1) You can't write that.
2) That will never sell.
3) What genre does that fit into?
4) It's not a paranormal, no one will buy it!
5) Chick-lit is DEAD!
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Alright! Put your hands down. We all have. But have we all listened?
HELL NO! We are writers and most of us here are self-published because we heard that our work is good, but has been rejected in one way or another. I had heard for many years "chick lit is dead" or "don't tell them it's chick lit. Call it women's fiction."
Hmmm....
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I would call that a BIG OLE LIE!!! And that is ONE thing I DO NOT DO!
Sometimes we have to go beyond the fear of what others think and write what we want to write. Why are we listening to people industry "professionals" that have NO CLUE what readers want? Have you ever had a gut feeling to write something and you thought that you couldn't because it doesn't fit the industry model?
Most of you know me as a mystery writer, but truth be told, I'm a chick-lit writer! YES! I just admitted that I'm a CHICK-LIT WRITER!!
My first novel, Carpe Bead 'em, was written as a chick-lit. I told everyone and anyone who would listen that I was writing a chick-lit novel. To my surprise, I heard chick-lit was DEAD. Not just dead, but road kill that had been ran over so many times that no one recognized what it was and vomited at the sight of it.
I decided that I wasn't going to listen to them. I was going to blaze my own path and write the best damn chick-lit novel I could. And guess what? I did!
Carpe Bead 'em ended up going to the TOP! It made Amazon's Movers and Shakers list #1 and stayed there for three days, it is on three best seller lists, as well as made it in the top 100 Amazon paid list.
Look at the cover...come on! It screams chick-lit. It has a pink poodle, high-heeled shoes, and jewelry ~ for crying out loud! What if I had listened to them? What if I didn't break the "rule?"
I knew there was an audience for my chick-lit out there. So I got in touch with writer pal, Jessica Park (through my friend and writer pal Heather Webber) and used her editor and got some ideas from her. It was priceless. She truly payed it forward to me.
So I YELL: it's time to beat the fear!
Listen to your gut. Write outside that genre guidelines. Make up your own genre. As a matter of fact, I write the BEST chick-lit cozy mysteries and they sell! Go figure....
Another way to write fearless is twist your plot even more. Just when your reader think they have figured out your plot, step up your game by putting an extra twist in it. This may sound crazy, but your readers will love you for this. They will be hooked and think "Wow! I've never seen an author do that and it's GREAT!"
What if Jessica Park had listened to the naysayers? If you haven't read her inspiring LOVE LETTER TO AMAZON, READ IT! She wrote past the fear of not fitting in the genre rules and her novel FLAT OUT LOVE is ruling Amazon! As a matter of fact, she has been picked up for one of their imprints and they featured Flat Out Love on the front page of Amazon!
It can happen to you! Write what you want and forget the fear of what you hear and RULE THE WORLD!!
