By Anne R. Allen
Most writers have probably heard of “Upmarket fiction.” But you may have questions about it. Like, when should you use the term? And how do you figure out if your novel fits in the category? Is it considered a genre, like Romance or Mystery? And is it the same as “Book Club Fiction?”
It’s not surprising if you have questions. Because bookstores don’t have a section designated “Upmarket.” And you’re not going to find it as a category on Amazon.
I don’t particularly like the phrase. It sounds kind of snooty, doesn’t it? But I love the books.
And they are a hot commodity in the publishing industry right now. Agent Jessica Faust says “It’s a term we didn’t use 15 years ago, but one that’s hot today…I’m hungry for more upmarket fiction.”
I’ve had a number of readers ask me about it recently, so I figured I’d better do some research.
So What’s the Definition of Upmarket Fiction?
You can find lots of lists of fiction genres, but you won’t see “Upmarket fiction” included. You may have seen somebody mention “Book Club” novels, but you won’t find that section in a bookstore, either.
According to what I’ve read, “Upmarket” and “Book Club” fiction are pretty synonymous terms, and you can use either when querying an agent.
They define fiction that fills the gap between genre and literary fiction.
These are meaty stories that book reading groups can discuss over a nice chardonnay. They have thought-provoking themes and memorable characters. But they’re not so dense that everybody has to lie about having finished them.
Ruth Harris says that Upmarket fiction differs from genre fiction because it’s “deeper and more substantial in terms of character & setting. It also offers. a wider-range and more expressive vocabulary/use of language.” And, she adds, “there’s more reader engagement. These are books that make a personal impact on the reader.”
Sounds as if we’re talking about literary fiction, right? Not quite. Upmarket fiction is aimed at a more educated audience, but it also must have a hook and a fast-moving plot.
Jessica Faust tells authors: “If you find your book has a one or two-sentence hook, but your writing style is a bit more literary you might very well be writing upmarket fiction.”
Some Examples of Upmarket Fiction
- Mexican Gothic — Silvia Moreno
- About a Boy — Nick Hornby
- Where the Crawdads Sing — Delia Owens
- Squeeze Me — Carl Hiaasen
- Like Water for Elephants — Sara Gruen
- The Lovely Bones — Alice Sebold
- She’s Come Undone — Wally Lamb
- Pay it Forward — Catherine Ryan Hyde
Can You List “Upmarket Fiction” as your Genre?
You definitely can use it when querying an agent. But I’m not seeing “Upmarket fiction” listed as a genre in the marketplace. It’s a category used by agents and acquisition editors, but not booksellers.
I hope that will change. Authors need all the help we can get. Choosing a genre is one of the toughest challenges for a lot of new writers, so a new genre (or two or three) might help a lot of us.
- What if you write a love story that doesn’t have a happy ending? Romance readers would hate it.
- Or a mysterious murder that turns out to be perpetrated by the (unreliable) narrator? Call it a classic mystery and you’ll have some perturbed readers.
- What about a story of a character’s journey of self-discovery when the protagonist is a straight male who’s not an action hero? You can’t shelve it with women’s fiction or LGBTQ.
- And what do you do with a satiric take on contemporary life that’s not aimed at the literary-academic crowd?
This is when we need some new genres. Maybe “Bittersweet Love Stories”, “Domestic Suspense”, “Psychological Fiction” and “Social Comedy”?
Why Do We Need Genres, Anyway?
Writers are told we need a genre because it tells you what agents to query, what publishers to approach, and what kind of cover art to choose.
Some writers may think that they can simply go indie, bypass all those agent rules, and they won’t need no stinkin’ genres.
Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Categories are even more important if you’re selling through Amazon and other online retailers.
Different genres have different conventions we need to follow. As Ruth told us last week, if you break the rules of your genre, your book is going to land in a lot of DNF piles. Readers get angry when a Romance writer kills off Mr. Dreamy on the last page, or when the tough guy hero of a thriller breaks down and talks about the death of his sainted mother. And blood, guts or foul language in a cozy? Gadzooks!
So Why Can’t We Call it “Mainstream Fiction”?
Because that category doesn’t really exist anymore, alas.
Around the 1980s, Mainstream fiction started going out of fashion. If you compare the bestselling books of the 1970s to the bestsellers of the 1980s, you’ll see a profound change in what people were reading.
In the ‘70s, Mainstream authors like Leon Uris, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Irwin Shaw, James Michener, Kurt Vonnegut, Mario Puzo, and Belva Plain dominated the bestseller lists.
