# Do you think a story with an anthro-ish main character can make it big?



## Sparklight (May 1, 2013)

Hi everybody, I just joined here on the forums recently to get the word of mouth out about my book. Wait! Don't click the back button! I'm not trying to make a sale I just want to get the word out. The book has a main character who's from a fox-like race and there are other anthro characters who show up later in the series.

A brief synopsis of the story: A girl named Alison Moody is a waitress on a small island town and is outcast by her town because of her mysterious past. One day, a young guy named Ren comes in her bar looking for someone. Ren is a vulpin, a race with fox ears, tails, claws and fangs who can perform elemental magic. The townspeople immediately hate him, but Alison is fascinated by him and goes to talk him and puts herself in the town's spotlight. Things get worse for her when strange monsters take over the town and her mother goes missing. She joins up with Ren and a red-haired boy named Edwin to stop the monsters from spreading around her world.

The first 100 likes on Facebook get a free copy, because I'd rather get reviews on Amazon and other ebook stores at the moment. Growing a fanbase takes place over profit at the moment. Just take a moment to check it out. I'll try to return the favor for anyone else who needs it. Thanks guys!

https://www.facebook.com/ForcesOfNatureSeries


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## ravenpaw354 (May 1, 2013)

this sounds like id read it and enjoy it, keep updates posted =D


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## DMAN14 (May 1, 2013)

Well to answer your first question yes. Think about how many anthro characters are in disney (etc) films.

Also I hit up your fb page


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## Sparklight (May 1, 2013)

You can send a message to the Facebook page and get a free copy. It's the only way Facebook will let me send messages as a page. Hope that's not inconvenient.


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## Sparklight (May 1, 2013)

Thanks! Just message the page for a free copy.

Yes Disney is a good example with Robin Hood being the first to come to mind and The Great Mouse Detective.


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## Aleu (May 1, 2013)

To answer your question, it's possible yes.

Though your character doesn't seem to have it.


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## Butters Shikkon (May 1, 2013)

I think you you give him enough "character" he'll be fine. Remember, you'll want ppl to connect to his human-like personality more than his magic and physical appearance.


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## Sparklight (May 1, 2013)

Butterflygoddess said:


> I think you you give him enough "character" he'll be fine. Remember, you'll want ppl to connect to his human-like personality more than his magic and physical appearance.



My story is 100 percent character-driven. The three main characters are all dynamic and developed. They each have their own part to play in the story. Ren is a soldier who recently moved into a new society and struggling to fit in with that new society's roles. He has his own motives despite working for the military, and at the end of the book we learn some of the secrets he's been hiding.

I should have been more clear in my original post. A better question is can a story with one of the romantic lead being an anthro be accepted or would it be too out of the mainstream?

Think TwoKinds by Tom Fischbach except on a larger scale.


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## Duality Jack (May 1, 2013)

Just be sure to avoid (animal) racial cliches and whatnot. That is just horrible writing.


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## Sparklight (May 1, 2013)

Mokushi said:


> Just be sure to avoid (animal) racial cliches and whatnot. That is just horrible writing.


What sort of cliches?


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## Duality Jack (May 1, 2013)

Sparklight said:


> What sort of cliches?


All cats are playful, all canines are loyal, all foxes are cunning etc. It comes across as lazy.


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## Schwimmwagen (May 1, 2013)

If you're writing with the intent of making it big, I personally think you're writing for all the wrong reasons.


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## M. LeRenard (May 1, 2013)

The general question: I hope it can, because at some point I will publish mine and I'd be pleasantly surprised if it made me a good chunk of money.
The romantic question: it really depends on the details, I think.  Writing by Kyell Gold, for example, while very smooth, easy to read, and just shy of complex plots (ideal for a popular work), does not appeal to anyone outside of the fandom since it's basically incredibly detailed gay animal sex.  Smut, at least, tends to attract only small followings, because there's a much narrower target audience (narrower still when animal-people are involved).  I mean, unless 50 Shades of Gray counts as smut... I haven't read them, just heard stories.
I think people would also be averse to the idea of some girl getting sexually involved with something like, say, this random draw from recent FA submissions, just because outside of the fandom it's a little too close to bestiality for comfort.  So again, that would limit your audience.  But that all depends on how you handle those aspects of it... if you just wrote it as a really, really close friendship, I think it would be fine.

