The cafe workers, three of them, had no clue what was going on. There were no price lists on the wall but I didn't hold that against them. But between the three of them, they didn't know how to make an ice coffee. I would have settled for a regular coffee but I had gone running about an hour before I left the house and I needed something cold with ice. So I ended up buying an overpriced drink from their cooler.
I'll visit them again next week and see how the store is shaping up.
But I did read an interesting article about mistakes writers make that will hold back their efforts to get published. One I read with interest was the advice to not write only what is currently hot in the market. Not long ago, vampires were everywhere, every new book, all of them competing with the few authors who had made it big with their series about big-hearted vampires. Now we have an influx of zombie books and movies. What will it be tomorrow? Who knows. It's better to write the story you want and have passion for than to try to write something copying today's flash fashion.
I love epic fantasy with lots of swords and some sorcery. But even with the popularity of the LOTR rings movies and the HBO series of Game of Thrones, it's not an easy genre to sell and only a few authors are making it big time in this niche market. But I will continue to write what I love and feel comfortable doing. I'm not going to add vampires or zombies to my world of magic, men with swords and elves.
Do you agree about writing what you're passionate about or do you believe you need to get in on the current trends? Do you feel your particular genre or field of interest is booming or bust in the current market?
12 comments:
Everything I read said science fiction was dead, but I kept writing anyway. My genre (space opera/adventure) still isn't that popular, but I found a publisher and a market anyway. If I wanted to write popular, I could tackle distopian or high tech. Neither is me though.
Stick to what you want to write, Susan!
I agree with Alex. It's always better to write what you love because that is what shines through to readers. Trends come and go, I love werewolves and of course I get, well vampires are more popular. Sometimes what I write may be popular, but that's just luck. Staying true to your voice is what matters most.
Write what you are passionate about and that translates to readers. Reading this makes me miss Borders. What a great bookstore that was, wish they were still around.
I remember reading somewhere that no one bought contemporary anymore whe I started writing.... But I wrote contemporary anyway.... And now it's coming back to some kind of popularity. Write to your passion with an audience in mind
I think you should write what you're passionate about as well.
I could never write to trend. It wouldn't be authentic.
But neither can I dismiss what the market wants. If they want vampires, someone will supply them. It just won't be me. ;-)
I agree with you all. I'm sticking with my fantasy writing.
I'll take a passionately written story over a trend any day! :)
Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse
I write what I'm passionate about. Fortunately, theoretical physics and all the crazy stuff they talk about fascinates a large segment of the population.
Definitely write what's in your heart. I am not, and have never been a bog fan of vampires and all that stuff. I write humorous women's fiction (AKA Chick Lit) which they say is completely dead. Well, it's not, just the name has changed. Authors are still selling humorous stores. But the market is saturated right now with all things paranormal. Maybe when that's done, people will crave something different...they'll want funny again. And I'll be here waiting with lots of books to sell!
I think when we write what we're passionate about, the story has heart in it. And it's just that heart that connects with our readers.
I've been in my local BAM store a few times now and I really, really miss Borders.
As for writing, I love epic fantasy and I write epic fantasy and I will continue to do so even if I never sell a single copy of it to anyone anywhere.
I may dabble with other genres but my heart resides with fantasy.
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