by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
About a year ago, I wrote and released a book in a completely different genre than I’ve ever written before. The dystopian novel was something I called ‘cozy zombie’–zombie lit without the gore. The book was what’s known as an ‘attack novel.’ The concept had bugged me for years and I finally broke down and wrote the book.
A year later, I’ve found that the experience of changing genres had its pros and cons.
Pros
Not only was it fun writing something completely different, it was challenging, too. I felt that I grew a lot, as a writer, while working on the book.
I’ve been able to connect with a completely different type of reader by publishing a zombie book. Not only that, but I’ve had different opportunities pop up. BookTrack, the company that matches soundtracks with books (the soundtracks adjust to the reader’s pace) offered to produce the booktrack and put my book up on their platform. Apparently, they need more of this type of content (no offers to produce my cozy mysteries, ha! I guess they know their audience).
Cons
I felt that I couldn’t possibly write the book under my real name because I’m so tied to my branding as a mystery writer. I didn’t want to confuse my readers and field a lot of emails in the process. I decided on a compromise–I used Liz Craig, since my name has a million nicknames. Amazon Author Central happily still connected the name to my profile and even sent out new release emails to my readers when the book came out. So why is this a con? I didn’t still feel I could really promote under a different name—I just didn’t have the time. Liz Craig has no online presence that’s not tied to my own website. Would Liz have done better on her own? Maybe. But her alter ego is just a little pressed.
When Booktrack contacted me about promoting the upcoming Booktrack release, they knew I had a pretty big online footprint. But I had to explain to them that it wasn’t for zombie fiction. My newsletter list, my followers on social media…they were all mystery readers. It’s like starting over.
Something else to consider, although it wasn’t a problem for me–does your freelance design, editing, and formatting team handle your new genre? For design, this might particularly prove a challenge.
Would I write another genre again? For sure. I’ve no doubt that I’m going to branch out again in either a mystery subgenre or a different genre. That book of mine had to be written because the story wouldn’t let me go. But, with any luck, the next time I do something like this I’ll have more time to interact as the pen name.
Have you considered writing other genres?
Hi Elizabeth – so interesting to read the pros and cons – and the difficulties of having two or more persona – and the limitations of connecting them – yet they give you a ‘new lease of life’ … good for you – cheers Hilary
Hilary–I had a different persona for one series for Penguin (their requirement) and I just couldn’t keep up! Still have some remnants of it out there, too.
I’ve been writing mysteries for the past year and a half or so, mostly as lesfic but I’d also released a cozy. The cozy didn’t do nearly so well as the lesfic stuff does but, by including it in a box set, I pulled some crossover readers. Even within the umbrella of a major genre, it can be hard to switch from one form to another when you’ve been writing for a niche audience and you’re trying to go wider.
One of my biggest complaints about the two early books in the mystery series was that the romance wasn’t heating up fast enough. I remedied that with books 3 and 4 but, it got me wanting to try my hand at writing romance as a genre, something I’d read a good bit of (straight and LGBT) but never considered writing. My first effort came out a couple of weeks ago and it’s doing decently well but, I stuck to my core genre, lesfic and, as you did, advertised it to my current fan base. The book has certainly found me some new readers for my mystery series but not many. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of crossover there.
If I were to write romance for a more traditional female audience, I likely wouldn’t use a new pen name but, also like you, I’d be starting from zero because my lesfic fan base wouldn’t follow me there. I’d like to try it but that’s not a rabbit hole I’m going to jump down until my current list of projects are off my plate. Maybe in late 2017…
Anne–I’ve heard of writers having some crossover success with box sets. In your case, I’m thinking it worked better that the box set was had a lesfic base and that the new genre introduced was cozy instead of the other way around. I’ve got a feeling if I tried to put a zombie book into a box set, my readers would be seriously peeved with me (but if I had a box set of zombie fic and the cozy was the one to be introduced, might be more successful). So maybe one of the points would be which genre is the one that’s trying to be crossed over…probably easier to go from more niche to less niche with a box set (like you did).
My genre is romance, but it’s so “big” that it lets accommodates a lot of variation, most especially “romantic suspense”, which is how I’ve been able to add thrillers and mysteries to my series relatively seamlessly.
Not gonna lie: it doesn’t do a great job covering “political drama” :)
Deb–That’s a *huge* genre. And I thought mystery was big, but it’s nowhere in comparison to romance. Lots of leeway with crossover when it comes to romantic suspense.
Political drama! Yes, I bet that’s challenging to work in!
I didn’t know you had a zombie book.
I’m currently working on my fourth genre. Jumping all over makes it difficult for fans, but I’ve used the same name, so at least I can promote them all as me.
Diane–Which goes to show that I don’t bring it up much!
I know Dean Wesley Smith is also a proponent of keeping our name as the brand, no matter the genre.
I can see where writing this type genre under your cozy pen names would have caused fans to ponder what was going to happen to their favorite characters. :) But on the other side, it’s always fun to know when your favorite author has branched out into something different in case you want something different to read for a chance. One example that pops to mind is Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb. There again I can see where it would take so much time promoting both personas.
Mason–Fortunately, I didn’t get a *single* confused email! I was really worried that they’d think zombies had infiltrated Bradley or Dappled Hills. :)
Nora Roberts and Stephen King both must love to change it up a little bit with genres. JK Rowling, too. But I’m guessing they probably hire people to help with social media for their alter egos, ha!
I remember you talking about the zombie book! I’ll pick it up today.
So far most of my work has been space opera. Might try fantasy. I’ll stick to writing as me though. Too much effort to build up a pen name.
Alex–Thanks!
