Today was not quite a normal day but I’m ramping up to one.
For reading, I’m on Vol. 5 of IDW’s TMNT. Still loving this series.
For data analysis, I’ve done a lot. First, I launched a new round of Facebook ads for The Good Necromancer, The Last Dragon Lord, and (new) The Dream Mage. The data and analytics are very interesting. I’ve been comparing audiences and testing them to see how they’re doing. It’s too early for the data right now, but something I noticed with my last audience is that The Good Necromancer gets most clicks from females aged 44+. They’re cheaper to target too. Not what you’d expect from a series with a male protagonist. Funny where data takes you sometimes.
For marketing, I launched the ads I mentioned above, but I also wrote new ad copy and found new promo images. I like what I found and I have a lot of choices moving forward in case my current ads don’t work. I also developed a way to keep track of winning ad copy so that I’m not guessing what worked and what didn’t.
For production, I only did about 100 words today. I had to do some tax work on an emergency basis, so that ate up my entire day. The good news is that I’m 100% current on my taxes and bookkeeping and that this will put me in a far superior position at the end of the year since I won’t have to hunt for expenses or race to organize things. I’ll probably take another day in November or December to do what I did today so tax time can be a breeze.
Anyway, taxes. Make sure you do yours, kids.
On another note, I came up with what I believe will be my next urban fantasy series yesterday. I happened to be at O’Hare airport and had a brief encounter with a group of assholes who, frankly, are the kind of people who would be villains in a novel. That got me thinking about this particular character type (which I haven’t written before), and that led to another idea. I’m almost done with the Rat Shifter series, so when it’s done, I am going to do at least another Good Necromancer book (or two), and then I’ll jump into this series.
This concept isn’t Beast Mode-ready. It’s going to require a lot of research. A lot. It’s also a very tricky concept from a marketing perspective. Maybe one of the most tricky I’ve ever come up with. It’s mythological urban fantasy, with a flavor of superhero. This just so happens to be a pretty hot genre right now. I didn’t plan it that way. The idea just sort of happened.
I’ve seen people fight to the death on whether superhero fiction can be considered urban fantasy, or vice versa. I generally think that superhero fiction and urban fantasy are mutually exclusive, but there is a lot of overlap. I think the trick, if I were going to do it, is to adhere very, very carefully to all the necessary tropes down the line:
Fantasy: there is a conflict between good and evil and the good guys win, there is a team of good guys, there is magic, and there is a magic system.
Urban fantasy: takes place in a real city, there is magic and it is hidden, there are supernatural creatures
Mythology: the characters from the mythology feature prominently in the story, the heroes are linked in some way to those characters (or are gods themselves), and the mythology serves as the tapestry and impetus for the story.
Historical: any historical bits need to be accurate and believable. Doesn’t need to be 100% historian-approved, but it needs to try.
Superhero: has to play by the rules of UF, but also have: origin stories, a strong team, no crazy multiverses (this isn’t typically done in UF), no aliens or space travel, no science, and supervillains with a strong team around them and a good rogues gallery. And so on.
Holy crap. This is a huge challenge for someone who writes into the dark. And I haven’t even gotten started on how to position the book cover or what that might need to look like. Or the book description. I don’t have an idea yet.
If I do this series, I’m going to follow some important steps based on key lessons I’ve learned over the past four years. These will hopefully set me up for success.
First, I’m going to write the entire series, or at least the first 3-5 books before talking about the actual concept. I may honestly do 5 books, which is a little crazy, but this concept is so challenging that if it doesn’t work, I would prefer to have it fully formed and stand on its own as a complete set so I can move on if I want to.
Second, I may not move on. Regardless of what the market says, I’ll still finish the idea. I don’t abandon ideas once I commit to them. You never know how tastes will change.
Third, I’m going to structure the series so that it can go on for a very long time. At least 20+ books. I keep saying I’m going to do that, and I did it with The Good Necromancer finally. This time I’m going to do it better.
Fourth, I’ve really got to do my research on some of the historical and mythological elements in the story. This will definitely be the most challenging research I will have ever done, and the stakes are pretty high if I screw up. Fact checkers will be doubly critical with this series. The concept is 50% material that I know well and 50% material that I don’t.
Fifth, I am going to design the covers backward. That worked like magic with The Good Necromancer series. So, if I write 5 books, I’ll start by designing Book 5 first, then work backwards. Once done, I will pick the strongest one and make that Book 1.
Sixth, I may not put a stock model on these covers. You can find as many white people as you want to put on book covers, but black people, not so easy. I’m honestly tired of trying. It’s a losing battle right now.
Illustration is an option, but it may be a bad choice 1) because it’s expensive 2) because of the genre targeting I mentioned above and 3) because just because you illustrate it doesn’t mean you’ll nail it. Illustrating a series with 20+ book potential is a ridiculously bad mistake if I get it wrong.
According to K-Lytics, over 90% of UF titles have people on the cover. Over 60% or so of those are females. 30% or so are males. Only 10% or so of books have symbols on them.
This story has a male character, which is already in the minority. I am already potentially operating with a gigantic strike against me unless I found a way to NAIL the concept without a person, which I think can be done, but carefully.
Symbol-driven covers are usually the province of epic and high fantasy (and thrillers and mystery too), but I think I could get away with it by 1) being smart about the background, using it simultaneously to convey urban fantasy AND mythology and 2) strong and bold typography. Symbol-driven covers have downsides, but they have the advantage of being cheaper and easier to sustain long term. It’s much easier to hire someone to illustrate a symbol than it is to illustrate a person. Also, it’s much easier to do these types of covers yourself if a designer builds you a strong template. Again, these are little talked-about reasons to consider symbol covers. I’m still early in my thinking, so this could change.
Seventh, I’m going to run a Kickstarter campaign as a way to test the idea. If the Kickstarter fails, the concept will probably fail. I will of course have all the novels done, edited and packaged prior to running the Kickstarter.
Eighth, this story is going to have a strong team. There will be a central main character, but I’m going to use a bigger team instead of 2-3 characters that I usually do. The villain will also have a team. I do this in my novels already but I’m going to be a bit more intentional about it. There will also be some romance, though it won’t be substantial.
Ninth, I am going to avoid the thing I screwed up with my last two series without realizing it until it was too late. Books 1 of The Good Necromancer and The Chicago Rat Shifter are origin stories. That resulted in Books 1 being differently structurally from the sequels in the series. For example, with The Good Necromancer, I follow a very specific structure with Books 2-5 that doesn’t exist in Book 1. My theory is that there is probably some cognitive dissonance there. That said, the series has very good read through and I wouldn’t change a thing about it. I think it would have been better if I had executed Book 1 differently, though.
Therefore, to avoid this problem, I am going to write the origin story(ies) first BEFORE I attempt Book 1. Those origin stories will become the series lead magnet for my mailing list and help me explore and build the world. This way, by the time I get to Book 1, I’ll know the characters and world better so I can create a groundwork that can be repeated with subsequent books. Book 1 will be similar to Book 2 and 7 and 20. In other words, my hero will have everything he needs by the time Book 1 starts, and he’ll already be comfortable with his powers, and the team will already be together and comfortable with each other. I think this will make a huge difference in how readers receive the series.
Anyway, that’s a lot of information about a concept that’s early in my head and still evolving every day. But I’m excited about it, and regardless of how it shakes out, I will have a lot of fun writing it.
Have a good night.
