Novel genre isn’t always obvious, even to the author.
While we’re writing, (especially during NaNoWriMo) we just let the inspiration pull us along. But there comes a point where we have to decide where our work fits in the great bookish ecosystem – its genre and the age of its audience. Writing coach and novelist Roz Morris outlines how to find the best fit.
Roz Morris has published nearly a dozen novels and achieved sales of more than 4 million copies – and nobody saw her name because she was a ghostwriter.
She is now proudly publishing as herself with two acclaimed literary novels, My Memories of a Future Life and Lifeform Three (longlisted for the World Fantasy Award and finalist in the People’s Book Prize).
Roz has also been a writing coach, editor and mentor for more than 20 years with award-winning authors among her clients. She has a book series for writers, Nail Your Novel (and a blog also called “Nail Your Novel“, and she teaches creative writing masterclasses for The Guardian newspaper in London. Find her books here .
Where does My Book Fit on the Shelf?
by Roz Morris
Here’s a typical question I get from writers.
I’m not sure which category my story would fit into. I had originally intended it to be for 9-13-year-olds (my protagonist is 13), but realised I was dumbing down my language in an attempt to suit the reading level. So I decided to write without thinking about age groups or categories. But now I’m close to the end, I still don’t know how to categorise it. Is it young adult? Literary? Teen? Paranormal? Even, is it adult?
There are many factors to consider here, so let’s tackle them one at a time.
Pre-Teen (MG), YA or New Adult?
Age of protagonist
In adult fiction, protagonists can be any age. But when you write for non-adult genres, readers are more fussy. They usually like the main character to be like them but a little bit older – they want the sense of testing a slightly more adventurous world, but not one that’s so ahead of their development that they can’t connect with it.
On the other hand, a 13-year-old main character doesn’t mean you’re writing a book for 13-year-olds. You might easily have a child or teenage point of view in a book for adults (Henry James’s What Maisie Knew; Toby Litt’s Deadkidsongs; Michael Frayn’s Spies).
Language
Certainly if you’re writing for children, the language has to be appropriate for their age. Indeed, some publishers have series that are specially aimed at reluctant readers – the stories are shorter, the typesetting is bigger and the language is crafted for simplicity. If you enjoy writing this way, that might be a market to consider.
But is it natural for you to write that way? If you feel hamstrung and frustrated by the idea of simplifying your style, this might be a sign that you won’t keep it up for the whole book. But if it does suit you, you won’t feel like you’re dumbing down. And children’s fiction doesn’t have to be sparely written; there’s plenty that’s crafted with lush language – Sally Gardner’s historical fantasy fairytale I Coriander; Jeanette Winterson’s Tanglewreck.
The best way to tell if you’re a good fit for an age group’s style? Read some recent popular releases. Make sure they’re recent, too – publishers frequently change their minds about market requirements. Many titles that have become children’s classics wouldn’t be published for the first time today.
Emotional Development and Interests
But age ranges aren’t just about language or the age of the protagonist. The real difference is the emotional development and interests of the audience.
This is the true distinction; pre-teens are interested in different things from teenagers and YA, and books for adults are different again.
So to work out your age range, identify the most significant trials the characters go through and the way you’ve used them in the story. Are you exploring the trials of a particular time of life, or are you looking at humanity in a wider sense?
Stories for pre-teens will be more adventure based, or perhaps about hauntings and mysteries, or friendships and good/bad people. Stories for teens might include any of those elements, but they will be more specifically about the trials of that very turbulent time of life. You could even take a story event (eg a sea voyage) and make entirely different books out of it, depending on the age you write it for.
Take Geraldine McCaughrean’s White Darkness, which is about an expedition to the Antarctic with a mad, exciting uncle. If it was written for pre-teens, the biggest issues would probably be the survival situation. But the most compelling trials in White Darkness are emotional, about maturing in outlook – disillusionment with a family member, learning who you are, dealing with relationships. Really, it’s a story of growing up, not of polar exploration. That’s what makes it a teen book.
