Branching into Other Genres

May 15, 2015 / Business of Writing / 36 COMMENTS

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraigDeathtoStock_EnergyandSerenity2

I’ve mentioned earlier that I’m branching out into another genre.  This isn’t resulting from boredom with my current genre.  It’s not even purely a commercial endeavor.  No, this is an Attack Novel.  The story rose up and demanded I write it.  Its incessant nagging started two years ago, and the fact I ignored its demands demonstrates my stubbornness and focus.  It’s zombies.  It’s more than zombies, of course, but drilling it down to its core…yeah, zombies.

The book is a cozy treatment of zombies. Zombies with off-stage violence. Zombies with no profanity.  Is there an audience for this?  Who knows?  I was attacked.

Then I realized that my team might not really be onboard with zombies.  Does my cover designer do zombie covers?  Does my cozy editor do zombie books?

It’s good to make sure everyone has experience producing the new genre if we have a team that works with us on a different one.

The next thing to consider was the name.  From what I’ve observed online, the whole should-I-have-a-pseudonym-for-a-different-genre issue is a very hot topic with some strong opinions bouncing around. Although this is a cozy treatment of zombies, I decided to write under a pen name.  Sort of.  I’m blessed with a name that has about 40 nicknames. I’ve decided on Liz Craig for this book.  It ties it into my real name but won’t confuse my readers looking for cozy mysteries.  I know my readers very, very well…I really, really don’t want to confuse them.  That would go badly.

My compromise with the situation is to send a reader newsletter updating subscribers on the mystery series and inform them (almost an aside) that I have a new book in a different genre. That way, I put the ball in their court.

I plan to put up a Liz Craig page on this site, maybe even a subdomain of the main site.  In the back of the book, I’ll mention that I also write mysteries with similar ‘mild thrills’ and direct them to the other books.

I’m not going to go wild and let Liz have her own identity online because…let’s face it. Only so many hours in the day.  Instead, I’ll let her latch onto my own brand and tag along. She may even have a completely different marketing strategy than I do: she may explore pre-orders and KDP Select because she has no readers to annoy.  Maybe even a Book Bub ad.  Maybe she’ll put her book up on Wattpad before it even gets released.  That’s the fun thing…she can experiment and screw up because she’s not exactly me.

This book is a one-off, standalone.  If it works out, maybe I’ll let Liz write more books. But this zombie book won’t be a series.

Any of you writing more than one genre?  How are you handling the promo and branding?

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  1. Although I’ve operated three different business simultaneously, written over a hundred songs and nine business books before switching to Chandleresque cozies, all under my name, publishing my first (and expected to be only) children’s book a few days ago is making me uneasy, like I’ll have to do something I wasn’t expecting.

    Until now, all my art and all my business came under a single name, Joel D Canfield. Always had a good reason for it until now.

    Surprising to experience genre-crossing concerns at this late date.

    1. Joel–I’d definitely advise most writers to think hard before taking on a pen name. Is it going to be more work for yourself? Are you going to have to start from scratch when you’ve already got a nice platform? When I was Riley Adams for my other Penguin series, it was too much work. I had a separate online identity for a while…that I couldn’t maintain in the end. I started directing Riley’s readers here. That was an instance where the publisher pushed a pen name on me.

      In this particular case now, though, I just know it would be the opposite. I’d get so many emails, so many confused messages on Facebook, that it really *would* create a lot of work for me if I *didn’t* take on a pen name. Readers would be wondering what happened to Myrtle Clover. Where is Myrtle?

      Writing for children…yeah, another name is a good thing to think about. James Patterson (/et al) got away with it (and you can tell by the covers which are the kid or MG or YA series), but I just wouldn’t want the bother of handling any problems that might arise.

      1. No one will ever confuse the cover of “Ginger, the Ship Captain’s Cat” with my mysteries. Might just be sleeplessness. (And what are YOU doing up at this hour?)

        Convenient, as you say, to have eleventy-leven versions of your own name to work with.

  2. Oh, so this is where the party is when my daughter’s alarm wakes me up (but not her) at 4:30 and I can’t go back to sleep!

    I have been dabbling in writing nonfiction, almost as an “active rest” to build up my reserves for editing. I have thought about publishing, but the whole “doesn’t she usually write New Adult Romances?” has been holding me back. A pen name might make it work.

    I’ve also been planning to write some MG with characters in the universe of my current series, but again, worried about the crossover effect. A shortened version of my real name might make that a little easier. Thanks for the suggestion!

    1. Deborah–It’s a highly caffeinated party. :) Join us! I’m on my second cup.

      Oh, you could do Deb or Debbie. Debs. Debi with an i. Ideas here. Not as many possibilities as Elizabeth, but there are enough to work with!

      Maybe I could write a book in a different genre for every nickname Elizabeth has. That would keep me busy.

  3. You’re writing a zombie book? Really? Whoa! Now that is really different. And very cool.
    I’ve thought about writing fantasy, but that’s not radically different from science fiction.

    1. Alex–Besides horror, I can’t really think of a genre as 180 degrees different from cozy mysteries as zombies. Of all the Attack Novels to get attacked with. Why couldn’t it have been Sweet Romance or Lit Fic or something?

  4. Oh, this is really interesting to see how you’re branching out, Elizabeth! I give you a lot of credit, and I hope it goes really well for you. And Attack Novels happen when they happen, whether or not they’re anything like we would have imagined.

