Market Killer Strikes again

[lydamorehouse]

(Cross posted from my Tate Hallaway blog).

Ever since I wrote cyberpunk into the ground, I've been joking that now that I've transformed into Tate Hallaway I'll do the same for the whole vampire chick-lit craze.

Guess what's being reported on Vampire Vixens' yahoo group? Yeah, you guessed it:

"In the publishing world trends come and go like the hems of dresses. According to a lot of publishers I'm hearing, 'We're not interested in vamps, we're all bought up' of the sales are 'slipping'. This is just my opinion but, if the sales are slipping its because of the NY 'rush' to fill the shelves with vampires. This has happened with every 'trend' and the quality begins to slip as they make that mad dash to catch the trend.

What do you think, are vampires dead?" (from J.C. Wilder)

Sounds like I may have done it again. Any requests for the genre or sub-genre I should wipe out next? Inspirational romances? Space opera?

Sigh.

Comments

[oneminutemonkey.livejournal.com]

I vote for inspirational romance.
And to be honest, the whole vampire romance thing? Was overplayed long before you got into it. Can't swing a dead chicken without hitting a lovelorn vamp. So there's a glut right now... and I suspect it's going to move from vampires to paranormal romance in general (witness Harlequin's new Nocturne line..) (And then NORA fricking ROBERTS starts writing paranormal romance, and the world ends...)
So if I were you, I wouldn't worry too much. Just try to anticipate the next craze, and keep writing the Tate Hallaway stuff until they say stop.

I want romantic comedies to make a comeback. :>

vampires to paranormal

[lydamorehouse]

It's interesting you suggest the shift from vampires to paranormal because it seems to be echoed in the discussion on Vampire Vixens (where I picked up this nugget re: the demise of the vampire sub-genre).

Plus, I've noticed that Booklist/Romantic Times now has a review catagory just for paranormal romances.

Romantic comedies would be great for a comeback. I love humor and romance generally, but I'd love to see futuristic romance get a chick-litty/humorous twist. I don't want to do it, though, in case I kill it before it gets off the ground. :-)

[g33kgrrl]

For the good of the country, adopt a right-wing Ann Coulter-like persona and wipe out rabid conservative nonsense!

It'd totally work, right? Right?

Have to believe in it just a little...

[lydamorehouse]

I wish I could... but I don't think I could right from the right convincingly enough.

[magentamn.livejournal.com]

How about Westerns?

By "inspirational romances" do you mean those godawful books sold in "christian bookstores" where the hero and heroine don't even kiss? Go for it, but you'll have to hide your real name a lot deeper.

Inspirational romances...are a code word for:

[lydamorehouse]

Christian romances.

You really want Westerns to die? They're on half a leg now... does anyone even buy those things?

Re: Inspirational romances...are a code word for:

[magentamn.livejournal.com]

I figured Westerns have died so many times, it wouldn't matter. Besides, not being very "in" right ow, you might be ahead of the curve.

I pick "inspirational romances" Go for it, kill kill pussycat, faster faster.

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

Can you wipe out the kind of stories at appear in the New Yorker?

You know, stories about young, trendy, beautiful New York couples who work in advertising, or law, or The Arts, and spend all day sipping espressos and complaining about how horrible their lives are. Stories where the characters have no reason to complain, but they do anyway and then the story ends on a miserable note.

Why, yes, I just finished a college lit class. Why do you ask?

*snort*

[lydamorehouse]

(That's me laughing).

[smadronia.livejournal.com]

>>You know, stories about young, trendy, beautiful New York couples who work in advertising, or law, or The Arts, and spend all day sipping espressos and complaining about how horrible their lives are. Stories where the characters have no reason to complain, but they do anyway and then the story ends on a miserable note.
>>

What is that, adult emo, in the stereotypical emo sense?

Kill them all! Let the bean-counters sort them out!

[plaidder.livejournal.com]

Ahem. Sorry.

I don't even know what an "inspirational romance" is, but I feel confident saying I can do without them. Ditto for space opera. But really--can anyone kill vampires? Apart from them being dead already, it just seems like they'll never go out of style. But then, anyone who takes marketing advice from me is an idiot, so don't listen to me.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

Can the vampire be killed?

[lydamorehouse]

Well, you're absolutely right that vampire literature seems to go underground for a couple of decades and then resurfaces in popularity. I know I was reading vampire stuff during the first craze in the '80s.

So maybe they really are UNDEAD.

[swords-and-pens.livejournal.com]

So, feel like writing a "Left Behind" book?

(Use your power for good...stop them!)

[lydamorehouse]

Good idea!

hm

[(Anonymous)]

Well, personally, I quite enjoyed your LINK-Angel novels so I think saying they ran the cyber-punk genre into the ground is being waaay too rough on yourself. (In truth, the Wachowski brothers deserve that title for their horrid Matrix sequels and the crappy games they sanctioned.)

Buuuuuut, if you are DETERMINED to ruin a genre, I beg of you, aim for romance. We need to thin out the number of books that encourage skewed views of how romantic social behaviour works. Besides, space-opera is already dead. The Star Wars Prequel trilogy saw to that.

Overreacting..

[lydamorehouse]

... well, yeah, I am kind of being silly. I don't really think I killed cyberpunk, though I certainly did end my career pretty quickly (notice the lack of books being published by Lyda Morehouse in the last few years.)

Re: Overreacting..

[(Anonymous)]

Ah, sorry about that. I have a bad habit of taking things a bit too literally much to my own embarassment from time to time.

Loft Class

[seanmmurphy.livejournal.com]

You should totally offer this as a Loft class, Lyda! "Sick of Cyberpunk: How to Kill a Market in Four Novels or Less" And you can do special three hour classes on "writing as revenge" against markets that you don't like, etc.

Seriously, though--this may be your special ability. I find four-leaf clovers, and you kill potential markets. We could find an angle on that one... I could sell those four-leaf clovers as "publishers protection" against your market-cracking skills.

Speaking of cyberpunk...

[smadronia.livejournal.com]

I'd heard a little while ago the vampire fiction market is starting to flood, so I'm really not surprised to hear that. IT seems like the vampire chick lit is the hot new thing, a few years before it was general vampire fiction.

Don't feel too bad, if your series is popular (and it seems to be), you should get lucky enough to be able to keep writing in this vein because you'll have devoted followers. Heck, if one unnamed author can Mary Sue her main character out after 12 or so books and STILL have a following, you should be in good shape once 2 or 3 of them come out and everyone gets hooked. Heck, I'm not into chick lit and I still enjoyed TD&D, which is more than I can say for some of the others I've read.