There's a new genre in town!

Move over Dystopian YA's. The hot new genre is: CRAP! Yup, not kidding. Go read Pub Rants if you don't believe me.

After reading that I sort of feel both disheartened and encouraged. I basically blogged about this the other day, writers (knowingly or not) following trends. Listen y'all... you may not know me from Adam, or even want to believe a word I say but I've got some ins in this biz and I'm telling you loud and clear... that ship has sailed. Editors are seeming more and more disgusted by it, to the point that even if you come across a REALLY GREAT read they already have a preconceived notion of what they're getting and are 9/10's of the way toward rejecting it before they even read the first word! Can Dystopian/Tweeny glittery vamps still sell? Sure, but with the sheer amount of queries out there yours had better be not only FRESH but also Fan-Freakin-Tastic! That's a very tall order. Which is sad, but unfortunately part and parcel of the business.

We saw the fallout from paranormal romances just a few years ago. What would have sold before in no time flat would now make anyone hestitant to make an offer on simply because the market can't really sustain it. I've always felt like I tried to keep one step ahead of the 'hot' new thing in para (listen, I write paranormals and fantasy... I won't stop simply because I know the market for it sucks eggs now) but no sooner would I get a brilliant idea to write about a new species of demon (nephilim) than I see tons of novels dealing with the Judaeo-Christian version of demons. So what do I do? I submitted that novel to several agents, many of whom requested more and responded favorably before ultimately rejecting it. Why? Because they already had 1 too many authors writing demon books. In fact, 3 of those 4 agents asked me if I had anything else for them to read. That told me one thing, they weren't giving me the pat 'it just wasn't for me' answer. They sincerely liked my voice but just weren't sure they'd be able to sell this book when they already had authors on their roster (and I'd bet my last dollar... they're having a tough time selling those).

I'm not saying don't write the Dystopian or glittery vamp, I'm just saying understand your market and if NY is your ultimate goal then realize you may never sell that book, no matter how good it is. :( As for me, I came to the conclusion that readers tastes don't really change, so while NY has had enough of para and now it seems certain categories of YA... readers still like what they like and will give my little demon a chance. I decided I like writing paras too much to pursue NY any longer. I'll be self pubbing, for me... that's probably my only good option left.

For you... just decide if you're willing to go through the rigors and headaches of being told this is great, but sorry... just can't take you on right now. Who knows, lightening always strikes... maybe it'll strike you. Whatever you decide, just think it through and decide just how much you're willing to put up with to realize your dream.

Happy writing!