Around the publishing industry there has long been a hankering for a certain type of book that is both literary and yet commercial, familiar and yet exotic, well-written but not too dense, accessible but with some depth. They are books that are kind of tough to categorize, because they don’t exactly fit into any one genre. I’d often hear people calling them either literary commercial fiction or commercial literary fiction.
But during my last trip to New York I heard an apt label for this category: book club fiction*. And lots of editors want it.
What books are in this category? Think:
- Life of Pi
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
- The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
- The Kite Runner
- Everything is Illuminated
- The Lovely Bones
- The Secret Life of Bees
- (Eat Pray Love would be an example of book club memoir)
What these books have in common is that they appeal to the book club format. Anyone who has ever belonged to a book club knows the complex calculus that goes into making a good selection. It has to be a book that people can get through in a month, but still have enough depth so that there are things to talk about at the get-together. It has to be a book that would appeal to a wide variety of people. Bonus points for being set in a location that lends itself to themed cooking.
Book clubs are an extremely important market for publishers, so much so that books that would appeal to book clubs often have supplementary material in the back (such as discussion questions), and many publishers provide additional web resources. The books that are able to catch fire in book clubs are often the non-genre books that land themselves on bestseller lists and catch on through word of mouth, hence the clamor from editors for books that fall into this category.
Now, I wouldn’t go and call your manuscript “book club fiction” in a query letter, because it’s still not exactly a recognizable genre. But if you’re brainstorming for novel ideas, think about what your book club would want to read.
*(I should clarify that I’m referring to friends/family book clubs, and not necessarily BOMC, although sometimes there’s overlap in titles)
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Maris Bosquet says
“Bonus points for being set in a location that lends itself to themed cooking.”
Darn! I suppose that rules out my literary fiction about the search for woolly mammoth fossils on the moon.
Ryan Field says
I still belong to BOMC and ISO, I still make a point of supporting them, and I think they are still very good for the industry.
Nathan Bransford says
Oops! I should clarify that I’m referring to individual book clubs, not necessarily BOMC.
7-iron says
thank god. I keep thinking my ms is long enough, but that I could read it in a week and a half. It’s a quick-read, but not necessarily an easy-read. The only thing: it’s a guy’s book. Do guys do the book club thing? I don’t know.
Popcorn, anyone?
lauren says
Among my many unmarketable skills is being able to guess my sister-in-law’s monthly book club pick within three guesses, without fail, every month.
(This month is Edgar Sawtelle! Of course!)
Her club reads about 3 works for fiction for every memoir. They’ve done THE GLASS CASTLE, READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN, the Lance Armstrong memoir, and a couple of Augusten Burroughs’s books. And yes, they do the themed cooking thing with every book.
I’ve noticed over the years that more and more potential book club books are being published. My mother reads a lot of contemporary trade paperbacks — mostly women’s fiction and commercial / literary hybrids — and nearly all of them come with “reading group questions” in the back. (A lot of YA paperbacks do now, too.) But who knows what’s going to catch on? THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, in particular, strikes me as the sort of book that’s got a lot in common with many other books in its genre, and yet it sells like wildfire year after year while other women’s fiction books come and go.
People in the Sun says
These books with the potential for themed cooking make me furious. Okay, maybe just sad.
I was thinking about it when I read a Howard Norman book. I mean, if people just traveled a bit more maybe they wouldn’t think Nova Scotia was exotic. You know?
Ryan Field says
I like them. They’re good too 🙂
Anonymous says
In short, we are talking about books for people who only read one book a month, and read that book mostly to impress friends.
Sigh.
I read 4-5 books a week and am proud to say that not a single one of them has ever been chosen by a book club. But then I read them to extend my understanding of the world, not to impress other people.
lotusloq says
Great post! That’s nice to know what publishers are looking for. It makes a lot of sense.
I’ve read 5 of the ones on your list and one is in my TBR stack. I enjoyed them all. They have quality and depth. Book clubs love them and are always looking for something new to read next month and the next ad infinitum. I just hadn’t thought of it in those terms. Thanks for laying it out there for us!
Is there anything in particular they are looking for in YA?
Susan says
Interesting topic, especially when so many agents and editors these days are talking about the difficulties of marketing and sales.
I hadn’t thought of the book club angle before, or what the mysterious something is, that set these books in that genre.
adryz says
I love book clubs but loathe the type of books they have to choose from. What is it about genre books that keep them from being good book club choices?
CC says
Funny, because I’d consider everything on that list but “Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime” to be literary books, not an offshoot of literary.
