I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
By Greer Macallister | December 2, 2024 |
This month’s post takes its title from a long-running off-Broadway show. I’ve never seen the musical myself, but the title is one of those phrases that just sort of hangs out in the arena of general pop culture awareness. As I was thinking about the current state of publishing, it struck me as the right way of expressing a particular trend.
I love you, you’re perfect, now change.
In a way, of course, it’s not a trend at all. Authors in traditional publishing, and to a certain degree those who self-publish as well, have always been asked to thread a particular needle: your books need to be enough like proven successful books to strike a chord with a large readership, but they also need to stand out from the crowd. Debut authors come up against this with their first idea—how will publishers describe the book to their acquisitions committees, to sales teams, to bookstores, to readers themselves? Mid-career writers also get a brand of it—how do you ensure that the readers who loved what you’ve written so far will also love your next book and the book after that? We’ve always been asked to do the same thing but a little differently.
But the need to change seems more prevalent now than ever before. Soft sales in many areas over the past few years are creating even more tension and worry on publishing teams. Authors who’ve been comfortable publishing in a particular groove are now being asked to think about heading in a different direction. If an author whose historical romances you’ve loved for years happens to pop up with a contemporary murder mystery with an illustrated cover, it might be their choice, or it might be something their agent or editor asked them to do.
I love you, you’re perfect, now change.
As an author, on one hand, this seems frustrating. If you’ve put a lot of work establishing yourself in a certain market, spinning off in a different direction can be uncomfortable or even impossible. Most authors can’t just flip a switch and come up with a killer idea in a new genre, not as easily as they can brainstorm ideas in a subgenre they’ve been writing and reading in for ages.
On the other hand, what an opportunity, right? For years, we’ve been hearing the advice that once you establish yourself as a certain type of author, you should stick to that genre to keep your readers happy. But most readers read more than one genre—and most authors are certainly capable of writing more than one. From my personal experience trying my hand at epic fantasy after years of writing historical fiction, I found it immensely freeing to let my creativity loose and not be bound by pesky facts like whether a small-town sheriff’s office would have had a telephone in 1905 or what year sequins were invented.
Some of the greatest success stories of publishing in the last 20 years are from writers who became known for a particular type of writing but then struck out in a new direction with a new idea. Rebecca Yarros with Fourth Wing. Taylor Jenkins Reid with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Kate Quinn with The Alice Network. In “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” staying the same while also changing is the key to successful romantic relationships; but it can have its advantages in publishing as well.
Q: If you’ve established yourself in a certain genre, how hard do you think it would be to shift to a new direction? Do you read authors who write across multiple genres?
Raised in the Midwest, Greer Macallister earned her MFA in creative writing from American University. Her historical novels have been named Book of the Month, Indie Next, LibraryReads, Target Book Club, and Amazon Best Book of the Month picks and optioned for film and television. Her latest novel, The Thirteenth Husband, is inspired by Aimee Crocker, the Paris Hilton of the Gilded Age. Macallister also writes the ongoing Five Queendoms epic fantasy series as G.R. Macallister. A regular contributor to Writer Unboxed and the Chicago Review of Books, she lives with her family in Boston, MA. www.greermacallister.com
An interesting question to start the week—although I think it’s actually three questions.
The first question is about whether, as a writer, I can dare to risk a different form of creativity. To try something that might be hard and have its own learning curve, making me a beginner again. Exciting, invigorating, scary, of no interest? It depends on my personality, circumstances, goals, timing, etc.
The second is whether I will have access to publication if I try something different—that is, on who controls that access. Do I have to please and convince an agent, editor, publisher that this is a good horse for them to bet on? Or is it more-or-less my choice? Self-published authors, have maximum power to make that decision. Hybrid authors are somewhere in the middle; a good hybrid publisher is more concerned about the quality of the work (which reflects on its brand) than the genre or deviation from previous books, since its profit is not on line. If I really, really want to try something new but those with power tell me no—what then? Do I switch publication paths? Is that an option?
