We've been exploring different eBook trends that allow indie authors and independent digital publishers to expand their offerings, and one area that is growing in popularity is crime fiction. If you're looking for something slightly less gruesome than
zombie lit but slightly less mushy than
romantic fiction, crime fiction might be a good choice for your writing skills.
Writing crime fiction can be more challenging than some genres, because you often have to carefully think through and develop a plot concerning the crime and the criminal before you're able to build a story around those elements. It's one genre where an outline is a necessary tool, to ensure that you fill in all of the details.
Joanna Penn, founder of
The Creative Penn, offers great advice to "grab the reader by the throat on the first page" and offers options for your opening sequence:
- The Action Opening: Start the novel with the hero in some sort of physical or emotional jeopardy.
- The Flashback Opening: Start with a moment of high drama from somewhere later in the novel and then flashback to the events leading up to it.
- The First Day on the Job Opening: A good way to introduce the world to the reader is to discover it through the eyes of the hero. They may, as the title suggests, be starting a new job, or they may have just arrived in town.
- The Everyday Hero Opening: Your protagonist is going about their everyday life and some event sends them spiraling off into another direction.
- Outside Action: The outside action event could be a robbery, or a murder, or any problem that doesn’t involve the hero.
The biggest complaints from readers about crime fiction are unresolved plot points and flat characters. Take the time to think your story through, and bring your characters to life with details that go beyond what you need to know to get through the narrative. Consider creating a recurring character or characters that the readers can identify with, get to know, and expect to see in every subsequent eBook. With extra effort, crime fiction eBooks will sell well, and they offer the flexibility to incorporate romance, mystery, and detective elements into your crime fiction.
Next week, we'll dive into more eBook trends, starting with fantasy fiction.
We've been exploring different eBook trends that allow indie authors and independent digital publishers to expand their offerings, and one area that is growing in popularity is crime fiction. If you're looking for something slightly less gruesome than zombie lit but slightly less mushy than romantic fiction, crime fiction might be a good choice for your writing skills.
Writing crime fiction can be more challenging than some genres, because you often have to carefully think through and develop a plot concerning the crime and the criminal before you're able to build a story around those elements. It's one genre where an outline is a necessary tool, to ensure that you fill in all of the details.
Joanna Penn, founder of The Creative Penn, offers great advice to "grab the reader by the throat on the first page" and offers options for your opening sequence:
