Andrew Seiple's Blog: Transmissions From the Teslaverse - Posts Tagged "diversification"

It's a tough call.

Looking at the successful independent writers out there, and their paths to success, most of them achieved that by working hard in one genre and establishing a base there.

Me, I've got a ton of ideas for several different genres. I'm committed to three Dire books before I stray, but after those are done I'm eyeing a MG fantasy trilogy. Something for younger readers, with cute dragons a'plenty and lots of good versus bad.

And that's not even getting into the RPG freelancing I'm doing, which is all Western short stories and microfiction.

Running the numbers... I'd be better off faster if I stuck to superheroes.

So.

How do I reconcile this?

Well, maybe I don't have to. The big advantage of an indy writer is that we're not limited by the typical back-and-forth and delays that you find in trade publishing. We have more control over the process, and spend much less time waiting on gatekeepers.

Those MG dragon books I want to write? They should clock in at 60K words each, or thereabouts, barring a burst of inspiration. That's a month, month-and-a-half of work at most for me. Add in a few weeks for editing, art, and various collaboration from my dream team, and you're looking at a 2-3 month investment per book.

So it won't distract me for long, and I'll be back to superheroes in half a year or so. Or some other project that strikes my fancy.

Sure, I might delay the rise of my brand a bit, but... well, I'm digging into this career for two reasons.

1. It's fun as hell.

2. I get to choose what I do.

I might delay things by a year or two, but in the long run I know I'll still get there. And if I forbade myself experimentation, well... Rule #1 would be broken pretty darn quick.

So buckle up friends! Things are gonna get interesting here in half a year or so, if I keep to schedule...