Thank you so much to Sam @ River Moose Reads for letting me be a guest on her wonderful blog. Please check it out when you get the chance. Sam is devoted to her studies and somehow manages to miraculiously find time to review books. I have no idea how she does it 🙂 This week Sam has a couple of my posts appearing exclusively on River Moose Reads.
Imagine you are making a mad dash because you are running late. You see an old friend who has heard you wrote a novel and wants to know more. You don’t have long and blurt out. ‘It’s a young adult fantasy series with dragons, wizards, and sorcery.’ Then wave goodbye. This is exactly how I describe my book to people when I am unsure if they like the genre. Guess what? Your first goal as a writer is to find out who is not your audience. When you know your genre you can whittle it down to the key bits of information. It is a starting point, like a secret code that is easily understood by your real audience. Key words in a genre can mean so much. It can help find your audience in a short space of time by relying on familiarity.
So you have spent ages writing and are unsure about the genre of your story. The real issue with this is that you, the writer are your story’s biggest advocate. If you are unsure this can magnify the confusion many times over. A genre helps find an audience by using themes and styles that already exist. Every story may be a little different. The key is finding the familiar threads so you can explain it in a clear manner. It acts as a guide to let your audience know what to expect. More importantly it lets them know what not to expect.
I was wandering through a shop and saw a book with a cover that said ‘fantasy’. I checked the blurb to make sure and it suggested fantasy. You can imagine what happened next… It was paranormal romance. My point is, you don’t have to get the exact details right just the basics. When you choose a genre your choice is there to help your audience find your story. Your tagline, blurb and book cover all become an important message to your reader. Knowing your genre can add an extra layer of information to help your audience.
If you have ever been through a long process you will know what it’s like. In case you haven’t guessed this has been a major project. From the first moment to all the changes along the way and the decisions that had to be made. I am a writer first and foremost. It has been a roller coaster ride and I have met some wonderful people along the way. My friends are writers, readers, indie authors and traditionally published. There has been so much to learn along the way and sifting through the advice takes time. One consistent message that comes across is that writing is hard work. Editing is hard work and so is making the decision to be an indie author.
If my life was a movie I can definitely say there was a huge fall before getting to this stage. I won’t lie. I almost died and for a few months spent time in hospital. Everything became jumbled and that carefully considered plan disappeared. There are two main types of self-published books. The one you publish for yourself and the one you publish for an audience. The first time I hit the publish button it was for me. I am not ashamed to say it was a selfish decision. All I wanted was to hold a physical copy of my book. After everything that happened to get that far was a big achievement.
Something rather unexpected occurred from my first attempt I gained a few fans. Yes it was a surprise to me and I felt like I owed it to them to put all the hard work in to re-release the book. Only this time it would be for an audience. How much work is involved? Oh my goodness. I thought I knew, but that was nowhere close. Feedback from readers, comments for the developmental stage. How many edits? I lost count after more than twenty. Then there were professional edits, cover art and learning programs. Wow! Was it worth it? Yes. Was I prepared for the amount of hard work? Maybe, but the journey made the result absolutely worth it.
In the beginning I wrote for me then thanks to a few fans I wrote for an audience. In all it has been an incredible journey spanning twelve years. From the moment I sat down at my desk. I began writing the first chapter from a series of dreams that stayed with me and wanted to be told. Then deleted it and began again. This time it was real. After writing snippets, building a world and naming characters this was it. A fantasy world appeared, one with dragons and wizards, swords and sorcery, and adventure. Thanks to everyone who has been part of the journey.
