What Makes You a Grassland?
The basics of the Grassland archetype.
Have you taken the Author Ecosystem quiz? Find out your archetype here:
https://authorecosystem.com
The Basics of the Grassland Archetype
Most important resource: Focus
Superpowers: Good at spotting trends, repositioning themselves in the market, persisting on one area of focus, becoming above reproach, and creating the best of the best in the niche
Examples of Grasslands: Terry Pratchett, Cassandra Clare, George R.R. Martin, Monica Leonelle
Grasslands are focused, deep delvers who seek out popular topics that align with their interests. These are the industry thought leaders who correctly predict emerging trends and then become such experts that they literally know everything about it. Once they effectively “own” the topic, they get an outmoded benefit of both SEO and word of mouth that compounds over time.
These are the authors we follow to understand a complicated topic. Unlike deserts, who are encouraged to keep their cards close to the vest in order to maximize a trend, a Grassland finds true value in explaining complex emerging trends to “own the space” and drawing attention to it so they reap the benefits of backlinks to their work and referrals from other professionals to fuel their growth.
Grasslands plant a lot of seeds to feel out a topic, but when they find something that takes root with a large potential audience, they quickly go extremely deep with it—deeper than anyone else has the energy to do. If you always turn to the same person when you need to understand the nuance of a specific topic better, they are probably a Grassland.
Grasslands tend to consider every angle of their genre, niche, or topic so that when they put something out, it tends to blow people’s minds and rise to the top. Like with deserts, a key to Grassland success is that they are right about the emerging trends which will captivate their audiences for years to come.
A ton of authors we speak to think they are a Grassland, but no matter how much attention they give to a topic, the trend either never emerges or they don’t “own the topic” when it does. Being right and going deep are marketing tactics that Grasslands use to separate themselves from everyone else in the field. Meanwhile, the sheer length of time they can talk about a topic prevents competition from emerging to challenge them.
Grasslands are capable of becoming the absolute best-in-class at whatever they do, which is why they need to choose new potential projects carefully.
Because Grasslands are intense and obsessive about their chosen topic, they must stay focused to see the fruits of it. It does not serve them well to have multiple projects going at once because they don’t have the energy to devote to each one. It also doesn’t typically work for them to cross over audiences between two different interests, unlike some of the other types.
Healthy Grasslands find fertile soil to take root in and grow the tallest, most epic tree in the garden. They also dedicate so much of their energy to one area that they become above reproach. Unhealthy Grasslands plant a lot of seeds but never gain momentum in any one area, struggle to deliver on deadlines they’ve set for themselves, or try to plant too many trees than their ecosystem can support.
Does this sound like you?
I found this super useful. I am a Grassland and can relate to focusing only on 1 item, and going there deeply. In my case, its southern Puglia and The Netherlands.