But by the ‘80s, the top sellers were mostly “genre”— dominated by Romance (Danielle Steele) Horror (Stephen King) and Thrillers (Tom Clancy.)
And genre books began to be taken more seriously. In 1985, the western (once the epitome of “pulp fiction”) Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, won the Pulitzer Prize.
Why did this this move to genre fiction happen? I can only guess. Maybe society was already fragmenting into separate identity groups. Or perhaps people wanted “safer” reads where they knew what to expect.
I was only a lowly bookstore clerk at the time and I wasn’t really aware of the fading of “Mainstream.” But I did know those easy genre categories made shelving and inventory management easier for bookstores. As the relationship between Big Pub and Big Box bookstores got cozier, bookstores were probably able to ask publishers to create more separate categories
When I first worked in a bookstore, we had constant debates about where to shelve books like Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness, a LGBTQ classic, or Gail Parent’s Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York — which would now be called chick lit. When the new genre categories like LGBTQ came along, they were a big help to to us bookstore clerks.
But they hid a lot of books from a more general audience.
So Why Not Label it “Literary Fiction”?
The term literary fiction has morphed over the last 50 years as well. Literary fiction has become more academic. People like Fitzgerald and Hemingway wrote for a general audience. Donald Barthelme and John Fowles did not.
There has always been esoteric prose aimed at the intellectual elite, of course, from Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy to James Joyce’s Ulysses and the minimalist prose of Gertrude Stein. But in the 1970s, dense, enigmatic literature aimed at college classroom discussions seemed to take over.
One discouraged reader dismissed it as “dense prose about middle-aged professors with prostate issues.” 🙂
Donald Barthelme baffled readers with word-collages, and Fowles left us hanging with the non-ending of The Magus. Some of us actually made it through all 800 pages of John Barth’s The Sot Weed Factor, a postmodern satire of the 18th century picaresque novel, without much of a payoff. And of course there’s Thomas Pynchon. I can’t tell you how long I carried around a copy of Gravity’s Rainbow until I admitted I didn’t care about anybody in it.
I’m not saying these books aren’t brilliant. They are classics for a reason. But they are meant for a highly-educated, sophisticated reader to parse and ponder.
And mostly they don’t make a lot of money, which is why the authors teach at universities for a living.
Because there aren’t likely to be big sales involved, it can be difficult to be saddled with the “literary” label if you’re looking for an agent. Or readers.
Enter Upmarket Fiction
I think this is why “Upmarket fiction” has become a popular term with agents and acquisitions editors.
It’s literary fiction with a plot.
And none of what Jonathan Franzen calls “po-mo hijinks.”
But wouldn’t it be nice if it became an official genre? Or maybe it could have a different name, like, oh, maybe “Mainstream”? 🙂 No. I suppose “Upmarket” as a category is a bit narrower than “Mainstream,” because of its emphasis on theme and character.
But I think its newfound popularity reflects the need readers feel for more general categories.
Upmarket Fiction May be more Successful with Traditional Publishing than Indie
I should probably add that Upmarket fiction is tougher to market than novels we can put solidly in a well-known genre, especially for indies. Upmarket authors can self-publish of course, but they probably won’t succeed on the “write-a-book-a-month” go-go-go path so many indie gurus teach.
Upmarket readers don’t want fast-food fiction. They don’t read for plot alone. They want something they can savor.
But If you’re savoring a book, you’re not going to buy three more this week the way people do with Romance, Thrillers, and Mysteries.
Then there’s the issue of reviews. Book clubs are more likely to pick a book that’s well-reviewed in a mainstream publication all the members have heard of.
Also, upmarket books sell more in hard copy than in ebooks. And the hardcover versions make good gifts.
But it’s not impossible to succeed as an indie with Upmarket novels. A savvy marketer can do almost anything in the age of social media.
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Many thanks to the readers who asked me about the category in the last couple of weeks..
Here’s a video of Jessica Faust discussing upmarket fiction, and if you’re not quite sure what genre your writing falls into, check out Ruth Harris’s post on Genre Guidelines.
by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) October 3, 2021
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What about you, scriveners? Do you write Upmarket fiction? Did you know about it as a category? Do you read it? And what new genres do you think we need?
BOOK OF THE WEEK
Upmarket fiction from Anne
THE LADY OF THE LAKEWOOD DINER
A comedy that pokes fun at the myth of a Golden Age, making parallels between the Grail legend and the self-mythologizing of the Baby Boomer Generation.