But, I’ve been wrong before. 🙂
Anonymous says
What is BOMC?
jo says
Nathan, my roommate sent me your blog about a month ago and I’ve read it religiously since. I just want you to know that your posts are extremely helpful and inspiring. Thanks so much for taking the time to post regularly.
Anonymous says
Nathan,
So is it o.k. to call something “literary commercial fiction” in a query letter if it fits the criteria?
Thanks.
Nathan Bransford says
anon-
Yes, definitely.
Aubrey says
Nathan, I LOVE reading your blog! It is simply one of the best most informative blogs for authors out there…and authors are a thing I love to talk about (see myfavoriteauthor.blogspot.com).
I also belong to a book club and it has been hard for us to choose books when we remember it has to be in a one month timeframe, reading a long series (although I enjoy series’) is too much for most people. And I love it when books already have book club questions and answers with the author!
Great post, great blog, love you!
boxofficegirl says
Very commendable I’m sure to get through 4-5 books a week.
I would rather read 1 properly for the sheer pleasure of time well spent than skim read in order to move on to the next big thing.
Stacey says
Hey Nathan,
I’ve been reading your blog, and other Agent and Author blogs for a while, and I was wondering if you could definte “Commercial Fiction” for us all. I have seen a few definitions, but I trust your judgement!
thanks!
Nathan Bransford says
Stacey-
That’s a good question, and I’ll blog on it at some point. Basically, commercial fiction either falls into a specific genre or needs to have a very good raison d’etre. Book Club fiction is a case where something can be commercial without having a specific genre, but if something is just “commercial” without having a genre or without at least a passing literary-ness to it, it can really fall between the cracks. I’ll have to elaborate on all this at some point.
lotusloq says
Nathan, That discussion would be great for me. I’m having a difficult time putting a type to mine because it crosses so many genres.
It’s sort of literary but sort of commercial. It’s mostly based in reality, but there are some supernatural things going on. It’s sort of romantic. It’s sort of suspenseful in parts. It’s sort of funny (hopefully) in parts.
It’s a literary/commercial/suspense/romantic/ paranormal/comedy for the YA crowd. That just seems like so much to say. Should I just go with YA and let the description of the book show what else it is? I know you say go with what section of the store it would go in, but I feel it needs more. YA just seems so blank sitting there all alone on the line.
Deaf Brown Trash Punk says
mmm… i can see the meaning behind the label “book club fiction,” but it seems somewhat vague. There are some book clubs devoted to chick lit, and others devoted to classic literary books, and others focused on edgy books.
the label doesn’t make any sense, to be honest.
Nathan Bransford says
lotusloq-
On the kids side, I think there’s more flexibility to just call something YA or Middle Grade. The pressure to categorize comes more from the adult side.
Anonymous says
I agree with cc’s classification of most the books on your list as literary. There’s seems to be a mistaken notion out there that literary fiction has to be nearly inaccessible in order to be literary. In fact, much literary fiction, and many literary masterpieces are utterly accessible, engaging, and satisfying on every level. I’m always a bit frustrated by the attempt to fit books neatly into sub-genres. I know this makes the marketing folks’ jobs easier, but it often short-changes the book, and chases away readers who might otherwise be drawn in.
Perhaps that is the wisdom of “Book Club Fiction” after all — that it alerts potential readers to the fact that some books can’t be simply classified….
magolla says
It seems as if everyone is dancing around the main issue. Why don’t you just call it the ‘Oprah phenomenon’? That’s why everyone is so hungry to get their hands on those kinds of books–they are instant best sellers, making the publisher a gazillion dollars.
Personally, I don’t want someone to chose what I read, therefore I don’t do book clubs.
lotusloq says
Nathan,
Thanks so much! You just made my query 10 words shorter at least!
Zen of Writing says
So, well written commercial fiction, or literary fiction that has popular appeal. Good ideas, both, since some commercial fiction is so poorly done I can’t stand even to look at it, former editor that I am, and much literary fiction is lacking in story, or pacing, and puts the reader to sleep.
But anonymous’ comment, that your list sounds literary, points to a disturbing trend, I think, the declining standard of what is considered literary.
When I was in college, ahem, highbrow reading was Homer…in the ancient Greek. Any English lit, aside from that read in Old or possibly Middle English, was decidedly middlebrow.
In certain circles, which occasionally provide candidates for high office in this country, I suspect that the reading of any full-length novel is considered highbrow.
Anonymous says
Thanks for this post, Nathan.
Your examples help too.
