Plot Monkeys

In keeping with Saturday’s theme of writing related business - here is a question JODIE asked: What are the pros and cons for starting out writing category or single title?

CP: I had corresponded with Jodie and my take on this initially was: write what you love instead of writing to market. If you love reading category, write it. There is no better place to hone your craft than to have to write a story within the confines of a set number of pages. BUT if you are writing category because you think it’s an easy in to sell, don’t do it. Sure you might not need an agent to sell category, but editors can sense someone who isn’t in it for the love of category romance. The same with single title. It’s equally challenging to write a long single title and sustain a story, not have a sagging middle, etc. It all comes down to writing what you want to write.

JD: I think, for me, writing category romance (Harlequin) before taking the leap to single title was a huge help. With category, I learned how to really construct a story and develop plot — in smaller, baby steps kind of way. Plot has never been one of my strong suits — I’m more of a character writer –and writing single titles require so much more plot development than a shorter category. So, category was the perfect stepping stone to writing single titles and enabled me to take the time to learn how to plan and develop a bigger plot. I think if I had started out writing single titles FIRST, I’m pretty sure I would have spent many years struggling to plot out 400 pages of a story, and do it successfully. Writing category gave me the tools to be able to do that in a clear, concise way. But, as Carly said above, it does come down to writing what you want to write — this is just my personal experience!

JL: I agree with Carly when she said you have to love category. That’s because you have to read it to understand it. Really read it. I know authors who have sold one or two books in category and then can’t do anymore and most of the time, it’s because they really don’t understand the line they are writing for–and by not understanding the line, they don’t understand reader expectations. Category is a wonderful thing. It’s a romance novel just like single title…with great characters, great plot, great everything…but in a shorter, concentrated form and with a particular theme. The pros of writing category first is that you have built-in distribution for your books and automatic publisher support. In single title, each book is sold in to the stores individually and Borders, let’s say, might take a small order on a brand new author with no track record. Category is sold in as a group, so it doesn’t matter if you’re new, you get the same support as all the authors in the line. Category guarantees pretty darned good distribution, depending on the line. There’s more…but bottom line is you have to love category. If you don’t, you won’t succeed–at least, not in the long run.

LK: Sorry for not being here early…totally forgot to check and I’ve been busy celebrating my m-i-l’s departure all morning. I don’t have much to add to what the others have all said. I started writing category because I loved to read it…just like everyone has said. You can’t just decide to write “one of those little books” because you think it’s easy–I know people who’ve done that and who are shocked when they can’t sell. An editor can spot someone who doesn’t know/like/respect her genre.