But the fact is, I don't think there's any real secret to producing a best-seller.  It seems to depend on environmental factors and luck (luck being the more important part).  If you want to write a best-seller, all you can do is try to alienate as few people as possible, and hope for the best when you put it out to market.  I guess it also helps to write something that's harmless and stupid, because then it can become one of those "I finished it in an afternoon!" types of books that always sell by the boatload (substance weighs things down, after all... and you don't want that for a popular work).  I mean, there's tricks you can employ, but they're not guaranteed to work.  In the end it may be a better strategy (more fulfilling, at least) to just write how you like and hope a large audience eventually discovers it.


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## Aleu (May 1, 2013)

Sparklight said:


> My story is 100 percent character-driven. The three main characters are all dynamic and developed. They each have their own part to play in the story. Ren is a soldier who recently moved into a new society and struggling to fit in with that new society's roles. He has his own motives despite working for the military, and at the end of the book we learn some of the secrets he's been hiding.
> 
> I should have been more clear in my original post. A better question is can a story with one of the romantic lead being an anthro be accepted or would it be too out of the mainstream?
> 
> Think TwoKinds by Tom Fischbach except on a larger scale.


I think a lot of people would be uncomfortable with it and would consider it borderline bestiality. Hell, I consider it that and I'm a furry.


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## Poetigress (May 1, 2013)

To the general question, it would seem that depends on what you mean by "making it big." Money? Publishing with a major publisher? Hitting the NYT bestseller list? There have been plenty of mainstream books published with anthro characters, though most feature regular animals who happen to have language/culture (like _Watership Down_), or are written for children/young teens (_Redwall_), or are written with the anthro character either being an alien or having been genetically engineered in some fashion (most sf/f with bipedal anthro characters).

To the romance question, I've only skimmed through the first few pages of your book on Amazon _very_ quickly, but since the character in question is described as essentially human-looking except for the ears and tail, I don't think it's going to be a huge problem. (As M. LeRenard said above, full anthro characters paired with humans can be an issue. I don't personally get it, because most of these same people wouldn't bat an eyelash at a human/alien pairing, but having it be an animal-like character hits the taboo square-on, I guess.) 

All in all, just to hedge your bets, I'd consider keeping it more of a sweet romance and put less emphasis on the physical aspect. (I'm assuming you mean for the book to appeal to a YA paranormal audience?) It might also help to play up more of the animal-spirit-fae-type aspect of the character -- or if you really wanted to play it safe, give him the ability to shapeshift and somehow appear completely human during any scenes where the romance factors in heavily.


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## Sparklight (May 1, 2013)

Again, I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression and think I'm in it for the money. If I were in it for the money I'd write Twilight fan fiction, repurpose it as my own and be done with it. By making it big I meant what Poetigress said about it reaching mainstream appeal. Like Aleu said some people would consider it bestiality. But to me that's like saying dating a vampire is technically necrophillia (well it sort of is). I wrote the book because I had the idea of people controlling the forces of nature and the battle of human habitation vs the extremes of nature. The anthro thing doesn't come up immediately in my series but it does come up eventually.

I know that if nobody buys my book it's because it sucks not because, "Eww, fox men." That being said I don't think the book sucks, but then again I wrote the damn thing.


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## Sparklight (May 1, 2013)

Mokushi said:


> All cats are playful, all canines are loyal, all foxes are cunning etc. It comes across as lazy.



Don't worry those cliches don't come up. In fact my fox-based character is loyal perhaps to a fault. The characters in my stories aren't intentionally based on archetypes, but according to TV Tropes several of them could be considered it. Like I said I'm more focused on characters and dialogue, so making sure these characters go against type is a must for me.


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## Ansitru (May 1, 2013)

While the synopsis does sound interesting, I was just a teensy bit reminded of The Sookie Stackhouse-diaries (True Blood for the tv-series) with the blurb. 
Main character is an outcast with special powers, falls in love with a fellow outcast, world full of big baddies that need to be stopped, no parents.

