70. Discovering your genre’s DNA

Ever wondered what makes a bestselling book tick? 

In this episode, we dive deep into the world of genre analysis and why having this knowledge is vital to your author career. 

Learn how to identify and leverage the key components that make your genre resonate with readers. You’ll also discover how understanding those components can unlock your writing potential.

Tune in today so you don’t make the same mistakes I did… Oops. 

Topics discussed in this episode: 

• Why you’re not selling out
• Technical considerations
• The power of tropes
• Reading book reviews
• Studying book covers
• Learning the hard way

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Transcript

Erin P.T. Canning: 0:00

Do you read in the genre that you write, or that you want to write? This is extremely important, and I understand the hesitation that a lot of writers can have about this. I had it myself, where I was afraid that if I was reading too much in my chosen genre that I would start copying other writers. And that's not what happens. When you are reading a lot in your genre, you are getting to know your ideal readers. You are picking up on what it is that they expect, what it is that they love about this genre. And that's stuff that you're going to want in your tool belt, not only while you're writing your story, but more so for when you are ready to market your book. You're listening to Parents Who Write, the podcast that helps you pursue your writing dreams. I'm your host, Erin P. T. Canning. I'm an author, editor, writing coach, and mom of two young boys. And my mission is to help you prioritize your writing, strengthen your voice, and gain confidence and direction so that you can own your identity as a writer and thrive as an author. I started out like a lot of writers where I was writing a story that I absolutely loved and I was passionate about it, still am, and I had this character and I was like, I'm just gonna write it and I'm writing it for me. But then I didn't know how to sell my book and I poured all of this love and energy and effort into creating this amazing book that I am now so excited to share with my readers and I didn't know how to market to them. I wasn't even entirely sure who my ideal readers were, and so it really does help to have that knowledge with you, even when you're in the writing phase. You are just surrounding yourself with your peers, with your ideal readers, and you're basking in that love of a shared interest. And when you are doing your genre research, one of the things that you want to look at is what makes a bestseller. It's not that you're mimicking those bestsellers. You're just curious. what is it that is selling right now? What is it that people are really attracted to in my genre? So go over to Amazon. Take a look at their bestsellers list. See what those books are. Read their descriptions. Get an idea of what seems to be the common themes or the common tropes that are popping up in here. Another part of that research is looking at those books and, from a technical standpoint, looking at what seems to be the popular point of view. Does it tend to be a lot of first person or mostly third person? Is it a lot of present tense or is it a lot of past tense? Just knowing those things are going to make it easier for you, so this way you're also not like, Oh my gosh, which one should I choose? And why? And what are the advantages and the disadvantages of those? If you have that knowledge, you can be like, Okay, decision fatigue over. I know what I should be doing, because this seems to be what people are gravitating toward, what readers are gravitating toward, and what writers are gravitating toward. Another thing you want to look at is what is the typical length of the books in your genre. Romance novels tend to be between that 60 to 80, 000 word range. Thriller novels tend to be between 80 to 100, 000 words. And fantasy novels tend to be between that 100 and 120, 000 word range. And then Cozy Mystery, however, goes back toward that 60 to 80, 000 word range again. Knowing the length of your book will also help you when you are in the stages of writing. So you're not overwriting. You're not underwriting. You're not stressing about are you putting enough in there, etc. Another thing you want to look at is the average age of your protagonist. In Women's Fiction Fantasy, the average age of that protagonist tends to be in her forties and has gone through some major life change crisis, whether it was losing a spouse or a divorce or some other sort of traumatic event. The next thing that you really want to pay attention with your genre research is tropes. And there are a lot of writers out there who hear that word and they scream and they run away. And so what I just want to put out there is that tropes are not a prison sentence. All right? It doesn't mean that every book is going to be Colonel Mustard in the library with a knife. That's not what a trope is. They are comfort food, basically. They're the things that readers and publishers and writers have come to say that these are the typical things that make this genre what it is, okay? There's a reason why writers and readers love to come back to Enemies to Lovers. It's a classic. Or why we love The Chosen One. I mean, look at Harry Potter. Look at Luke Skywalker, right? Buffy Summers. Go Buffy Summers! The Chosen One is just something that we all love. Those stories are still different from each other. You're not chained to having to write a certain way. Uh. Another one is found family. I love writing found