What is most successful genre for self-publishers? And the least?

Romance, Fantasy, Sci-fi. Apparently, poetry and cookbooks don't sell well. This was not a huge surprise to me. I love poetry. Good poetry. Good poetry is tantalising. Unfortunately, there is a lot of poetry out there that is just plain awful. A lot of deluded people think they can write poetry. It is an art. It requires talent. Then again, a lot of people think they can paint and there is a lot of highly priced garbage out there. When I see a painting that looks like someone threw the guts of a squashed cane toad at a bitumen road, and then I find out that someone paid millions for it, all I can think is, “The Emperor has no clothes!”

As for cookbooks, there are a LOT of cookbooks out there. There are a lot in my cupboard (mostly passed on from relatives who couldn’t wait to get them out of their own cupboards). And when I cook something, do I get out my cookbooks and lovingly caress the pages until I find the perfect recipe? No. Duh. I google “chocolate slice caramel sultanas” or something similar, sit the iPad on the bench and start cooking.


So… Fantasy, Sci-fi and Romance. Not a big surprise that these sell well. Why do people like Fantasy, Sci-fi and Romance so very much? Because to many people, the world has not dealt a wonderful, exciting hand. A lot of people are trapped in lives where they are unhappy, bored, unloved, unknown, unable to escape. But with Fantasy, Sci-fi and Romance we escape into a world of wonder and imagination. A place where reality is distorted and anything, and I really do mean anything, is possible. If the book is well-written, when you come to the end of your adventure, you won’t want to return to the human world. You will have connected with the characters and you will want to leave this place and join them on their quests. 

Go! You’ll have a brilliant time! When should you come home? Never. If the adventure ends, move on to the next world. The next series. The next author. Bon voyage! 




Get Dan O'Sullivan's Trilogy on Amazon

Book 1 - The Fallen
Book 2 - The Guardians
Book 3 - Child of a Guardian and of the Free

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