A life-changing conversation

The agent called me back today. And I had, what I believe was, a life-changing conversation. In just over an hour, she zeroed in on my weaknesses and strengths, and helped me form a career plan. Dang, she’s good. Note–this was not an offer of representation. It was more of an, “I-read-your-book-you-have-talent-but-you’ve-got-a-journey-left-to-take” conversation. A helping hand up, if you will. I’ll be forever grateful for this conversation.

This was it, in a nutshell. She asked me a question that I’d never really thought of before. “If you were paid $50 million dollars and you were only allowed to write one type of historical romance, what kind would it be?” I tried to hedge and say–romantic comedy. Nope. Too vague. She wanted SPECIFIC. If I wanted to write funny, light medievals, that’s fine. Or funny, light Regencies, more power to me. But I COULD NOT WRITE BOTH. Not yet.

This is what rocked my socks. :confused: You see, I’d always believed that the way to success was to write a little bit of everything, to enjoy the path with lots of diversity. Now I’m coming to terms with the fact that although yes, I can have my cake (medievals) and ice cream (Regencies), I can’t have them together at the same time. Not as a new author. And especially not in Single Title World where I’m competing against Amanda Quick and Julia Quinn. I have to carve my niche and be PHENOMENAL within that niche.

If I were to publish a funny, light-hearted medieval, a reader who loved it would want to buy another one. She’d want another funny, light-hearted medieval. She would not want a dark, emotionally-wrenching medieval. She would not want a light-hearted Victorian (and yes, I’ve written both of those). She’d want more of the same style, but with new characters. Let me tell you, the light bulb went on.

My favorite authors: Susan Elizabeth Phillips (light-hearted contemporaries with athletic heroes).
LaVyrle Spencer–gripping, heart-rending historicals with an emotional journey
Julia Quinn–upbeat, light-hearted Regencies.

Oh my. There’s a pattern here. It’s called branding. And for the historical market, I need to be more specific. Sure, I can write the other subgenres. But I need to build my readership first. And the only way to do that is not to switch paddles in midstream. I need to write 4 or 5 fun medievals. Then maybe 4 or 5 fun Regencies. Maybe 4 or 5 Westerns. But not everything all at once. I had a complete, head-smacking, “DUH!” moment. I don’t think I ever consciously considered this.

When I look at the books I’ve completed, and I look at the style and type I really LOVE and WANT to write for the next 50 years, it comes down to the funny ones. I love to laugh, and I love to read books that tickle my funny bone. So this is what I need to do. I need to focus my career goals and build up books in a particular style. That way, when my publisher wants more of the same, I can stay within my genre but still have unique plots and situations. Two of my favorite SEP books are: Nobody’s Baby But Mine and It Had to Be You. They are totally different, but still within the same framework. Wow.

So brand me, baby. Funny medievals it is. Mooooooo.

Finding Miss Viola Swamp

I need to find Viola Swamp’s substitute number so I can call it in today. Ever read Miss Nelson is Missing? (The children’s book where sweet little Ms. Nelson is being taken advantage of, and she transforms into the nasty mean substitute teacher Viola Swamp who means business?)

Anyway, I need one of those. It’s not that my twelve-year-olds are the Spawn of Satan, but they do need someone who will lay down the law. Once, I had a substitute teacher who ignored all my lesson plans and read poems to the kids. They, and I, were aghast. You never know quite what you’re going to get when you call in for a substitute.

In any case, I’m not actually playing hooky today. The baby is sick, so I’m staying home with her (and praying that she takes lots of NAPS so I can write my little brains out). My goal is to revise somewhere in the neighborhood of 25-30 pages. Of course, with a sick child, it’s hard to say how much of this will become reality. They often become little suction cups, wanting to be physically attached to you all day. Baby snuggles are good, though.

Star Wars is out! :starwars: