NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2024: STORIES THAT SELL – Blog # 10.
Every writer wants to be able to sell their book. As I plan and write my new Paris book, at the back of my mind I think about book sales. Sales depend on many factors, but let’s make a start in categorizing some memorable types of stories. So, what type of fiction books sell?
Rags to riches: Readers like battlers rising to fulfill their dreams by hard work or unexpectedly. Highs and lows, turns in the road, wins and losses, woman in a hole, are all variations of rags to riches stories.
Drive stories: Stories of travel, movement, migration, and on-the-road stories take people to places and situations familiar, different, interesting, or motivating.
Universal stories: Readers like relatable, common ground tales with shared experiences.
Love conquers all stories: Readers like characters that fall in love, then some obstacle (person, job, thing, belief, catastrophe etc.) comes between then, and, somehow, they have their happy ending. Or some version and variation of a happy union tale.
Circle of life: Coming-of-age, progressing through life’s challenges, and circle of life stories are journeys readers recognise. With a twist, the stories can become page-turners.
Good and evil: Good and evil stories and their variations bring out the dark side of people’s character. What does ‘good’ look like – and is ‘evil’ the opposite? In the story being created, are there good and evil characters or does a good character turn evil, or the reverse? Does scary horror movies fit in this category?
Laughter and tears: Comedies and tragedies, tragi-comedies, and laugh-a-minute tales keep readers engaged in ‘what’s next?’ moments.
This is all the more grist for my writing mill.
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Photographer: Martina Nicolls