Yeah I've not been on booktok that much, but I've realized some of my tropes are kind of booktoky and I don't want to publish it and people think I just made a generic AI generated thing 😭
One thing about me is I will write ONLY what I WANT to write. 1. Because im not the type to bend any which way for people. Writing should be fun, not a chore. Even if it’s your job. 2. That’s the only way you will find your real readers and supporters. People who actually relate to or enjoy the message you want to send.
That’s such a great way to put it: fast fashion books. I feel like a lot of booktok books/really tropey books are made to be trendy or only for entertainment for the sake of getting buyers, so it lessens the quality and makes the books not as meaningful
@@Kateisreadingmorebooks That’s just it: there needs to be a balance. The problem is not that some books simply exist for entertainment value; to be cheesy, entertaining or erotic. The issue arises when these sort of books are placed above other books for the main reason of generating greater profit. Of course, it is integral that publishing houses make money and books made primarily for entertainment are great for that, but as Ana (and the above commenter) pointed out, the meaning of novels can be lost if we focus more on rapid profit output and marketing than on maintaining an industry where writing is an art form.
Great to see other young writers picking up on this point. It's something I've been thinking about a lot over the last few years too. Fast fashion books is the best way to describe it. A lot of the trendy books right now are completely soulless if you really look at them. It's similar in the movie industry right now. Just constant remakes and sequels. You were very kind when describing these "types" of books but I'll fully admit that I despise them 😅 I think the next 10-15 years in publishing are going to be VERY interesting... There are a lot of us who are getting tired of these trends.
Yes It raised expetations for me because my younger sister reads poplar booktok books and I'm 14 and she's expecting my book to be really good and it's tiring me out I know my books going to probably be good cause I watch a whole bunch of vids about what to do and not and I've been thinking about it since I was 11 so yeah
I agree with what you're saying. I also think that another part of the reason why these tropes and "What will sell" came about is from publishing agencies. Their greed is what makes writers feel like they have to compromise their work if they want to succeed. So many publishers turn down fantastic stories because they don't think it will sell based on the "Trope" at the time. A good example of this grave error is Game of Thrones. George R.R. Martin failed many times before The Song of Ice and Fire took off and he had a lot of difficulty getting it published and marketed. But.. he didn't comprise his story for the greed of industry. Now, look at its success. Another point to consider on publishing is to think about literature history. Many women wrote books under aliases. They didn't write for money, they didn't write for fame or recognition. They wrote for passion and expression. They had something in their souls that they had to get out on paper and they let it out into the world so they could convey this piece of themselves. To have someone relate or see them even behind a veil of secrecy, but they didn't write for Tropes they wrote for them. I believe in order to get those kinds of "Classics" again is to not comprise our work for gain, but to express that piece of ourselves that resides in our souls. It may not get that instant gratification, but someone will read it and it will resonate with them in some way and in the end... isn't that the point? That's just what I think and believe. ❤
I personally will never sacrifice and bend to the market. If that means I'm writing my next book in the gutter, then so be it. I can't write without passion, and I don't even have social media accounts to market my book. My current strategy is literally just to pray people read it, but even if no one ever reads my work, I'll still be writing. It's what I was born to do.
I love the frustration at the end, it’s exactly how I feel whenever I think about the publishing industry these days 😂 Thanks for speaking out about this!
Fast fashion books! I love that! I hate that people expect writers to market based on tropes. It reduces the story itself. My book's only real trope is Jekyll/Hyde cursed character but that character and his struggle is so much more. Books should only be put in boxes when being shipped.
As a young writer myself, the booktok trend is one way everyone try to 'adversite' or recommend books which most of the time have 'romance fantasy ect.' which is now known as 'Romantasy' its kind of a waste of time, writing a book only for the likes of the people not for what ur intrested in, i will admit currently i am writing a book with fantasy and 'romance' but it isnt because i am writing it for the liking, my general story has a MEANING behind it and stories that have meaning in there story really are underrated and deserve more attention, a saying what i'd like to describe our writing is 'we don't write on paper, we BLEED on it' because all our emotions coming crashing at that point, i generally think books that are overrated are the ones which arent 'cared for' meaning, the authors don't treat there ideas well and write characters which Have such basic personalities, i ofc treat my characters well ☺. So a reminder i would like to put out is. write a book that your heart likes reading, not what the eyes like reading:
As a reader, most of the time i go into reading looking to escape reality and somewhere along the way i realize im noticing these small magical things in someone elses perspective that i never considered that make me take something away from it and look at the world differently. I feel like now the stories all just blur. Like rewatching a show half asleep.
i’ve honestly never agreed with a sentiment more. one of the main reasons i began writing was that i was in love with stories, but the books being marketed toward me felt like exactly what you said: regurgitations of tropes. my main goal with writing was to simply write a good story. I despised the normalization of spice being the main reason to read a book. it just feels so disrespectful to the art and craft of literature, especially when marketed to younger demographics. Even when it comes to romance books, i find it odd that almost every single book nowadays is about romance. not to bash romance books, if done well it’s amazing, but i find it kinda boring when that certain type of oversaturated booktok love is copy and pasted everywhere with no other plot points. i searched far and wide for books with that in mind, but found close to none. I feel like a plot doesn’t even have to be the most deep philosophical peice of literature ever written to have meaning. If the plot you have in mind is more on the entertainment side, that’s fine. a story will naturally have depth and meaning if written well. I’ve tried to keep that in mind when writing my own books. i try to make it something that anyone could read. not dumbed down for children at all, but no iffy content. just a good story. Because that’s what i would want to read. i enjoy reading those types of books and i’m confident that someone else would too. lol thank you for coming to my ted talk, i could say way more, but i won’t ;)
I agree with you Ana, and to answer your question about classics: I do think they exist. Though there aren’t as famous or respected as those from ages ago, horror novels really comment about the world around us, fiction tell stories that impact us, and memoirs teach us the history of life. I wish some of these novels were more famous, because though I love some stories they are also loved by Booktok, these books should get a chance to loved too. Love this video! Love to hear your opinions! ❤
i knew about tropes without knowing the word 'trope' haah....i just finished my first book yay and am slowly working on the publishing side of things....but my second book i'm working on, i'm using certain tropes as a guide. Just a spring board of inspiration because this 2nd book is different than my first so wanted a different approach... but yes, i agree with you whole heartedly! 💞
I feel like this is predominantly affecting the romance genre with all its subgenres because booktok seems to be all about the spice and not much about the story itself. In other genres (for instance I personally tend to read thrillers and horror), I don't see this happening as, I suppose, they're not quite as marketable to a wider audience as romance is. Horror/thriller has its very specific audience and it's always gonna sell to that specific audience. Romance is the most popular genre as people generally simply want love, and seek it in fiction much like they do elsewhere, so these trends happen (just like those silly things of booktok + biker tok). That being said, not everyone is here just for the cheap smut so I don't think literature as a whole is in any danger, it's just gonna be a bit harder to locate the good stuffs nowadays when it comes to romance.
Most people counter the 'tropefication of books is ruining publishing and the art of writing itself' argument with the 'there's always been low-brow literature so there's no way it's destroying literature now-", which is just inaccurate. Back in the 80s, when Harlequin novels were *the* romance genre itself, those readers were driving a portion of sales, not the majority of sales. It was a little more diverse in terms of genre distribution in publishing deals. Of course there were always fads, but at least they were spread out over a few genres. Now fast forward to now, romance omantasy and a lot of the trope driven work that BookTok glories over dominate well over half of publishing deals. There are writers who have good stories that are being glossed over in favor of work that is more 'market-minded' which happens to be at this point a handful of scenes, certain tropes, gratuitous smut and the romance genre in general. Those readers drive sales, those readers change the market, and those readers are causing a shift in writing and publishing, and not a good one.
I have been told chasing trends can be the downfall of a book but could also lead to success sometimes. Depending on the trends once a person has everything written and wants to publish possibly the trend has died down by then (specifically in trad-pub, since it takes a long time). Niche books aren't dead, but they are way less talked about or are talked about, but by already famous authors. In my opinion if you want to include trends in your books, because you genuinely like them, do so, but if it is only for trend chasing purposes the writer has to think about if they want to write it. After all a book with tropes the writer doesn't want to write won't be as good as a book written the way the writer likes.
OH how I can’t rant about this topic for days. I find myself frustrated after hearing book suggestions about these “great” books, going to read the beginning, and being extremely disappointed. Either because it has swearing, sexual content, or the writing/story is just downright bad. And those people suggesting these books have thousands of followers, so I just sit there confused. I miss when authors would spend years on books, taking as much time as they need to craft it. People are so fickle, they see an attention grab, and then go buy this book that is actually terrible. I am also a Christian, and am careful about what I consume, not because I can’t read what I want, but because I choose not to read things that will ultimately harm me or cause me to have an addiction (*cough *cough smut). I think that the book marketing tactics nowadays are effective in grabbing the audience attention with shiny ideas or familiar tropes, but that causes books to be not well rewritten and predictable. I don’t want to read “fast fashion” books, not all the time, sometimes they’re nice if I want something easy to read, but ultimately they don’t further my skills and comprehension as a writer.
Hi ana im such big fan of you and i feel like in my opinion on booktok is fine,as long as its not to crazy, booktok help us prommoting are books as writer,internet help so much if you use it smartly but yet if not then it just become something that is enemy of yours personaly. (Hope you answer)
Hi, small town romance author here and I do agree with a lot of points you made. As someone who has written their book solely for themselves, only to realize I cannot fit it into "tropes" or put it in a box for marketing when I self-publish. I guess, maybe a lot of authors took advantage of the trends and algorithm and definitely went too far. That being said, I will say there are some books that have become bestsellers through tiktok that are good books with a deep, impactful meaning. There are just rare to come across which is sad. Overall, I think booktok started as a harmless way for readers to come together as a community and literally just rant about their favourite books and I miss that :( I try to stay away from it now. My book may fall under "small-town romance" but to me personally, it is much more complex than that. And it saddens me that I have to market it as such because I know people will assume it is the same as the other "fast fashion books" (not saying mine is better than theirs, just saying mine has a completely different vibe and target audience). At the end of the day, I'm relying on building a community and having future readers spread the word about my book because often times, they do it better anyway.
Great point but end of the day I also think that writing should be authentic. No matter what your trope or genre is I think what matters is authenticity. What do you think about that?
I believe that you should write whatever makes happy, it should be something that you WANT to write, instead of something that you are writing SOLEY depending on the market and certain trends. If it makes you money, then it makes you money. Just write what you want.
I think tropes can be fine if you a) know how to make them work and b) don't rely on them as a crutch. Writing because you enjoy them is fine, just make sure you understand it. Barry Jenkins' Moonlight (2016), for example, the main character's mother could be considered a stereotype. It's subverted because we see the emotional resonance behind it. You don't need to reinvent the wheel to use a trope, just ask yourself some simple questions. What does your character want (goal)? What stops them from getting it (conflict)? What do they believe at the start of the story that stops them from achieving their goal that changes at the end of the story (theme)? Using a trope as a crutch makes the characters flat. But if you can understand how the above ties into their character and the story as a whole, then you're able to subvert that trope. MC's mother in Moonlight wants to take care of her family (herself and her child) by keeping a roof over their heads. She ends up in addiction and it negatively impacts her son and their finances. As the story progresses, she's struggling with self-worth due to her failures in motherhood and it shapes misbeliefs her son harbors about himself as well. However, she gets help and she and her son are able to reconnect and start mending their relationship. Her son who has been struggling with his sexuality feels accepted and his mother who has been struggling over her shortcomings feels forgiven. Take all that away and you have a Black woman living in the projects who is addicted to cocaine and a somber arc with rich storytelling becomes a flat and offensive trope/stereotype. I believe that's where "booktok" is "ruining it". People rely on tropes without learning from them. But writers still need to learn and make mistakes, so please give yourself permission to write bad stories. It's how you learn to write good ones. Let yourself grow. So honestly I think "bad books" are inherently necessary for the art of literature, not a hindrance to it. We learn why those tropes didn't work or resonate and that helps us forge stories that impact lives. Write to put words on a page. Put words on a page to edit. Edit to share. Share to tell a story.
So true! I've found myself trying to relate books through "grumpyxsunshine" and "forced proximity." I think using them helped me figure out the bare idea of the story, but the point of the story is so much more than all of that. It's going to be hard trying to find ways to market books outside of the way that booktok does it. *sighs*
Thank you! This helped me aloy because my sister watches booktok and wanted me to do enemies to lovers even though i didn't want to i agreed to to it but now watching this im not gonna thx for the advice!😊
i feel like a lot of books nowadays are focusing too much on certain literary elements than the art and plot itself. a lot of books popularized, namely by booktok, are recycled, stale, with empty plots. they only meet a certain level of interest by tropes alone. maybe i’m a bit too biased off the mere fact i do not enjoy romantasy, which is what’s popular nowadays. i search endlessly for videos from other indie authors, but roll my eyes when i’m met with romantasy filled with ridiculous, overused tropes, and an angelic-looking woman with an unpronounceable name. and that’s every. single. one. why can’t we have more rawness? unadulterated rawness? think like the outsiders or a little life…even ghostcide.
hi ana!! i love your advice sm, and would absolutely love if there was a way we could stream your podcast on amazon music and other streaming services, because I use Amazon music and would love to listen to your podcast! tysm
I get that author's promote their books in this way it's also, because of how publisher's see marketing trends. Tropefications sell right now. I think both publishers/ authors and readers need to pull back a bit. Authors and publishers need to stop pushing content about tropes. And maybe tell readers what the book is acually about. Readers need to take the marketing with a grane of salt and not go with it purely based on the tropes.
Thank you so much for posting this. I'm working on a story right now that doesn't fit into any of these popular book tropes, and have been feeling discouraged that I'm just writing something that's a waste of time. But this video helped give me some encouragement. What I'm writing isn't a boxed up product, but a story with a message to help brighten people up....or at least I hope it will 😅. Again thank you for the video ana! You truly are the queen of authortube ☺️
hi ana! this is completely off-topic to the video, but i have a question. what pc/computer do you recommend for beginner writers? i'm looking for a long-lasting, large storage and simple to use device for me to keep my writing projects in, plus school work and editing. any suggestions?
Very interesting conversation that you started here, and though you highlighted issues in the literary world, I find myself disagreeing with a particular point you made about Litterary specific books. And my point would be, not every piece of art is made to 'Entertain.' Our amusement should not, and is not the only mood that should be prioritized in ANY form of art. Sometimes the goal is not to make us laugh, but to give introspection, make us human, if not less human. Which Is what it is. Some of the most commercially successful books fail at this, and often some of the most awarded books fail at commercial success. Why?.... Well, because people are not quite as smart as we give them credit for XD
My problem with self publishing, is that there is no quantifiable measure of how good your book is until after it’s published. Your book could be hot garbage and you could still self publish it. With traditional publishing its affirmation that yes your book is good. In fact, your book is so good, we want to help you edit, market and publish this.
That is true, but personally, I'd say the "hot garbage" is more so the ones that haven't been overlooked by any sort of professional editor of some kind. I'm willing to bet a lot of the authors of those kinds of books just edit the first draft themselves and then send it to publishing
@@jettash0720 That’s exactly my point. With self published books, I don’t know if they went through multiple iterations with professional editors or if they just decided to published a barely readable first draft. With traditional publishing, it’s like a stamp of approval that it HAS to gone through that process.
I agree but also I think we have to realize is a lot of famous romance books these days /did/ go through traditional publishing and are still… if I’ll be honest, kind of trash. Publishers publish books that they think will sell, and at the moment trope-ified romances are what sell, whether they are good or not.
@@justClaya This is true. While traditional publishing does tell us that it’s been edited by a professional, It does not tell us if the book is good. It’s like those movies that have really high budgeting but still end up trash. Like a lot of work goes into it, but sometimes you just can’t make it a good story.
@@SummerWind_ Yeah, I get what you're saying. I do agree, however, I have seen books from very popular traditionally published series/authors also have numerous mistakes in them that editors have missed or ignored... and not just simple spelling errors either, inconsistent narrative or plot too. I think at some point if an author gets big enough then editors begin to slack bc the publishers are like "It's popular so it'll make money anyway" which is just...rather sad
Check out Alyssa Matesic's awesome and encouraging video "Literary Agents Debunk 7 Major Publishing Myths"! I think authors should write the projects they are passionate about and every writer is finding their readers and fans :) When it comes to "classics" It thinks it's books that are historically relevant in a way. "The Handmade's Tale" is a classic and I think "The Broken Earth- Trilogy" by N.K. Jemisin will be a classic too, one day :) There are more of course but to answer the question if there will be classics again, yes. But also one needs to research what makes a classic a classic :) When it comes to tropes, they are as old as Greek Tales and you even find them in the Bible. I REFUSE to believe that "Ghostcide" has no interesting tropes. You WILL find readers and fans for it, BELIEVE! Bring your stories into the world and there will be people who will love them. And who knows, maybe "Ghostcide" will be one of the classics one day! :D Hope your projects are going well
don't change your books just to publish them, trust they'll find the right audience (me)
Yeah I've not been on booktok that much, but I've realized some of my tropes are kind of booktoky and I don't want to publish it and people think I just made a generic AI generated thing 😭
Ok but the (me) is so real lollll
One thing about me is I will write ONLY what I WANT to write.
1. Because im not the type to bend any which way for people. Writing should be fun, not a chore. Even if it’s your job.
2. That’s the only way you will find your real readers and supporters. People who actually relate to or enjoy the message you want to send.
That’s such a great way to put it: fast fashion books. I feel like a lot of booktok books/really tropey books are made to be trendy or only for entertainment for the sake of getting buyers, so it lessens the quality and makes the books not as meaningful
Sometimes these types of books are needed sometimes though, hence the popularity.
@@Kateisreadingmorebooks That’s just it: there needs to be a balance. The problem is not that some books simply exist for entertainment value; to be cheesy, entertaining or erotic. The issue arises when these sort of books are placed above other books for the main reason of generating greater profit. Of course, it is integral that publishing houses make money and books made primarily for entertainment are great for that, but as Ana (and the above commenter) pointed out, the meaning of novels can be lost if we focus more on rapid profit output and marketing than on maintaining an industry where writing is an art form.
@@Kateisreadingmorebookscorrect!
Great to see other young writers picking up on this point. It's something I've been thinking about a lot over the last few years too. Fast fashion books is the best way to describe it. A lot of the trendy books right now are completely soulless if you really look at them. It's similar in the movie industry right now. Just constant remakes and sequels. You were very kind when describing these "types" of books but I'll fully admit that I despise them 😅 I think the next 10-15 years in publishing are going to be VERY interesting... There are a lot of us who are getting tired of these trends.
Yes It raised expetations for me because my younger sister reads poplar booktok books and I'm 14 and she's expecting my book to be really good and it's tiring me out I know my books going to probably be good cause I watch a whole bunch of vids about what to do and not and I've been thinking about it since I was 11 so yeah
I agree with what you're saying. I also think that another part of the reason why these tropes and "What will sell" came about is from publishing agencies. Their greed is what makes writers feel like they have to compromise their work if they want to succeed. So many publishers turn down fantastic stories because they don't think it will sell based on the "Trope" at the time. A good example of this grave error is Game of Thrones. George R.R. Martin failed many times before The Song of Ice and Fire took off and he had a lot of difficulty getting it published and marketed. But.. he didn't comprise his story for the greed of industry. Now, look at its success.
Another point to consider on publishing is to think about literature history. Many women wrote books under aliases. They didn't write for money, they didn't write for fame or recognition. They wrote for passion and expression. They had something in their souls that they had to get out on paper and they let it out into the world so they could convey this piece of themselves. To have someone relate or see them even behind a veil of secrecy, but they didn't write for Tropes they wrote for them. I believe in order to get those kinds of "Classics" again is to not comprise our work for gain, but to express that piece of ourselves that resides in our souls. It may not get that instant gratification, but someone will read it and it will resonate with them in some way and in the end... isn't that the point? That's just what I think and believe. ❤
I personally will never sacrifice and bend to the market. If that means I'm writing my next book in the gutter, then so be it. I can't write without passion, and I don't even have social media accounts to market my book. My current strategy is literally just to pray people read it, but even if no one ever reads my work, I'll still be writing. It's what I was born to do.
amen bestie
EXACTLY! PREACH SISTER
I love the frustration at the end, it’s exactly how I feel whenever I think about the publishing industry these days 😂 Thanks for speaking out about this!
I’m so glad! We are all in this together 🤍
Fast fashion books!
I love that!
I hate that people expect writers to market based on tropes. It reduces the story itself. My book's only real trope is Jekyll/Hyde cursed character but that character and his struggle is so much more.
Books should only be put in boxes when being shipped.
As a young writer myself, the booktok trend is one way everyone try to 'adversite' or recommend books which most of the time have 'romance fantasy ect.' which is now known as 'Romantasy' its kind of a waste of time, writing a book only for the likes of the people not for what ur intrested in, i will admit currently i am writing a book with fantasy and 'romance' but it isnt because i am writing it for the liking, my general story has a MEANING behind it and stories that have meaning in there story really are underrated and deserve more attention, a saying what i'd like to describe our writing is 'we don't write on paper, we BLEED on it' because all our emotions coming crashing at that point, i generally think books that are overrated are the ones which arent 'cared for' meaning, the authors don't treat there ideas well and write characters which Have such basic personalities, i ofc treat my characters well ☺. So a reminder i would like to put out is.
write a book that your heart likes reading, not what the eyes like reading:
Ana you're too real for this! THANK YOU for addressing the things others usually look over, especially when it affects many authors around the world.
WAKE UP QUEEN ANA HAS POSTED!
