well-worded riff).
In a perfect world, the publisher who gets 92-85% of the gross profit would take on the entire burden of promo. Yeah, they still get to keep all the risk too, ’cause my world is perfect.
But unfortunately, I don’t run the world, and reality is the way it is–and we HAVE to market, like you said.
BTW, I’d have world peace too.
>Heehee, Pat. A horse would give your enemies ample ammo though about how you likely need cosmetic surgery. Need something cuter, like a bunny!
There’s a reason I don’t post clear pictures of myself. Believe me, a horse is a big improvement over the Real Me.
Going back to lurking…
Well, I have marketing and publicity experience AND I still want to write what I want to write. Does this make me terribly naive, a happy idiot or neither of the above?
It makes you a writer. And it makes me jealous.
You have marketing and publicity experience, lucky gurl? Run wit’ it!
Great column, Monica.
I tend to agree with PBW that marketing/promo isn’t alone going to sell books. It helps, but if the book is crap, the author isn’t going to sell well with the second one. Unfortunately, a lot of good books can’t generate the buzz necessary to rise to the top of the huge pack. That’s why consistently writing good stories will hopefully land a writer a solid career — either you’ll have a small but faithful following, or eventually one book with breakout and then you’ll have a successful backlist.
Tess Gerritsen, to me, is the epitome of this. THE SURGEON was her “breakout” novel; I loved it and THE APPRENTICE so much, I bought her entire backlist — they were all fabulous stories, particularly GRAVITY.
I write the stories that I want to write, and I hope that each one is better than the last.
Monica,
Your Llasa and my dachshund had better stay apart, but they have that toe licking thing down.
As for the Victorian, that’s perfect. Do you know how many nooks and crannies you can find in the Victorian? There’s room for a little of everything and a very unique group of voices in there. I’m with you. I’ll go for the Victorian every time.
“Instead of, how can I write a better book, an author’s most important question is becoming, how can I get enough people enough of the time to read my book?”
Amen, sister. This is exactly what tortures the contemporary author. Because you might write the best book you can, but Sally Author, who knows precisely what the majority wants, and knows how to deliver it fast and hot, will take up your shelf space, and your publisher’s marketing money will flow towards her new releases. Not because Sally is a better author, but because she happened to fit with the majority. And you and your Best But Not So Marketable Book (if it ever gets bought) are bound to have lukewarm reviews from ninety percent of the reviewers, and a few sad dusty paperbacks tucked in a dark corner of a bookstore.
PBW is a bigger optimist than me. I’ve seen so many great stories sink just because they weren’t mainstream, or weren’t marketed enough, or didn’t hit one of the public’s hot buttons, my pink glasses turned blood red.
Besides, on the final sad note. If you write your best book, the best book you can possibly write… it is not a guarantee the book will be any good. Applying one’s best effort does not always provide a brilliant result. If you want to write good books, and not bad books, it doesn’t mean you have it in you to write books good enough to overcome the market issue.
People tend to forget about that.
Daria,
You’re right. I gotta admit it.
Some people’s best isn’t good enough.
Romance is inherently a ranch house genre.
I think any author who’s very different from the pack needs to consider whether they want to publish in the romance genre carefully.
Especially the black author because the reality is that a black author writing black characters is simply not going to get read by the majority of romance readers regardless of how well or what she writes.
Tess Garritsen says she writes white characters because she wants to sell. Black women don’t really have that option either unless they are light skinned enough to look not quite black.
If a black romance author doesn’t write ranch houses that appeal to the readers in that small niche market, she’s screwed. Those niche readers want romance–traditional romance, sistahgurl, or soap opera. A fresh take is always welcome, but something completely different usually isn’t.
As a black woman, and with the atypical sort of book that I write, if I had to do it all over again, I’d go mainstream all the way–the direction I’m moving now, and never venture into romance at all.
But isn’t the competition in mainstream ever fiercer? More authors, smaller advances, less promotion? Than in genre fiction in general, I mean.
The competition in mainstream is fiercer and I think most white authors who tilt toward romance should take advantage of the huge romance market. It’s wide and varied as far as subgenre and type too, everything from Regency to erotica and all sorts of paranormal.
But the fact is that black authors don’t share in that greater romance market (no matter what their work is like), so it’s apples and oranges.
I think if a black romance author writes atypical books from what black romance niche readers want (such as paranormal novels), she’d be better off in mainstream where both blacks and whites are more likely to be exposed to her work, even though that market is much more competitive, as you say.
so in a way, for an untypical author, it seems to be choosing the lesser evil…
Exactly. . .