I've heard that contemporary is hot right now. By A LOT of authors and agents. And that's great. I love contemporary novels, Sarah Dessen is one of my favorite authors and the reason I started reading contemporary in the first place. But for those of us struggling to find agents and a niche, should we focus away from projects that maybe aren't getting a whole lot of attention right now to jump on the contemporary bandwagon?
The answer is yes and no. Here's why: Yes if your ultimate goal is to be published, even if it's a book that maybe you didn't love as much as your paranormal/dystopian/horror- your end goal is publication. Yes if you have a great contemporary idea that won't stop screaming to be written and you know that it just might be the one to land you that agent.
No if you don't feel passionate about said project, if you can't stop thinking about that book you wrote and love that is in a genre that is said to be overdone. No if you don't believe that it'll get you anything but more frustration.
Writing for trends won't land you that agent or get you that book deal. It might just end up breaking your heart. Yes, you get your heart broken over any project you absolutely love and doesn't get you anywhere, but at least you can be proud of your work and know you tried. If you write something just for the sake of getting the agent/deal, how proud will you be if that book still isn't the one?
This is tough because I'm querying a project with paranormal elements that isn't getting a whole lot attention from agents. I've been told by other agents through contests that my query is strong, so I know that's not it. I've tweaked my first few pages to make sure they're the strongest they can be, but still not a whole lot of bites. But that's okay. I love my story and I believe in it. I'm not giving up on it yet, and I know I have an uphill battle ahead of me, but I'm proud of what I've written. I'm proud I wrote something I care about, that I'm passionate about instead of tossing it away for the latest trend. What about you guys? What projects are you working on?
Working on a solo YA contemporary, but I have been writing contemporary for years so the upswing it eh market is perfect timing for me. You are absolutely right though, you have to love what you write, have a passion for the genre or else all you will are doing is trend hopping.
ReplyDeleteI actually just recently heard that paranormal is strong right now. Go figure. Maybe nobody knows.
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