"On Writing Noir" by Dave Zeltserman

So now that we have our definition of noir, the question you need to ask yourself is why do you want to write noir given that many of the great noir writers like Jim Thompson, David Goodis, Gil Brewer and Dan Marlowe all died broke. Most readers out there do not want to read true noir. They might be willing to accept something that has a noirish feel, but they still want a happy ending, or at least an ending with hope, and there’s no hope in noir. So knowing that there’s a limited readership for noir, that many mystery readers who stumble on your book are going to be appalled by it, and that you’re behind the eight ball before you even start looking for a publisher, why write noir? Read piece here.