Jumping Genres

Yesterday, I had a release party for my new book Front Page Face-Off (shameless plug!).
Except it wasn’t a fantasy novel like my last three have been; it was contemporary fiction, a genre I was convinced I would NEVER get into.
There’s a sacred rule in the ancient tomes of publishing that when you start in a genre, you must write only in that genre or risk losing your following.
HA!
Tell that to NYT best-selling author Carrie Jones who started in contemporary and migrated to speculative fiction.
Tell that to NYT best-selling author Maureen Johnson who jumps the genres with ease (By the way, I’m VERY much looking forward to her Jack the Ripper series).
Tell that to NYT best-selling author…you see a pattern here, right?
But I’m not saying to entirely disregard the ancient rule. You SHOULD establish a following first and foremost, and once you do, then feel free to stretch your wings and dabble in other genres if you wish.
Granted, not all genre jumps are successful. I’ve seen some pretty rough fantasy novels from contemp authors and I’ve even seen great adult fantasy authors butcher youth fantasy. But there are some real gems out there that can be missed if people don’t tap into their hidden talents.
When I started in fantasy, I refused to even try contemporary because it seemed so much harder to write about the real world where the rules are set and there’s no fun in magic.
Then my agent at the time noticed that most of the positive responses we received from editors had to deal with my humor and characters. So my agent asked me to try writing a contemporary piece. It was soooo difficult at first because little sprinkles of magic kept trying to sneak in, but I found that without having to worry about the fantasy aspect, I was free to amp up the humor.
And I found that I liked writing contemporary.
No, it’s not my new genre. I’ll still continue to work in both, but it’s a whole new world that’s open to me now. New books to discover, new authors to fall in love with.
And it works the other way too. If you’re a contemporary fiction lover, try suspending your disbelief just a little bit. Allow a few “What if?” scenarios to play through your mind no matter HOW outlandish the results.
Break the stereotypes.
Contemporary fiction isn’t just for strait-laced, down-to-earth types and speculative fiction isn’t just for head-in-the-clouds dreamers.
Jump the genres with me! I promise the grass is just as green on the other side.

Jo Whittemore

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