family. Huh, come to think of it, my book series has all three of those tropes. Enemies to lovers, chosen one, and found family. Fun times. So, think of it like this. If you have a craving for the all you can eat seafood buffet, imagine if you go to that restaurant and the waiters, the servers, they get you in the door and they sit you down and then they say, Oh, um, we're not going to serve you seafood tonight. We're going to give you steak. You have a right to be angry about that. That is not what you expected. And that is the same thing with tropes and knowing your genre. You don't want to serve your readers steak when they're expecting a seafood buffet. They will tear you apart. Understandably so. Okay. So, keep that in mind. The way that I like to think about tropes, they're like writing prompts. Let's say you are working on a romance series, and you're thinking, I have no idea what to do different. I don't know how to make my characters different this time. Or, you know, and then you can look at your tropes list and be like, Oh, age gap. I haven't really explored that idea. I wonder how that's going to change up the relationship dynamics and what other issues they're going to be facing and how is that going to create new challenges and problems for them? That's all you. That's your imagination. That's your creativity coming through. You're just like, Oh, here's something that I can work with. I wonder what ideas are going to start from this. Tropes are seeds of ideas. Another thing that you can do to get a better idea of your genre, especially if you don't have time to be reading tons of books in your genre. Although I would say like if you could fit in a half hour to an hour of reading every day, that would be so. It's great for relaxing and giving yourself some self care time. But also it's work! And if you are a full time writer, editor, person like me, I love that part of my workday must include reading time, so there's fun in that too. But, um, another thing you can do is read the reviews. Start looking at the reviews for the books that are in your genre, the ones that are really selling right now, and take a look at the common things that people love. That's gonna help point out tropes to you. But also look at what people hate, and that will give you an idea of, for me, it was confirming. When I saw people complaining about certain things in books, and I was like, Oh, I don't do that. I specifically didn't want to do that. I'm so glad. These are my people. I am in the right spot. The other bonus of looking at the negative reviews also is that it can help you overcome that imposter syndrome, which I talked about in my previous episode. It can help you overcome that imposter syndrome because of the fact that all books have bad reviews. All of them. Look at Shakespeare. Look at Jane Austen. Take a look at those bad reviews, and that will give you a lot of hints about tropes and just what to do and not do with your own series. Taking it to consideration, right? And then the last thing that I would recommend with doing your genre research is to make sure you are looking at your covers. I talk about this in depth with Katia in episode 59 of Parents Who Write. We go into, I think it's like an hour long podcast episode of her just really diving deep into these. But you want to do your cover research because the truth of the matter is we do judge books by their covers. So you want to take a look at the typical colors. The typography. Do you have symbols versus characters? You don't actually want to be too different from the other books in your genre because it's that same thing where if people are going there for that seafood buffet and they see something completely different, they're like, oh, that's in the wrong spot. I'm not buying that. I don't want the steak. I came here for seafood. I really want sushi after this. But anyway, make sure you do that genre research. I have been struggling with this because I did not do such great genre research for my covers, and what I am finding is that, Ruins and Redemption, I still love that cover 100%, but my coach has pointed out to me that looks like a fairy tale retelling. And it's not saying fantasy romance. And then my third book in the series over here, we've got Fire and Fortitude, uh, with the fire in the background and the city burning, that looks like a post apocalyptic novel. So now I have to go and recover my entire series, and I thought I did my research the first time round, but I didn't do it accurately. And now I gotta cover, recover four books, and at least I'll be on the track for the next two that are coming out. Don't be like me in that regard. Do your cover research ahead of time. Really know your subgenre. And look at the common elements that those covers share with you, so you don't have to go back to square one when you're about to release book four. Fun times. I learned that lesson the hard way. I don't want you to learn it the hard way. Let me know if you have any questions. As always, I am here to help. Keep writing. And there you have it, another episode of Parents Who Write. Feeling stuck in your author journey? As an experienced editor, I specialize in helping writers like you, especially parents juggling family and creativity, finish and publish their books. Take action on your writing dreams. Book a free 30 minute discovery call to discuss how I can help you implement these strategies and finally achieve your author goals. Bonus, book your call and mention this episode for a free publishing checklist. Just click the link at the bottom of the show notes.