53 SECONDS AGO, love your advice ana it has actually helped me so much
As a reader, most of the time i go into reading looking to escape reality and somewhere along the way i realize im noticing these small magical things in someone elses perspective that i never considered that make me take something away from it and look at the world differently. I feel like now the stories all just blur. Like rewatching a show half asleep.
i’ve honestly never agreed with a sentiment more. one of the main reasons i began writing was that i was in love with stories, but the books being marketed toward me felt like exactly what you said: regurgitations of tropes. my main goal with writing was to simply write a good story. I despised the normalization of spice being the main reason to read a book. it just feels so disrespectful to the art and craft of literature, especially when marketed to younger demographics. Even when it comes to romance books, i find it odd that almost every single book nowadays is about romance. not to bash romance books, if done well it’s amazing, but i find it kinda boring when that certain type of oversaturated booktok love is copy and pasted everywhere with no other plot points. i searched far and wide for books with that in mind, but found close to none. I feel like a plot doesn’t even have to be the most deep philosophical peice of literature ever written to have meaning. If the plot you have in mind is more on the entertainment side, that’s fine. a story will naturally have depth and meaning if written well. I’ve tried to keep that in mind when writing my own books. i try to make it something that anyone could read. not dumbed down for children at all, but no iffy content. just a good story. Because that’s what i would want to read. i enjoy reading those types of books and i’m confident that someone else would too. lol thank you for coming to my ted talk, i could say way more, but i won’t ;)
I agree with you Ana, and to answer your question about classics: I do think they exist. Though there aren’t as famous or respected as those from ages ago, horror novels really comment about the world around us, fiction tell stories that impact us, and memoirs teach us the history of life. I wish some of these novels were more famous, because though I love some stories they are also loved by Booktok, these books should get a chance to loved too. Love this video! Love to hear your opinions! ❤
i knew about tropes without knowing the word 'trope' haah....i just finished my first book yay and am slowly working on the publishing side of things....but my second book i'm working on, i'm using certain tropes as a guide. Just a spring board of inspiration because this 2nd book is different than my first so wanted a different approach... but yes, i agree with you whole heartedly! 💞
I feel like this is predominantly affecting the romance genre with all its subgenres because booktok seems to be all about the spice and not much about the story itself. In other genres (for instance I personally tend to read thrillers and horror), I don't see this happening as, I suppose, they're not quite as marketable to a wider audience as romance is. Horror/thriller has its very specific audience and it's always gonna sell to that specific audience. Romance is the most popular genre as people generally simply want love, and seek it in fiction much like they do elsewhere, so these trends happen (just like those silly things of booktok + biker tok). That being said, not everyone is here just for the cheap smut so I don't think literature as a whole is in any danger, it's just gonna be a bit harder to locate the good stuffs nowadays when it comes to romance.
YES THE QUEEN HATH POSTED ❤
I’ve never heard of this point, but I’m excited to watch this video smmmm 💗💗
This is so insightful, love your insight!
Love watching your videos, thanks for posting!
Most people counter the 'tropefication of books is ruining publishing and the art of writing itself' argument with the 'there's always been low-brow literature so there's no way it's destroying literature now-", which is just inaccurate.
Back in the 80s, when Harlequin novels were *the* romance genre itself, those readers were driving a portion of sales, not the majority of sales. It was a little more diverse in terms of genre distribution in publishing deals.
Of course there were always fads, but at least they were spread out over a few genres.
Now fast forward to now, romance
omantasy and a lot of the trope driven work that BookTok glories over dominate well over half of publishing deals.
There are writers who have good stories that are being glossed over in favor of work that is more 'market-minded' which happens to be at this point a handful of scenes, certain tropes, gratuitous smut and the romance genre in general.
Those readers drive sales, those readers change the market, and those readers are causing a shift in writing and publishing, and not a good one.
AAAHHH ANA HAS POSTED!!
I have been told chasing trends can be the downfall of a book but could also lead to success sometimes. Depending on the trends once a person has everything written and wants to publish possibly the trend has died down by then (specifically in trad-pub, since it takes a long time).
Niche books aren't dead, but they are way less talked about or are talked about, but by already famous authors.
In my opinion if you want to include trends in your books, because you genuinely like them, do so, but if it is only for trend chasing purposes the writer has to think about if they want to write it. After all a book with tropes the writer doesn't want to write won't be as good as a book written the way the writer likes.
OH how I can’t rant about this topic for days. I find myself frustrated after hearing book suggestions about these “great” books, going to read the beginning, and being extremely disappointed. Either because it has swearing, sexual content, or the writing/story is just downright bad. And those people suggesting these books have thousands of followers, so I just sit there confused. I miss when authors would spend years on books, taking as much time as they need to craft it. People are so fickle, they see an attention grab, and then go buy this book that is actually terrible. I am also a Christian, and am careful about what I consume, not because I can’t read what I want, but because I choose not to read things that will ultimately harm me or cause me to have an addiction (*cough *cough smut). I think that the book marketing tactics nowadays are effective in grabbing the audience attention with shiny ideas or familiar tropes, but that causes books to be not well rewritten and predictable. I don’t want to read “fast fashion” books, not all the time, sometimes they’re nice if I want something easy to read, but ultimately they don’t further my skills and comprehension as a writer.
