Writing the novel you want to read might be fun, but it doesn’t mean your novel will sell (or even get published). If you want to write novels that sell, you have to write for more than yourself—you have to write for your audience.
Think of it this way: if you went to an art gallery advertising a sculpture show, how would you feel if you walked into a watercolor exhibit? It doesn’t matter how the artist defines sculptures and watercolors; what matters is how the audience defines them. The audience has specific expectations, and the artist needs to meet those expectations. The same is true for writers.
The reason this matters is that you’re not going to buy your book—your audience is. If you’re not giving them what they want, they aren’t going to buy your book (or they’re going to buy it, be disappointed, and not buy any more).
There are two main ways in which novelists write for themselves instead of their audience. They are:
- Using outdated techniques/styles.
- Misunderstanding genres.
Outdated Techniques/Styles
Many writers love classic literature, but there’s a reason why publishers don’t currently publish books in the styles of Jane Austen or Ernest Hemingway—they don’t sell.
Today’s readers aren’t the same as readers 100 (or even 50) years ago. They want to see more and they want a deeper emotional connection with the characters. You accomplish this through active writing/showing and through deep third- or first-person point-of-view; the classics, however, used more passive writing/telling and often relied on the omniscient narrator.
Passive writing with an omniscient narrator isn’t technically wrong, but it’s not what audiences expect or want. You might be willing to buy a contemporary novel written in a classical style, but sales reports show the majority of readers are not.
Misunderstanding Genres
Authors don’t get to pick the genre of their books—the story determines the genre. I’ve read many books that were mislabeled because the author wanted their book to be in a specific genre, but they didn’t actually write that type of story.
This happens a lot in romance. It’s the best selling fiction genre, so authors want to call their novels romance novels to tap into the audience. The problem is that the romance genre has very specific requirements. Readers expect to see certain things happen in a romance novel—just because a book includes a kiss doesn’t make it a romance.
A similar thing keeps happening in the young adult genre. Simply having young characters doesn’t make the book a young adult novel; it needs to include appropriate topics and a certain style. Literary fiction with 18-year-old protagonists marketed as young adult fiction probably won’t do well.
Just because you want your book to fit into a certain genre doesn’t mean it will. You need to know what audiences expect from each genre so you can find out where your novel fits.
Knowing your audience—understanding what they expect and want—will help you connect with readers in the right way. And when you connect with them in the right way, you’ll sell more books.
Still have questions? Let me know! karin@karinbeery.com
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Are there facts to back up that literary fiction in classic form doesn’t sell?
I don’t have a specific article, but there are definite trends in the industry, and a few publications have written about the rising popularity in genre vs. literary in the past decade. For me, the best litmus test is always what publishers want–if they can sell it, they’ll ask for it. Very few of the large publishers are actively seeking literary fiction. (Great question!)