Samhain Publishing Ltd. Weblog

Tell me more, tell me more...does it sell very well?

In trying to decide on a topic for today’s post, I put up a plea for topic ideas on Twitter. I actually got some really great ideas—oddly enough it appears that someone suggesting to me to write about why Amazon is stripping rankings is how #amazonfail started yesterday on Twitter—and am going to save some of them for future use (I always say that and then forget to check my “future use” file when it’s time. But I will remember next time. I’m sure). Since it’s Easter Sunday (yes, I’m a procrastinator, but in my defense I’ve been traveling/visiting family for the past week) I needed a topic that didn’t take amazing powers of critical thinking. I got a fantastic recommendation from author Jill Myles who mentioned that it’s always interesting to know what genres are/aren’t selling well.

I suppose publishers don’t always like to talk about what genres are or aren’t selling well because we’re afraid that authors will take that as a signal to only write and submit a few particular genres, and not to write others. As a publisher of a variety of romance genres, as well as fantasy, science fiction, urban fantasy all with romantic elements, we especially don’t want this to happen. Or maybe publishers are afraid it shows weakness to say something doesn’t sell as well as something else? I suppose. But I also think that authors sometimes feel that this is a topic shrouded in secrecy so let’s bring it out in the open and chat about it.

First, I’m going to talk about Samhain in particular and epublishing very in general. It’s important to note that what I say is from our particular experience only and can’t necessarily be taken as gospel for the industry as a whole. I know you’re all savvy enough for that to be stating the obvious, but I do like my disclaimers and just can’t seem to quit them.

Erotic Romance: We’ll start with the obvious. For the purpose of this post, I’m going to put all of erotic romance together and say it sells very well for us. I think it’s clear that in the past 5 years it has sold quite well for many digital publishers, as evidenced by the number of new erotic romance epublishers that spring up monthly, by the traditional publishers’ search for erotic romance books and authors and subsequent flooding of the market, and by the emergence of sexier sex scenes and greater sexual tension even in non-erotic romances.

Still, I can hear you out there saying to yourself “sure, but exactly what KINDS of erotic romance sell well?” Okay, I’ll let you in on the secret…it depends. If you’re going to pin me down, I’ll say ménages (and more) are usually hot sellers as long as we’re talking about the male/female/male or more males and one female trope. Also selling well are erotic m/m, and erotic romance with BDSM. However, “straight” m/f erotic romances will also fly off our figurative shelves in the hands of a skillful author such as Lorelei James or Maya Banks, who combines high sexual tension with engaging characters and plot. Actually, you can pretty much just say this about any genre I talk about today. Anything I say about a genre not selling well can be negated by the right author, the right promotion, the right story and the right planetary alignments.

But what about erotica? Erotica, which is most definitely NOT the same as erotic romance and is a different genre, doesn’t sell as well. Maybe because, while readers enjoy some spicy sensuality in their reading, they want to know it will all turn out happily in the end and there’s no guarantee of that in erotica?

Moving on from all that sexin’, let’s talk about other genres within romance. Our trends still show that paranormal romance is a hot seller. Readers are still interested in reading about vampires, but there is even greater interest in different shifters: werewolves, cats, dragons and all the variety of unusual shifters you can find. Other forms of paranormal like demons, succubus, angels, etc also continue to do well and unique concepts are eagerly scooped up by readers.

Several genres are a hit and a miss in for us in digital at this time including inspirational, some historical periods (pretty much anything happening after 1900), and books—even erotic romance—featuring female/female as a central theme. Even if it’s female/female/male. Despite some readers asking us why we don’t publish more f/f, many authors don’t write it and readers, at least ours, aren’t buying it. It continues to be very much a niche genre, and a much, much smaller niche genre than male/male books.

Despite a number of readers saying they want more contemporaries that are non-romance, non-suspense, non-paranormal, those readers also don’t always show their buying power. An author can do well in those genres with good promotion, backlist or a well-known name, but sometimes even that isn’t enough to make a fantastic contemporary sell. It can be frustrating for both author and editor!

What am I missing? Futuristic romances do pretty well for us. Many of the editors are huge fans of the genre and we’re always wishing for more submissions in this genre (send to angie@samhainpublishing.com thanks ;) ) but it’s definitely a specialized one to write due to the world building needed. On the other hand, time travel submissions seem to always be around and they rarely sell well. And it’s not something we often get a request for, from readers.

Two genres/themes that readers are always requesting more of and that sell well are interracial and male/male books. Books labeled in these areas seem to fly off our figurative shelves.

I made this point above but I want to highlight it again: everything I’m saying here can vary according to author, writing style, writing skill (yes, some authors are more skilled than others. I’m sorry, maybe you didn’t expect me to say it, but there it is, the elephant in every corner), promotional efforts (no, I’m sorry the books don’t sell themselves and yes you do need promo—from yourself, your publisher—in the form of reviews and word of mouth even—and from your readers), and even name brand/backlist.

Backlist is something I talk about often in conjunction with sales, but I think some authors might underestimate the power of it. I’m going to use Samhain’s romantic suspense author Linda Winfree as an example. Her first book with Samhain had numbers lower than she and her editor expected, and which I know her editor hoped would be higher because she was so impressed with Linda’s writing and storytelling. But as Linda published each successive book in her series, not only did her new release numbers go up as word of mouth spread among readers about her books, but her backlist books also saw increased numbers of sales with each new release. This is something that, watching the sales numbers on My Bookstore and More, I see quite often with a variety of authors in a variety of genres. I hate to say it but…”Build it and they will come” applies here.

