the new black

As with trends in cuisine and fashion, the book world too is ever changing. The problem with trends is this, the moment you jump on board with one, the market has already moved on to something new. For instance, all those authors and publishers who attempted to jump on the vampire trend after the overwhelming success of Twilight were most likely too late. The market, now flooded with vamp books, moved to (believe it or not) zombie books. Yeah, I know, that sounds crazy but just google the 2009 Best Seller Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and you’ll see I speak the truth. So now there are zombie anthologies popping up all over and guess what? The trend has moved to steam punk. The release of Android Karenina (a robot steam punk rewrite of the classic Anna Karenina) is proof of that. But of course, by the time authors and publishers try to follow suit, the market will have shifted once again.

So I guess the trick is to either be a soothsayer and know what the next trend will be, 0r write in a genre that is always popular. I write romance. I get a lot of flack for writing romance, but you know what? Romance sells. During the great recession of 2009, romance sales increased. It was even on the news as people who belittle the genre for not being ‘important literature’ had to admit there is a place in this world for good old fashioned mindless entertainment. When people are losing their jobs and their homes, why wouldn’t they want something to take their mind off reality for a few hours. And with movie theater tickets creeping steadily upward (not to mention the price of the popcorn and soda which should be considered extortion), a good old paperback is looking more and more like a bargain.

So yes I have to put up with the critics who say I write trash and laugh at me. I laugh all the way to the bank with my royalty checks because I write what sells. Does that make me a sell out? No, it makes me smart. Besides I wouldn’t do it no matter how well it sold if I didn’t love my job.

One of the biggest compliments I’ve ever received was when one of the executives of a major production company called me “very commercial”. I did ask the person the comment was made to if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He told me it was a very good thing and I agree.

Until next time.

Cat

Tags: authors, books, romance

This entry was posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 9:45 am and is filed under writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.