What Stories are Hot?

My writing class starts soon, and the first night I'm always asked by students, "What kinds of stories sell?"

The answer . . . it depends on who you ask.

Books

Producers, agents and publishers will give you a list of what's hot and what's not. I just read a list today on an agent's blog. The following she said are "dead":

• chick lit

• literary fiction

• books over 100,000 words

Scripts

A producer told me recently she didn't want to see any fantasies, westerns, mysteries, or stories with female leads because they didn't do well.

What's Doing Well?

I just jumped on the web to see what in the heck is selling. I appears that if you're serious about selling, write cookbooks. They outsell all other books except religious works.

Since my idea of making a meal is popping open a can of Diet Coke and heating up a Lean Cuisine, I won't be cranking one of those out soon. So, what do you do?

A Little of Both

Do your marketing homework and write from the heart. Every editor and producer I've talked to has also said, "Cream rises," and "We'll know it when we see it".

I hope they didn't mean "cookbook".