New Adult
There’s also another age category – new adult. This covers the next phase of life after YA – 18 to 25. Literary agent Carly Watters describes NA as a phase of ‘firsts’ – starting university, getting a job, living independently and so on. Both YA and NA stories tend to be intense and passionate, with high stakes and strong desires. Because that’s what life is like in those years.
But again, it’s not quite as clear cut. There are novels whose characters are in the new adult phase of life but the novels aren’t new adult. The difference is the level of sophistication and their emotional focus – both YA and NA are narrated from a perspective that fits with the protagonist’s age (indeed, they’re usually first person). Their general preoccupation is with learning to handle this phase of life and how new and mind-blowing it is.
But you might write novels that deal with NA-age characters in an NA type of scenario… that aren’t for the NA audience. Examples are Barbara Vine’s A Fatal Inversion – a psychological thriller about a group of students who spend a summer in ramshackle house.
Donna Tartt’s The Secret History is a whydunit about a group of students who commit murder. Both these novels have more complexity and nuance than NA titles. Although the characters’ behaviour and emotions are raw because they’re young and inexperienced, the novels are about human behaviour at any age.
Is My Novel Genre or Literary?
Literary or paranormal?
And so to the second half of my writer’s question. Oh my, you’ve come to the right place! My debut novel, My Memories of a Future Life, has paranormal ingredients – regression by hypnosis to other lives – but it isn’t paranormal.
This is because the paranormal elements are not my main focus.
My curiosities in the story are despair, hope, how we live, how people heal themselves and each other. I’m using ideas of reincarnation to create unusual pressures in the lives of my characters, but reincarnation is not my subject. My subject is the people and how these experiences are the making of them. Indeed, the paranormal element might even be psychological – I leave that to the reader to decide.
This approach would probably annoy a fan of paranormal fiction.
Paranormal fans want to lose themselves in a world where the paranormal definitely exists and provides the main entertainment and intrigue. Of course, they also want well-drawn characters with compelling arcs, good writing, and innovative twists. I’m not talking about writing to a formula. But they want the paranormal ingredients to be true and real in the world of the story. That’s what they enjoy.
Historical or Paranormal?
Here’s another example. I recently edited a novel set in a time of historical conflict, but it’s literary, not historical. Why? The emphasis is more on the themes and the people than on the historical period; the period is merely a set of circumstances that give the characters their challenges.
Let’s consider science fiction. The Time Machine by HG Wells is definitely science fiction – the writer’s chief curiosity is worlds and societies. What about Audrey Niffenegger’s Time Traveller’s Wife? I’d say that’s not science fiction at all; more of a literary, fable-type romance.
Recently, Damien Walter wrote about how we need a new term for novels like The Time Traveller’s Wife – stories that are mostly rooted in our real world but have a single fantastic idea or a slight adjustment to our usual laws of physics.
He called it ‘transrealism’. I don’t think it’s yet on any bookseller’s genre lists, but it emphasises how these stories are on a limb of their own – they don’t fit with traditional science fiction or fantasy – or even magical realism – but they’re also distinct from straightforward contemporary fiction. The piece on Transrealism is here.
Can a Novel be Literary as well as Genre?
As we can see, the boundaries are not always clear. In a sense, all writers are on a spectrum – between genres, and in terms of literary qualities. Ray Bradbury’s novels are generally science fiction and transrealism – but they are also metaphors that unwrap the human condition.
Or take Thomas Harris’s first Hannibal novel, Red Dragon. It ticks all the boxes for a serial killer thriller (with bizarre and disturbing murders, characters in physical and mental jeopardy) – but the murderer is drawn with a sensitivity and sophistication that pulls it into literary territory.
Just when you thought it was clear.
Am I limiting my audience by pigeonholing myself?
Aha. The age-old question. Most of us hope our books will be enjoyed by everyone. But few books are. One person’s Marmite is another person’s unspeakable slime. As we see from the arguments above, a paranormal fan does not like the same things that a psychological fiction fan likes. And this is why we figure out our genre – to find the people whose tastes are a match for ours.
Which are you?
So if you’re still puzzled, how do you tell which category and age group you belong in? By reading good examples. Some genres will be close together – thriller and suspense and spy novel and crime all need a high level of danger, a relentless pace, innovative surprises and tension.
