Writing niche genres can be a great experience for authors. It gives you a chance to really focus in on the nuances of that genre. This is also the same for authors who want to write series such as Harlequin. It can be a real challenge, but also amazingly rewarding if you can get your writing to fit into those niches. There is a drawback, however. The market becomes extremely narrow.
When I am talking about a niche, I am focusing in on genres such as category/series, inspirational, or even holiday themed stories.
What writers fail to think about is the amount of time and energy you are putting into that story and it now becomes an all or nothing submission. There isn't a whole lot of things you can do to create more opportunities to sell that story to another publisher.
Let me talk specifically about series romance. A lot of authors seem to think it is all just about the word count. While this is a factor in the genre, the voice is also a big player in how the story is marketed. For many authors, if a series line doesn't like the story, there is a belief that, if they add to the word count, it will now be a single title. This is far from the truth. The end result is simply a single title with a category voice.
As an agent, I would always encourage authors to start with something that provides a little more flexibility. This will give us a bit more to work with when we start selling your stories to publishers. If, you want to write for a series line, I always encourage a writer to have a couple stories read to go. Instead of having more publishers to work with, we have more stories to market.
Don't get me wrong. I love niche writing, but as an agent, it is always going to be a tough sell.
As usual, this was very informative. Your posts are always so helpful.
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