Someone has shot aging bad-girl rocker Morgan Le Fay and threatens to finish the job. Is it fans of her legendary dead rock-god husband, Merlin? Or is the secret buried in her childhood hometown of Avalon, Maine?
Morgan’s childhood best friend Dodie, the no-nonsense owner of a dilapidated diner, may be the only one who knows the dark secret that can save Morgan’s life. And both women may find that love really is better the second time around. Think Beaches meets Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe.
“A page turning, easily readable, arrestingly honest novel which will keep you laughing at yourself. Who doesn’t remember crashing on a mattress at a friend’s apartment with the stereo blasting Iron Butterfly and no idea where you’ll stay the next night? A cultural masterpiece for the discerning reader.“…Kathleen Keena, author of Adolescent Depression, Outside/In
All Amazons Kobo Barnes & Noble
plus AppleBooks and GooglePlay
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featured image–“Lady Reading” by Marguerite Gerard.
Anne—Thanks for addressing a subject that’s been on our minds and for offering definitions that clarify what we mean when we say “upmarket fiction.”
My own bestsellers like DECADES, HUSBANDS AND LOVERS, and MODERN WOMEN were all classified as “Mainstream fiction” when they were published in hard cover. Now they would be categorized as “Upmarket fiction” because, while they have fast-moving plots, they also address social and cultural changes affecting the lives of women—and the men in their lives.
Currently, THE BIG SIX-OH!, which has a mystery plot, also addresses the inevitable changes in a long-term marriage as Blake and Ralph confront the big six-oh—and each other. I have categorized it is as cozy mystery (because no blood and guts or hot, steamy sex), but this book would best be shelved with Upmarket Fiction or Book Club fiction as the significant themes —aging and marriage—are relevant to us all and invite lively discussion.
Ruth–I think a lot of novels like yours that were once “Mainstream” got stuffed into the category of “Women’s Fiction” in the last few years. It became such a catch-all category that it encompassed everything from Danielle Steel to Margaret Atwood. And it didn’t tell us much about the book except the author was female. “Upmarket” is open to all genders of authors and protagonists.
My publisher puts my work in the “mystery” genre too, even though it has aspects of romantic comedy, because it appeals to both men and women. “Upmarket” would work much better.
I’ve never heard the title before. Certainly sounds more accessible than literary.
A few more genre terms would be nice, wouldn’t it?
Alex–You are one of the lucky ones who writes in a genre that has firm definitions and boundaries. There are many flavors of Sci-Fi, but I think those are pretty well defined too. “Hard Sci-Fi”, “Speculative”, “Cyberpunk” (does that still exist?) etc. Thanks for always stopping by the support the rest of us, who may still be floundering around between genres.
Thank you for this article, Anne.
When I’ve been asked what kind of books I like to read I have said, “Literary fiction.”–by that I meant character-driven not plot-driven stories.
I’ve heard of book club fiction but not upmarket fiction.
Do you think the difference might be that I’m in Canada and you’re in the USA, Anne?
At times I wonder if it won’t be more freeing for readers if all the categories where thrown out the window and we just called a book a book. However, doing so would probably cause havoc for book publishers and booksellers.
Leanne–I don’t know if Canadian publishers use the term. It may be a New York thing. But when pitching to US customers, you could certainly throw the term out there. I agree with you that a lot of readers would be happy to have “Mainstream” or “General Fiction” come back in vogue.
Very good point. Thank you, Anne.
Oh boy. Must. Contain. Myself.
I don’t know if I could handle reading upmarket fiction. I have such a strong bias against literary fiction to begin and having a genre that possibly knocks on that door gives me the willies.
But, it sounds like a genre I should try reading at least once in my life, so I shall give it a whirl.
GB–If you prefer plot-driven fiction without too much “theme” and psychology getting into the mix, you probably will be happier sticking to genre fiction.
I have to admit I’m that way about my TV. I much prefer classic mysteries to psychological dramas for “unwinding” entertainment.
Thank you, Anne and Ruth! Between you, you’ve given the best explanation I’ve ever heard of “upmarket.” And it does sound snooty.
I remember when “mainstream” fiction was sought after by agents and editors yet they couldn’t explain what it was.
No wonder writers tear out their hair over these catch phrases that sound sophisticated but are actually vague and mushy.
Debbie–I think that may be exactly why “Mainstream” went out of fashion as a term. It encompassed too much, so it sounded vague. But, as I say, “Upmarket” is a bit more sharply defined. That may help readers find what they’re looking for, which is the point of all this.
