The Hidden Mystery Behind Switching Genres.
What's it like to switch writing genres?
What is genre and why can it be confusing?
Genre can be confusing to work in and around when it comes to being an aspiring author and even for established authors. For this post I’m going to define genre in the fiction category. Most often you will have; mystery, thriller/crime, horror, romance, comedy, fantasy, and science fiction. What makes it so confusing is subgenres and all the ways that genre can be mixed and matched. Let’s take a popular book series; Harry Potter. Harry Potter books fall into Children’s Lit. and move into young adult by the end of the series. They are also mysteries set in the fantasy genre. We could get even more picky and say that Harry Potter is an Urban Fantasy, mystery novels for children and young adults. You see what I mean?
What genre do you write, share your genres below in the comments. I’d love to talk about genres with you.
What genre did I start writing in? Well if you’ve been reading my blog for a while or found me because of my first novel published early 2021. You know that I write Romance, suspense fiction. This is my anchor genre and series, what in the world am I talking about now with anchor genres and series?
The belief about publishing and genre.
An anchor genre or series is whatever genre or series you publish first and focus most of your publishing attention on. The basic school of thought about publishing is start in one genre or with one series in that genre and make that your anchor genre and series. This makes it easy for readers to connect with you and the algorithm of book sale sites like Amazon to categorize you. You want to make friends and understand the algorithm of the biggest sites, believe me. Our world now runs on algorithms. I hear you, but I want to write in other genres. I have so many stories to tell. For more on why this is important see the interview with Rachel Lacey we did earlier this year and her issues and plans to deal with the algorithms when she switched genres under the same pen name.
Why might you want to mix things up a bit?
I didn’t say you couldn’t write other genres, I said you need to make your anchor genre and/or series the main focus of your publishing attention. Here are some reasons you might want to mix things up and write in other genres or write outside your series.
You have a compelling story idea and you can’t walk away from it
You need to refill the well and writing about the same stuff is stifling your creativity
You want to work on a series in another genre that will take years to brainstorm and get right
I often make notes in my writers’ notebook. If I have a story idea hit me, I might also work on the plot and characters in my off months. If it really is compelling I’ll add the project to my writing year plan.
Stagnation is the bane of creativity. Sometimes you need something else to write to get you excited again. It’s a good idea to have some projects on your writing year plan that aren't the same old thing. Mix it up and meet some new characters.
I’m working on an urban fantasy noir mystery series and it’ll be years before it goes to publication. Why, you might ask, would I wait? One, I want to write several of the novels and shorts so that way I can publish them quickly. Also I want to have alpha readers beat up my world building and magic system while they are still in the early stages.
Okay I wrote in another genre now what?
So you wrote a book in a different genre now what do you do? Make a plan first of all. Do you want to publish this work? If you say yes, where do you want to publish it? There are a lot of options for you to share your writing with your readers or with new readers.
You could try pitching it to publishers.
Share it on Kindle vella.
Share it on Campfire Blaze’s new site.
Share it in your Newsletter.
Share it on Wattpad as public or private.
Publish it under a different pen name as your anchor series.
Work on it and save it for publication later like I’m doing.
Whatever you’re going to do, just know that things change. Please share in the comments your experience working in different genres and what you’re working on.
What I’m working on…
Small Embers the next free novella for you! I’m less than 4 chapters away from finishing the last edits.
Burning Desires the Fire series box set that includes Small Embers.
Obsidian Vendetta Book 1 of the P.I.R. series last edits. 3 chapters in and I want to get this book to your this summer. Learn more at Ann Crow.
Hematite without Faith episodes on Medium. A free urban fantasy serial story.
Amber and Ashes episodes on Medium. A free urban fantasy serial story I co-write with D. C. Sadie.
Currently I’m enjoying…
Watching shows of course you can learn what I’m watching and more here.
Podcast Your Own Backyard on Spotify.
What I’m using available on Amazon.
Check out the merch from Rachel D. Adams “Emotionally bonded to fictional Dragons” at her merch store.