Tuesday Smackdown: Genre Skipping- Sudden Death of a Career or Just Good Business Sense

April: When a new writer sits down to write the great American (British, Italian, Intercontinental…) romance, the last thing they’re probably thinking about is what genre they want to base their career on. In fact, most are just too excited to get started and begin writing in whatever genre comes out.

But when you start looking towards publication and building a fanbase and a career, it’s time to get serious. What genre’s will you be known for? Will you stick with just contemporary or branch out into other genre’s like paranormal, romantic suspense, romantic comedy, historicals… ?

And should you even skip genre’s or just focus on one particular one?

It’s an interesting question. You want a wide fanbase so that even if one genre is going out, you can pick up in another genre but at the same time you want your readers to know what to expect when they pick up a book with your name on it.

So what do you do?

Genre skipping can leave many of your readers confused and a bit angry. They expect a certain type of story in a specific genre. Genre moves will lose those readers. But at the same time, you may pick up other readers that are more rabid than the first. Genre skipping also allows you to shift and move with the interests of the reading public. It allows you a flexibility (and backlist) that other authors just shifing won’t have.

Kendal, do you have any thoughts? Do you think genre skipping in the ebook world is different than print?

Kendal: Well this is a very interesting topic for me because I have skipped genres. I have been published under Kendal Corbitt for my steamy, erotica writing and have recently contracted under Kendal Ashby for an Adult Sweet contemporary. I will be writing YA under Kendal Ashby. It was an easy choice for me. I did not want to have fans of KC put something up and it be an YA, or heaven forbid the other way around! Yikes!

So when I decided to write YA, I knew I wanted another name. I’m thrilled with the decision to jump into YA, and feel I might have found my home. I really enjoy cutting loose and just having a place to go to write sexy adult stories, and I may never give that up. But for the time being YA and Kendal Ashby will be my priority.

If.,,no, when, that magic day comes when I get an agent/editor/big contract deal for an YA book, I plan to focus solely on Kendal Ashby’s name and books. Why? Because I believe it is vital for an author to build themselves up with a fanbase but also it is equally (or more so) important to be able to supply your agent/editor with new, fresh work regularly. When I get contracted, I plan to deliver as many books per year as I can complete for my agent (My aim would be 3 full YA lenghts of 55K approx). I attended a great workshop last September where a new breakout author said she will have 6 novels on the bookstore shelf within 2 years. That’s awesome!

So back to your question. I do jump genres, but now that I have found a comfy place with YA I think I’ll stay there for a long, long time.

Anyway you slice it, it’s a tough question for me. I happen to love contemporaries and paranormals. I love writing them too… I also have a burning desire to work on some young adult AND middle grade books, simply for the pleasure of creating something for my children.

Time is limited though. So I have to prioritize. Right now, I’m finishing a project and my next priority starting in July is that book I’ve promised myself I’d write for my son. Why? It probably isn’t a great career decision. I may never sell it. But I’m writing it because right now, I have no other obligations. I don’t have a contract or publisher screaming down my neck. Right now, I’m still doing it just for me.

As for my career, right now I’m sticking with contemporaries. Everything else is just for fun.

What about you? Any advice? Have you done some genre skipping? What’s worked and what hasn’t for you?