From my research, I considered upmarket to be literary with more plot and less navel-gazing. Or general fiction with slightly more sophisticated writing. I like how you define it. And I am relieved/heartened to have it associated with book club fiction, as I could never figure out the nuances between the two.
As for Pynchon, I laughed at that reference because I read V. in college with no clue as to what he was saying (other than small takeaways here and there) and re-read it years later hoping my new maturity would open the gates of understanding but alas, had the same result. That’s when I decided if I ever wrote fiction, I wanted it to be sophisticated to a point, but also accessible and understandable! What good is a book if readers only scratch their heads upon reading it?
S.M.–I’m glad to hear I’m not alone in my bafflement at Pynchon. As you say, there are scenes that almost make sense, but you have no idea how they’re supposed to be attached to the plot. If there is one.
And therein lies the problem. When the Post Moderns eschewed plot, they lost a whole lot of readers of “literary” fiction. Upmarket needed to come in to fill the void.
All that matters to me as a reader (and writer) is fiction that has some beautiful prose, entertains and makes one think. But genres are a necessary evil I guess…
S. M. As I say in the post, these terms exist for communication within the industry, but they’re not bookselling terms. They don’t affect readers, and you won’t see them in bookstores.
I have found that as much as I like more character-focused novels, strongly literary ones (like Pynchon–I’ve never even tried to read his) that I struggle to understand are not very enjoyable. I’d like to enjoy them, but when I’m constantly trying to figure out what the heck is going on, I just get tired and put the book down.
Posts like this, if I had read them a decade ago, would have kept me from even getting started writing.
So confused! I didn’t take enough/any English Lit in college, my English teaching colleagues always intimidated me, and even now I hear “literary” and it gives me a shiver.
But it’s fascinating, I’ll agree, to think about where exactly a fellow author’s work falls. One friend called my writing “literary epic fantasy” and I started to feel better about that word. Another colleague puts out ripping novel-sized tales with fantasy, horror, supernatural beings et al, and yet this grand over-arching scope to it; I called his writing “epic pulp” and he liked it.
My only opinion so far is the same as always-if knowing that you’re writing to a certain genre energizes you to write more, then that’s a good thing.
Will–Oh, dear. I hoped this would make writers less confused. I think it’s the mention of “literary”. Pynchon, Barthelme, et al. have a lot to answer for. So many readers are now terrified of literary fiction. But epic fantasy started as literary, really, didn’t it? Well, who knows if Homer and Virgil thought their writing had a genre. I think you can get away with calling your books “literary epic fantasy”, but you might have to watch out for the folke who are afraid you’re writing only for Hobbit English majors. 🙂
I am a new writer And to answer your concern, I am now actually less confused :-). I have a novel that would fit into upmarket fiction the way you’ve described it, and I had been concerned because it isn’t only a romance or a mystery, and deals with character growth and somewhat in-depth location (Alaska) descriptions. i am encouraged with the thought that an agent might actually be interested in it so I really appreciate this post!
I am about to start querying, so would It be presumptuous of me to include the describer ’upmarket’ in my query, or are there already agents out there specifically looking for upmarket fiction?
Thank you so much for your posts, they’ve been keeping me sustained and I have learned so much over the last few months of writing this first novel. -Debbie
Deborah–When you write a query, it’s best to use the terms the agent uses on her website. So if she says “upmarket”, you’ve hit the jackpot. If she says “books that are layered, have an awareness of realism, and delight in being self-reflexive.” you can probably say “upmarket” too, but also mention “layered and self-reflective”. (I just read that in an agent’s profile this morning. She sounds like she’s searching for the word “upmarket”.)
Thanks so much for this, Anne! I have wondered where mainstream went, and you give the history so clearly. I got a kick out of “dense prose about middle-aged professors with prostate issues.” ???? The one I quote is Literary fiction: Nothing much happens but everyone feels really strongly about it” (can’t remember who first said it.)
Melodie–“Nothing much happens, but everyone feels really strongly about it” Haha. 🙂 Great description of literary fiction.
Upmarket makes me think of snooterati terms read on literary agent profiles like high-brow, low-brow, and no-brow. I guess this upmarket thing is a natural industry transition form mainstream, literary, and classic. By the way, someone told me classics are books everybody wants to read but don’t. Enjoy what’s left of your Sunday, Anne and Ruth. I was late to the party today because I’m swallowed up in a home reno project that started as a quick kitchen repaint and is now around $7K. Now that’s upmarket 🙂
Garry–I remember those high-lowbrow designations from the 1970s. My Classics professor father (Classics meaning Latin and Greek) once gave me a Mary McCarthy novel he hadn’t been able to finish because it was “too middlebrow.”