Some genres are developing their own sub-niches – novels about the armed forces by former soldiers; Nordic noir; cyber-anything. Read, read, read to find out where your particular flavour fits.
To sort out where you are on the literary/genre scale, read books in the genre AND literary or contemporary fiction that uses elements of that genre. Look particularly at the ending. For instance, your story might feature a murder. Is your aim to discover the murderer and bring them to justice? (You might be crime, whodunit, cosy mystery.)
Or are you more interested in, for instance, examining the fallout among a family? You might do both, of course, but the genre novel will have definite requirements for the ending, whereas the literary novel can be more open. It might not provide answers; instead, it might send the reader away with questions.
What about age groups? Where do you naturally fit? You fit where your interests are. If you’re wavering between children’s, teen or adult, read books for different age groups. Which treatments and approach pushed your buttons, gave you the most satisfaction? The odds are, that’s what you’ll strive to write.
by Roz Morris (@Roz_Morris) November 13, 2016
***
What about you, scriveners? Do you have trouble categorizing novel genre? Were you unsure of how to categorize your work when you started out? (I sure was!) Do you have any questions for Roz?
For more on pinpointing genre, check out Ruth Harris’s post, KNOW YOUR GENRE
BOOK OF THE WEEK
There’s more in-depth discussion of plot and genre in Writing Plots With Drama, Depth & Heart, Nail Your Novel 3.
What keeps a reader curious? It’s the story. You might have a dazzling prose voice and plausible characters, but if they don’t do anything, the reader is likely to lose interest.
So where do you find story ideas? How do you make them into a captivating read?
What’s your personal vision? Do you know what genre you are best suited to write? What is literary fiction and how do you write that? How will you give your book depth without seeming preachy or bringing the plot to a standstill?
What are the hidden structural patterns that ply the reader’s emotions, regardless of your genre or style? How can you use them with originality? How should you begin and end? What should go in the middle? Where should you play your best twists – and what should they be? How can you write each scene so it holds the reader’s curiosity?
If you want to write a story that breaks with convention but still keeps readers riveted, how do you do it?
Whatever type of novel you want to write, this book will show you, in down-to-earth tutorials, games and brainstorming exercises.
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I took a genre class (it’s on Dean Wesley Smith’s site for those who just asked “Where? Where?!”). It was very eye opening. There’s so little available out there, and most it is wrong. The writer’s preference can get in the way of pulling it together on a genre. As a reader, I like stories with a lot of characterization, so I tended to write with a focus on characterization–and it’s my single biggest strength. That would have worked if I were writing romance novels (and may yet do), but for fantasy and science fiction, it was a problem. Reader preference is setting first. That’s why they come to the story. I sometimes have to fight to keep my characterization from dominating over setting.
Linda–I’m jumping in here, because Roz is in the UK and may not get to comments until tomorrow. Plus I’m really intrigued by this. I’d never thought about genre this way. Romance (and Women’s Fiction) is definitely about character. But I would have thought sci-fi/fantasy was about action. But you’re right. It’s about setting. And i think a lot of mysteries are about setting too. I’m going to have to ponder this. Thanks for the insight, as always!
Take the class. (Hint: Mystery isn’t what you think it is either).
Hello Linda! And let me complicate matters further … although setting is very important in science fiction and fantasy, character is important in some SF stories. I’m thinking of Ray Bradbury, who manages to put real people with inner turmoils into SF worlds, or to bend reality just enough to create a sense of the non-usual. While some SF is about action, a lot is about putting humanity into situations that aren’t yet possible – and thereby illuminate something unexplored about the human condition.
As usual when you try to jemmy fiction into boxes, it spills over the sides!
Positively not literary! I couldn’t write that style if I tried.
My books are all aimed at adults, but I have had a younger main character in two of them. I still knew they were adults though.
Alex–I think it helps to start out writing a classic genre like yours where the boundaries are defined. “Space opera” or “hard scifi” have been around a long time and have established norms. Unless you have all your POV characters in their teens, you wouldn’t have to worry about age group either. That sure would simplify things. 🙂
Alex, I don’t know what you write (hello, BTW!) . But I’m glad Anne raised this point about the ages of the POV characters. I think the age of the MCs is not as important as the outlook of the book. So a story might have an adult outlook but teen characters, or a teen outlook and maybe lots of adult characters.
