The Compromise

There are two ways you can put something into the world. You can fit it into a category, or you can try to create a category.

If you create something to fit into a category—say you write a novel that follows all of the tropes of a Cosy Culinary Mystery—you are virtually guaranteed you’ll sell a copy or two.

But your success will most likely be limited to the success of that category. If there aren’t that many people interested in cosy culinary mysteries, you won’t sell that many copies.

Or, you can try to create a category. You have a big chance of selling no copies at all. But you have a small chance of selling a gazillion copies.

But, you can do both. You can create a category-defining work, while fitting into a category in some way. While The 4-Hour Work Week was genre-bending, it’s still a “Time Management” book.

To strike the balance, you may have to compromise.

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