So sorry about the home remodel. I know how miserable they can be. I’ve decided to preserve my house exactly as is. Some day I can sell it as “vintage”.:-) It does avoid renovation hell.
Thank you for defining these “terms”. I didn’t know what they really were.
Patricia–I wasn’t quite sure myself. That’s why I turned to experts like Ruth and Jessica Faust.
That’s what I write.
Mainstream disappeared when Amazon forced everything into tinier and tinier search categories – but novels like Dr. Zhivago and The Thornbirds continue to be written. So now big fat epics with lots of, as you say, meat but not exactly navel-gazing, have coalesced into Upmarket and Book Club as a descriptor.
When you write something like Gone With the Wind, it will end up in that category – and sometimes at that length for a single story.
Themes galore, attractive (if written properly) to men and women (which is why they don’t want to be labeled Women’s Fiction as a primary category), the are an immersive experience for the reader.
There are not as many of us indie writers doing this – but the publishers, again, can’t handle the volume, so most will not find a publisher. And some of us have an intellectual adherence to indie.
They should also take a while to write – complexity and connections take time to research and plot.
Alicia–Mainstream started to fade in the 1980s, long before Amazon. But Amazon probably put the kibosh on it. For a while big family sagas like The Thornbirds were shoehorned into “Women’s fiction” but that eliminated half their potential readers. I think that’s why the term “Upmarket” has emerged.
’Emerged’ isn’t yet the same as a category on Amazon.
‘Literary with a plot’ is a good description, too. Big fat doorstoppers works. Goat gaggers. Big books…
But Amazon is making money from its micro-categories, and many readers are happy, so it’s hard to figure out how to combine ‘indie’ with ‘whatever we’re going to call this,’ and for us independent writers to compete with the traditional publishers – on what they are trying to block off as ‘their exclusive territory.’
I might have been able to interest a traditional publisher – but their terms and control are really not my thing. Too bad I’m not just writing the mysteries I thought were going to be my stomping ground.
I do not want to be labeled ‘Women’s fiction’ when I have carefully designed PC to appeal to men and women, and am successful at it (from the extensive, effusive, and beautifully written reviews from some of my older male readers).
Alicia–My best reviews are from men, too. Which is why I’ve been fighting my publisher, who wants to put more cartoony, rom-com covers on them. Not all comedy is for woman. Sigh. I looked for Amazon categories of some of these upmarket titles and learned nothing. A couple were even in the category of “essay collections” –for a novel! Not helpful for anybody.
Alicia, you say publishers can’t handle the volume of writers like this (which would include me, I think)–so would you recommend going indie? From what I’ve read, upmarket (and literary) don’t tend to do as well when published independently. I’m curious as to your thoughts. I’ve been querying agents like crazy with my upmarket novel, and so far no success. Maybe the market is overwhelmed, as you say.
I queried a lot for my first novels; that was in the last century!
I published the first novel I’m talking about, Pride’s Children PURGATORY, in 2015. I did not query at all, but I learned an everything I could think of in the 15 years it took to write it. It’s on Amazon, and some of the 50 reviews – the long ones from older men – take my breath away because I achieved what I set out to do.
I went indie because 1) I have ME/CFS and very little energy – couldn’t handle the stress of querying again, and 2) was pretty sure that my choice of subject would either not get an agent/publisher OR would end up with them making endless requests to change the novels I planned.
What you say – that upmarket, mainstream, literary – do not do as well published independently, is true for a bunch of reasons. Among them, these tend to be meatier works, longer, complex – and the indies tend to write the faster shorter genre novels. Tend – not always; and it can change after a writer gains a significant following and can afford to make series
‘deeper.’
I’d love to chat more about this – my email is abehrhardt at gmail.
I think the only indie novels which may take on this slot that the traditional publishers consider their own – and succeed – are the ones which are very, very good.
IMNVHO
Alice–Most successful indies publish many novels in quick succession, which obviously can’t be done with a more serious in-depth novel. But yes, some upmarket fiction does succeed in the “indie” arena.
Great post, Anne. Upmarket is for me…
Elizabeth–I enjoy it too!
Great post. Like others on this thread, I shiver when Literary Fiction is mentioned. I like a good story, well written, with interesting characters. And that’s what I try to write. My genres are fantasy and historical fiction.
