I sent KISMET’S KISS to a friend who reads fantasy and asked her to check for typos before I plunge into my final formatting for the Kindle platform. This morning she sent me a note: “Just finished! I loved it! I couldn’t wait to find out how it was going to end. And I have to say… the accounts of their lovemaking were very… evocative. I’m very impressed with your descriptive abilities ;)”
Heh heh. This is the beauty of combining fantasy and romance–getting to create an otherworld story with magic and adventure…AND great sex. :-D
Several NY publishers had a tough time with KISMET’S KISS because it didn’t fit neatly into the marketing boxes for either fantasy or romance. That’s important to them because bookstores need to know where to shelve the book, and usually it will only be shelved in one place. So bookstores need to know where it goes and the publisher’s marketing department needs to know where it will fit so they can tailor the marketing plan.
But online selling is different. Instead of a book needing to fit into one compartment, it can fit into many simultaneously. At Amazon.com, for example, books can be placed in more than one category (fantasy and romance, for example) and readers can also “tag” books with more specific descriptions (such as these for Kristen Painter’s HEART OF FIRE: fantasy adventure, elves, magic, fire magic, golden heart finalist, etc.).
Selling books online will allow me the freedom to write cross-genre and not worry about those marketing boxes, and I’m grateful for that.
Don’t get me wrong, I hope we’ll have local bookstores and libraries far into the future, since they’re some of my favorite places and have given me many wonderful memories. To do that, they’ll only need to adjust to readers’ changing needs. (Espresso Book Machines, for example?)
On the KISMET’S KISS schedule for today: polishing up the front and back matter–the bio, quotes/reviews page, acknowledgments, author’s note, etc. Wheeee!
Hey Cate!,
Really enjoyed this blog. I like your honesty about why you’re publishing on Kindle. I write in more than one genre too and this makes sense. If it’s fantasy/romance then it should be in two places instead of one. Will RT your blog.
Thanks for stopping by, Alice V!
I RTed your Writer’s Digest link about combining genres. I wonder whether the ongoing shifts to ebooks/online purchases (and more cross-genre openness) will affect NY marketing categories in the future. We shall see. :)
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