Brava! As a writer of manuscripts that live in the ambiguous niche between MG & YA, I’ve dealt with these questions a bunch, & I’m with you entirely with the idea that overlap happens. I bow to you for reminding writers to READ. I am dumbfounded by the number of “writers” I’ve met who say, “Read? I don’t have time for that; I’m writing.”
Aargh.
Even if we boil things down to the crassest capitalism, how can we expect others to read our work if we’re not engaging in reading ourselves. And that doesn’t even touch the beauty & magical experience of reading. Especially in MG, YA & NA, recently written books are fascinating, cutting (or bleeding) edge, & phenomenally instructive.
CS–Roz is in the UK and it’s probably past her bedtime, so I’m jumping in here. I’m glad she mentioned reading, too. And this is especially important for authors in children’s lit. If they’re not reading contemporary YA and MG, they don’t have a clue what “bleeding edge” stuff is out there. Nobody writing today is going to make it recreating the Bobbsey Twins!
CS – let’s pause for a big, satisfying high-five! Yes, yes yes! We learn so much from the books we admire – not only that, but they also renew our enthusiasm, our urge to create. And I like what Anne says here about keeping up with the current releases. For genres like YA and MG, the world is changing all the time. The YA experience of five years ago is not the same as the YA experience of now – not just in terms of the phones people have, but the life pressures. Also, the boundaries of what can be discussed are moving all the time – some YA now is far more bold and explicit than the YA of ten years ago.
And let’s finish with another high-five in praise of reading.
An excellent article! I’ve struggled with genre and its conventions for a while and this post has helped fill in some blanks.
If you are interested, I strongly recommend Shawn Coyne’s “The Story Grid” (on Amazon). Shawn goes into story structure and also spends a great deal of time on genre — each genre’s conventions, obligatory scenes, and characteristics. He provides tools and worksheets to help you figure out your novel’s genre as well.
His work doesn’t cover all genres, though. It seems to be lacking some on YA, MA, and New Adult, which is why I found this post helpful.
Regards,
Brant
Brandt–Thanks a bunch for the recommendation of The Story Grid. I’ll check it out. I did think Roz’s distinctions for the various types of young people’s literature were really helpful. I haven’t seen them defined so well, so when I found them on her website, I asked her to share them with us here.
Nice to see you here. Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for that, Brant – and Anne!
Perpetually clueless as to what genre my stuff falls in. So about a couple of years ago, I decided on a new genre for myself: quirky fiction with a definite adult bent. Paranormal for the most part, with chunks of semi-to-graphic sex and violence liberally peppered throughout.
I don’t think I can write YA or MG with any degree of consistency, as I find the adult world much easier to navigate. I have written all ages stuff when a self-inflicted challenge arises. But that is few and very far between.
G. B–One of the problems is the different meanings we give to the same word depending on context.. “Adult” can mean X-rated or, as we do in this post, simply mainstream, grown-up books.
If you’re writing erotica, I think that has a bunch of different subcategories too. If you’re self-publishing, the best way to categorize is to use Amazon’s lists. I think they have a choice called paranormal erotica or vampire erotica–something like that, which is where your books might fall.
Although one of my books has a teen protag, I find it easier to put them all in the same category of humorous mystery, for consistency. I think readers appreciate consistency. So even if one book might creep into another genre. it’s best to keep under the same category if you can.
Hello GB! Anne makes a great point here about the Amazon categories. Amazon has subdivided the standard categories in so many ways now, which makes it much easier to find a place to fit. It’s a good idea to check you’re not going to alienate readers by giving them erotic surprises when they were hoping for a less pulsating read!
I’m in that situation. I think of my WIP as erotic young adult. It’s a first person past tense coming of age story who’s main characters are in high school and college, which deals with dating, sex, partying, living up to parental expectations, etc – with plenty of bad choices and consequences to go around. There’s some foul language in the dialogue. There’s not a lot of sex, but it’s there (when important to the plot), described in as polite of language as I can (the narrator rarely uses naughty or explicit language, although the characters may)
I’ve had some very positive feed back from college age readers who’ve said that it is inspiring to hear from someone older who’s a;ready gone through the kind of stuff they’re dealing with now.
