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Natasha Qureshi - 3 Things Every SFF Writer Should Know
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3 Secrets Every SFF Writer Should Know

Natasha Qureshi book editor
Natasha Qureshi
October 13, 2024
Natasha Qureshi
Editor

Natasha Qureshi was Commissioning Editor at Hodderscape, Hodder & Stoughton’s SFF imprint, home of international bestsellers Frank Herbert, L.R. Lam, Isabel Ibañez, Roshani Chokshi, and Pierce Brown. Originally joining as Assistant Editor, Natasha worked with authors such as Chloe Gong, Kerri Maniscalco, Sangu Mandanna, Adalyn Grace, and Stephanie Garber. She acquired and worked with authors such as Cecy Robson, Ella Fields, Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Frankie Diane Mallis, Hayley Dennings, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Lexi Ryan, Tad Williams, Paula Lafferty, Kylie Lee Baker, and Micaiah Johnson (shortlisted for the 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction). Natasha has also worked with popular subscription and bespoke retailers such as FairyLoot, Illumicrate, Goldsboro Books, and Broken Binding. Previously, Natasha also worked at Oxford University Press and Bloomsbury Publishing before moving to Titan Books, where she co-edited the novels of Nicole Jarvis, Matt Hill, Stark Holborn, Marian Womack, J.L. Worrad, Hannah Mathewson, A.J. Hackwith, R.L. Boyle, A.G. Slatter, Andrew Cartmel, Aliya Whiteley, Tim Major, and a CWA Dagger Award-winning anthology by Maxim Jakubowski. Natasha has a BA in English and American Studies with Creative Writing from the University of Kent and an MA in Publishing from Oxford Brookes University.

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October 13, 2024

Are you writing in the science fiction and fantasy genre, or hoping to get lost in your own fantasy world someday? For any writer immersed in this imaginative genre, you’ll find valuable advice in this article provided by SFF editor at The Novelry, Natasha Qureshi.

No-one knows the ins and outs of the industry better than our team of in-house editors, and we are thrilled to welcome Natasha as our newest addition to The Novelry’s in-house editorial team!

Prior to joining The Novelry, Natasha was Commissioning Editor at Hodder & Stoughton’s SFF imprint Hodderscape, home of bestselling authors including Frank Herbert, The Novelry’s writing coach L.R. Lam, Roshani Chokshi and Pierce Brown. Promoted from Assistant Editor, Natasha worked closely with SFF authors Adalyn Grace, Cecy Robson and Micaiah Johnson, who was shortlisted for the 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction.

Natasha also has experience working with popular subscription box services and bespoke retailers such as FairyLoot, Illumicrate, Goldsboro Books and Broken Binding to create exclusive special editions. As Natasha discusses in this article, subscription boxes play an increasingly critical role in helping books climb the ranks toward bestseller status.

Now, Natasha works with aspiring authors at The Novelry to get their SFF novels to the highest possible standard they can be, ready for submission to leading literary agencies. Have you completed a first draft and are currently refining and revising your work? The Novelry clarifies the editing process and offers one-on-one support from our in-house editors (like Natasha) in The Big Edit and, according to your goals, prepares your draft for fast-track submission to literary agents. For a comprehensive, detailed and precise editorial report on your manuscript, consider The Ultimate Manuscript Assessment to give your manuscript the close and considered attention it deserves. Wherever you are in your writing journey, you’ll find the guidance, support and care you need at The Novelry.

Both our coaches and editors at The Novelry have extensive experience of sci fi and fantasy.
Our writing coaches and editors at The Novelry have extensive experience in science fiction and fantasy

On top of our program of writing classes and editorial services, The Novelry offers an array of monthly workshops and live Q&As with guest authors for every genre group. Our latest SFF workshops led by L.R. Lam, Andrea Stewart, Georgia Summers and Tasha Suri have discussed archetypes, magic systems and character agency, and our members have enjoyed live sessions with SFF authors Samantha Shannon, Hannah Kaner, Alix E. Harrow and Juno Dawson. As SFF sales boom globally, our SFF department at The Novelry continues to grow and thrive. It’s the perfect time to invest in your writing and join an uplifting and supportive writing community!

In this article, Natasha shares three secrets all SFF writers should know, as SFF titles continue to dominate the bestseller charts globally. Dreaming about a draft, or finishing one up? Read on for some essential tips from a Big Five SFF editor.

Over to Natasha!

Top tips for SFF writers

1. Spot trends and get inspired

Feeling a sense of writer’s block, and you don’t know what your next book should be about? Consider seeking inspiration from the charts, because that’s exactly what the publishers will be doing. See The Novelry editor Emily Kitchin’s blog about trends being cyclical in 5 Secrets from a Big Five Publisher.

So, if publishing is a trend-focused business, how do you know if you’re writing ‘on trend’?