Hi ana im such big fan of you and i feel like in my opinion on booktok is fine,as long as its not to crazy, booktok help us prommoting are books as writer,internet help so much if you use it smartly but yet if not then it just become something that is enemy of yours personaly.
(Hope you answer)
Hi, small town romance author here and I do agree with a lot of points you made. As someone who has written their book solely for themselves, only to realize I cannot fit it into "tropes" or put it in a box for marketing when I self-publish. I guess, maybe a lot of authors took advantage of the trends and algorithm and definitely went too far. That being said, I will say there are some books that have become bestsellers through tiktok that are good books with a deep, impactful meaning. There are just rare to come across which is sad.
Overall, I think booktok started as a harmless way for readers to come together as a community and literally just rant about their favourite books and I miss that :( I try to stay away from it now.
My book may fall under "small-town romance" but to me personally, it is much more complex than that. And it saddens me that I have to market it as such because I know people will assume it is the same as the other "fast fashion books" (not saying mine is better than theirs, just saying mine has a completely different vibe and target audience). At the end of the day, I'm relying on building a community and having future readers spread the word about my book because often times, they do it better anyway.
Great point but end of the day I also think that writing should be authentic. No matter what your trope or genre is I think what matters is authenticity. What do you think about that?
I believe that you should write whatever makes happy, it should be something that you WANT to write, instead of something that you are writing SOLEY depending on the market and certain trends. If it makes you money, then it makes you money. Just write what you want.
This is going to be a good video! What are some books to avoid getting off of Tik Tok?
I think tropes can be fine if you a) know how to make them work and b) don't rely on them as a crutch. Writing because you enjoy them is fine, just make sure you understand it. Barry Jenkins' Moonlight (2016), for example, the main character's mother could be considered a stereotype. It's subverted because we see the emotional resonance behind it.
You don't need to reinvent the wheel to use a trope, just ask yourself some simple questions. What does your character want (goal)? What stops them from getting it (conflict)? What do they believe at the start of the story that stops them from achieving their goal that changes at the end of the story (theme)?
Using a trope as a crutch makes the characters flat. But if you can understand how the above ties into their character and the story as a whole, then you're able to subvert that trope.
MC's mother in Moonlight wants to take care of her family (herself and her child) by keeping a roof over their heads. She ends up in addiction and it negatively impacts her son and their finances. As the story progresses, she's struggling with self-worth due to her failures in motherhood and it shapes misbeliefs her son harbors about himself as well. However, she gets help and she and her son are able to reconnect and start mending their relationship. Her son who has been struggling with his sexuality feels accepted and his mother who has been struggling over her shortcomings feels forgiven. Take all that away and you have a Black woman living in the projects who is addicted to cocaine and a somber arc with rich storytelling becomes a flat and offensive trope/stereotype.
I believe that's where "booktok" is "ruining it". People rely on tropes without learning from them. But writers still need to learn and make mistakes, so please give yourself permission to write bad stories. It's how you learn to write good ones.
Let yourself grow.
So honestly I think "bad books" are inherently necessary for the art of literature, not a hindrance to it. We learn why those tropes didn't work or resonate and that helps us forge stories that impact lives.
Write to put words on a page. Put words on a page to edit. Edit to share. Share to tell a story.
So true! I've found myself trying to relate books through "grumpyxsunshine" and "forced proximity." I think using them helped me figure out the bare idea of the story, but the point of the story is so much more than all of that. It's going to be hard trying to find ways to market books outside of the way that booktok does it. *sighs*
Thank you! This helped me aloy because my sister watches booktok and wanted me to do enemies to lovers even though i didn't want to i agreed to to it but now watching this im not gonna thx for the advice!😊
That quick little glitch at 5:29 freaked me out lmao
I mean @5:34
Oo four hours! Love ur vids
i feel like a lot of books nowadays are focusing too much on certain literary elements than the art and plot itself. a lot of books popularized, namely by booktok, are recycled, stale, with empty plots. they only meet a certain level of interest by tropes alone.
maybe i’m a bit too biased off the mere fact i do not enjoy romantasy, which is what’s popular nowadays. i search endlessly for videos from other indie authors, but roll my eyes when i’m met with romantasy filled with ridiculous, overused tropes, and an angelic-looking woman with an unpronounceable name. and that’s every. single. one. why can’t we have more rawness? unadulterated rawness? think like the outsiders or a little life…even ghostcide.
hi ana!! i love your advice sm, and would absolutely love if there was a way we could stream your podcast on amazon music and other streaming services, because I use Amazon music and would love to listen to your podcast! tysm
I get that author's promote their books in this way it's also, because of how publisher's see marketing trends. Tropefications sell right now. I think both publishers/ authors and readers need to pull back a bit. Authors and publishers need to stop pushing content about tropes. And maybe tell readers what the book is acually about. Readers need to take the marketing with a grane of salt and not go with it purely based on the tropes.
