Crossover novelsI called while preparing this chapter told me about a big-name
author whose insistence on writing crossover books effectively
wrecked her career. Stretch genre limits, but do not try to straddle
two categories, this editor cautioned.
What about the argument that readers cross genre lines so
authors might as well, too? Let us face facts: authors and their
friends are not a relatively large, or even a very accurate, sample of
the general reading public. Most people buy what they like and only
what they like. Crossovers go against the flow.
Do not get me wrong: average readers are not intractable; they
are just not eager for something new. To get them to sample some-
thing different one has to trick them, or "sell" them, if you prefer.
Another editor I talked to does that with covers that lead readers
to expect that the novel they are buying is of a sort that they already
like. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not—as he knows from
the mail he gets accusing him of deceptive packaging.
SOLUTIONS
So, if publishers are conservative about crossovers, what is one to
do? Not write them? That is not practical. A good story is a good
story, and some just have to be written that way. Besides, advances
in genre fiction come when the envelope is stretched. It is healthy
to test boundaries. It is even necessary.
Perhaps the problem lies with the whole idea of categorizing?
Sure, spine labels and dedicated sections in stores lead readers to
books they want, but they also route them away from books that
they might enjoy. Should we do away with spine labels?
Alas, that is just not going to happen. Our whole retail structure
is built around categories. This method gets as much support from
publishers as it does from stores. For one thing, breaking a large list
into smaller imprints makes it easier to get stores to order broadly
from that list. For another, inside the stores themselves categories
are the most efficient way to get mysteries, say, into the hands of
mystery fans.
Spine designation also makes the bookstore's job easier. Without
them, overworked sales assistants would have to make their own
decisions about shelving. True, most bookstore clerks are smart and