Way too much effort, yes. From space opera to general fantasy should be an easy crossover, I’m thinking.
Thanks, Elizabeth, for sharing what it’s been like to write in a new genre. Race to Refuge sounds really interesting, too! I could well imagine it’s challenging to build up marketing for another ‘author brand.’ It’s one of the reasons I focus on crime fiction as I do. I give you a lot of credit for this. Are you planing a follow up Liz Craig novel?
Margot–I’ve had a couple of readers ask for it. But really…how do you write a sequel to the end of the world? I’m concentrating back on cozies for right now, although I never like to say never. :)
I totally forgot about your zombie book. I definitely want to read it and buy it today.
I’m not even sure I have a genre. If weird is a genre, then that’s what it is. OR MAYBE I’m just all over the place in which I say yes, I will consider writing other genres. After reading Mason Canyon’s review today on Mary Kay Andrews, I think it would be fun to write in that genre. :)
Teresa
Teresa–Thanks!
I think being all over the place isn’t necessarily a bad thing! I’m so branded to my cozies that it’s tough for me to move around. Yes, I’d like to write a Mary Kay Andrews book, ha!
This is something I’ve been hemming and hawing about, myself. I really love paranormal romance, but if I get into sci-fi, should I use a slightly different name? I do so love seeing all my books on Author Central. Rachel Aaron/Bach constantly has issues promoting, because her sci-fi fans have no idea that her other name writes fantasy, and vice versa.
Kessie–You could do what I did and use a variation on your name. My zombie book is connected to me on Amazon Central (but…yeah, Liz and Elizabeth aren’t too far apart, either). You could do something like a KM Carroll for your SF, Kessie for your paranormal romance…something like that.
If I wrote SF and fantasy, I wouldn’t even bother with a different name. I think the trouble is only when you’re doing something really unrelated (zombies and cozies, paranormal romance and SF).
I’ve seen a lot of romance authors do with Elizabeth suggests when changing genres (especially heat levels) but allowing for overlap–initials plus last name (Molly O’Keefe/M. O’Keefe, Melissa Haag/MJ Haag…).
I have an issue kind of the opposite of yours: my books under my own name vary quite a bit, and so any new book would fit… but the stories I develop as “game stories” will really fit a pattern, and would benefit, I think, from having their own brand.
Camille–When the branding and SEO take over, it’s almost like a machine running. So hard to add anything else in there when the brand is very specific (like mine). I think there can be an advantage to being known for many different *types* of books.
Juggling multiple genres without overlaps in readership–and going at alone as an indie writer–seems like a lot of work!!
I gave this topic a lot of thought, and I took to heart some comments you made a while back in a post about time management. I may be butchering your words here, but you talking about making sure you had overarching goals to help choose the project/commitment you said “yes” to.
The first book I wrote was a mystery, and it’s still sitting on my hard drive… but I didn’t want to give up on it entirely. Recently, I decided I’d dust it off and turn it into a romance suspense so I could try for an overlap in readership with my contemporary romance series.
Instead of writing in a new genre, I’ve decided I’ll try to take my other ideas and fit them into something that overlaps with romance, like women’s fiction and romance suspense. As you pointed out in a comment above, romance is a HUGE genre!
Rebecca–A lot of work! Or…not. :) If you don’t do anything, which is what I’ve done. I uploaded it to retailers, put it on Wattpad, and that’s about it. It’s doing…about as well as you’d expect, ha!
Yes–a business plan or manifesto by which we measure what opportunities or projects we pursue. It would have been wise for me to heed my own advice! I like your idea of tinkering with your mystery and tying it into your readership. Hope it works out really well for you.
I think the biggest pro is the fun! Writing something different keeps us sharp :)
Jemi–It was definitely fun. :) Although there were a couple of times I wondered what the heck I was doing! I also did multiple POVs for that book, which I’ve never tried before.
I write in different genres and use separate names but my online presence has merged into mostly one.
Susan–Do you have them all connected on your website? I’ve got my Liz book here, which I do think helps a little.
I think the world is becoming more tolerant of cross over authors. I’ve come across so many who write dual genres with the same author name, and it doesn’t bother me at all. The covers usually communicate the difference, and I only read what attracts me, so… I looked at the whole separate pen name once too, and it was WAY too much work.
Crystal–Good point about the covers providing some clarity to readers!
Yes, separate pen name that the author promotes with separately from main identity…just not enough hours in the day, unless we hire someone to represent that name. Which sounds expensive to me.
I suspect that you learn a lot about writing when you try working in a new genre. I’m sure you learned things that will be very useful when you go back to your original genre.
Ken–And I think I learned what I might not want to do again. Multi-POVs with intersecting timelines is a LOT of work!
As part of my master’s course, we had to write a synopsis for a book outside of our normal genre or age range. I normally like writing YA fantasy, so I did a MG contemporary. Later I wrote some sample chapters for the story and gave them to my agent.
Now, three months after that, I’ve written the entire book and am prepping it to go out to publishers in June as my debut. It is completely not what I expected! But I found the change of pace so refreshing, and am looking forward to discovering what other MG contemporaries I have in me.
Alyssa–That’s *so hard*. But, as you say, it’s refreshing, too. I felt like I grew a lot with my zombie book. Not to say I don’t grow with my mysteries, but I really *only* grow with my mysteries if I tackle something really different…new series, trying a cold case, trying a manor house mystery. Or if I have a problem while writing a book (blocks, research issues, etc.). So it’s *good* to be forced out of that comfort zone sometimes. Not that I want to do it again anytime soon. :)
Best of luck with your MG contemporaries!