Hot literary genres?

I saw a listing (agentquery.com, maybe?) for an agency that was looking for fiction centered around ballroom dancing. Uhh...

If someone told me, and I tried to write one, I know the hot topic would have cooled to room temperature by the time I got finished!

It's difficult, because sometimes you get passionate about a subject, and it's not what other people are passionate about. But Andy Warhol once said, "I always seem to be into the right things at the wrong time," and he managed to be pretty successful. More than just for 15 minutes.

The hottest literary genre is the one the author is passionate about.

Julie Worth said:

A glib answer that is obviously wrong. I suspect that no genre is hot for the first time author, and even if she knew one and could write in that genre, she’d likely miss the wave, or get shoved out of the way by name-brand writers.

Click to expand...

I don't think it was glib, I think it was correct, in a way.

A teacher of mine, a published novelist I have a lot of respect for, once told me the top 2 reasons why novels get rejected:

1) It is completely unlike anything else, there is no market for it

2) There are way too many novels like it, and the market is saturated.

The top 2 reasons why a novel gets accepted:

1) It is unique! A fresh idea!

2) There are many novels like it, and there is a market for it.

The reason why one person might reject your idea and say it isn't "hot" might be the reason why someone else accepts it.

Also, I think James might have been referring to the fact that if you write a novel about a topic solely because it's "hot," when you're not passionate about it, your chances of it being your best work will greatly decrease.

Celia Cyanide said:

I don't think it was glib, I think it was correct, in a way.

A teacher of mine, a published novelist I have a lot of respect for, once told me the top 2 reasons why novels get rejected:

1) It is completely unlike anything else, there is no market for it

2) There are way too many novels like it, and the market is saturated.

The top 2 reasons why a novel gets accepted:

1) It is unique! A fresh idea!

2) There are many novels like it, and there is a market for it.

The reason why one person might reject your idea and say it isn't "hot" might be the reason why someone else accepts it.

Also, I think James might have been referring to the fact that if you write a novel about a topic solely because it's "hot," when you're not passionate about it, your chances of it being your best work will greatly decrease.

Click to expand...

The top reason novels get rejected is because they stink. The second most common reason is that, while the novel doesn't stink, it still doesn't smell like flowers in July. Anyone who has read thrugh a slush pile will tell you this.

Those two reasons you list do acount for why some novels in the top five or six percent get rejected, however.

Julie Worth said:

A glib answer that is obviously wrong. I suspect that no genre is hot for the first time author, and even if she knew one and could write in that genre, she’d likely miss the wave, or get shoved out of the way by name-brand writers.

Click to expand...

Not to speak for Uncle Jim, but I think he meant that you should write in the genre YOU feel most strongly about, the genre YOU can put your best into.

Don't go chasing the chimera of what's hot and trendy today because when you've finished (unless you can knock something off in a month) something else might be hot and trendy.

Julie Worth said:

Yes yes, I know all that. I've written six books that way, and I'm halfway through the seventh. But that's it! I'm through with passion. The next one I'm going to approach dispassionately, like EA Poe did with The Raven. Good Lord, folks, I just need to know what genre!

Click to expand...

What genre is easy. It's the genre you most love to read. Darned few wirters can write well in a genre unless they love reading it.

If you can't write a pubilshable novel in the genre you most love readng, writing one in a genre you don't love is ten times harder.

Julie Worth said:

Yes yes, I know all that. I've written six books that way, and I'm halfway through the seventh. But that's it! I'm through with passion. The next one I'm going to approach dispassionately, like EA Poe did with The Raven. Good Lord, folks, I just need to know what genre!

Click to expand...

In that case... Paranormals are really hot right now.

Only one way to find out--submit that puppy!

Julie Worth said:

Excellent! My WIP is sort of paranormal. It's about a fortuneteller, anyway, so I wonder if that will do?

Click to expand...

Might as well make it controversial as well (like The Da Vinci Code). Perhaps the fortuneteller told the Bush administration about 9/11, but they did nothing.

Or, how about a diet book that also pokes fun of men, sex, sports, breast enlargements, and reality TV shows. People would love it!



ac

Julie Worth said:

Yes yes, I know all that. I've written six books that way, and I'm halfway through the seventh. But that's it! I'm through with passion. The next one I'm going to approach dispassionately, like EA Poe did with The Raven. Good Lord, folks, I just need to know what genre!

Click to expand...

Donald Maass says that the words he hears most from editors over lunch is: "I am looking for big, well-written thrillers".
Thrillers and romances will always do well, if the stories are unique enough. I'm wary of paranormal; could be a trend that'll be over in a year or two, when you want to go to print. I'd stick with the traditional..

Romance novels crisp up nicely, and tend not to have weird, expensive glues that smell bad.

Also, anything with a celebrity's face on the cover will probably burn up real fast. They tend to churn out the hardcovers, and all that cardboar helps keep your fire going.

Excellent sources of genre heat.

Wait, what?

On a more serious note: You're not writing for what's hot right now. Your book won't be in stores for 2-5 years. You have to write with an eye for the future.


Don't ask what's hot. Instead, try to use your knowledge of your preferred are of interest to see the future, find the gaps in the bookshelf, etc.

If you write the books of now, you'll probably hear that that was the book of last season, last year, etc.
Good luck.

badducky said:

Your book won't be in stores for 2-5 years.

Click to expand...

That's not necessarily an accurate figure.

In fact Miss Snark would say you're full of c**p

http://misssnark.blogspot.com/2006/03/report-from-journal-balderdash.html

She may or may not be the real deal, but in this case what she says is in line with what my own agent says.

Oh, I'm not arguing with her. Here's how my 2 year number factors in:


BOOM - inspiration to write book. "Better get started on that outline and first draft..."

6 months-year later "Okay, now it's time to edit and/or enter the query-go-round..."

established authors with agents can certainly get the water wheel of the publishing industry moving faster in the opposite direction.

However, in this author's case, the kernel hasn't even struck, yet.

Thus, 2-5 years.

Ah ok, gotcha now Yeah from that standpoint it absolutely makes sense!

aruna said:

Donald Maass says that the words he hears most from editors over lunch is: "I am looking for big, well-written thrillers".

Click to expand...

Not questioning this, but to some extent it probably reflects that the editors Donald Maass talks to tend to be the ones specifically interested in "big, well-written thrillers." He specializes in that sort of thing.

caw.

Also...

According to our beloved Miss Snark, the market for Private Eye novels is ice-cold right now.