Why a Trope Is Not Your Niche
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Two cream colored horses on a beach. One is nibbling on the other.
Photo by Hassan OUAJBIR: https://www.pexels.com/photo/two-horses-on-beach-11336249/
Last week we talked about niche and where your book slots. Where will readers find you in the bookstore? What other writers are doing what you’re doing and how can you leverage that in your writing career?
Now I want to talk about tropes.
A trope is nested inside your niche. As an example, I wrote a romance which is the genre. It’s a contemporary romance is its niche. It’s a Cinderella story is the trope.
Many people get confused, including me. These pieces are like nesting dolls. The big one is the genre, the next size down is the niche, and the trope is nestled inside the other two.
Used to be, when there were more bookstores, I would go in looking for a book where I expected it would be shelved. For instance, I went looking for a Laurell K. Hamilton book and found it in romance? What? Her stuff is fantasy horror with an edge of erotica. Some poor reader saw it in romance and got a heck of a shock when they came home and sat down to read.
Bright pink flowering tree.
Photo by Justyna Serafin: https://www.pexels.com/photo/pink-and-white-flowers-under-blue-sky-12485293/
This is why getting things right is so important. Who are your readers? Where are they going to find you?
Trope is a reduction of the book. What’s at its heart. When I say a Cinderella book, people picture a princess in a pumpkin carriage who loses a glass slipper. Hard luck heroine makes good and finds a hero who loves her. If I say baby romance, everyone knows there is going to be a baby who is important to the story. A cat solves crimes. It's a cozy mystery. There are secret baby books, military hero books, spy novels, superhero stories, sweet kissing books and hard-core sexy time books. There are huge lists with more.
But if I’m trying to sell my book to an agent, editor or self-publish, I need to understand what the book is. Right now, I’m writing an alien romance. Last month I finished a contemporary alternate time line with a disabled heroine book. The book I'm editing now is an urban fantasy. If you can’t put it in the box, how are readers going to get what you are? Where to find you? Find your book to buy?
You can have more than one trope in your story. In fact, you should. Make your marketing easier.
Some of you are puffing up about now. “My book is special. I would never change the story to put in a trope.” That’s fine. You do you. There are some folks who don’t adhere to any genre. People won’t find your book until long past your death, and that’s great for you. That might be what you want.
Most authors I talk to want to sell. They’ve spent years in the dark by themselves tippy tapping away in silence. These writers want to make money. Most haven’t made a penny for all the hours they’ve slaved over stories. Making a living by writing means validation to most of us. I’m not writing for myself.
My alien book could have an alien shifter, or a baby on the way, or military overtones. Maybe the heroine is a secret military spy, and it’s an alien enemy to lovers who make a secret baby book. Will she tell him? Or will she turn him over to her people?
Tropes are the relationship of a book. You want a space opera. I can do that. You want a heroine. I can do that. You want pirates in space? Yup, doable. I write what you are looking to read. We’re together because we have common interests.
My guy loves high fantasy books. Elves, dwarves, and humans, and a magic system. There could be a mystery, or they are saving the world. The high fantasy books I like are usually a down on her luck female who takes a journey and becomes greater than she ever imagined she could. Sometimes she saves her world or defeats a proper villain who threatens her or her family.
Two women on a blanket under the trees with fall leaves scattered around. One is reading and one is listening to music.
Photo by Tim Samuel: https://www.pexels.com/photo/multiracial-homosexual-women-resting-on-blanket-in-park-5838914/
Honestly, I’ve got to stop because I want to publish this before the end of an age. It’s fun to play with tropes and how to link them together. I enjoy it.
My point is you can’t sell what you don’t know. A friend writes sweet kissing books with a local flavor. She tours in the state and does signings at local landmarks she’s included in the book. Exceptional sales strategy. She knows what she’s got and is leveraging it to boost sales.
What tropes are you writing? If you don’t see it yet, google tropes. About a gazillion will come up. Or try to guess tropes in movies. Star Wars is a space opera. Superhero movies. Coming of age stories. There is so much out there.
If you have questions, send me a line. Once you recognize the nesting dolls, you get it. But sometimes that can take having a few books under your belt before it all clicks together. You may not even realize you used a trope until you see a list of them. It’s a natural thing to write about. Happy writing!!!