A lot of good food for thought, even if I still don’t have a clear niche. My goal has become to create my own niche in “Vintage Fiction,” “Vintage Chcklit,” or “Light Historical.” (still not sure which way to go or how to market)
Vintage Fiction=settings in the 1920s-1950s
Vintage Chicklit=books set in 1920s-1950s with emphasis on fashion, cocktails, dating, and the women’s journey
Light Historical=Historical setting with some facts woven into the narrative and use of historical figures, but not mired in history or 100% true to timelines
Here’s another question: which goes first? Since there are sub-categories in every genre, do you say ‘New Adult Paranormal Romance,” or “Romantic Paranormal New Adult?” I think there are subtle differences in the markets and how to approach marketing.
What if you have a dual narrative and one story follows the tropes of a classic historical romance, and the other follows a contemporary coming-of-age Chick-lit novel path.
Thanks!
Tam–I hope Roz will weigh in on these questions tomorrow. (It’s bedtime now in the UK)
In my experience, things vary a lot depending on whether you’re going indie or the traditional route. If you have a made-up category in a query, you’ll look amateurish, so make sure you use a recognized category like “historical women’s fiction” for your query.
For self-publishing, you need to let Amazon’s categories be your guide. You can have mysteries–>cozies–>cats, and then add “historical” or “humorous” in the keywords. So “Humorous historical cat cozy” is an Amazon category, but “Paranormal historical cat cozy” might not be a thing.
So your New Adult Paranormal Romance category would depend partly on Amazon. Look at the similar books to yours and see how they are listed on their buy pages and in searches.
I like the term “Vintage Fiction” so it’s definitely a sales tool, but your Amazon category is going to have to be “Historical Fiction–>1950s” with keywords women’s fiction and chick lit.”
“Vintage Fiction” might catch on and become a thing later on.
Thanks. I hope she can weigh in. Right now I’m in 20th Century (on Amazon) and doing okay there. Not as many sub genres as I’d like from Amazon. You are quite right. There’s not even a WWII sub genre under romance.
I certainly didn’t query with my “made-up” niche, but find it a good marketing tool, to far. 😉
Still so much to learn!
We call my series “chick lit noir” which definitely isn’t a thing, but it’s a great sales tool. We can always hope Amazon will catch up. That’s kind of shocking that romance doesn’t have a WWII category!
Hi Tam! It’s tricky, but you can put your book in two categories on Amazon – and they can be any combination you like. So you can pick ‘historical’ and ‘chick lit’ if you want. Then narrow it down more with the keywords you choose.
If you’re writing cross-genre, you usually have a principal genre and wrap that around the other genre. And the second genre is usually written in a way to please readers of the principal genre, especially if their tastes would be at odds with fans of the second genre. Clear as mud? So with my own novel My Memories of a Future Life, it’s first of all contemporary literary fiction, wrapped around a future fantasy. The fantasy section is written in a style that contemporary and litfic readers will find palatable, rather than a style that fantasy readers would expect (which would be a lot more detail and worldbuilding). This means, actually, it’s not fantasy at all. So are your mixed-genre books actually one genre with just a flavour of the second? In that case, choose the dominant genre.
I wrote my dark fantasy book for the type of reader who enjoys Neil Gaiman, but a lot of people who’ve read it say it also falls into the same camp as the later Harry Potter books. I’m not sure that explicitly makes it YA, but it’s possible! The definitions seem so hazy…
Icy–II’d say if you’re going for a traditional contract, call it YA. YA is much more popular with agents and publishers. And if you’re going for a Neil Gaiman/JK Rowling audience, so much the better.
If you’re self-pubbing, you don’t have to worry about age so much, so I’d just call it dark fantasy and let people decide for themselves.
Maybe Roz will have more suggestions tomorrow.
Hello Icy! That sounds good to me. And you’ve got some excellent trailblazers there to look to for guidance. Just look up Gaiman and Rowling, see how they’re categorised – and do likewise.
