Yes, I could rant about this.
I could tell you about the genre side of the internet, where success means shipping a dozen books a year, outlining everything in a spreadsheet, and treating your creative life like a content factory. I could tell you about the literary side, where success means an MFA, the right connections, and a quiet disdain for anyone who thinks about the market or indie publishing. I could tell you that neither feels like I belong there.
But instead of ranting, I want to tell you about three pieces of advice I wish I'd gotten more than a decade ago when I started my indie author journey. And it’s not writing advice. It’s thinking advice. The stuff that unstuck me after trying and failing to follow rules that weren't made for writers with more ideas than is healthy for them.
This is for you, whether you are a fiction or non-fiction writer, or just started dreaming of becoming a writer.
Actually, this one is for you if you are a reader.
1. Figure out what you actually write.
This sounds stupidly obvious. It isn't.
For ages, I marketed my books as historical mysteries. I was also perpetually annoyed by most historical mysteries, which should have been a clue.
When I finally analysed my own work properly, the answer came back: upmarket fiction — page-turning plots with the character depth and prose of literary fiction. I'd been writing that all along and failing to sell it, because I was describing it as something it wasn't. I hadn’t even heard the term upmarket fiction before.
Once I knew, things shifted. I stopped following advice built for rapid-release genre authors. Stopped cramming my square books into round marketing holes.
For you: If the genre label you use makes you wince, pay attention to that. Maybe you’re writing something that can’t be squeezed into neat categories.
2. Your process isn't stupid or wrong. It's yours.
I thought I was a pantser. I also couldn't figure out why I'd hit walls at the same point in every manuscript.