I believe that you're most likely to be successful and selling a book if you focus on a particular kind of story that you are familiar with. That means studying the genre that you most enjoy following. Let's say that you like reading James Patterson's thrillers. Well you don't have to write the next James Patterson novel, it's probably an area that you already are interested in and that you can possibly find a story in your own voice that would serve the reader that is used to picking up a copy of the James Patterson novel at the airport. The same goes for anybody who is a fan of John Grisham or Stephen King. These are well known genre writers who have immense audiences and if you're a fan of one of these writers then finding your voice in those genres will help you find a story that readers will want to read.
This is an evocative, touching book. I grew up in Tennessee just a ways down the road from the hard-luck main character, Skid, offset by just a few years. Randy O’Brien knows the 70s in the South – what’s going on, the shifting attitudes, politics, being poor, and what it’s like to be a kid who’s good at some things but not others. Through the tumult of young love, misfortune and downright unfairness, Skid struggles to do the right thing – sometimes succeeding and sometimes not – while wrestling with the wild emotion of youth and self-discovery. It all builds to a climax that breaks your heart even as it holds out a bit of hope. I recommend it.
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