For this week’s You Tell Me there is a poll included! Yes, we’re getting fancy. It also means that all of you reading the blog via e-mail or through an RSS reader may need to click through to cast your vote and see the results.
I thought it might be fun to get a snapshot of what people are working on out there. So, for all you writers out there: what’s your genre?
I know genre distinctions are blurry, so just pick one in case there’s overlap. And remember, when in doubt: go with the section of the bookstore your book would be stocked in. I added “paranormal” to the categories even though it’s not typically a bookstore section simply because there seems to be so many people writing about vampires, werewolves, etc.
And, of course, feel free to discuss the results (or your WIP) in the comment section.
Kristin Laughtin says
Science fiction, although this one has some verrrry minor fantasy/paranormal elements. Usually I'm pretty straight SF, though (at least for novels).
superwench83 says
Scribblar: Steam and sorcery? That sounds awesome!
Shari Anton says
What? No Victorian romantic mystery? ;)I put it in romance.
Author Guy says
I voted for my novel WIP, which is a sequel in my fantasy series. I also have some short stories going, one which is fantasy the other SF.
Meg Spencer says
Fantasy for me. I must say I don't really understand the trend of not wanting to name a genre. Sure, sometimes you start writing one thing and it turns into another, and sure there's lots of overlap between genres, but assuming the point is to sell the book, it's got to go on a shelf somewhere!
Stef says
I was wondering about the genre-less books as well. hah I'm not entirely sure I would be interested in reading a book devoid of genre.
I'm working on a scifi / fantasy piece (I chose scifi for the poll.) at the current moment but am thinking of putting it on the back-burner for a bit to work on some other ideas just to give it a rest and time to breathe. ๐
Carolin says
My WIP is historical fiction, set in 6th century AD Ostrogothic Italy. From what Eric on his blog Pimp My Novel says, historical fiction is doing decently enough ๐
Jen P says
.."Important to remember that in publishing terms, "Literary fiction" is a category, not a value judgment."
What a great statement. Whenever I say 'literary' I feel as if people are skeptical, as if to say, 'what? you want to compete with 'real', 'quality' authors?
So, now I say "Book Club Fiction". Non-writing folks seem to perceive that as for the masses, mainly female, readable, but with substance.
Shame that 'literary' seems to be low down on the potential sales for debut author list. (Especially if you read the genre pieces on the Pimp my Novel blog.)
onefinemess says
Fantasy epic disguised as a modern paranormal mystery here.
There does seem to be a bit of a "paranormal" zeitgeist these days. I'd like to think I'm a little bit ahead of the curve since I started 2 years ago, but that probably just means everyone else started before me ;).
I have to agree with britmandelo that a lot of "paranormal" books tend towards romance and those trappings – here's to hoping the next generation is… different. The severe dearth of non-romance oriented "paranormal" whatnot is what inspired me to write in the first place – I just couldn't find what I wanted to read.
jimnduncan says
wonder what percentage of the bookstore would be in the 'paranormal' area if they put all such books there?
Phyl says
This is such a toughie for me! I imagine an agent/publisher would have to slot it as science fiction, but it has almost no SF trappings, even if it's set 200 years in the future. And "speculative fiction," though accurate, would give no real idea. Maybe that's my problem, and the book can't be altered. banging head on desk
Scott says
Actually, I'm sci-fi with horror elements. Which certainly means it should be a movie or a graphic novel. Sigh.
Not surprised at all the fantasy. Seems pretty rampant. That and YA. Sign o' the times, innit?
Nicole Zoltack says
My WIP is a medieval fantasy romance, Book II in my Kingdom of Arnhem series.
I also have another WIP that I'm polishing to send to agents. That one's fantasy YA.
Sharla says
Paranormal is what I picked, although it's actually paranormal romance with humor. And it's about ghosts, not werewolves or vampires.
But I suppose a funny women's fiction about a single mom and her teenage daughter mixed in with a little "Ghost Whisperer" and a hot ghost… would be paranormal romance in a bookstore. You think?
Wendy Withers says
You get so many comments I never add my own, but I'm so excited by my WiP I couldn't help myself. I'm writing Jewish chick lit! It's so awesome.
