Styles have changed, have you?

Since I opened Greyhaus, I have seen a huge number of changes in the publishing industry. We had the rise and fall of chick lit, we had the steam of erotica and then the hot and spicy stories with an edge. We are seeing a mix of genres that provide a new twist to the old stand by. A lot has been going on. Now, here is the question, have you made changes?

I am not talking today about following the trends in the market. You know, the "romantic suspense is hot so I should write that." I'm talking about your voice as an author. Because of the every changing and ever global growing population, the voice and style of the writing we see out there does change to adapt to the reading population. What you will find is that the successful writers out there, the ones with the longevity, have found a way to keep their own voices we have come to know and love, and to adapt and tweak their stories to meet the needs of the changing reader.

I am frequently getting submissions from writers out there that were published once before, but due to any number of reasons, haven't published in a long time. When I read their writing, I feel as if I'm stuck in a time warp. The writing simply hasn't matured over time. The same goes for the writers out there that suddenly find their writing just not as exciting to their editors as it was in the beginning. In the end, the next option book just doesn't happen. Why? Because the writing hasn't matured and grown along the way. The writing is still the exact same we read in the first book. Although readers like consistency, readers do not want to read the same thing over and over again. Simply changing the names and the places isn't going to work.

Your job, as a writer, whether you are published or not, is to continually find a way to grow and adapt. We aren't talking about selling out and following trends remember, but following the voice. There is a fine line here, but I think, no I believe, if a writer does this, the publishing world will continually beg for your books.