What's acceptable changes

 

Does anyone else feel that writing a book is far, far easier than trying to sell it?

I suspect there are many reasons why sales go up and down and one of them is changing tastes. I never would have believed back in the day that I would be reading urban fantasy in 2024, but I am, and enjoying it.

All my life I've bought books and promised myself I would only buy and keep the books I wanted to re-read. Now I am starting to feel guilty because apart from Dunnett and the occasional Rankin - oh, yes and Mary O'Hara and her delightful My Friend Flicka, I have re-read hardly any of them. The books are beginning to haunt me, because nobody lives forever, and even if I started today, would I get them all re-read in time? And would I enjoy them today as I did back whenever I bought them? Chances are I would not. People change, tastes change, writing styles change and what's acceptable changes. 

To get back to the problem of selling the books after you've written them - well, it ain't easy. Try Googling "marketing e-books" for yourself and see how many pages  of helpful hints and tips spring up on your screen. Testament to how hard it is, I think. The market is overcrowded with e-books of every type and description, including the aforementioned urban fantasy.