JohnO says
I know we're all word folk here, but aren't visuals fun and informative? And I guess my WIP falls into "other" … how odd.
Maree Anderson says
The one I've just submitted to my editor is another paranormal erotic romance. And the last ms I subbed elsewhere was a Space Opera with a rather er… sexy premise.
But don't pigeon-hole me quite yet, I've also written a YA!
My stories are generally cross-genre, e.g. paranormal chick-lit, paranormal with a sci-fi twist, paranormal YA, alternate world fantasy where I played with a Regency/Quaker style world. I've got that whole "why be normal, when you can be para-normal?" thing happening.
I usually just say I write fantasy and paranormal – it's easier!
J.J. Bennett says
My WIP is YA paranormal/science fiction genre with a touch of religion.(That sounds like one hell of a mix …huh?) I voted as YA paranormal because that seemed the closest genre. Mine is not vampires, not ghosts, not zombies, and not been done yet. I like it…I hope you will too.
Tia Nevitt says
Mine's a time travel historical, so it's got some fantasy in it, but I think it would be stocked on the shelves as a historical.
SM Schmidt says
Science Fiction. But the WIP sometimes likes to pretend its fantasy.
Just walked through the book store today…oh dear I worry for my cover after the state of half naked girls starring at me from shelf after shelf. What happened to tasteful Scifi covers?
christicorbett says
My WIP is a historical fiction about the Oregon Trail, with a little bit of romance thrown in for good measure.
On a related note…wow did our ancestors do some amazing things with so little! No cell phones, no cars, no GPS, no rain gear, little sanitation, AND it took months to arrive, if you did at all.
Christi
J.J. Bennett says
Oh…and not witches…or wizards!
Tiffany Clare says
I'm pub'd (pre) in historical romance (gothic) so my wips are all in that sub-genre.
Interesting mix of writers visiting the blog. Not surprising, but I like how the genre fiction writers move around the web together. ๐
garridon says
Mine wasn't on the list–urban fantasy. I took a more thriller-based aspect to it rather than private eye. No vamps, werewolves, witches, demons, or zombies. Just magic and paparrazzi.
Steph Damore says
Mystery in the house – wuz sup, wuz sup?
Bane – who doesn't like Obi-wan in skin tight outfits? =)
ClothDragon says
Zombies. And magic. Present day, alternate history. I clicked paranormal on the poll and called it urban fantasy on queries, though I'm currently on a rewrite based on some agent suggestions. (Not from Nathan, he turned me down flat, as he should since he was my first query ever before I started researching more of how it was done than was listed in the Writer's Market or realizing how much help there was online.)
Jeffrey says
I was surprised by these results. I would have expected โLiterary Fictionโ to be in the top 5 or 6, maybe, but not tied for 1st.
Iโve completed the first draft of my novel (Yay!), a literary bildungsroman, and am busy with revisions and re-writes. Some sections have already been professionally edited (Victoria Mixon, sheโs terrific!). After seeing the poll results I wonder if I should be encouraged by how many others are writing in the genre, or discouraged by all the competition. Hmmm. Well, I guess Iโll find out once I start submitting, huh?
J.J. Bennett says
No …werewolves either!
Anonymous says
Great poll! Very interesting. Hard to choose though. My WIP is:
a)science fictional in plot
b)suspense thriller between characters and
c)literary in style and voice.
I just scored my uni degree and a commercial publishing contract in the same week – go figure. LOL.
Glad u only let us choose one tho, coz that's how the bookshops and e-catalogues work…. and it makes u think.
Susanne says
I voted romance but it's cross genre. Where do time travel and immortals fit in? Fantasy or paranormal?
D. G. Hudson says
My WIP is in the science fiction category, written in the tradition of 'hard' science fiction. I've been told by another author that my work-in-progess novel has epic scale & contains elements of suspense and mystery.
Other WIPs include womens fiction, and a mystery/suspense novel.
It will be interesting to see the division of genres on the voting, since you usually get lots of voters who don't seem to be regular readers.
Hope you will summarize the results in a follow-up post, Nathan.
Anonymous says
i picked lit fic but am not sure if this is correct.
There's a murder, but it's not gory and it's not a mystery.
There's a person on the run, but not much focus on if someone is chassing them or not.
