Where Do I Fit In?

If I fit in anywhere.

I’m writing this hoping I don’t sound like I’m complaining or being ungrateful. I’m extremely grateful to everyone that has supported me in my short writing career. This is me venting hoping I can talk myself into a lightbulb moment and find the answers I’m looking for. That’s the preamble. What I’m trying to work through is the fact that I’m frustrated with how this career is going and where I fit in. I’m writing, in my opinion, quality books and offering them at a decent price yet no one wants to give me a chance. I’m trying to figure out if it’s me or have I come into something just as society is leaving. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve come late to the party.

                I enjoy writing and I love superheroes so writing superhero fiction, to me, is a no-brainer. I really like writing novels. I like how I can zoom in on a character’s psyche in a way that can’t be done in a comic book. I can explore multiple angles without having to lead the reader on from panel to panel hoping they can understand my logic. My love of comic books is what got me interested in writing and I’ll always love the medium, but as for me, I’m a novelist.

                Comic book readers read comics for two reasons. The first reason is the biggest and doesn’t involve reading at all. They enjoy the art. That is the reason I got into comics as well. Seeing Spider-Man swinging around New York fighting bad guys was awesome. You can page through a comic and still have an idea about what’s going on without reading a single word. The writing seems to take a back seat to the art. People can forgive a well-drawn comic with lousy writing before they will a poorly drawn one with the best story ever written.

                Now I write superhero fiction novels. I have zero pictures in them. I’m not asking a lot for the reader to imagine what’s going on. I think I do a good job giving just enough description so they can see the world I created in their own way. While I write about superheroes, I’m not in competition with comic books. I like to think that I’m coming along side and am an alternative to them. Like television shows and movies. Comics are TV shows coming out weekly while novels come out as a single event just like a movie comes out and that’s it. Yet while I write the same stories, I feel like I don’t belong in their world.

                People like to read books even if they aren’t doing it as much as they used to. It’s a sad fact that a lot of people give up reading after they graduate high school and college. They focus on other life things and/or they’re burnt out on reading since they were forced to do it in school. Whatever the reasons, fewer people are reading, but they are out there. When they do read, they’re reading thrillers, mysteries, and romance novels. Teens and young adults are reading YA books filled with teen angst and coming of age stories. No one really seems to want to read about superheroes battling villains bent on world domination. What I’m writing doesn’t seem to be interesting enough for them to try it and nothing I can do will reach those who have given up on reading. I don’t feel like I belong here either.

So, this brings me to my dilemma. Where do I fit in? Comic book readers don’t want to read a book without pictures and novel readers don’t want to read something they think is written for kids. I have written myself into a very, very small niche where the only ones reading my books are my family and friends. That’s because, I think, I annoy them until they buy a copy to shut me up.

I truly don’t know where I fit into the world at large. I was told I should write a mystery thriller because that’s more ‘mainstream’ and people might notice me. Problem is, I don’t want to write those stories. The world is filled to overflowing with books like that. Lee Child and James Patterson have cornered that market and I’m smart enough not to try and go toe-to-toe with them. At the risk of repeating myself, I love superheroes and want to tell those stories. So, do I keep banging away at this old keyboard pushing out books I like but no one else wants to read or do I pack it in and give up on my dreams? Neither option sounds appealing to me.