Can Publishing in Multiple Genres Hurt an Author’s Career?

I recently had a discussion with Tommy Hancock (@TommyHancock), an aspiring novelist and comic book writer who has been researching the publishing world and the indie revolution. He asked me a fantastic question that prompted a great discussion, and I want to share it with you.

His question:

Can versatility hurt an author? I mean, an overabundance of it?

He has two novels in the works: a young adult epic fantasy (it sounds like it might appeal to Grimoire Trilogy fans) and an adult horror novel. Great range, am I right?

Even though his books sound completely different, I don’t think it’s enough to be considered over-abundantly diverse. In terms of novel writing, one might become over-abundantly diverse if he or she publishes completely different novels too close together, but I talk more about that in the Timing section below.

To start, let’s focus more on versatility itself as it relates to novelists.

I agree that many writers pigeonhole themselves in a particular genre. We see it everywhere, from indies to traditionally published authors, but we see plenty of exceptions to that observation as well.

Versatility: Pros vs. Cons

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of being a versatile author that pens novels in multiple genres across any combination of the five age labels (children’s, middle grade, young adult, new adult, and adult).

 

Pros
Freedom & Passion

How many times can you write for one age group or genre before your eyes start to wander? How long before you start to look at other genres with a new curiosity you’ve never felt before? For most authors who love writing itself, it’s inevitable. Sure, you love your trademark genre, but you can’t deny the creative itch to explore the mind of a zombie, or play with what it would be like to control magic.

It’s not cheating. It’s writing.

The passion to write knows no limit—only the story. If you typecast yourself into one genre, you lose the freedom to truly explore the creative medium that is the written word.

Take a look at Neil Gaiman, who is known for everything from novels to screenplays to comics. He has even . Though he writes primarily fantasy (ranging from high fantasy to urban fantasy), his range in medium gives him a versatility that reaches millions of fans. I, for instance, did not like his opus American Gods. Gasp! I know, I’m an abomination. I did, however, love Coraline and Neverwhere. To me, all three have completely different voices, and I’ll continue to read his work even though I didn’t like one of them.

The same is true of Stephen King. The man writes everything from horror to fantasy, and he’s one of the most famous authors of our age. You can’t go into a bookstore without seeing one of his novels or read a writing technique discussion without hearing someone mention his book On Writing. It’s only natural that he has explored different genres—I mean, after you write for decades, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll switch it up. Writers are curious by nature and love to explore new worlds.

 

The Challenge

True writers know they can always improve. No writer—not even Neil Gaiman or Stephen King—is perfect. We know we can push ourselves to improve and learn new techniques that will make us better. By broadening our genres, we explore new styles, characters, and situations that will ultimately improve our writing ability.

For instance, I’m currently writing The Grimoire Trilogy—an epic fantasy series with a contemporary twist. However, my next series is either going to be urban fantasy or paranormal horror (I have two different series mapped out and ready to go, but haven’t picked one yet). Yep. Starkly different from magical hidden worlds and new races I made up for the Grimoire. For now, my epic fantasy days are limited to the Grimoire Trilogy and its companion novellas. Will I branch back? Probably. It depends on where the story ideas in my swipes journal take me. But I will push myself, and I will follow my passion to explore new stories.

Each book I write has to be new, exciting, and fresh; otherwise, I just won’t think it’s good enough to publish. My readers deserve the absolute best I can give them.

 

Readership

Readership is probably the hardest factor to place in this debate because it’s both a pro and a con. By expanding your genres, you run the very high chance that you will gain new readers. Sure, some readers only go for one type of book—pararomance, maybe, or high fantasy. But most readers are so incredibly complex that they love to explore different genres, authors, and storylines. The world is a diverse place, and readers’ tastes reflect that. Picking up one reader with a book that’s different from your others might actually attract a lifelong reader that reads everything you release because they love you.

 

Cons
Readership

Again, readership is probably the hardest factor to place because it’s both a pro and a con. The downside to changing up your genres is you run the risk of alienating readers who liked previous work but don’t like your current work. They may think you’ve taken a turn in your writing and give up on you because they don’t like where you’re headed. That’s a risk.

They key here is to maintain your voice as an author. While that will continue to grow and improve over time, readers ultimately fall in love with an author’s narrative style as much as they fall in love with the story. If they know they can come to you for a riveting read with deeply emotional characters with whom they can connect, they’ll follow you through virtually any genre.

 

Uncharted Territory

To try something new is a risk for authors. It might snowball into the worst story they’ve ever written, thereby delaying their next publication date as they try to come up with something publishable.

I don’t think this is a real con so much as it’s a factor people consider. Fact of the matter is, though, writers take risks all the time. It’s in the job description. Great books thrive off new ideas; they tackle clichés and expectations, thereby raising the bar for everyone else. That’s risk.

So if your goal is to write a good book, you’re taking a risk.

Don’t be afraid of failing; you can always throw it out and write another one if it sucks. I have piles of manuscripts and hidden files on my computer that are just crap. Crap, I tell you—crap I that will never see the light of day because it’s not good enough. You have to write a few crappy ones before you’re good enough to publish.

 

 
The Schedule

This post was too big to host in just one day. Here’s the full schedule, with links:

Day One: Can Publishing in Multiple Genres Hurt an Author’s Career?
Day Two: Why Many Authors Don’t Change Genres…Ever
Day Three: A Closer Look at Timing Your Publications


S. M. Boyce is a fantasy and paranormal fiction writer. You can find her novels on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The Discussion

Is this a definitive look at versatility as it pertains to authors? No. I’m sure we missed something somewhere, but it’s a conversation starter. Jump in.

Authors

Do you stick to one genre or do you diversify?
What is/are your favorite genre(s)?
Do you prefer authors in one genre, or do you like it when an author has a diverse range of novels?
What is/are your favorite genre(s)?

Readers