Now that NaNoWriMo is in full effect, I thought I’d return to a post from approximately a year ago to see which way the genre winds are blowing in late 2010. Will the breakdown be the same as last year? Is there a genre or two that are growing in popularity?
Poll below.
Also, 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. As before, I added “paranormal” to the categories even though it’s not typically a bookstore section simply because there are so many people writing about vampires, werewolves, etc.
My answers is still the same as last year: middle grade science fiction.
I've been seeing a ton of steampunk going on amongst writer friends lately, most of whom were writing paranormals last year.
My book is sort of like the Indiana Jones movies. What genre is that?
Mine is part of a series. I have roughs of two more, done in the previous two NaNos. After this one, I follow your instructions for making a series bible and then I polish!
Marian Allen
Mine started off as what I thought of as YA fiction, but others who've seen it in progress say it's tipped into sci-fi, so I guess I have to reclassify it.
I voted for "science fiction", but it's actually erotic science fiction romance.
*beams*
Women's fiction here!!!!
Mine is a near-future spec-fic/sci-fi novel. So far, it's going well.
Mine is historical (to be more specific, Biblical) fiction. Not doing NaNo though. Interesting!
Why isn't there a young adult suspense category?
Thought there would be more Supernatural/Paranormal votes so far!
An attempt at a supernaturalist list for twitter here: http://twitter.com/#!/CjEggett/nanowrimo-supernaturalist
becca-
There's YA mystery, intended to include YA mystery/suspense/thriller – I didn't want to write out everything in that category because it would have been too long.
I don't know – Unofficial Girl begins with a science fiction experiment which sets off a series of events involving romance, spies, and a life-and-death hunt through London.
Did chick-lit become humor or women's fiction?
What happened to mainstream or adventure?
Yay – a post from Nathan. I was starting to have withdrawal symptoms. 🙂
Hope New York is treating you super-duper.
I choose prescriptive non-fiction, although humor, memoir, picture books and….I don't what to call them, these other thingies…are also genres within which I write.
And papers. Academic papers. Are you sure you're not interested in representing my school papers, Nathan? This week, I'm doing an observation study on the DMV. That's where I observe people in the DMV, and write a paper on what they did. This is a very exciting study, and there should be a HUGE audience for my results. Let me know.
Go Giants!!!
Is this supposed to be for our NaNoWriMo novels, or any WIP? (My Nano novel and my "real" WIP are in different genres.)
My word verification right now is "seducr," which tells me maybe I should try to add romance to the list…
I know it's too late but Literary Commercial Fiction is the best way to categorize what I write.
Is it appropriate to use that term in a query?
Thanks, Nathan.
Mine is horror, like last year.
Fantasy! At least, I think if it's set in a fantasy world quite different from modern-day normal that happens to include werewolves it's still primarily classified as fantasy . . .
Unfortunately, this is the same one as last time and it's not much closer to being finished 🙁
Why isn't there a YA Rural Fantasy option? I thought we talked about this Nathan.
Congrats on being world champs by the way. It's really nice to see someone who isn't NY/PHI/STL on top.
Mine's steampunk, which I suppose falls under fantasy (it's more magically-oriented steampunk, not very science-y, so I don't really view it as sci-fi)
🙂
Mine's a ghost story, so I'm going with paranormal. Not quite fantasy, but no vampires. *shrug*
Romance for me. It'll be my first time doing a romance, so I'm pretty excited. And nervous, but that's normal.
After reading Bookends blog earlier today I realized that my work is best classified as, cross-genre fantasy romance. It is a mouth full but it best discribes what I am writing.