So there you go, some of the genres demystified. Tell me what I missed or what you’d like to know more of. Questions are welcome!

Picking your battles

My dad wasn’t a man of many words. When he did have something important to say it often seemed to come out in what many would consider a cliché. But knowing the man he was—a man who believed and lived in the idioms he tended to use—they never seemed clichéd to me.

Growing up he would often tell me, “Menace, if it’s something worth doing, it’s worth doing right.” The perfectionist in me was drawn to this phrase even as a child. Then, as I grew older and began to deal with the world and the people in it, I took another of my dad’s sayings to heart, “You need to pick your battles.”

This is something the adult perfectionist in me uses to stay sane because seriously, if you put your everything into everything you’ll end up burning out with nothing done right.

So why am I going on about my dad and old phrases? I have a point that I’ll get to eventually and this does even have a little something to do with editing, I swear…

Lost in Pace

I’ve been reading submissions all week, so the topic of pacing has been on my mind. Why? Pacing problems are a frequent reason why I set a manuscript aside and reach for the next one in the pile. If a book lacks a well-paced story, readers are just as likely to set it aside. I run into pacing issues with SP authors’ submissions as well as slush-pile subs, so these offenses against good storytelling are committed by published authors as well as newbies.

Here’s a list of the usual suspects (with apologies for the mixed metaphors):

• The empty tank has no juice. It opens with the protagonist doing something boring-waking up or driving a car or staring at the sky/ocean/page while navel-gazing. It immediately dumps the character’s backstory on us-pages about the previous crappy relationship (the heroine waited eons for her ex to pop the question but instead her ex slept with her best friend and now she’s been fired from her job ad nauseam). It bores me, because I want to stay in the present moment. I want to know about what’s happening now, and get to know the heroine while she’s doing something interesting…like fighting with the hero.

Take My Advice

Opinions are like unfinished manuscripts. Everyone has one, but not all of them are meant to be shared.

Telling someone you’re writing a book is like handing them an engraved invitation to give creative input. The polite “What’s your book about?” inevitably leads in to “Have you considered…?”, “You should really…” and the ever so helpful “You know, I have an idea for a bestseller…” These well-intentioned interludes aside, no writer is an island—at least, no writer who hopes to publish. And the best way to find out of you have a book that publishers will want to buy is to put it in front of people.

Whether you’re aspiring or published, there are numerous sources of feedback available—author/agent/editor critiques, critique partners, beta readers, contests, rejection letters, revision letters, reviews, reader feedback, and on and on and on. Sure, it’s a good idea to get a variety of reactions, but how do you know what input to incorporate? What if you get opposing reactions? What if you get advice you don’t agree with?

I Hate Blurbing!

Well, maybe hate is too strong of a word, but I really don’t like it.

How am I supposed to sum up my 60 K plus novel into just a few hundred words? A synopsis is a bit better, but not by much. At least with those, I can write more than a couple paragraphs.

That’s the dilemma I am faced with today.

It's a very pretty vignette

It took me a while to decide what to write about in the first of the new Editors Mondays series. I went through a couple of ideas, and then, I was watching Top Design and Jonathan Adler, one of the judges, said something that really rang true for me. The designers were given $1500 to spend in a gardening centre and told to create a corner. No more instructions than that.

A few created a full-on setting, complete with seating area and a function. A few just worked on their floral arrangements, hoping that pretty would sell with the judges. And when the judges stopped at one of the pretty, I heard. “It’s a very lovely vignette, but so what? I’m bored.”

Birthing Books

Writing a book is like birthing a baby. At conception, you have an idea that impregnates and permeates your imagination. Over the weeks, your book takes shape and form, growing from a mere idea into something that resembles a plot.

You add a few things here and there until your book finally reflects the finished product. During the editing phase, your book gains “weight”, beefing up its pages to perfect the storyline you’ve worked so hard to create.

At the moment of birth, your book is published, a brand new story to greet the world. You’re so proud of it; you show it off to anyone who will pay attention, telling one and all the trials and triumphs of writing your epic.

Everyone oohs and aahs over your creation, telling you how perfect it’s cover is, and how wonderful it must be to hold it in your hands.

The Worst Review...May Be The Best Review

On the Samhain loops, I’ve noticed a certain tendency in advice given authors who’ve received less-than-glowing reviews, and it’s a tendency I’m not sure is wise.

When the writer expresses the pain of being criticized in a review, most of her fellow authors reply with some variation of “It’s happens. Just ignore it.”

I think ignoring a bad review is the worst thing you can do.

Once Upon A Name...

Nexus Spear… the Moonstone Rod… Tiger’s Eye Stone… Hellblade… All of these things invoke images for me. Images of things long lost, magical things, mystical things. Yes, I’ve been researching for a new fantasy book. I have a lot of cool ideas floating around in my head for it. I’ve even been researching archaic words to use – I found a list on the Internet. I’ve also been researching dance styles in the Baroque, Renaissance and Middle Ages. I find all of this fascinating.