Now, I can only judge by the blurb, so it could be handy to write it a bit differently if you are intending to really sell the book? 
Or it could just be me. D:


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## Sparklight (May 1, 2013)

Ansitru said:


> While the synopsis does sound interesting, I was just a teensy bit reminded of The Sookie Stackhouse-diaries (True Blood for the tv-series) with the blurb.
> Main character is an outcast with special powers, falls in love with a fellow outcast, world full of big baddies that need to be stopped, no parents.
> 
> Now, I can only judge by the blurb, so it could be handy to write it a bit differently if you are intending to really sell the book?
> Or it could just be me. D:



The online retail description reads differently: Alison Moody is an outcast among the people of Blue Island. Her ordinary life takes a change when a young man named Ren comes to her town. Ren is a vulpin, a race of people capable of controlling the elements of nature, and deeply hated by the people in her town. She is fascinated by Ren and goes against the traditions of the island to learn more about him. One night after dangerous creatures invade her town, Alison sets off on a worldwide adventure with Ren and a boy named Edwin to stop chaos, uncover secrets and discover a world she never knew.

The first time they meet was inspired by True Blood, but after that the similarities ends. I'm currently giving away free copies through Facebook for the first 100 likes, so you can judge it yourself through no cost.


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## Poetigress (May 1, 2013)

Sparklight said:


> I'm currently giving away free copies through Facebook for the first 100 likes, so you can judge it yourself through no cost.



Any options for those of us who don't have Facebook?


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## Sparklight (May 1, 2013)

Poetigress said:


> Any options for those of us who don't have Facebook?



Email?


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## Poetigress (May 1, 2013)

reneecarterhall at gmail dot com


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## Shouden (May 1, 2013)

Two great examples of anthro-themed stories making it big: Watership Down - Although, a little less anthro than most, Richard Adams still gave his rabbits speech and religion, so, technically, they're anthro. And Watership Down is now a classic story that's very well written.

Blacksad would be the other one. Although not TOO famous, it did catch the attention of Dark Horse Comics and Hollywood with rumors of a movie in the works. So, yes, anthro stories can make it big.


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## Aleu (May 2, 2013)

I wouldn't go against a type for the sake of going against it. Stereotypes DO exist for a reason. My first character I made her different for the sake of being different which...didn't turn out too well. She made no sense personality-wise. Through the years, I tweaked her here and there and now I can honestly say she's a good, strong character. I also accidentally a self-insert in a way. His personality just happened as I felt how he would act and it wasn't until my friend pointed out that he was basically me with minor differences. I felt horrible but then realized that it doesn't really matter because there's still people out there who have the same interests and outlook that I have. So what does it matter if a character is similar to me as long as it's not hindering the story? The point is, don't make them go against the grain for the sake of going against the grain.


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## Zabrina (May 3, 2013)

Hell yeah. Do what you want, it's your story.


I'm writing a fun little book with every character being anthro. My sister may turn it into a comic.


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## unwisedragon (Jun 11, 2013)

To answer the "Do anthro stories ever make it big?" question ... well, there were the Animorphs and Redwall stories. Those made it pretty big.

Good stories are enjoyable to read, great stories carry a message that the reader carries with them through their life. If your message be true, you book will be too. That plus believable characters your audience can connect with, a plot that doesn't seem recycled, and an appealing writing style will make your book interesting.
Not to hard right?


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## Symlus (Jun 11, 2013)

In general response: yes.

It isn't about whether the main character is an anthro, it's about the quality of the story. I've read a book in which humans are vilified for slaying the large majority of dragons (the main character was a dragon).


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## Namba (Jun 11, 2013)

I guess as long as it's within the fantasy/sci-fi genres, it could.


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## CaptainCool (Jun 12, 2013)

Beauty and the Beast? The Disney version of Robin Hood? Watership down? The Rescuers? Every single Disnesy movie that had animals as main characters?
So... Yeah. I guess so!


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## Namba (Jun 12, 2013)

CaptainCool said:


> Beauty and the Beast? The Disney version of Robin Hood? Watership down? The Rescuers? Every single Disnesy movie that had animals as main characters?
> So... Yeah. I guess so!


