Marketing Yourself.

Today we're going to talk about marketing ourselves as writers.

I came across a tweet one day where someone made a comment about if you write in numerous genres it would be hard to market your novels because people wouldn't know how to classify you as a writer.

Cue the eyebrow raise. Really? Huh. I beg to differ.

I for one, mostly write YA novels but I have written one in every genre. Contemporary, Dystopian, Horror, Steampunk, you name it, I've written it. So why would that make me hard to market? What it tells me is that I'm eclectic. Truthfully, I've always been that way--with everything! Music, books, movies etc. If you went through my ipod right now you'd find at least one song in every genre. So why is that a bad thing? Simple. It's not.

Why? It all comes down to voice. Readers can connect to any novel if they feel the main character. And it doesn't matter what genre you write, if the voice is there, it's there.

Secondly, your style of writing has a lot to do with it. If Lauren Oliver wrote a horror novel, there is a 99.9 percent chance that I'm going to love it. Because I love her style of writing. I'm going to refer to Miss Oliver again because her first novel was a contemporary, second, a dystopian. Which proves all the more that genre has nothing to do with it. If you are a good writer, you are a good writer, period.

The marketing area is a whole different ball game but it all has to do with the niche market. You need to know your market for each novel. If I sent out my horror novel to readers who are fans of contemporary fiction, i'm assuming they aren't going to dig it..... or will they?

Here's the skinny, readers crave great writing,great story-telling, and great books. As a kid, I can remember jumping from a book like Little Women straight to Garden of Shadows. Both great books. Two very different styles of writing. Very different genres. Did I dislike Garden of Shadows because the genre was different from something I'd normally read? Heck no. I could connect to Olivia just like I could connect to The March Family.

Nobody. I repeat nobody should try and tell you not to write a novel that you want to write because it's a different genre than what you usually write. You need to write that novel. You shouldn't be hindered. Let your creative mind explode into something amazing.

Because in the end, no matter what the genre, there are a plethora of readers out there and if you write it, they will come.

Cheers!