This is another blast-from-the-past post, and I'm bending my Friday Fave rules to make this fit. (I highly recommend that everyone become a rule maker, because it's so much more fun when you become a rule breaker.)
It can be so hard to "find your niche", whether it's on the bookshelves, or in the other parts of Real Life. Apparently we humans can only cope with stuff if we can categorize it. The problem is that very few things fit in only ONE category, but it's as if the rule book says, "One category per customer". So we struggle to find that one perfect descriptor, the mot juste that will let all the people searching sigh with relief once they've found this particular item.
But how can you find your niche if it hasn't been created yet? When it comes to publishing, there are certain pre-set categories/niches that authors are asked to squeeze their manuscript into. The funny thing is, the more somebody tries to make something fit, the more that category expands, to the point that the original description doesn't begin to cover it anymore.
I'm assuming back in the days when storytelling was oral, not written, there were no categories. It was a "story", something to pass the time while gnawing on brontosaurus bones, as well as a way to applaud the bravery of the brontosaurus catcher, and inspire future brontosaurus hunters to great deeds.
No doubt the stories changed with the re-telling, for any number of reasons. Maybe Gork was in a hurry to see Mrs. Gork one night, and he abbreviated certain parts so he could get to "The End" more quickly. Or maybe Gork Junior was yawning during the fifteenth re-telling, so Gork revised based on the immediate audience feedback. Or perhaps there was a Gork wannabe, who was transcribing the tale by drawing stick figures on the cave walls, and he decided to tell the story from the brontosaurus' POV.
From that point it seems there was "fiction" and "non-fiction", and that probably sufficed for a while. But then sub-categories started cropping up, so it was necessary to re-organize, so that people could find what they were looking for again. And then the sub-categories started to expand.
For instance, the category of "romance" was too big to cover all the myriad variations of stories. "Contemporary" and "historical" made things easier, but then how do you deal with things like vampires and werewolves? Um, let's create "paranormal". But what about when these paranormal stories focus less on the romance? Well, we can call it "urban fantasy".
Writers keep writing the stories they love, and then try to find the appropriate slot on the bookshelf. Too often they're told "I don't know how to sell this", which means, "there isn't a category that fits this yet".
The only thing you can do is create your own category. (Granted, we all want to be labeled "best-selling", but that's another post.) Instead of trying to mold yourself to fit into the current niches, which will often result in losing your voice, or hook, or the storyline that makes your book wow everyone who reads it – what you need to do is create your own category.
Sounds hard though. How do you pitch a book, to an agent or an editor, when it doesn't fit in the pre-defined categories? You describe the story, the elements that make everyone want to know: "what happens next?" You make everyone care about the characters, and what they're striving for, whether it's set on the desolate fourteenth moon of Jupiter, in the fiery cubicle of Satan's business manager, or a Mississippi riverboat piloted by prom queens.
Every time I've heard a writer ask an agent/editor panel, "Would you consider such-and-such story" (generally a story without a current category), the agent/editor replies, "I'm looking for a great story".
Your story is great. It may not fit into a particular slot on the current bookshelves. If it doesn't, that's fine, because now your job is changing "That's not what we're looking for", into "Because we didn't know we were looking for THIS!"
Does your book bend the current category definitions? Did it start out as one category and blend with another? Tell us the story about your story!
*giggle
Piratepunk. What else can I say!? I gave up trying to fit into someone's idea of a genre and made up my own. And when I pitched it, to editor's eyes lit up at the words piratepunk, two agents grinned and said they got shivers...
BWAH HA HA!
Next, to take over the world.
Posted by: Maureen | September 17, 2010 at 01:59 PM
LOL, Maureen. This post was written for you, even if I didn't know you yet when I wrote it! I love that the editors and agents shivered -- they knew it was a good story even if it didn't fit the prescribed genres.
And now that you've sold a book, you're going to be too busy to take over the world! (Whew!)
