When You Can't Sell It But Everyone Else Can

Kensi99 · Oct 26, 2018

I've always been a little ahead of the curve. Don't laugh, I moved to Brooklyn before everyone else.

Anyway, two years ago I started my contemporary Gothic romantic suspense. Updated Brontes, Daphne du Maurier.

I have been trying to get rep for this ever since. Quite a few requests. Most culminated in "this doesn't fit neatly into a genre" as it combines thriller and romance.

Today, on Publisher's Marketplace, I saw no less than three "in the vein of Daphne du Maurier" "inspired by Rebecca" "contemporary Gothic in the vein of the Rebecca" etc SOLD. So I guess it's working for others but not me.

Just irritated and griping. Thinking of self pubbing before this becomes a full-on trend and mine will look like a copycat.

Gen5150 · Oct 26, 2018

The majority of readers would not rush to purchase a modern Daphne du Maurier. The majority of the public is not even well-versed in her work.

This should not deter you from advocating for your work because readers often have to be convinced of the brilliance of certain stories and genres. All impactful works are initially rejected for being unusual. But I would view other authors who are bringing attention to gothic stories at allies rather than rivals.

The best book deals are never offered before a similar work has become a bestseller. This is why we are asked for comp titles and expected to be knowledgeable on our genres. You can't just prove that you're talented. You have the prove that you're marketable. You can't prove that if every writer with similar works has failed.

Kensi99 · Oct 26, 2018

True. Perhaps one will become a big hit. Then I can do a stealth move.

cool pop · Oct 26, 2018

Sounds like the perfect book to self-publish. Unfortunately, many good authors and books are passed on simply because they don't fit into a specific box. Instead of learning how to connect with audiences who might like different things, it's easier for publishers to pick up books they feel the masses will want. Everything else gets left out in the cold. To be published, they have to be able to market it and for books that are too "different" publishers don't put the time in even if the book might turn out to be something if given a chance.

Doesn't mean you have to give up on getting the book out there, just change your plan perhaps.

April Swanson · Oct 29, 2018

Also, if you self-publish, you could run ads targeting these other books...

Niiicola · Oct 29, 2018

Is this your first book? If so, I recommend letting it sit for a bit, work on something else, and see where you're at after some time passes. If you still feel like self-pubbing, great! Or maybe you'll find that the next thing you write gets you an agent and book deal and then you can revisit/sell the first book.

Kensi99 · Nov 1, 2018

Niiicola said:
Is this your first book? If so, I recommend letting it sit for a bit, work on something else, and see where you're at after some time passes. If you still feel like self-pubbing, great! Or maybe you'll find that the next thing you write gets you an agent and book deal and then you can revisit/sell the first book.

It's the first novel I've queried. I've been trad published with a memoir. I've sat on it for a long time, its been professionally edited, beta read to death, etc. Did an R&R to agent specifications (twice). So at this point, I think it is what it is. But indeed I'm almost done with the first draft of another (careful to stick more to genre conventions) and I think I'll hold onto this one for a bit to see if I can't spark more interest if I get a deal from the second. Not sure..... but yes, even one agent highly encouraged me to self publish, saying this was the sort of thing readers would respond to, but self pub is definitely a huge amount of work with a big learning curve.

skydragon · Nov 5, 2018

Don't rush into self-publishing because you're not getting anywhere querying. I didn't get an agent until my fifth fiction manuscript and even then I had to query about a hundred before I signed. It's important to debut in the right way for *you* so I would recommend maybe putting it aside for a while and thinking through if that's really the route you want to go down.

MercyMe · Nov 5, 2018

I had three romance titles that went unsold back in the day and since I knew I wasn't going back to romance, I researched self-publishing (mostly to pick myself up during a really tough time, creatively and personally) and self-pubbed all three. They sold better than my "real" work which was a much needed morale boost. I love romance readers.

Gothic romance is doing all right, I believe. But if your book leans literary, SP is probably not the best route.

Kensi99 · Nov 5, 2018

skydragon said:
Don't rush into self-publishing because you're not getting anywhere querying. I didn't get an agent until my fifth fiction manuscript and even then I had to query about a hundred before I signed. It's important to debut in the right way for *you* so I would recommend maybe putting it aside for a while and thinking through if that's really the route you want to go down.

Agreed. And I would very possibly use a pen name, as it's so different from my trad published memoir. But I do still love the book and would like to get it out there in some capacity. If it tanks, it tanks.

Kensi99 · Nov 5, 2018

MercyMe said:
I had three romance titles that went unsold back in the day and since I knew I wasn't going back to romance, I researched self-publishing (mostly to pick myself up during a really tough time, creatively and personally) and self-pubbed all three. They sold better than my "real" work which was a much needed morale boost. I love romance readers.

Gothic romance is doing all right, I believe. But if your book leans literary, SP is probably not the best route.

Yes, it's sort of a hybrid romance/suspense/literary. The kind of thing I adore reading but can't find anymore, so I thought I'd write it. Silly me...

Old Hack · Nov 5, 2018

A quick foray into Google tells me that Daphne du Maurier died in 1989, so her works are still under copyright. This means that if you've written a book which is a reworking of her works, you're going to need to negotiate permissions with the people who represent her estate before you can publish. You will almost certainly have to pay something to get those permissions, and it could be pricey. This might be what's putting people off publishing your works.

The Brontes should be ok.

Kensi99 · Nov 6, 2018

Old Hack said:
A quick foray into Google tells me that Daphne du Maurier died in 1989, so her works are still under copyright. This means that if you've written a book which is a reworking of her works, you're going to need to negotiate permissions with the people who represent her estate before you can publish. You will almost certainly have to pay something to get those permissions, and it could be pricey. This might be what's putting people off publishing your works.

The Brontes should be ok.

That's not what I did at all, but thanks.

aetherpen · Nov 6, 2018

Just wanted to comment to say I feel your pain, OP. I experienced a lot of rejection for my first novel due to the fact that it combined multiple genres, too (because I am also the author who wrote the book I wanted to read without any thought for the market).

I'm sure you've seen the saying that it's more important to get a book published "right" than published at all, and I think that's really true for crossover/hybrid genre books. I went indie because of my early disappointment and inexperience (and for some personal reasons at the time), and while I found a small publisher willing to take the book on, their complete lack of marketing support meant more genre confusion among readers and negative reviews and poor sales as a result.

That being said, I've also seen self-published authors who are successful with their hybrid genre books due to being able to find the right audience and cultivate a fan following, so it still is possible. But as my case shows, there are plenty of pitfalls to not having marketing resources for a book that doesn't fit into a neat box. I hope you have better luck than I did!

WGough · Nov 12, 2018

Wishing you all the luck, Kensi99. For selfish reasons. My WIP is a historical gothic queer romance saga. Writing what I want to read and plan to self-pub. Do what's right for your career, and fight for that book! I'm rooting for you.

Kensi99 · Nov 15, 2018

Thanks for comments all! Good luck to all us genre mashers...

When You Can't Sell It But Everyone Else Can

Kensi99

Gen5150

Kensi99

cool pop

It's Cool, Miss Pop if You're Nasty

April Swanson

Happy Beeps

Niiicola

Twitchy

Kensi99

skydragon

MercyMe

Kensi99

Kensi99

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

Kensi99

aetherpen

WGough

Kensi99