Slightly off topic, though, I find some people think fantasy is for children and teens, but mine addresses adult themes. Image my distress when I discovered one of my fantasy books in the top 100 of a children’s category in Germany! Now ask my publisher to add that somebooks are
Adult.
V. M. Historical fiction is kind of by definition “upmarket,” when you speak of it as separate from historical romance. It requires a bit of education on the reader’s part.
It’s true that in the past few decades there has been so much fantasy aimed at the YA market that people forget books like the Lord of the Rings trilogy were originally written for adults. Harry Potter has a lot to answer for. 🙂
Things can be quite confusing when assigning labels to many things, I suppose. I work in an independent bookstore and we deal with this dilemma all the time, even without a shelving unit dedicated to upmarket fiction. I think that would throw us into quite a dither. I like the idea of it though. It is what I choose to read, I realize now, thanks to your thorough explanation. Thank you Anne! Very informative.
Christine–Bookstore workers have a lot of decisions to make. Maybe the shelf for “recommended by the staff” would also work for Upmarket fiction? Maybe that’s a better name: “Recommended fiction.” 🙂
Not having read much literary novels except for some classics, I’ve been wondering if there is a significant structural difference between literary and genre stories. In genre stories the antagonist often is driving the plot. In literary stories, might it be the protagonists (through some character issue) that drive the story? I also wonder about writers like Margaret Atwood, who is considered literary but often writes science fiction (which she’s often denied in favour of other labels) such as the Handmaid’s Tale. Is a protagonist-driven plot a short-cut to being considered literary, even if otherwise you have all the genre tropes?
RK–The broad categories of “Literary” vs. “Commercial” fiction have often been defined as “character-driven” vs. “plot-driven.” But that’s a bit too broad for most readers. Often literary fiction is fairly plotless, so some would argue it’s not “character-driven” either, because there’s no “drive.” 🙂 And some “genre” fiction can be character-driven, like a lot of romantic comedies, historicals, and women’s fiction.
Thought-provoking, as usual, Anne. Where would you place Cynthia Ozick’s work? I’m reading her “Puttermesser Papers” and enjoying the hell out of it. Maybe her category could be WOW, THIS IS GOOD S**T!
Steve–I think Cynthia Ozick is usually considered “literary”. It’s a label that’s pretty much assigned to every author who published fiction in the New Yorker.:-)
I realize you were making a little joke. But Stephen King has published fiction in The New Yorker.
Based on the comments, I’m beginning to think the term “literary” has evolved to mean one thing to editors (a distinctive voice and/or style, no matter the writer’s genre) and something different (and pejorative) to a huge swathe of readers.
“Classic” is another descriptor that’s not actually a genre, but seems commonly to be treated as one (and one which has a negative connotation for many readers). For many, their expectation of getting pleasure out of reading a “classic” is low.
Daphne du Maurier’s writing is literary in the editorial sense, and some of her fiction is classic in the historical sense. And it all fits into popular genres.
But of course as writers in the marketplace, we have to accept the usage of the majority of readers, and avoid words that work against us.
Susan–He has indeed. Fiction and essays too. I think he’s graduated to “Literary Lion” by now. Once you’re a Lion, you’re Literary. Or something like that. 🙂
All of these terms are industry jargon, not what readers say. As I wrote, there’s no shelf for “upmarket” in the bookstore. But some do have a shelf for “classics”–especially used bookstores. They mean books that have stood the test of time. If your stuff still sells 50 years later, I think you get to be a classic. (Of course, “Classics” means very different things to so different people. My father was a professor of Classics and that meant Latin and Greek.)
Du Maurier wasn’t considered a literary author in her day. My professor dad spoke of her scornfully. She was more like a Stephen King of her era.
I wrote this post to help writers with their query letters. Or anybody else who’s new to the publishing world. I’m not trying to arbitrate literary taste. We have to leave that to The New Yorker.
Thought-provoking post, Anne. This type of genre is difficult to classify. By your definition and Ruth’s comment, some of my books could fall into Upmarket Fiction because they deal with big themes (the slaughter of Native Americans or the emotional impact of rape, for example) that impact the reader. Since they are not literary heavy, I would never classify my novels as Upmarket. I write psychological thrillers and psychological thriller/mysteries. It’s a fascinating topic, though.
Sue–Although some thrillers and mysteries can be classified as Upmarket or even Literary, if they also fit firmly in their own genres, they don’t need the help of the “Upmarket” label.
