So, you just finished writing your novel, and you have no idea what genre does it belong to. You tell yourself that you should have thought about that from the beginning, but sometimes your creative thoughts get carried away that you trail off the genre you had in mind.
That is fine when you’re still writing.
Yet when you think about publishing and marketing your book, you need to know what type you’re selling.
WHAT IS A GENRE?
A genre is a form of categorizing books. It is essential because it helps readers find out what type of books to choose from.
TYPES OF GENRE
As a start, let me give you a basic introduction about the various book genres out there:
- Thriller: Involve stories of high tension.
- Fantasy: Is fiction yet with elements of surreal aspects and magic.
- Sci-Fi: Novels that have advanced and super-high-tech features. Robots and aliens are examples.
- Horror: Fiction, which ignites dread and fear in the reader triggered by supernatural things or killers.
- Mystery: Is based on solving a particular set of mysterious events throughout the story.
- Crime: Fiction that involves a crime.
- Historical: It is a novel that shines a light on a historical period, including the values and traditions practiced.
- Romance: Fiction that focuses on a romantic relationship.
- Literary: It is a fiction that focuses on realistic issues, usually character-driven.
- Women’s fiction: Focuses on the emotional growth of women in a particular circumstance.
These are the primary book genres out there, and there are many more of them if you keep digging. Children’s books, Young Adult, and New Adult are genres that are based on age groups, that’s why I didn’t add them to the above list.
Recognizing your style is essential because whenever you present your novel to an agent or a publishing house, you need to let them know what type of book you are writing. If you don’t know where your book fits, this shows you’re unaware who your target audience is, therefore you won’t know how to market your book.
When you sell your book, it is essential to declare its genre, because you want to catch as much attention as possible from readers who enjoy this category. Putting it on the wrong shelf will get you the wrong audience, and so you will make fewer sales and crappy reviews.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO
So, how do you know where to classify your book? Ask yourself these questions:
- Does your book focus on the flourishing relationship between a couple?
- Does your novel have supernatural elements?
- Does someone get killed, and a detective is investigating?
- Does it focus on high-tech gadgets way in the future?
- Does it talk about a journey and trouble of a character in a specific place?
- What age are the protagonists?
Look closely at your novel, and start asking yourself these questions, see which factors outweigh the others in importance.
SUBGENRE
If your genres still seem unclear, consider giving your book a subgenre. A subgenre narrows down your options to something more specific.
Let’s say, for instance, that you have a romance novel with a lot of mysterious and suspenseful events taking place. You can fit it in the romance-suspense genre.
“The big trinity of publishing: mystery, thrillers and romance. If you can combine all three, then it’s a winner’s trifecta and you’ll be rich beyond your dreams.”
Dermot Davis, Brain: The Man Who Wrote the Book That Changed the World
Subgenre lists keep going on and on, and they keep changing. The trick here is to snoop around and look them up online for more options.
WHAT YOU CAN ALSO DO
If you have a book on your shelf that you think your novel resembles to, look it up and see under what genre they classify it as. You can then apply that genre to yours.
Ask your friends or your beta readers what type do they think your book belongs to. It is healthy to zoom out a little and let someone else take over.
A fresh pair of eyes can help you big time when they read your book. They can point out things you never saw. So discuss it with them, and see what genre do they consider.
I hope these tips will help you determine the genre of your book. It’s a tricky process, so be sure to fit your book exactly where it should be.