Lesson 7: What if you’ve done all this or tried all this and you still don’t have your lowest common denominators? Or you still don’t quite understand what your single title publisher wants?
There could be several reasons for your problem.
1.You didn’t read enough books. Or maybe better said, you didn’t analyze enough books. Before I began writing I was a two-book-a-day reader. Having read thousands of books, I thought I understood everything about romance. When I decided to write, I quickly analyzed a book or two (thinking I knew everything from having read so much) and failed at getting published for the next six years.
Why?
Reading is not the same as analysis. You don’t catch nuances, see trends, or really understand anything about a line or the differences between the lines until you get things down on paper. Or in my case index cards.
2.You put too much faith in the wrong people. Lots of writers believe that the short cut to finding what a line wants is reading the “famous” authors or the “good books.” They define famous authors as single title writers who are doing guest appearances for a category line and don’t realize that single title writers might write exceptional books but they don’t always have to hit the marks of the line. Consequently, they get a skewed perspective of the line. This would be obvious if you read all the books for the line for six months. It would be quickly apparent that some authors really are so talented that no one wants to fuss with their work.
Conversely, it would also be obvious that bread and butter authors, people who do three, four or five books a year FOR THE SAME LINE never miss the marks. Frankly, they aren’t allowed. LOL
If you see something about books by these authors change…like if they begin writing Alpha heroes when they’d always written Betas, you can pretty much be sure that’s an across the board change for the line.
Why else might your analysis fail?
3.You put too much stock in reviews. Personally, most of the reviews I’ve read have been right on the money. But there are lots of ways and reasons a review can be off the mark. First, reviewers have personal preferences. Not a criticism, just a fact of life. Second, reviewers don’t always hold to the tenets of a line. Sometimes they don’t even know them. Third, reviewers aren’t consulted when a line is changing. They don’t know when marketing wants the line to “try something.” They could absolutely hate a book that’s too different not realizing that the line is about to shift completely in that direction. Fourth, they may not represent the taste of the readers. A reviewer may have been assigned a line or type of book she typically doesn’t read, which means she won’t be familiar with the things that are reader favorites.
Remember…your goal is to please readers. It’s a huge bonus if reviewers agree. It’s WONDERFUL when reviewers agree. But reviewers are only one piece of the puzzle.
4.Another reason your analysis may not be good is that you avoid “bad” books. If you never read a bad book the whole way through to the end you miss the opportunity to ask the magic question…
What’s the magic question? We’ll talk about that in the next lesson!
susan meier
THE BABY PROJECT 4/11
SECOND CHANCE BABY 5/11
A BABY ON THE RANCH 6/11
All part of BABY IN THE BOARDROOM series for Harlequin Romance
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