  5. Hi Elizabeth! i haven’t jumped genres as far as zombies and such, but I did do a historical mystery that I’m hoping will be accepted by my publisher. I probably will stick with my same name.

  6. I would be really interested to read a cozy zombie novel! Will you be releasing it this year?

    1. Megan–Oh, that makes me happy! I have moments where I wonder if anyone will read this thing! Yes, it should be finished in a month, then going through editing. Hoping to release it in early July. I’m asking my editor and betas to make sure it’s not too intense. A couple of times I scared myself and had to tone the copy down. :)

  7. By now, I hope you know this about me. I am crazy (not that part) scared and in love with zombie shows, movies and books as long as I can filter violent scenes through my fingers. YAY for you. You will be the coolest mom, as well as, the coolest writer I know.

    1. Teresa–See, really, *you* should have been the one who was attacked by this novel, not me! :) I watch zombie stuff through my fingers, too. I’m such a timid TV and moviegoer.

  8. All sorts of genres tend to leak into all my stories — that I’m using the pen name for a series that I hope will be pure in its genre!

    But I like your approach — using the “open” pen name so that your readers can find the other books if they want, but avoid them if they don’t. It also means that any promotion will still be a cross promotion.

    I like the idea of a cozy zombie story. I had an idea once for a zombie romance (this long before zombies were a thing and everybody thought I was crazy) — really more on the tragic ghost romance model — but my head is just not enough in that space to write it.

    1. Camille–That’s cool that you’re needing a pen name for a book that isn’t cross-genre!

      With any luck, there’s an audience for this book somewhere. Regardless, it’s coming out, ha. :) While the story has been percolating (unbidden!) for the last couple of years, I watched with interest as a trad-pubbed novel called Red Hill did well with the women’s fiction crowd. It’s a zombie book, but aimed more at character arcs and romantic interest. Sort of like your zombie romance,maybe. I’m not shooting for romance, but the character arc and the what-happens-to-people-under-tremendous-stress angle is more of what I’m tapping into. I think 75% of my readers won’t go for it, but I’m hoping I can loop in women’s fiction a bit.

  9. Excellent news, and I love the name variation Liz Craig! Would you be able to market it to a younger audience (implies using WattPad, etc.)?

    Wish I knew you guys were online in the extra-early hours. I was lying in bed, wide awake, watching the ghosts of my past efforts float by to the chorus of a T.S. Eliot poem I put to music back in college. Now it’s an earworm. It’s been one of those weeks.

    1. Meg–I’d like to thinkI can hook some younger readers, but I’m not really sure. The POV character the book opens with is a woman in her 20s, but I’ve also got a POV character who is 15. It’s definitely not YA in any form, but maybe through Wattpad, as you mention, I can pick up some of those readers. The funny thing about this book is that the characters are 30+ years younger than I’ve ever written. And I’ve never thought about writing zombies before. Never written multiple POVs before. Amazing how some books pick us to write them. Hopefully it won’t end in a bust. Oh well. There’s a Myrtle book later in the year, if so!

      I love (some) T.S. Eliot. :) “I do not think they will sing to me” always gets me choked up. Actually, your early morning hours with poetry and past song-writing efforts (which is very cool!) sound kind of nice! I wish I weren’t so hyper that I just *have* to propel myself out of the bed and get up.

  10. Yep! Just what you need – another project!!! I think it’ll be a swell blend – cozy-zoms! As for your name – it was always my favorite exactly for its variety. Have you considered Za Craig? Za is so alternative, so crazy young and starts with a Zed which is good for the genre. What was the zombie Beethoven doing?

    De-composing.

    1. Jan–I know, right? Always another project! Cozy-zoms is the perfect genre…did we just invent something? :)

      Za Craig is brilliant! It may have to go on a different genre, though, since I already bought a cover, ha!

      Your Beethoven joke made me smile….thank you! And have a happy weekend.

  11. You crack me up! I love that the zombie book “attacked” you. Sounds to me like you’re handling it really well–concerned for your readers, but also following your zombie-eaten-soon heart :)

    1. Julie–I’ve been carefully protecting my organs while writing this book!

      It’s sad how I scare myself writing. Whenever I do, I mark that section for editing!

      Thanks for coming by. :)

  12. Good luck with the book, Elizabeth, but (although I know I’m in the minority) I’m not a fan of zombies or vampires. On the other hand, if you can convince me that it’s going to be a spoof of some sort, I would be interested. The late and lamented Terry Pratchett did a good job getting me to like his zombies.

    1. Mary–I totally understand, believe me. No, there’s no spoof here, although I do try to infuse humor since I’m a humorous writer at heart. There’ll be another Myrtle later this year and I think you for reading…and for the good luck wishes, too!

  14. I pretty much dance from one genre to another. Urban fantasy/paranormal, steampunk, and probably superheroes soon. I’m keeping my own name for them all. I think it’s kind of handy for me that I’m still a new author, and haven’t become known for a particular series yet, so I have room to experiment.

  15. Hopefully. Much as I’d love to have that one breakout hit that transforms my career (and still hope for it), I do take some comfort knowing that I’ll probably never have to deal with backlash from doing something new and different.

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  17. Hi Elizabeth – fascinating to read about … I’m glad you’re bringing the zombies into the ‘frontal attack mode’ – I’d definitely be freaking out all night …

    Looking forward to seeing how Liz Craig develops her publishing career .. cheers Hilary

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