Yeah, but that's Disney. They can do whatever the fuck they want!


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## Sparklight (Jun 12, 2013)

Okay so my last post was too close to an ad for the mod's tastes (fair enough I suppose). I'd encouraged you all to check it out using the link in my sig and that could help you understand the context behind the question. No, it doesn't matter if the character is a fox, or boy with fox accessories as long as the characterization is human and identifiable then there's no reason why they wouldn't be accepted by a mainstream audience.


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## Pimlico (Jun 13, 2013)

The Disney comment gives rise to an interesting sub-question: Can anthro stories that don't feature children's/all-ages characters make it big?:


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## Falaffel (Jun 13, 2013)

Pimlico said:


> The Disney comment gives rise to an interesting sub-question: Can anthro stories that don't feature children's/all-ages characters make it big?:


Whats stopping it?


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## Sparklight (Jun 13, 2013)

Pimlico said:


> The Disney comment gives rise to an interesting sub-question: Can anthro stories that don't feature children's/all-ages characters make it big?:



That's exactly the point I was driving at. I don't think it can, because ofâ€”



Falaffel said:


> Whats stopping it?



â€”mainstream acceptance. The moment such a story hit the mainstream it would be only a matter of seconds before it got the furry label (and the animal costumed yiff orgies stereotypes that go along with it). Also if it's a romance people will probably consider it beastiality. The nearest you can get to an acceptable "furry" romantic interest (unless it's for kids) is basically a boy or girl with animal ears. Think InuYasha and that's what I'm talking about.


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## M. LeRenard (Jun 14, 2013)

Sparklight said:
			
		

> The moment such a story hit the mainstream it would be only a matter of seconds before it got the furry label (and the animal costumed yiff orgies stereotypes that go along with it).


Well... on the internet, sure, or at least in certain circles on the internet.  But I'm trying to picture some new best-selling author sitting down with, say, Oprah, and her asking, "So, because the main character of your novel is an animal-person, does that mean you're into yiff?"
A bit of an exaggerated example, of course, but you sort of see what I'm getting at?  Furrydom is still a fairly niche thing, in the end.  I'm thinking that the average suburban middle-aged parents who hear the word 'furry' either think of something that has fur, or they have this vague recollection of something they saw a long time ago about people who like to dress up as animals for some reason.  And as long as your book was published by, say, Tor Fantasy, and not, say, SofaWolf Press, there's really no reason for most people to suspect it has anything to do with the fandom anyway.

I guess I don't disagree that the furry stigma can be a bad one, but I would question just how important it would be for a book popular enough to show up facing forward in the windows of a Barnes and Noble.  I don't think the average person's reaction to animal-people is disgust.  Quite the contrary.


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## Pimlico (Jun 14, 2013)

I agree that mainstream wouldn't associate animal stories with furry culture, so that's helpful.

The problem is more that animal stories don't have a familiarity, and a built-in interest like other genres. If you write anything else - romance, sci-fi, vampire, historical fantasy, spy, detective, horror - not only will mainstream know what it is, they will have a predisposition to like or dislike it. They will see a cover/blurb/title and go, "Oh, that's a ### novel - yeah I like that/nah I don't like that, so maybe I'll try it out/so I'm not gonna try it."

Mainstream's frame of reference for animal stories is mostly all-ages, so if they see a cover/blurb telling an adult (non-sexual) animal story, their reaction is likely "Huh?" And "huh" is not going to result in readership.

There was a discussion here once about how "animal story" is not a genre, more of a... framework? That genre is more like the examples I've listed above. And perhaps that's the answer. To market an animal story through its actual genre, and hope that the use of animal characters won't confuse people or turn them off.


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## Pimlico (Jun 17, 2013)

Following up...

I wonder if it's a good idea to market anthro books differently to a mainstream audience. Remove all reference to animal characters on the cover art, in blurbs and back cover text. So that it's not until they've started reading that they realize the characters are animals. By that point, hopefully they will be committed.

It's not a new idea. I think Harry Potter may have tried a similar tactic when they marketed the novels to a more adult crowd - by making a more sophisticated cover art concept for example.


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