Thank you so much for posting this. I'm working on a story right now that doesn't fit into any of these popular book tropes, and have been feeling discouraged that I'm just writing something that's a waste of time. But this video helped give me some encouragement. What I'm writing isn't a boxed up product, but a story with a message to help brighten people up....or at least I hope it will 😅. Again thank you for the video ana! You truly are the queen of authortube ☺️
ANAAA ❤❤
Quality overrides popularity .
yup!!🫡🫡
hi ana! this is completely off-topic to the video, but i have a question. what pc/computer do you recommend for beginner writers? i'm looking for a long-lasting, large storage and simple to use device for me to keep my writing projects in, plus school work and editing. any suggestions?
Very interesting conversation that you started here, and though you highlighted issues in the literary world, I find myself disagreeing with a particular point you made about Litterary specific books. And my point would be, not every piece of art is made to 'Entertain.' Our amusement should not, and is not the only mood that should be prioritized in ANY form of art. Sometimes the goal is not to make us laugh, but to give introspection, make us human, if not less human. Which Is what it is. Some of the most commercially successful books fail at this, and often some of the most awarded books fail at commercial success. Why?.... Well, because people are not quite as smart as we give them credit for XD
Writing a book is to satisfy yourself. What an achievement it is. Does it really matter about money?
Is your book going to be available internationally at reasonable price?
What writing software do you use, google docs deleted 26k words and 82 pages of work 😅
T-T my mom is yelling but i wanna finish this video-
18 MINS AGOOOO
My problem with self publishing, is that there is no quantifiable measure of how good your book is until after it’s published. Your book could be hot garbage and you could still self publish it.
With traditional publishing its affirmation that yes your book is good. In fact, your book is so good, we want to help you edit, market and publish this.
That is true, but personally, I'd say the "hot garbage" is more so the ones that haven't been overlooked by any sort of professional editor of some kind. I'm willing to bet a lot of the authors of those kinds of books just edit the first draft themselves and then send it to publishing
@@jettash0720
That’s exactly my point.
With self published books, I don’t know if they went through multiple iterations with professional editors or if they just decided to published a barely readable first draft.
With traditional publishing, it’s like a stamp of approval that it HAS to gone through that process.
I agree but also I think we have to realize is a lot of famous romance books these days /did/ go through traditional publishing and are still… if I’ll be honest, kind of trash. Publishers publish books that they think will sell, and at the moment trope-ified romances are what sell, whether they are good or not.
@@justClaya
This is true.
While traditional publishing does tell us that it’s been edited by a professional,
It does not tell us if the book is good.
It’s like those movies that have really high budgeting but still end up trash.
Like a lot of work goes into it, but sometimes you just can’t make it a good story.
@@SummerWind_ Yeah, I get what you're saying. I do agree, however, I have seen books from very popular traditionally published series/authors also have numerous mistakes in them that editors have missed or ignored... and not just simple spelling errors either, inconsistent narrative or plot too. I think at some point if an author gets big enough then editors begin to slack bc the publishers are like "It's popular so it'll make money anyway" which is just...rather sad
Hii Ana :)
First!
Love your videos but I’m going to have to disagree with some of your points here on classics and tropes
second
Check out Alyssa Matesic's awesome and encouraging video "Literary Agents Debunk 7 Major Publishing Myths"!
I think authors should write the projects they are passionate about and every writer is finding their readers and fans :)
When it comes to "classics" It thinks it's books that are historically relevant in a way. "The Handmade's Tale" is a classic and I think "The Broken Earth- Trilogy" by N.K. Jemisin will be a classic too, one day :) There are more of course but to answer the question if there will be classics again, yes. But also one needs to research what makes a classic a classic :)
When it comes to tropes, they are as old as Greek Tales and you even find them in the Bible. I REFUSE to believe that "Ghostcide" has no interesting tropes. You WILL find readers and fans for it, BELIEVE! Bring your stories into the world and there will be people who will love them. And who knows, maybe "Ghostcide" will be one of the classics one day! :D
Hope your projects are going well