Knowing what genre your book will fit into will help you decide where to begin in the search for a market for that novel. It is easy to come up with a zillion ideas for the novel, but marketing is entirely another ballgame. There are four important steps to remember when shopping for the perfect place for your story.

To begin with, as a writer, you are charged with writing a novel that you and your Muse can be proud to call your own. We all want to write the next bestselling series but that doesn’t happen on a regular basis, or not to me, anyway. The important point here is that every novel you write has the potential to be the next best thing when you stay true to who you are.

Finding a market for your novel can be an uphill battle especially if your work crosses traditional writing boundaries. Plan for the unexpected and don’t let it bother you. Experience, even in the trial and error of finding a market, has its own rewards. Continue to focus on that masterpiece.

You are not alone. Every writer needs his or her work to fit somewhere. On the surface, your novel has all the earmarks of a mystery. Those are the kinds of books you have read and the ideas pitched to you by your Muse surround that genre. Under the surface, some features of your mystery could categorize it as another subset of the genre.

Step one involves you discovering what your novel is about. That means you define the elements of your story on paper to get a general compass heading. An element in your novel is any part of the story that can be defined as belonging to a certain genre. You don’t have to do anything now except list: elicit love affairs, government cover-up, murder, etc.

Step two is where you will begin to place your elements into their genre categories. Using the example of murder, this story element is a classic aspect of the mystery genre. Any type of love affair is indicative of romance. Some elements can go further and be categorized as a subgenre. The overall genre can come down to one choice if all elements unanimously fit in the same category.

Step three begs the question: Do your elements mix well in the story? Whatever the genres portrayed in your novel, a well-though out order of events creates a believable story. But, all of the elements can’t compete for the spotlight. One genre has to stand head and shoulders above the rest and lead your story. The rest is an unexpected bonus.

Lastly, have a backup plan. Your story may fit into more than one genre; hence, alternative markets are out there. Your first choice is probably the genre you most identify with but the others play an important role in the story as well.

Experiment with the mix of your novel here. What happens if one of the other elements is relied upon to carry the story? Does it work?

Build a story that speaks to who you are. You will find your market.

Looking to sell your novel? Holly Lisle is a full-time writer who has sold 30+ novels to major publishers and is the creator of the “How to Think Sideways Career Survival School for Writers”. Go to http://howtothinksideways.com/members to access to 3 free lessons that teach you how to write a novel that sells – straight from her highly-acclaimed course.

Last 5 posts by Holly Lisle

• The Four Thinking Barriers that keep you from being a Successful Novelist - February 28th, 2009
• Effective Character Descriptions for Novel Writers - February 26th, 2009
• Create, Complicate, Resolve: The Keys to Keeping your Readers Interested - February 24th, 2009
• Assessing your Novel Writing Progress: Check These Four Things - February 21st, 2009

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