And the third question is about access to readers—marketing, making a convincing case for the new direction—in a landscape that is more and more over-saturated with books than ever before. Sometimes that can be thwarted by factors that are entirely out of my control: political and economic events, similar books that have just come out, etc. If I try something new and can’t find readers, there isn’t necessarily a conclusion to be drawn, a lesson to be learned. Here. again, if I have some measure of control over my work and its pathway into the market, I can try again. It isn’t true that water always finds a path or cream always, and by its nature, rises to the top. Context is complicated. Merit and value and goodness don’t always triumph, as we know.
This isn’t an argument for self-publishing, by the way. Simply a few thoughts to parse the question a bit.
I would love to hear what others think!
Greer, I suppose the only constant thing in my life has been change–from being a scientist to a stay-at-home mom to a children’s writer and it’s only recently that I’ve started exploring writing for a Christian adults even though I converted 15 yrs ago–so I find change a wonderful opportunity for growth. I can honestly say that it takes me a decade of intense study before I am able to consolidate ideas to share them. That said, some things will never change. I’ll always be a wife, a mother, a writer, a teacher, a musician. The past few years, I’ve been more focused on music than the writing, but writing always draws me–it’s how I make sense of the world. Maybe I’ll write about music, but I find that where words ends, that’s when the music begins, so I don’t know…
Some of my favorite writers write across multiple genres: Jane Yolen, Donna Jo Napoli, Neil Gaiman, Jacqueline Woodson. Barbara above makes an excellent point about parsing your question. I’ve been taking risks my whole life so it’s natural for me to take risks with my writing as well. It’s so incredibly freeing. Although most of my books are traditionally published, I plunged into self-publishing in 2018 with a novel (my first) and loved it. Alas, I’m also discovering that it takes a lot more than writing chops to be successful as a self-published author. But I’m not sorry. I love everything about making books. Thanks for your meaty post this Monday morning after Thanksgiving…I’m still digesting :)
When I finish my mainstream literary trilogy, Pride’s Children, I’m going back to my first plan: a mystery series with a young Mexican-American engineering student as my detective, using a combination of the people and situations on both sides of the border.
I loved that, have gotten diverted on the other for 24 (plus maybe another 4 or 5 to finish) years now, and can still remember where I was (Acapulco Deadlymoon was being plotted) and what comes next.
We’ll see – I’ve learned a few good tricks in all these years.
My first published book was middle grade historical fiction published as Chris Eboch. Then I wrote middle grade ghost stories, and a lot of educational books for K-12. The children’s book market changed in ways I didn’t like, so I switched to romantic suspense for adults. Then sweet romance, and now also cozy and paranormal mystery. I have a idea for a new historical novel for young people, but I’ll probably do it as fantasy horror, as that’s more marketable than middle grade historical fiction (and would also be fun). I wouldn’t say jumping around has hurt me any, though I’m certainly not rich or famous yet, so who knows? If nothing else, it’s kept me entertained.
Most of my favorite authors stay pretty much in their lanes, but fortunately for me, Greer, I will be disappointing neither publisher nor readers if I switch gears. Across four continents, three bookselling sites and seven years, my two modern-fantasy novels have been eagerly purchased and read by about fourteen people. And one of them was me.
I am definitely thinking about switching to a different genre, or maybe it should be “switching back.” My first book was a science-fiction story (the kind with no spaceships) and the second was an amateur sleuth mystery. Neither made it to publication, although I enjoyed the processes, and I think either of them could be revived. They’re still on the slab in the basement.
And I will certainly be self-publishing, although not without assistance: I enjoy the production and art side of making books, up to a point, but I don’t have enough years left to tackle the everchanging software.
Personally, I think that some genres (such as contemporary and historical women’s fiction) are easier to straddle than others (for example, fantasy and literary fiction). Maybe the reason for this is that often the same readers tend to enjoy both of these genres (contemporary and historical), especially if the novels in question fall under the same larger umbrella or sub-genre (women’s fiction).
We are supposed to stay in one genre?
Not happening. I don’t read in one genre. I read in many genres and love when authors mash them together in new ways. And I’ll admit, I write like I read–in several genres–romance, mystery/suspense, historical romance, women’s literature, Sci-fi/fantasy mash up–and yes, I write in several of those genres. I love trying new things and stretching my abilities. And therein is the reason I didn’t go traditional. I’d be bored in a year.