Thanks so much for this research and clarification on recent trends in the classification of fiction, Anne. I read for entertainment and escapism, so I’m not a fan of literary fiction, but I have read several of the titles you’ve listed under “upmarket” fiction and have really enjoyed them, so I’d welcome a new category for “thoughtful, memorable fiction with fascinating characters and an intriguing plot”. I’m not sold on the name “upmarket” — sounds a bit too much like “high-end” or “trendy.” Thanks for enlightening us on these new directions in fiction-writing! Always good to give authors more choices as to what to write.
Jodie–I’m with you on the term. Sounds like “high end.’ “Memorable” fiction might be better. But it makes me happy to know so many people are in the market for more thoughtful reading fare.
Anne, let me add my thanks for the definitions. I also have wondered what those terms meant. My two-novel story was presented by the Indie publisher as a different kind of Romance, but it didn’t really qualify since it had a male narrator. I thought it fit into the same general category as “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” or “Catch-22”. Not suggesting the quality matched, but they told the same kind of story–no specific genre. Weren’t those mainstream fiction? I’d missed the demise of that category, so when I wrote those books I didn’t realize they didn’t really fit anywhere.
Anne and Ruth, I don’t know what I–make that we–would do without you.
Fred–Absolutely. Cuckoo’s Nest and Catch 22 were published as “Mainstream” fiction. Now I suppose Catch 22 would be “military fiction” or 20th century historical fiction. Cuckoo’s Nest would probably be considered “literary”. Both would fit just fine in the “upmarket” category, I should think.
Fred—agree with Anne 100%. Today Catch 22 might also called “satire” and ditto Cuckoo.
A wonderful post; thank you.
I think most of your examples of Upmarket fiction are contemporary and would indeed have been called “women’s fic.” (Mexican Gothic is, IIRC, set in the 20th century). I read mostly historicals; would I be right to suggest that books like The Miniaturist and Girl With a Pearl Earring would also sit on the Upmarket/Book Club shelf? Do fantasies ever make to Upmarket status? Thrillers or police procedurals? In other words–are some genres automatically excluded?
And, golly! I didn’t realize that “literary” was such a bad word to so many readers. I never considered it a genre, but as an additional modifier to describe writers whose plots moved, whose characters and themes grabbed, but whose prose style is also distinctive, identifiable, and admirable. What word would you use for books (of whatever length or genre) in which the author’s voice and style are one of its greatest sources of reading pleasure? As I said, I don’t read much commercial contemporary, but since you went back to Pyncheon for an example, I’ll offer some 20th c. “genre” authors whose books I think of as literary: Daphne du Maurier, Josephine Tey, James M. Cain, Dashiel Hammett, Dodie Smith, Rex Stout, Donald Westlake, Diana Wynne Jones. . . .
Susan–“Upmarket” isn’t meant to be a value judgement. It’s just a place to put books that don’t fit elsewhere. And it’s only an industry term–not something used in bookselling. So yes, Mexican Gothic might be shelved in historical fiction or Gothic Romance in a bookstore. But it’s not primarily either of those things–it’s a meta-concept novel commenting on the whole idea of “Gothic” by taking it out of its usual European setting. The Miniaturist and Girl with the Pearl Earring are primarily historical fiction. You’d find them classified as Historical or maybe Literature.( Excerpts of the Miniaturist first appeared in the New Yorker. The magazine kind of defines “literary.”
Novels by Nick Hornby, Wally Lamb, and Carl Hiaasen are not considered “women’s fiction,” so they really need a category like “Upmarket”. Male writers with male protagonists who don’t write genre or academic fiction are kind of orphaned in the current industry. Hiaasen writes satire, but satire isn’t generally considered a genre. Douglas Adams wrote satire, but it was also SciFi, and you’ll find the Hitchhiker’s Guide in SciFi.
As far as all the classic mystery authors you’ve named. Yes, their work has something to say about the human condition and most have stood the text of time, but they’re still mysteries. If a reader is looking for a copy of the Thin Man ,Miss Pymm Disposes, or a Nero Wolf mystery, they’re going to look in the Mystery section, not the Literature section. Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie mysteries are certainly literary in scope, but you’re going to find them in the Mystery section.
“Upmarket” is a term that helps an author match to the right agent or publisher, but so far, it hasn’t reached readers. So it isn’t terribly important when talking about previously published books.
I hope that helps.
