Writing For The Brand

With a new year, nearly a week old. I thought it might be time to take a look at what is selling in the world of books. First, and something that all of the experts I studied agreed upon, was that fiction far outsells nonfiction.  Eight of every ten books sold in America last year was fiction. But, I don’t think that is a surprise to anyone.

Surprised and Away they Go

What I found, as far as bestselling genres, surprised me. Not so much in the lists, but in how much they varied. Seems people are not using the same data to come up with their facts as to what sells best.

I thought the following list was interesting because it uses only one factor, money made, for this list. This list, and I am not sure why, left out the bestselling fiction category, children’s books. It is likely they were only writing this for authors and readers of adult literature.

List 1 –  By how much money was taken in -

1.             Romance / Erotica

2.             Crime /Mystery/Thriller

3.             Religious/Inspirational

4.             Science Fiction/Fantasy

5.             Horror

When I write fiction, (of my five books four are fiction one is nonfiction) it falls into two distinct categories, Children’s Chapter Books and Historical Fiction/Western. Does not look to me like I will fit very well into the above list. With that in mind, I believe I will attempt to write a book in each of the top five categories this year. I am started to picture the money $$$$ coming in already.

My Five Books 

Here are my working titles, all westerns, aligned with the list of 5 above.

1.   50 Breeds of Horses (Romance/Erotica)

2. Who Was That Cowboy That Broke Prison and Disappeared (Crime/Mystery/Fantasy)

3.   The Parson Draws Two (this one I am working on, so far I like it)

4.   When Dragons Ruled the West (Science Fiction/Fantasy)

5.   Dripping Blood and Silver Rowels (Horror)

Well maybe not, but it was a thought.

Another blog post made a list of all genres of fiction. This list was based on numbers sold, and it looked like this

1.   Children’s

2.   Fantasy

3.   Mystery

4.   Classic Literary fiction – up to the 1950s

5.   Modern Literary fiction – after the 1950s

6.   Magic realism

7.   Historical fiction

8.   YA fiction

Still doesn’t look like I fit very well, but I will forge on.

I am 50,000 words into my newest western, it is my first that could be classified as Young Adult. I plan to market it as a western/mystery and as a young adult western/mystery. I think it fits both areas. The book is set in modern times in Wyoming with two Arapaho teenagers trying to discover their past and themselves.

It has been my experience that there are two kinds of writers. Those who write for the market, and those who write for the genre. Guess my love of reading and writing westerns and historicals makes me one who writes for the brand.