Here are some ways I’ve tried to discover trends. Stats are always helpful, but try to focus on what makes the content appealing to readers/viewers. Why are we consuming this content? Don’t shun or belittle a ravenous fandom; unlock their potential and try to understand them! The aim here is to understand your readership and, specifically, who your book is aimed at.

My favorite go-to place? Amazon Top 100 Bestsellers. It’s free and accessible, and you can break it down by genre. And remember, consider trends and stats. In October 2024, there were two novels by Laurie Gilmore in the Top 100 in Romance with 14k+ reviews, an excellent place to start!

Focusing on the tropes, genres or keywords appearing, e.g. grumpy x sunshine, small-town romance, found family, spicy, cozy, opposites attract, forced proximity, etc. The trend? Pumpkin-spiced romance: a perfectly curated package for seasonal readers who rewatch Gilmore Girls every year. Now, what other cozy inspiration can we gain from this? What about a cozy cat café struggling to survive an exceptionally snowy Christmas?

Or, what about looking outside of book trends to the everyday? Can you blend a trending show or conversation with a genre? From Netflix to YouTube, get inspired by real-world conversations! What if The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives met The Handmaid’s Tale and became a gothic horror? What about a dystopia exploring the rise of tradwives, from Nara Smith to Ballerina Farm? What about a horror exploring the dark side of our favorite 90s childhood TV shows? What will the near-future look like with the rise of Ozempic?

Seek inspiration from topical conversations and dig deep into their real-world implications.  

Google Trends! It’s free! Go and explore what’s trending in different countries. The term ‘horror books’ is steadily increasing, with the most prominent regional searches coming from the U.S., the U.K. and Bangladesh.

Let’s go even further and more niche, where ‘folk horror’ is dramatically rising in the U.K., Ireland and the Philippines with related topics like ‘fairy tales.’ Folk horror typically deals with themes of isolation, rural settings, paranoia and superstition, while fairy tales are featured throughout different cultures.

Are you potentially writing a folk horror inspired by Filipino or Irish fairy tales? Can you place your protagonist in a rural and isolated location? What internal conflict already haunts them that might be reflected in their new landscape? Get inspired!

Look at which subgenres inside the SFF industry are sparking into life.
Look at which subgenres inside the SFF industry are sparking into life

2. Go to conventions and build connections

From novice writers to published authors, conventions are a great way to get involved in the science fiction and fantasy community.

From my early days in the publishing industry, it took me a while to find my people, the ones who didn’t shy away from a seven-book series with 600 pages per book, dabbled in board-gaming and loved a fandom (or two). Cons are a great way to build a community and meet like-minded SFF fans, learn more about genre publishing, join writing workshops, or even meet bestselling authors!

But it’s not always easy to attend cons, and if this is the case for you, join the community online!

Most authors, publishers and writing communities have profiles across social media. For a fledgling writer, having an online profile to help promote your work is essential. You should be your biggest fan! Shout about your work and start building a community of readers interested in your genre. Try to create a designated author-focused profile that you don’t mind strangers joining and interacting with. It’s a way to engage with readers and keep them up-to-date on your latest releases, any new projects you’re working on, writing tips for fledging writers, or for you to fangirl over your favorite book!

Remember, the key here is that it should feel authentic to you because you never know who could be watching...

Readers love to discuss their genre favorites across the SFF community.
Readers love to discuss their genre favorites across the SFF community

One of my favorite authors, Paula Lafferty, went viral on BookTok for a 33-second clip updating her followers on her nine-month writing journey. She then used this to launch her Kickstarter to promote her Arthurian fantasy, La Vie de Guinevere, which caught the attention of literary agent Taryn Fagerness and led to foreign rights being sold in Brazil, Romania, Poland, Germany and Spain—with, I’m sure, more to be announced soon! Even her audiobook rights were quickly snapped up by Grammy-nominated audiobook narrator Julia Whelan, dubbed ‘the Adele of audiobooks.’ Paula is a brilliant example of what a tenacious attitude and steady community of Arthurian fantasy fans can achieve.

Paula isn’t the only example of this—BookTok and online virality have enabled a lot of authors to get noticed by big publishers.

Olivie Blake’s self-published novel The Atlas Six went viral in 2020 and was quickly snapped up by Tor Books. Matt Dinniman’s self-published six-book series Dungeon Crawler Carl gained a monumental online fandom that supported his limited edition Kickstarter and led to a publishing deal with Berkley and film rights being sold to Universal International Studios with Seth MacFarlane attached.

The important lesson here: become discoverable to your readers. Find your niche genre community and engage with them. Find out what they love, what they read, and who they are.

