Making It in Historical Fiction

An Introduction

(Or: Who am I, and why should you listen to my advice?)

In June of 2015 I had the good fortune to attend the Historical Novel Society’s conference in Denver, Colorado. The HNS puts on a fantastic and informative get-together each year (alternating between Europe and North America), attracting historical novelists at all stages of career development, from those who are still working on their first novel to well-known veterans with decades’ worth of experience.

It was my first time attending an HNS conference, and I enjoyed meeting many writers face-to-face whom I’d previously known only as names on my computer screen. There’s nothing that can compare with mingling with like-minded folks. The exchange of ideas is always exciting, and it’s a lot of fun to learn about the publishing world through face-to-face conversations with others who are in the trenches.

But I was taken aback by a common interaction at that conference. A lot of the writers I met seemed surprised that I had a full-time career as a historical novelist. Many of them were under the impression that it wasn’t really possible to write historical fiction full-time—or at least, they felt sure that only authors who had long-standing careers and big, recognizable names (or spouses who earned the majority of the income) could ever expect to give up their day jobs.

Now, I’m certainly not the only historical novelist out there who writes full-time! But I’m not even close to what you’d call famous, either. Libbie Hawker is not a household name among fans of the genre (not yet... but a girl can dream!) I’m not a Margaret George or a Sharon Kay Penman. I am neither a Bernard Cornwell nor a Diana Gabaldon. (Alas for me, on all counts.) Yet even though I’m not one of those long-established heavy hitters in historical fiction, I’ve still found enough success in the genre to not only quit my day job and write full-time, but to tempt my husband away from his job, too.

If I can make it in historical fiction, then any author with reasonable writing skills and a solid game plan can do the same. There’s nothing special about me or my books—though I do my best to make them high-quality, entertaining reads. A sustainable career writing historical fiction isn’t the pipe dream so many authors believe it to be. It is attainable—and as I drove home from the conference, mulling over all the conversations I’d had with my fellow HF authors, I realized I wanted to write a helpful book to encourage and empower other authors in this genre.

So here I am, sharing my experience and strategies to help other HF writers make it in the genre they love.

This is the best time to build a writing career in any genre. We’re living in an exciting era—in the whole history of the printed word, there has never been a better time to be a writer. More people than ever before are able to earn a living by the pen (or, more accurately, by the keyboard) and never before have we seen such a wide variety of books to delight and fascinate readers. There is an audience out there for just about any story you want to tell—all you have to do is find that audience, and deliver the stories they’re craving. If it’s your ambition to attain a full-time career as a historical novelist, then lucky you! The time is now!

The time is especially now for our genre. Historical fiction is already a reader favorite, but the genre is enjoying a sharp upswing in popularity, as evidenced by Amazon’s recent expansion of its historical-fiction categories and the continuing growth of HF offerings in the realms of film and television. Audiences adore historical fiction—which isn’t surprising, because I happen to think it’s the best genre of them all! HF delivers a robust supply of the ingredients readers (and viewers) seem to universally crave in their entertainment: drama, intrigue, characters with strong personalities, action, mystery, romance, and a frank examination of life’s deepest truths—an unflinching look at what it means to be human.

So why are relatively few authors writing historical fiction full-time, even as this genre’s popularity expands? Most historical novelists, whether they’re self-published or working with traditional publishers, find themselves unable to earn a living from their work. They can’t seem to break out, despite the genre’s booming popularity. They are obliged to restrict their writing to free time only; unlike their fellow authors in romance, sci-fi, or fantasy, they can’t seem to sell enough books to launch the careers they desire.

I have a few opinions about exactly why it’s so difficult to break out in the current historical fiction market. I’ll share them in the forthcoming chapters. But for now, in this introduction, I want to give you an overview of what I hope to achieve with this book.

My goal is to share my strategy for this genre—to show you how I worked my way up to a sustainable career, how I assess the market and prioritize new works in progress, and how I carry a book beyond its launch to help it find new readers months and even years down the line. It’s my hope that in sharing what I’ve learned through trial and error (and through conversations with a lot of very smart, forward-thinking authors in a variety of genres) I can help more writers achieve their dreams and build careers in historical fiction.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that my approach to this writing business might feel... well, too business-like. If you’re not yet used to making choices about your books from a business standpoint (rather that the creative perspective that allowed you to write the darn things in the first place), my advice might seem unpalatable. I’ve taken an aggressively sales-oriented approach to my career, and initially it may be difficult for you to consider your own works from such a dispassionate distance. We writers often feel sentimental about our books; we can have strong emotional ties to the things we write, and that can make it hard to view them clearly in a business-like light.

You’ve undoubtedly heard of people who wear many hats, meaning they play several different roles at work or in their personal lives, out of necessity or preference. Writers tend to wear one hat only, and we often cling fiercely to the comfort of that single, familiar role. For some of us, our identity as writer is so important that the thought of replacing the writer hat with any other style of hat is very daunting indeed.

