neodoering
Minstrel
Every few years a trilogy of vampire novels goes completely berserk on the sales chart, and another millionaire writer is born. So people write vampire novels. They write a thousand vampire novels every year and spam the inboxes of agents, editors and publishers with their stories. And inevitably, some of these will be accepted and will be published, and they will make their writers some money.
And ditto with cyberpunk stories. And steampunk. And "invading aliens" stories. And "talking animals" stories. etc.
The point is, these tried and true marketing categories are formulaic and well-defined, so all you have to do is study the forms and then produce your own copy. The competition is fierce, because it's easier to mimic someone else's success than forge a path to success for yourself, but at least you're taking a chance on material with a proven rate of success.
On the other hand, there are those writers who strike out on their own, writing about subjects that are personally interesting to them. There is no proven track record of success for their ideas, and no neat marketing categories all ready-made. Just the desire to tell a story out of personal experience.
Which type of writer are you? You know it's a waste of time to fight the competition for another vampire novel. But you also know it's a waste of time writing an entire novel that doesn't fit a neat marketer's dream. In either case, your chances for success are tiny, almost microscopic. So which do you think is better, and why?
And ditto with cyberpunk stories. And steampunk. And "invading aliens" stories. And "talking animals" stories. etc.
The point is, these tried and true marketing categories are formulaic and well-defined, so all you have to do is study the forms and then produce your own copy. The competition is fierce, because it's easier to mimic someone else's success than forge a path to success for yourself, but at least you're taking a chance on material with a proven rate of success.
On the other hand, there are those writers who strike out on their own, writing about subjects that are personally interesting to them. There is no proven track record of success for their ideas, and no neat marketing categories all ready-made. Just the desire to tell a story out of personal experience.
Which type of writer are you? You know it's a waste of time to fight the competition for another vampire novel. But you also know it's a waste of time writing an entire novel that doesn't fit a neat marketer's dream. In either case, your chances for success are tiny, almost microscopic. So which do you think is better, and why?