Interesting. I thought the term ‘Book Club fiction’ sounded a tad derogatory, since my book club reads far and wide, but yes, we’ve read about 50% of those you list. And I suspect most of the books I read and enjoy, whether genre or not, could be classed upmarket on that basis. But I’m sure upmarket has an elitist feel to it, just as book club sounds derogatory to me.
And if I’m writing the sort of books that I like reading, and they don’t quite fit any single genre, then maybe I’m writing Upmarket, too. Or Book club. Or Weird, which is what some of them are.
Jemima–I’ve never heard “Book Club fiction” used in a derogatory way. It’s an industry term, as I said, and the industry likes to sell books. If book clubs are buying, that’s a good thing. But maybe things are different in the UK The term “Upmarket” is also an industry term, not a bookselling term. So calling your books “upmarket” when querying agents would be to your advantage. But if you’re self-publishing and selling direct to customers it won’t be as useful for you.
This is most interesting, Anne! Thank you for sharing!
Anne, thank you for this insightful post. I’m a huge fan of Faulkner’s novels, and wonder where those would fit. Some modernists are a bit too avant-garde/confusing for me, but I really enjoy Katherine Mansfield’s fiction, as well as older fiction like that of Charlotte Bronte and Stephen Crane. You say many of them were writing for general audiences, so how would they have been categorized when they were published? What about now?
My writing tends to be heavily focused on friend/family relationships, to the extent that I wish I could call it “friendship fiction,” but of course that doesn’t exist. I also wonder where realistic YA would be categorized (genre-wise), especially if not contemporary but not so focused on plot. My favorite YA books have tended to be those that focus on relationships (not romantic). They were contemporary for their time, but lately I’ve seen YA novels set in the past that seem to have similar themes. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of literary or upmarket YA, but it’s interesting to consider how these categories might overlap.
Or maybe I’m just strange. 🙂
MSE–Most classics were not written to be “literary.” They were commercial fiction written to make money. They weren’t written primarily for the classroom. Faulkner has always been a little heavy for most readers, but I don’t think he would have been classified as “literary’ at the time. People read him for entertainment. That’s also obviously true of the Brontes, Austen, Crane etc. But they would have just been called “novels.” Strict genres didn’t exist in their time.
These distinctions aren’t as separated in YA either. Although YA mysteries, romance, etc. do have cover art, blurbs etc that indicate their genre, they’re all going to be on the same “YA” shelf in the bookstore. There’s certainly a lot of literary YA, from authors like Phillip Pullman. But it tends to be more reader-friendly than adult literary fiction.
thanks – this was helpful. btw, I love anything to do with books & would be thrilled if you’d write a guest blog post for my site, which is for anyone who enjoys writing, or books, and all the arts. If you think it might be fun or helpful to have my followers (who total about 10k across my various social media) meet you, here’s the link for general guidelines: https://wp.me/p6OZAy-1eQ
Da-al–Thanks for the invite. We’re looking for guests too. We don’t require bloggers to have sound studios and provide podcasts. That’s definitely too techy for me!
Anne, sorry I’m a week late on this. When I started writing my Just Lucky book (which turned into two volumes) in 1998, I thought of it as mainstream fiction. When I finally found a publisher, (a small indie in Canada) in 2016, they marketed it as a unique Romance, which didn’t really work because the love interest of the narrator/protagonist was killed, and the narrator exacted his revenge. The second volume is much closer to a Romance. Now I think maybe New Adult would fit because the characters are primarily college students.
Covid put that publisher out of business, so I self-published on Amazon. I want to change the category to New Adult, lower the price, and buy ads, but Amazon refuses to grant me access to my publishing account because I’ve changed phone numbers and they insist on sending a text to my old number to ascertain identification. If spoken epithets could damage software, Amazon would be having problems..
Fred–This post is from October of last year, so you’re not late. You’re vintage 🙂 It’s so frustrating for authors when publishers put them in the wrong category. (Usually because that category sells more than the correct one.) Romance has a strict formula, including a required HEA ending. Dead lovers need not apply. New Adult is a pretty fluid category, so that might work. If there’s violence and murder and people in jeopardy, Romantic Suspense might work better. (And have a bigger audience.)
But OMG, if Amazon is blocking your access, that’s horrible. Can you reach your Author Central site? You can reach a real person through the “contact us” at Author Central. There are addresses where you can reach them by email, but I don’t have them. Try Googling round the “Kindleboards” and other Amazon discussion sites and see if anybody gives some actual information. What a pain! Another possible road is to publish through D2D or StreetLib. I believe they can both put you into Amazon as well as all the other retail sites, and they’ll use whatever category and keywords you give them.