When the market doesn't want what you write

This post is sort of a continuation from yesterday's post.

I'm struggling right now to find a home for what I write. I can proudly say I write chick lit. My writing is not pink covers and endless shopping trips, but it is the newly evolved chick lit where the heroine is smart and sassy and independent. The stories focus on her life and dreams and not on the next pair of expensive shoes she buys (though she still may indulge from time to time!).

But I'm stuck in a world where vampires and werewolves rule.

No offense to those of you who are finding great success right now. I am very happy for you! And I'm sure for some, it's been a long time coming...waiting for the market to be ready for what you write. Huge kudos to you!!

But here I sit...wondering what I should do right now. I've seen some of my fellow romance and chick lit authors take their stories and give them a vampire makeover. But that is just not me. Should I try anyway...try to conform to what's popular right now?? Or do I sit back and keep doing what I'm doing...waiting for the day when the trends circle back around?

But that might be a while. I am convinced the vampire/werewolf thing will not fizzle until the last two Twilight movies have been released. So we're talking at least a couple years from now.

My only hope is that when it does fizzle, the masses will want to read what I write. When they've become bored with bloodsuckers and all that, I hope they'll want something smart and sassy and more true to life.

Is it over yet?

Okay, so I hope I am not alone in hoping (wishing) that the vampire/werewolf trend is coming to an end....soon...very soon.

Nothing against all those authors out there who are, probably after many years, getting their stories out there. I am ecstatic for them and I wish them the best of luck. But honestly, it's just not my thing. Never has been.

I read this article in yesterday's Buffalo News and quite honestly, it sorta ticked me off. I adore all things chick lit. It's what I read, it's what I write. And it has so evolved from pink cartoony covers and endless shopping trips. That's not what today's chick lit is. But it's still getting bashed.

And yes, I do agree that the industry saw a huge influx of chick lit the end of the 90's and into the twenty-first century. But if you ask me, the exact same thing is happening now with all these vampire and werewolf stories. How long will it be before the consumer tires and wants something else?

I know no one can predict the future and the next big thing is anybody's guess, but I can't help but hope it means a comeback for women's fiction and chick lit..but the smarter, wittier side we're seeing now.