When to Write to the Market

This was between me and the keyboard this morning while I was writing. Always lovely to have someone so utterly unconcerned about whether or not I make word count.

So this week, we're wondering when we should write to the market? Well, hell. That's easy. You should write to the market when you're asked to. It doesn't happen often, but occasionally it does still happen. An editor will approach you with a hole in his or her calendar that must be filled with a certain type of book by a certain date. If you can produce on a truncated time frame and to spec, grab that opportunity. It's tough to accumulate a ton of good karma in traditional publishing (where this scenario is the most likely to go down) but this is a sure way of doing so.

Other than that, I agree whole heartedly with my fellow Word Whores. Writing to the market for the sake of cashing in on a thing is a gamble offering some really crappy odds. Spoiler: Those odds aren't in your favor. It's mostly a timing issue, so if you are indie pubbing, you can tip the odds your way a bit with super fast turn around. If it sounds like a fun challenge to you, go for it and more power to you. I suspect sometimes someone hits on a story that resonates and brings out all the copycats trying to cash in on the wave. But like Jeffe said, if what you want is to get rich, there are millions of easier ways in this world to go about that. So, for me, the only time I'd jump on a bandwagon and write a story copying the flavor du jour would be if the flavor du jour REALLY lit my fire. If I could sell Firefly fan fic, I'd be right there. I think we all of us have our specific, geeky 'OMG I MUST WRITE THAT' story (only we don't recognize it until someone else writes it and we read it and want to hop on that band wagon.) In that case - write to that market because it's fun and because you honestly love that market.

I did have another writer tell me once how to anticipate the market. She said to go to a bookstore (when there were such critters) and look at what's lined up on the best seller shelves in nonfiction. Do it often enough and you'll see themes. These are the things people are interested in and they show up in nonfiction about a year before the same themes show up in fiction. She took her own advice and realized that almost all of the nonfiction books on the best seller shelves were about angels. She got busy writing angel books. Hers were some of the first novels with and about angels to hit the paperback market. She did very, very well. So there you go. The secret sauce. Maybe. Good luck with it.

Writing to the Market - Is It *Always* Anathema?

This is like one of those "Can you spot the X?" photos. Can you spot the quail in this pic? While the others in the covey are scratching around and eating, one will get in a high spot and be the lookout for predators. At first I thought I hadn't gotten a good photo - several were out of focus - and then I zoomed in and wow!

Love how he's looking right at me, too.

Our topic in the bordello this week is when should you write to the market?

Which is an interesting question, really. That's a hugely common piece of advice, to NOT write to the market. The reason for this is because if a writer targets a book for what's hot RIGHT NOW, then by the time the book is written, revised, polished, sold and published, that will be what was hot a year ago at best.

Of course, this is advice is predicated on two ideas. 1) Writers are slow and it takes a long time to write a novel, and 2) that the book will be traditionally published which has very long lead times.

With the advent of digital and self-publishing, the long lead times are no longer the rule. Sure - if a writer goes for a traditional publishing contract, with paper copies to be produced, that can go a year or two out. But a digital publisher can turn a book around in a few months - and the self publisher can put up a book as soon as it's edited.

And I think we know that not all writers are slow. That's a false construct, in my opinion, but also a whole other topic.

So, all that said, if you write fast and can self- or digitally publish, why not write to the market?

Well, lots of self-publishers do that very thing! In fact, in one group I belong to, writers talked about scouring the top ranked books on Amazon and copying the premises of the ones selling well. They'd write their own version and put it up within weeks, capitalizing on that popularity. I have no idea how well that works for them, but people are sure doing it.

I also stopped going to that group, in part because of that conversation.

Let me first say that I'm not one of those who decries "selling out" or who thinks art should be done for its own sake. I think artists of all types should make money and be able to make a good living. I like money, and having things like food and a nice place to live.

That said, I also believe in the story. I often say that there are easier ways to make a living. If I'd wanted a direct path to wealth, I would have majored in finance and become a stockbroker. Lots of my friends in college did and they made heaps of money.

I wanted a different kind of life. I wanted a career where I felt I was contributing both something valuable to the world and feeding myself as a human being.

(I'm not saying stockbrokers don't feel their careers do this. For all I know, they do. That kind of thing just doesn't work for me.)

So, while I do consider the market in choosing my next writing project - as in, what I'm pretty sure is on down cycle and would do better for being back-burnered for a while - the idea of copying a premise that's selling well... That goes against my grain. It feels like the opposite of why I wanted to be a writer. I want to tell my own stories, not tweak someone else's.

I dunno - am I alone in feeling this way?