I write psychological thrillers and serial killer thrillers, but my books have been called “horror” or “mystery” or “suspense” by book reviewers. Personally, I don’t see the horror angle. Sure, they might cause a few nightmares here and there, but they’re not “horror” per se. I do find it easier to call myself a crime writer rather than author, because then people at least have a better idea about what I write.
For the average reader (non-writers), I think genre is difficult to grasp. As such, in my marketing, depending on where I’m trying to attract readers, I’ve been known to call my books “gritty mysteries” or “mystery/thriller” or “psychological suspense” even though those terms aren’t technically correct. At the same time, I try to educate my blog audience and SM followers/friends on what it is I actually write. Here’s my question: when marketing our books, do you think it’s better to remain consistent, or go with the flow, so to speak?
I’m so glad you’ve finally gotten the recognition you deserve, Roz. Ghostwriting must be so difficult. I can’t even imagine watching your books soar to the top and not being able to share the good news.
Sue–Roz should be by later today. My take on this is that horror has very specific requirements and “gritty mystery” is probably where your books should go. With the massive success of gritty, dark, Scandinavian mysteries, this is a growing genre, so I would stick to that category.
Hello Sue – thanks so much for your lovely comment there! I think you’re right to learn from your readers. Often they point out things we didn’t realise were in our books. They’re great for figuring out comparison titles – I’ve had readers tell me ‘your book reminded me of x or y – associations I’d never have thought to make myself, and was grateful to be shown. And these readers are telling you they like that genre, and like what you do in it. I’ve also used reader reactions like that to hone my books’ sales descriptions, because they told me what I should point out to others. Another reason why reviews are so so so useful.
I think my fiction, especially, my Lovers and Liars novellas, are romantic literary fiction. Is there such a thing? There are obvious historical elements and the setting is a major deal when you write about WWII London and its environs, but my main emphasis–what I hoped readers would take away from each story–was how the main characters grew and changed by virtue of living through those exciting and often very scary times. Genre is difficult. I also wrote a paranormal novel, one influenced by Shirley Jackson’s magnificent gothic work, The Haunting of Hill House. I wanted to explore what happened when my characters experienced the clash between madness and the supernatural. I made a huge mistake in classifying the genre as paranormal and ended up disappointing my reading audience who anticipated a cast of werewolves, vampires and shape shifters. My old definition of paranormal didn’t quite fit the expectations of this new generation of readers. Never again. The book was literary fiction and I should have known better. Really wonderful post, Roz 🙂 Paul
Paul–Roz may have another take on this, but I think you can put a lot under the the literary umbrella. Margaret Atwood writes stuff that could be scifi and women’s fiction, but you read her for her insight and literary skill, not story, so she’s primarily a literary writer. So the other categories don’t matter all that much. I think yours are probably the same.
Hello Paul! First may I say how much I like your handle here – Mindprinter! I’d agree that you’re in the literary camp. One of the tell-tale signs for me is that the writer is more interested in the study of humanity than of the historical period etc. They’re aiming for resonance, insight (as Anne says here) and timelessness as well as a story, or a scare, or a mystery.
Your experience with the paranormal readers is a case in point – this shows how important it is to present our books in a way that isn’t misleading. I’ve had the same issues myself. I like writing about odd situations that might flirt with the idea of ‘other’, but would definitely bore the socks off a paranormal fan. Here’s where cover, title and blurb are just as important as knowing the genre. I hopeyou’ve managed to find the way to find your proper readership. Thanks for stopping by!
Oh, my goodness! What a clearly written essay on definitions and distinctions of all types and age groups of story writing. I need to keep this one to refer to later. Thank you! For myself, I write children’s adventures – living a missionary life in Africa – for ages 7-11. Characters are children in a family ranging from 7-15, so the stories appeal more to the low and high end ages in different stories.
You advice is great – read, read, read.
Thank you, Jaq!
