Keep A Spare Story In Your Back Pocket

This industry moves at lightning fast speed. We have all seen it. Suddenly an editor stands up at a conference, or there is a PSA sent out that says the company is looking for a specific type of story. At that point, many writers immediately run to their computers and attempt to write that story to be one of the first to the editor. The problem is, by the time that story is ready to go, they are already behind the times.

Another scenario is when changes happen and now you are madly scrambling to move to another publisher or another agent. You can't necessarily market things that are currently under contract and if all you have been doing is working on that next project in that series, that probably won't help you much either. So now what?

You really don't have to sweat it, IF, you have some other projects you have been dabbling on in your spare time. Having those spare projects might just be enough to get that editor or agent interested in your work enough to save a space for you, or even contract your book on a partial as they try to build that line. You will at least be several chapters ahead of those who have to still come up with a story idea.

There is another benefit for "dabbling" in those other projects as you work on your main genre story. This gives your brain a break, while at the same time, allowing you the chance to try out new techniques on stories that really don't matter at this time.

I am working through this with one of my Greyhaus authors now. In her case, she had a desire to boost some sales so we sat down and discussed some career options. The decision was to try a slightly new genre. I knew this wasn't going to be a major issue because this author was always someone dabbling in those other genres. When I made the suggestion of looking to spin toward inspirational and/or contemporary, her answer was great! "That's perfect because I have some things that would potentially work!"

This is just a way where an author can remain flexible with their writing. That flexibility will carry you a long way.