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Thinking about what is "commercial" and not in books...I realize my most successful book was the one I thought was the least commercial. That would be my lesbian Cinderella retelling, ASH. The one I thought would be most commercial was my biggest flop, sales-wise, ADAPTATION.
(Technically INHERITANCE, the sequel, was actually the biggest sales flop, but I count it as part of ADAPTATION because they& #39;re a duology and you need to read both to get the whole story.)
The thing with having a big sales flop that turned my career upside down was that I had to learn to not try to write what I thought would be successful. I had to learn to focus instead on writing the most Malinda Lo books possible.
I& #39;ve learned that Malinda Lo books often have so-called "unlikable" female main characters. (I love them though.) They& #39;re also morally ambiguous in many ways, and require the reader to do some work. They& #39;re not "commercial" in the way Hunger Games is ... AT ALL.
And on the back end, a Malinda Lo book requires me to do extensive research--what many would say is too much! But I& #39;m obsessed with realism. I& #39;m really interested in place. I also really love to write gut-wrenching psychic pain. I dunno why, I hate it in reality!