Posted by: Donna Cummings | September 17, 2010 at 02:12 PM
Great blog, Donna. For non-RWA members out there, every year RWA has a contest called the Golden Heart which is very prestigious if you final. Several years ago, they had to add a new category called "Mainstream with Romantic Elements" for exactly the reasons you stated. There are a lot of writers who really don't fit the romance genre with all the rules. I sold to Berkley Prime Crime, yet I call my genre mystery with romance since that is a part of the story.
Some of my favorite stories cross the genre lines.
Thanks for the thought-provoking blog today.
Posted by: Liz Lipperman | September 17, 2010 at 07:48 PM
Or, maybe, "SteamPirate"? Sort of Steampunk meets Pirate, with hotties....and maybe chocolate...and coffee......
Posted by: Bren | September 17, 2010 at 07:49 PM
Liz, thanks for mentioning the "Mainstream with Romantic Elements" category -- that's a great example. In fact, I remember how there used to be "long historical" and "short historical" categories years ago, so they've changed to keep up with what writers are writing now!
I can't wait to read your books. I love "mystery with romance" - it makes both parts even better together like that. :)
Posted by: Donna Cummings | September 17, 2010 at 08:02 PM
"SteamPirate" works for me! Especially if there's a side of hotties, and chocolate, AND coffee!
Posted by: Donna Cummings | September 17, 2010 at 08:03 PM
Nope, someone else has to do steampirate... I have more pirate than steam!
Posted by: Maureen | September 17, 2010 at 08:32 PM
LOL, I don't think I even have steam right now! I put it all into the writing today. *makes train whistle sound* That's all the steam I've got!
Posted by: Donna Cummings | September 17, 2010 at 08:45 PM
Hey! Had to see if my odd bad luck with my posts going through was a thing of the past. LOL
The growing list of categories makes me think eventually we'll go back full circle and it will just be fiction and non-fiction once again. LOL Or maybe a numbering system like fast food to make it easy? Like, #1: Romance, #2, Mystery, #3 Thriller etc. And a Value Menu of options: Contemporary, Paranormal, Comedy, Historical etc.
Customer: "I'll have a #1. Oh, and from the Value Menu some Comedy.
Bookstore Clerk (nods): Do you want that super sized with a Happy Ending today?
Customer (blinks in surprise): Of course! Doesn't everyone?
Clerk (sighs sadly): You'd think so, wouldn't you? But not everyone agrees.
Posted by: Melissa | September 17, 2010 at 09:47 PM
Melissa, I'm so glad you've beaten the blog gremlins! Finally!
And I'm dying laughing at your Value Menu - that is brilliant! LOL And so easy to work with. :) When it happens, we can say "Melissa predicted it here first!"
Posted by: Donna Cummings | September 17, 2010 at 10:23 PM
Yep, I think it would simplify things. LOL It's how we should submit too. But lots of kinks though...still debate for what's the main category and rates a Number and what's an extra? Darn. Back to square one. LOL Throw it all together as a buffet? :)
Posted by: Melissa | September 17, 2010 at 10:33 PM
Sounds like a menu in a Chinese restaurant! Love it!
Posted by: Maureen | September 17, 2010 at 11:12 PM
Melissa, I could go with the buffet/smorgasbord/salad bar idea. LOL Or a food court -- everyone can pick what they like that way!
Posted by: Donna Cummings | September 18, 2010 at 08:36 AM
Maureen, between you and Melissa, I am STARVING now!
Posted by: Donna Cummings | September 18, 2010 at 08:37 AM
Mine could fit into a couple categories...I go with the most obvious, but I could regear it if need be.
Posted by: colbymarshall | September 19, 2010 at 11:24 PM
Colby, I have a book like that -- although the thought of regearing it makes me whimper. LOL
Posted by: Donna Cummings | September 20, 2010 at 09:02 AM
I'm a little late to this posting but wanted to add I have some writer friends creating their own genre: Feline Erotica Crime Solvers. It's a niche market but sure to be the next big thing, right?
Posted by: Tracy Roper | September 24, 2010 at 03:29 PM
Tracy, that's definitely genre-bending! Which part is the Erotica? The crime solvers, or the felines? LOL
Posted by: Donna Cummings | September 24, 2010 at 03:46 PM