If you sit down in a pizza place and order sushi, neither you nor the manager will be happy. The manager hasn’t served your needs, and you stay hungry. . . unless you decide to settle for pizza. But what are the odds that your craving for sushi will be satisfied with pepperoni and cheese?

Switch that scenario to writing.

You flip into a magazine site on Southern gardens, hoping to to sell a piece about rural Montana. The editor loses precious minutes they can never get back by simply opening the email, and all but throws the proposal against the wall. You, however, hope that this editor might know another editor who could use the piece. In reality, odds are you alienated that editor abusing their time.

You write a book on primary school-aged child development then pitch it to a press that handles purely fiction. The editor has lost precious time in their day by opening your proposal. You were refused (assuming you received an answer at all). The editor is thinking “What the heck was that author thinking?” The author is thinking “Maybe they know somebody who wants my book. After all, it’s for children.”

First of all, stop it. Do not submit to any publication, agent, or publisher without feeling soundly that your work is a perfect fit. No maybe, no possibly. . . no question. It does or it doesn’t fit.

Secondly, do not expect everyone who reads to review your story. I read mystery. If I agree to review a non-mystery book, I sacrifice time away from reading what I enjoy. I take time away from reading what I read to make my mystery writing better. Do I occasionally find a good book that isn’t a mystery? Sure. But out of the 40 books a year I read, maybe five fall outside of mystery. Do you want to play those odds or seek someone who regularly reads your genre?

Additionally, sell to your market. The odds are greater for sales when presenting your genre or style to those who read it, rather than trying to entice someone else who doesn’t. Look at all that wasted energy.

Your goal is to have a brand. When your name comes up, people’s minds instantly relate. When you try to be everyone’s brand, there’s nothing special to remember.

Your writing has to fill “a” need. There’s no way your writing can fill “all” needs.