I recently learned of a local bookclub that tries to sort out complex literary fiction in their selections. Then there is the Room of One’s Own foundation (or something like that). They recently had two books I could not resist.
I think, with more complex material, it is very helpful to have others to help sort out the complexities.
And learning about books, just like HERE (in this blog when we make recommendations to each other) is just fabulous for me. I end up reading gobs of them.
And it makes sense because who (beside Nathan or his associates in the biz) has the time to go through the industry and learn about everything? I don’t. And so the recommendations are fabulous.
A Paperback Writer says
Book Club fiction where I live tends to be:
1) trendy
2) appealing to women over the age of 50 with no college education and/or current stay-at-home moms with lots of kids
3) something that requires no depth of thinking whatsoever because half of the people who come to the meeting will not have read the book but will still want to “discuss” it.
Lily says
Does this include previously published books that have gained popularity and have now been republished to include book club notes in the back, for example just about anything by Paulo Coelho, or Gregory MacGuire.
spinregina says
why not be happy people are reading? who cares how they come to it, really?
Michelle Moran says
I just picked up a fabulous book – The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society – which fits into this category exactly.
It’s familiar – about book clubs.
It’s accessible – but literary.
It’s also a bit exotic, being set on Guernsey Island.
Highly recommended, and I can see it becoming a huge book club favorite.
Ryan Field says
I’m curious about the literary/commercial thing too. And if commercial fiction is the same as “general fiction,” which I’ve been seeing for a hundred years. I even saw this once…”We are looking for commercial fiction that rides the thin line of literary.” Sounds good, but I wouldn’t try to define that one on my own.
Linda says
At a recent conference, a panel of agents had another name for book club fiction — “faux literary”. I think that’s a pretty accurate description. And other than certain genre works, that’s what the houses want. Peace, Linda
Jill of All Trades says
I’ve read six of the listed books and loved all but one of them. I really don’t care how they are listed as long as I enjoy reading them and as long as they encourage all to read, read, read.
jeanoram says
“Bonus points for being set in a location that lends itself to themed cooking.”
Yeah, when my book club gleefully mentioned the idea of themed snacks, I just about shot myself. Why, oh why, do book clubs get competetive about snacks, yet think I’m on crack when go all feminist rant on Dr. Phil’s book–just playing the devil’s advocate?
Chumplet says
I suppose a work that inspires the label “book club fiction” must earn the right to be labeled as such, rather than the author presuming that it will be placed in that category.
I’m aiming for that privilege.
Bethanne says
I love getting together with my women friends… I just have a hard time getting through the ‘book club’ books. In a way, i’m with Magolla. With an entire month to procrastinate, I have all these awesome books in my pile, and it’s hard to pick up the one I didn’t pick out.
That being said, it’ll be my month soon… 😀 I hope the ladies don’t mind a good, old-fashioned romance novel, because that’s what they’re getting.
I don’t know how some books have gotten the label ‘bookclub’ but they aren’t all inspired, that’s for sure. It’s hype. That’s it. Good publicest, nothing more on some occasions.
Suzanne says
I agree with the reference to Oprah. She has been a pivotal force in getting important books into the forefront of the public mind.
Jeanne says
This is an interesting subject. Like a couple of others, I too thought of Oprah’s impact on book sales. I was in Barnes and Nobles one Saturday after she began the internet course for the Ekhart Tolle book and the sales clerks were laughing their behinds off about all the people who mindlessly buy anything that Oprah endorses. They of course were taking orders for ET’s book because they were already sold out.
I’ve read several of the books O has suggested and hated them so much I threw them in the trash. Which to me is a sin because I NEVER throw away books and rarely lend them, because I become really upset if I don’t get them back.
The thing about a book club is that it’s got to have a hook for the members. I guess the members of the O book Club tend to want to be more like Oprah? I’m not sure. But each book club I know of seems to read the same types of books every single month. Never anything that appeals to me.
If I were ever asked to participate in a Book Club that read the sorts of books Nathan describes, I’d be all in.
Stacey says
I really appriciate Jill of all Trades comment.
There is so many different kinds of books out there, and the reason for that is there are many differnt types of people who want to read. Just because someone is a certain age, or has children does not mean that they are reading certain books (as someone else alluded to).
There have been books that my book club has chosen that have been just fun reads, others that are good intense literature, and sometimes stuff that I really don’t enjoy.
I think a “book club” book is as Nathan described it… “both literary and yet commercial, familiar and yet exotic, well-written but not too dense, accessible but with some depth.”