But as you read this book, I encourage you to slip off your writer hat and start getting used to the sensation of wearing your business hat. You do have a business hat, you know! It might be buried deep in your closet, behind those boxes that hold your trunked manuscripts and your binders stuffed with research notes. It may be dusty and moth-eaten. Maybe you’ve never actually tried it on before. Now is your chance! If you’re to break out and achieve your career goals—if you’re to make it in historical fiction—you’ll need to get used to donning that very important hat frequently and at will.

The business hat will play a major role in your success, so learn to wear it well, even if at first it doesn’t come naturally. I’ve had mine firmly on my head since 2011, and it has allowed me to view my career through commercial-tinted glasses. The business hat has empowered me to make conscious choices with the intent of selling more units and retaining more customers. This approach, in turn, has allowed me to build a sustainable business with fairly predictable growth. It has also allowed me to set clear, focused goals so that I can measure the success of my business and guide it on an upward path.

I know it can feel rather off-putting to discuss our books in such dry, distressingly professional terms—how can these beloved things we’ve poured our energy, time, and emotions into for months on end be reduced to impersonal descriptors like units and products? But we can gain great clarity when we step back from the tangle of emotions that surround the act of writing. When we get into the habit of evaluating our products and performance with straightforward, business-like detachment, we can create strategies for success. A good strategy results in increased sales. Increased sales result, eventually, in a sustainable writing career.

I love the community of historical fiction authors and readers. I’ve spent a lot of time talking to my author friends, both on social media and one-on-one, and I’ve done a lot of thinking about the differences between my approach to the genre and some other authors’ approaches. I’ve been able to identify certain differences in my approach that have contributed positively to my career—and I’ve learned a lot from my past mistakes, and now understand how and why to avoid some blunders that commonly trip up authors in this genre.

Because I feel such a commitment to the historical-fiction community, I want to see more of my fellow HF authors achieve the dream of writing the genre they love, full-time, just like I do. I want to see freedom and variety flourish in historical fiction the way it flourishes in other genres. And I want to help instill the confidence that you can achieve a full-time career in historical fiction by using sensible, targeted strategies in production, branding, and marketing.

My goal for this book is to share with you all of my best, most useful advice about writing commercially successful books. Commercial success depends not just on quality craft, but also on sound strategies for production and promotion. In order to create those strategies, you must understand the genre itself—reader demographics, tropes, and more. You must also gain a basic understanding of the current landscape of the publishing industry. As a modern author, you’re faced with the decision to self-publish or pursue a traditional contract. You need to understand the pros and cons of both paths, and decide which path fits best into your strategy for success.

With that in mind, the next three sections of this book will deal with the basics—the foundation stones on which you’ll build your business strategy. Next we’ll get to know the pitfalls peculiar to HF by examining why this genre can be a struggle for many authors. Then I’ll help you understand your choices in publishing—and how those choices apply specifically to historical fiction. Finally, we’ll take a broad look at the genre and its readers.

Are you ready? Let’s jump in, and start building your strategy to make it as a historical novelist!

Why Is This Genre So Tough?

There’s no doubt that historical fiction is a very popular genre, with millions of enthusiastic fans across the world. A quick glance at Amazon’s Top 100 paid list will reveal that on any given day, 15 to 25% of the best-selling books are HF, or closely related to the genre (historical romance, historical fantasy, time-travel, etc.)

There’s an eager, growing audience that wants to read HF. But whenever you read news articles or triumphant blog posts about authors making it big and living the dream, those authors are almost always in the genres of romance or sci-fi. Given how big the HF audience is, it seems like we should be hearing from many more authors who succeed in this genre!

Why is it so hard to build a career in historical fiction? What makes this market so dramatically different from the romance and sci-fi markets? How can authors change their approach to the HF genre to maximize their chances for success?

I’ve asked myself these question many times over the years as I’ve observed some of my HF-writing friends struggle with their careers. (And believe me, I’ve struggled with mine, too!) After plenty of observation and thought—and my own experience working in this genre—I’ve developed some convictions that may help explain why so few historical novelists are able to follow their passion and write full-time.

First, the HF genre is still heavily controlled by major publishers, especially imprints of the Big Five. Their disproportionate influence has turned the genre into a trend-heavy marketplace, where reader options are severely limited and where any book that’s off-trend has a very difficult time breaking out.

Books that don’t sell well mean fewer contracts and smaller advances for their authors, and less promotion for future books. Books that aren’t promoted don’t sell well, which means still fewer contracts. In publishing jargon, this series of unfortunate events is known as the death spiral. Obviously, you never want to find yourself caught in a death spiral, but authors usually have very little control over the matter.

Based on my conversations with Big Five historical novelists, it seems that lately these publishers’ trend-centric approaches to HF have made them increasingly cautious. Dependence on fads leads to suspicion of anything that doesn’t land squarely in the bull’s-eye of the latest trend. Publishers are increasingly reluctant to try something new, whether it’s a debut novelist or a historical setting that hasn’t been done in recent years. As publishers grow more