Here’s a list of my favorite communities and cons:

  1. Super Relaxed Fantasy Club: This is one of the first SFF gatherings I attended, and I just so happened to bump into Joe Hill! This is a monthly SFF volunteer-run book-loving group that holds author readings and Q&As in Kings Cross, London. The event is open to everyone and is held in a very intimate pub.
  2. Worldcon: An annual World Science Fiction Convention dating back to 1939! This is a big convention that happens annually. It’s also the place where the Hugo Award Ceremony is held. This is a much more expensive convention since it’s hosted in different countries every year, but if it ends up close to you, check it out! In August 2025, the convention is being held in Seattle, U.S.A.
  3. Cymera: Scotland’s Festival of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Writing! You’ll find author panels, book signings, writing workshops, open mics, live performances, bookish quizzes, tabletop gaming spaces, and more. The next convention will take place in June 2025!
  4. World Fantasy Con: WFC is a four-day event to celebrate all things fantasy and horror. Next year’s event will be held in Brighton, U.K., in October/November 2025 and welcomes those in the industry and all those who love fantasy and horror! This event will also include the award ceremonies for both the British Fantasy Awards and the World Fantasy Awards.

3. Understand subscription boxes and routes to market

Though we’re amid a cost-of-living crisis, there is a phenomenal boom in special editions, especially in genre publishing.

From bespoke subscription boxes such as Illumicrate and FairyLoot expanding their subscriber lists and box genres (from YA into romantasy and even horror) to retailers like the Folio Society, Goldsboro Books and Waterstones offering everything from a simple sprayed edge to a £250 limited edition. Special editions are BIG business, and readers are turning into insatiable collectors.

An intelligent publisher will be considering all routes to market, including flagging upcoming novels to bespoke booksellers like the Folio Society, Broken Binding, Goldsboro Books and Waterstones ahead of time. But these sellers will be cautious and look for novels with a compelling package in a growing genre.

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So, what are special editions, and why do publishers care so much about them?

Book subscription boxes are created by bespoke companies that curate and deliver books and book-related paraphernalia to customers. Usually, they work directly with the publisher and authors to curate a special edition that features a bespoke finish (e.g., foiled case, digitally printed edges, colorful endpapers) and is only accessible to customers who subscribe to that service. Since the publisher is going out of their way to curate this product specifically for this retailer, they will ask for the items to be a firm sale, where the buyer cannot return the goods.

Another very significant outcome of this firm sale is that it now accounts toward the first-week sales of a book, which means that on publication, it has a greater opportunity to hit the Sunday Times bestsellers list. The perfect example for this is our editor and author Georgia Summers’s debut, The City of Stardust, which was included in a subscription box and charted at number 1 in the Sunday Times bestseller list in the U.K.

For debut SFF writers, all of this could provide you with the opportunity to be catapulted into the bestsellers chart, put you on the radar of foreign publishers, and experience the halo effect as more enthusiastic readers snap aesthetic pictures of a special edition and post them across social media—generating free content and buzz.

Due to all these factors, even beloved backlist titles are seeing a re-emergence due to a new generation of readers redefining ‘classic’ science fiction and fantasy.

At the forefront of all of this are the science fiction, fantasy, and horror writers, publishers, and the community doing what we’ve always done: being lovable nerds who like to collect and enjoy the most escapist worlds.

Welcome home, writers. Join us on the world’s best creative writing courses to create, write and complete your book. Sign up and start today.

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Natasha Qureshi book editor

Natasha Qureshi

Editor

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Years experience

Natasha Qureshi was Commissioning Editor at Hodderscape, Hodder & Stoughton’s SFF imprint, home of international bestsellers Frank Herbert, L.R. Lam, Isabel Ibañez, Roshani Chokshi, and Pierce Brown. Originally joining as Assistant Editor, Natasha worked with authors such as Chloe Gong, Kerri Maniscalco, Sangu Mandanna, Adalyn Grace, and Stephanie Garber. She acquired and worked with authors such as Cecy Robson, Ella Fields, Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Frankie Diane Mallis, Hayley Dennings, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Lexi Ryan, Tad Williams, Paula Lafferty, Kylie Lee Baker, and Micaiah Johnson (shortlisted for the 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction). Natasha has also worked with popular subscription and bespoke retailers such as FairyLoot, Illumicrate, Goldsboro Books, and Broken Binding. Previously, Natasha also worked at Oxford University Press and Bloomsbury Publishing before moving to Titan Books, where she co-edited the novels of Nicole Jarvis, Matt Hill, Stark Holborn, Marian Womack, J.L. Worrad, Hannah Mathewson, A.J. Hackwith, R.L. Boyle, A.G. Slatter, Andrew Cartmel, Aliya Whiteley, Tim Major, and a CWA Dagger Award-winning anthology by Maxim Jakubowski. Natasha has a BA in English and American Studies with Creative Writing from the University of Kent and an MA in Publishing from Oxford Brookes University.

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