And that kind of book is open not only for the book club to read it and enjoy it, but bibliophiles of all types.
Sara Merrick says
This was a very interesting post — and helpful in expanding my thinking beyond the labels of genre.
Melody Ayres-Griffiths says
Zen of Writing:
Oi! I write literary fiction that’s _intended_ to put people to sleep.
Coincidentally, my books usually have 30 chapters… hmm…
Sophie says
A paperback writer-
Guilty
Belong to just such a group with same demographics. Am often the very person who wants to talk about books I haven’t read.
This month we’re supposed to read ‘The Boy In Striped Pyjamas’. I am pregnant and want to avoid being harrowed by a holocaust story involving innocent children. (The facts are horrendous enough.) However, it has the advantage of being short- so as long as its not too good will be harrowed for relatively short time. Will try and read it just so I get to join in- I like the sound of my own voice!
Lady Glamis says
Nathan –
You answered for lotusloq:
On the kids side, I think there’s more flexibility to just call something YA or Middle Grade. The pressure to categorize comes more from the adult side.
So if my YA novel is definitely a crossover piece of fiction into the adult genre, and it is also a piece of literary commercial fiction, then how should I refer to it????
Also, I think Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson is an excellent piece of “bookclub” fiction that seems to have been overlooked by many. I could be wrong about it fitting into that category, but it’s one of my favorite books.
Shmee says
Excuse me for my ignorance. I’m very new to this scene. Actually, given my experience and background, I don’t think I should really refer to myself as being part of “this scene”. At any rate, this post has me scratching my head about when you should actually try to sell your work.
I thought the book that I’m writing would be considered nonfiction because it is an account of real events that have happened to me (sort of an Anne Lamott/Elizabeth Gilbert/Martha Beck kind of book). According to “The Writer’s Market”, nonfiction books are typically sold by proposal not by complete manuscript. With all this blurring of the lines, I’m not sure I should continue to operate under the assumption that my work would categorically be considered nonfiction.
Any enlightenment you can provide would be most appreciated.
bryan russell says
Shmee:
What you are talking about would generally be classed as “memoir”, and memoirs usually tend to follow the same rules as fiction (rather than the non-fiction path to publication). Exceptions would be if you are a celebrity, etc., and can hook an agent/publisher with guaranteed sales based on your fame. So, for memoir, I’ve generally heard the rule to be: write the book, polish it until it gleams, and then submit to agents for representation (or publishers if you want to go the small press route, perhaps). Much like for fiction, memoirs are all about the writing and storytelling, and a sales pitch can’t show you that. So, unless you’re one of the unlikely exceptions, you’ll probably have to join in the queue of fiction writers.
Hope that helps, and best of luck with it!
Shmee says
Thanks Bryan. That’s what I originally thought but wishful thinking led me down a bad path (as usual). Since I’m no celebrity, I guess it’s back to the grind.
Thanks again for your kind response.
Shmee
Zen of Writing says
hi Melody,
I should have said much of what is called literary these days can put a reader to sleep. It can be too emotion-based and interior, lacking in plot and pacing, or just poorly done — “literary” is often a marketing tool, so the reader has to be careful. I’m avoiding “literary” bestsellers now, having been burned a few times recently. Or I get them from the library.
Books are also lacking in editing…thanks to publishers cutting back. That probably makes a huge difference in quality. I know writers don’t like to hear that, but I’m a writer, too, and my post-apocalyptic novel has been through some very helpful editing. I would choose a hands-on agent over someone who said it’s perfect as it is any day.
It sounds like “book club fiction” is a big category, adding well-written commercial fiction to good literary fiction.
But, it’s hard to judge what’s literary up close. Was Faulkner considered literary in his day? Were people as concerned with labels as we are now? There was popular fiction in his day, too, dime novels, etc.
Well, you’ve certainly got us thinking, Nathan.
sex scenes at starbucks says
Very commendable I’m sure to get through 4-5 books a week.
I would rather read 1 properly for the sheer pleasure of time well spent than skim read in order to move on to the next big thing.
With my slush (at a genre ezine), my critiques, and my fun reading, (books and blogs!) I have weeks that I read the equivalent of 4-5 books.
I also have weeks where I read only one book.
My comprehension is no different based on quantity. (OK, well, when I’m on my 30th 5K word short story in two days, yeah, it might slip a bit.) From graduate school, writing skills, and long practice, I’m well-trained to be a fast, critical reader.
But I have nothing against people who read a book a month. Hey, it’s twelve books a year they wouldn’t have bought otherwise!