I am working, I hope on the final revisions of the third draft, still I can’t or maybe won’t pigeon hole the genre; it scares me. It doesn’t fit easily in one, it is historically correct set between 19 42 /1975 it touches on the family through this time and a woman who carries the shame and secrets of her family. Seen through her eyes, she has a horrific story line of her child taken in to care … so family saga? Historical fiction, women’s fiction, I like vintage fiction it sounds better but by swiveltam’s comment maybe I don’t fit there either. I was told by an Author that checked my progress “it reads like faction ” (A non fiction set in actual time historically correct) . She made sense and I thought yes at last a genre a tag on which to hang her… Alas no one else recognises that as a genre. I learnt much from your post and thank you. But still I get splinters from perching on the fence…
Hello Ellen! 1940s and 1970s… is there a category of period fiction? You might be family saga if the main ingredients are the fortunes of a group of characters that span the generations. You also mention shame and secrets, and a child taken into care … it sounds as though there’s a smattering of social commentary there too. I hadn’t come across the term ‘faction’ asa category, and I don’t know that readers look for that. But if you can find it on Amazon, then use it! They’re quite wise to the things that readers are shopping for. It could also be women’s fiction as it deals with women’s experience.
What you could do is try a couple of categories, see how well it does and what feedback and reader reviews you get. If the readers are satisfied by what they find, those categories are probably good for you.
Here’s another idea. Do you know the site LibraryThing.com? It’s like Goodreads but a bit easier to search by category. Users list their book collections, using themes. You might be able to search by some of your ingredients here – time periods, social themes – and find other books that correspond to those categories. Then track back, see what genres they’re listed in. Good luck!
The million dollar question with answers that are still fuzzy around the corners. Who am I? Who would like the novels I write, if anyone?
Hi Yvonne! The million-dollar answer …. write what you must. Discover who you are on the page. Then find where that fits in the grand order of things.
Well this just shows what a colonoscopy does to your Sunday reading plans. What a terrific article, very thought-provoking, Roz. I’m in a lacuna of the writing vocation with about a half-dozen titles out there, and I increasingly come to believe that my audience is quite limited. Epic/heroic fantasy with literary pretension… a relic, just like its chronicler! But I keep searching for the niches it could fit and fire up, and of course the writing itself is a pleasure. Maybe my true audience is still growing as I write! A man is only as good as his dreams.
Hello Will! From your opening comment I’m tempted to make a joke about hindsight 🙂
You raise an interesting point here with your own brand of fiction – fantasy with a dash of literary. I think of literary as a continuum – some genre novels have literary qualities. And some literary novels have the qualities of certain genres. All writers are individuals, and we’re not churning stuff out of a factory production line according to a formula. Vive la difference.
My main character is 13 – hoping it can stay in MG, but some believe it to be YA.
That’s a good point that sometimes a genre could be both literary and genre. I could see why it would be up to the author sometimes to decide how they want their story to go. I’ll have to remember that while reading novels.
Tyler–I love Kate Atkinson’s mysteries, which are both genre and literary. She can market in the New Yorker but also appeal to mystery fans.
Good morning from the UK, Anne.
I’m published with a small publisher, so don’t have much control over categories. I write historical and fantasy.
I consider my books to be adult, except for one fantasy duo, teen and YA) but one reviewer described my first historical novel as a YA. I don’t think it is. I’ve also been having an ongoing discussion about one series (fantasy) with my publisher. This book has appeared in the top 100 in a Children’s category in Germany, France and India. There is no explicit sex, but the characters do have sexual relationships, and there’s mention of a brothel as well as some violence. Definitely not for children. I don’t know what to do about it. Publisher says he can’t do anything, but I don’t see why not.
The literary category is interesting. I don’t think my books are literary, I’d necer considered it.
V.M.–This post was written by Roz Morris, who’s a UK author, so this should all apply. But authors only have so much power unless they’re self-publishing. This advice is for either self-publishers or authors starting out who want to know how to categorize their books when they’re looking for an agent or publisher.
Once you’re published, categories are often decided by the marketing department and neither the author nor the editor has much say about it. This happened to Catherine Ryan Hyde with Pay it Forward. It is a very adult book even though the protagonist is a tween. But it was marketed as YA. Catherine was very unhappy about it, and years later she wrote a version of the story that is suitable for kids.
So it’s not worth stewing about. Just be happy it’s selling so well 🙂