The novel is supposed to reflect the arc of a character, first falling then coming back. So far, I've only called it contemporary fiction.
Lucinda says
I selected โfantasy,โ yet nothing quite covers my WIP, a four-book series with first two novels completed. It is fantasy, adventure, entertaining for YA, complex enough for adult, and has reality stranger than fantasy. It has conflict (including war), love, betrayal, evil, good, and a few dragons and dwarfs to round it out a bit.
Of all the studying in the past few years about the publishing industry, writing, developing, copy-editing, rewrites, queries, agents, editors, all the ins and outs, ups and downs, hoop-jumping and mountain climbing, I have yet to find the right pigeon hole to stuff my WIPs into.
How can I pigeon hole an Empire?
Comparing your list to the files in my computer, most of my WIPs can be labeled. But, is it acceptable for a writer write passionately about so many different genres?
Anonymous says
I had to agonize between YA fantasy and YA SF, since I write both and they are often intermixed. =) Is science-fantasy an actual genre?
—
SF Writer
To God be the glory
Jodi says
I suppose genre is in the eye of the beholder. My novel takes place during WWII but one agent said people don't consider that "historical". People? What people? She calls it women's fiction. So who knows.
Genevieve says
… and my historical fiction, amazingly enough, would be absolutely PERFECT for Nathan Bransford, agent extraordinaire …
Chuck H. says
I'm about half way through a mystery/suspense/thriller. My first multiply rejected novel was the same and sandwiched in between was a YA sci-fi novella, also suffering from rejection. At my age, maybe I should just write my autobiography and quit.
Robin says
My WIP is YA bordering on literary fiction or book club fiction or contemporary fiction or whatever… The sensibility is along the lines of "The Secret Life of Bees".
Although, I'm sure I'm not writing in this genre, but what is steampunk? Are there any recent titles that can be used as examples?
Marilyn Peake says
Nathan,
I think of mainstream fiction as popular or commercial fiction, and it delights me no end that literary novels become mainstream novels on a regular basis. Literary fiction is a slippery thing to define – maybe a powerful story told in beautiful, excellently crafted language. I think of THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES by Sue Monk Kidd and THE POISONWOOD BIBLE and THE BEAN TREES by Barbara Kingsolver as three examples of novels that became both literary and mainstream fiction.
Liana Brooks says
I went with science fiction although it's pushing the boundaries on SFR. It has space ships, that has to be sci-fi enough.
Alan says
You need a dark fantasy section. It's horror and fantasy rolled together (at least, that's about the most succinct description!)
Marilyn Peake says
Robin,
Hereโs a great definition of steampunk.
Laurie says
I'm frankly surprised at the low %'s of romance, suspense, mystery, thrillers. What's going on with the statistics we keep hearing about – that romance is 50% of the market, etc?
Della Luna says
Interesting poll; Mine is an alternative history – or fantasy. Kind of a "Lost Horizons meets Indiana Jones"
Robert A Meacham says
Actually, I am working on a query for a crime genre I finished. For a break, I am writing a short story about a guy who dreams the same dream every night. One night this guy does not wake, instead, the person that is in the dream with this guy wakes and takes on the guy's life!
I know, it hurts for me to think sometimes!
Anonymous says
I once read on an agent web site that they were looking for "commercial mainstream that rides the thin line of literary."
I guess that would fall into the category or "other."
It's not the genre I'm working on right now, and my published books have all been romance. But my ultimate goal is commercial mainstream.
I'm posting anon because my agent would kill me if I used my name.
Anonymous says
Paranormal only includes books about werewolves, vampires, witches, etc? Wow. I didn't know that.
Laura Martone says
Bane – Naturally. I LOVE to see Obi-wan (also known as the Creepy Camerlengo) running around in tight outfits. And I can see that I'm not alone. Yeah, Steph!
Robin says
Thanks Marilyn for the post. Now, you see, back in the day, I would have just called that science fiction. Now there are all these subsets.
choges says
Went with "paranormal" as code for "superhero." Shelving varies ("Hero" = GLBT teen, "Hot Mama" = chick lit, "Soon I Will Be Invincible" = mainstream) but I think superhero novels imply a certain aesthetic that draws readers above and beyond whatever genre the story might properly be.