I'm wondering -- never a good thing for me because it inevitably leads to depression. BUT - am I right to write in so many different 'genres'. I've apostrophed that because I don't really know the right word. And I'm a writer - told you I was depressed!!
Anyway - I write contemporary and paranormal books. Yep, those ARE genres. The latter have vamps, weres, fae and anyone else I can lump in with them. I don't see me changing direction there. I'll always write them both because I like the variety.
But MF or MMF or MM? Is it better to stick to one? Do I lose readers who don't like MM or who dislike MF? Do they just ignore those 'genres' they don't like? Should I stick to one and try and make my name better known? Or do I just keep doing what I'm doing? I've just submitted an MF story which is the start of a possible series. I had a MM in mind for the second book, but is that going to annoy people? What to do....what to do.....
Not that I'm doing much today but listen to a dog bark and get a headache.
4 comments:
My knee jerk answer: write want you want and forget the rest. But I know this is shit for advice.
My favorite author, who writes MF, wrote a FF series. Not my thing, so I just skipped those books. The problem comes in when genres mix mid-series. Book 1 MF. Book 2 MM. Book 3 MF. If your MF readers skipped Book 2, would they read book 3?
Joey Hill did this in her Nature of Desire series. She threw a MM book toward the end of the MF / MMF series. Of course it didn’t stop me, but I wonder if she lost readers. The reviews trickled, as they do toward the end of series, but that MM book still sits on Amazon with 5 stars. Shrug.
I guess you should ask: Who is your target audience for the series? Would MM narrow it?
Do you think it makes a difference that the books - although a series - are really stand alone and only linked because the MCs are siblings? You know I'm thinking of Micah and Oberon here, right! I could make it MMF but since its MMF rather than MFM - if I put people off with the MM sex, they'll be put off regardless.
I won't go down the FF route. I think that's a step too far. I worry though that I don't meet reader expectations if I put a MM in this series. BUT if the publisher I've sent the first too, likes it, they LOVE MM books.
If it's clear in the book description that these are stand-alones, I think it's fine. But the books will probably still get stitched together as a series on some sites.
Regardless, I suspect most of your readers are open to MM--and you do allude to this relationship in the first book. But if you're worried about disappointing expectations, MMF would be a good compromise since it offers an F for MM resisters to relate to. And that F could be a non-faery. Perhaps a witch or a shifter, to represent the other kinds of beings in this world. Just a thought.
Yes, I was thinking non-fae for the F! Okay - mind made up. MMF.
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