If you’ve studied home decorating or fashion design, “matchey-matchey” is a no-no. Designers tell us it’s boring and not attractive. But, add a pop of color and add a twist of texture, and the experts say it is beautiful. The surprise or eye-catching detail creates interest and pleasure. So it is with writing. Have a character act out-of-character; add layers of details where only one turns out to be the clue that lends intrigue to the story. The more unique your characters, setting, and story line is the more we enjoy reading it.

So, when is matchey-matchey beautiful? When your polished story is ready for send-off. Who do you invite to read your work? Now is the time for you to turn into a sleuth and seek out the people who would enjoy and love your work. Agents and publishers are really good at advertising what genres they like to read and publish (and those they don’t).

Put yourself in their place. If you like to read cookbooks and a writer sends you a mystery novel, how would you feel? And, what would you do with the novel? Multiply that and you see why you would feel more interested and intrigued by receiving a new cookbook with a twist if you were the editor. Now, we’re cooking, pardon the pun.

Have you noticed how many types of cookbooks are published? Vegan, fish, dessert, casseroles, low-carb, etc. Remember, matchey-matchey. If you are the editor and you are looking for congealed salad recipes, you’re not going to be interested in any cookbook sent to you. No matter how good the venison roast recipe looks, it’s not what you’re looking for and you feel more frustrated when people send you something other than congealed salad recipes.

Knowing genre is important but you have to go further. For example, Mystery is a genre, but do we mean espionage mystery, a classic whodunit, a technothriller or a mystery written for juveniles?

Then, is it a magazine with a certain word count required or a novel? Are their deadline dates? The submission guidelines spell out how to submit, what to submit, and when to submit. Follow them. In this case, matchey-matchey equals success, which is beautiful, wouldn’t you agree!

For more Mystery genre categories, subscribe to The Muse’s Kiss Ezine to read the Tips and Resources section.