What's Your Genre?

Day 218

“Think as narrowly as you can and find a pocket of readers who are passionate about the same things you are.”

~ Kevin Kaiser, WD

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Most readers have a favorite genre. I personally love reading historical romances novels or anything with horses in it. However, I don't care for Amish fiction, but I will read contemporary romances novels and even romantic suspense novels on occasion. After all, my book budget is only so big and my library only has so many books.

When I find an author that I like, I’m always on the lookout for their books – and am ultimately let down when their new series is in a different genre. Sometimes I’ll read their new books, and sometimes I’ll just move onto someone else in the right genre. This is why a large number of people will warn authors against genre hopping – but a large number of authors ignore those warnings. I won’t say one way or another if genre hopping is bad, but if you do genre hop, you have to re-identify your target audience each and every time – because not all the same readers will be interested.

You can’t market your new fantasy book to readers who loved your historical fiction novel. A few might bite, but many won’t. This is another area where working with other authors in your niche can be helpful. Cross promoting can help you build a reader base quicker than trying to do it all on your own.

Marketing prompt:

If you're just starting out in a new genre, see if another author would be willing to do a marketing exchange and place the first chapter of your book in the back of one of theirs – and of course you would need to return the favor.

Days to go: 147