Fifty Shades of Harry Potter...

               

They are both hugely successful in their own right and have made millions for their creators, but does that mean you should piggy back on the success of best-selling titles and copy their style/subject/genre?

When I was asked this question the other day, my initial answer was a resounding no, write your own best-selling book! However, I'm now in two minds about this subject. On the one hand (unless you are one of the lucky few and can turn a book out within a month), if you decide to write a book about bondage-wearing-vampires, who can do magical things with their wand, or whatever the latest best-seller is, then you will miss the boat. Remember, the publishing industry is a slow industry. A book doesn't usually reach the shops until about 18 months after you've written it. If you choose to write about a subject that is popular now, by the time you get it published, a new subject will be doing the rounds. Secondly, I do question why writers would want to piggy back an already successful book. We're often told that copying should be taken as a compliment, but wouldn't you rather be a success in your own right, rather than because of another author?

Having said this, I have recently read some hilarious parodies of best-selling titles. The latest being, The Vacant Casualty: A Parody by Patty O'Furniture, which is obviously a parody of J K Rowling's The Casual Vacancy. This book is a very funny read and cleverly written. The same applies with Fifty Shades of Grey. There are many parodies out there to buy from Fifty Shades of Alice in Wonderland to Fifty Shades of Red Riding Hood and the Kindle number one parody, Fifty Shades of Silver Hair and Socks. All very popular with readers.

The answer in becoming a success on the back of another author's idea is above; it has to be cleverly written. If you try to emulate Stephanie Myer's work for example, it won't work unless you have the skills to write a parody (this has also been done for one of Stephanie's books, with the title being New Moan by Stephfordy Mayo).

My suggestion is to admire best-selling authors from afar and create your own characters and plot lines. Who wants to be known as the author who copies other people's ideas? Write your own ideas down and you never know you might be that author that other people copy.