Comments on: To Genre or not to Genre?

By: If You Give a Girl a Pen… » Blog Archive » Is Pitch Black Too Dark?

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:02:23 +0000

[...] bigger and longer as a part of a contest. It also goes along with what Suzanne already wrote in To Genre or Not to Genre? Here ya [...]

By: wow gold

wow gold — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:52:48 +0000

Good post,This was exactly what I needed to read today! I am sure this has relevance to many of us out there.

By: wow gold

wow gold — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:38:53 +0000

This is great! Now I want to see your ways for us readers to become more involved! Expect an email later today.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:47:36 +0000

This is a great debate!

HW: Thanks for the comment. You are right.

Interesting note: go to your local Barnes and noble and look for the horror section. It doesn’t exist anymore. There are many articles on the web about the horror fiction issue, how it spans genre and how it is sucked into literature as well as sci fi and fantasy… I can email you the articles. They are on agent query as well as horror sites. But you are indeed correct, Stephen king is a Horror novelist, even though Jack is only 13 in the talisman. I suppose I am too(a horror novelist)… and perhaps it is a dying genre and my work will wither…. ah me

By: Eden

Eden — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:29:55 +0000

I do tend to have a genre in mind when I start, just as far as the age of characters and basic content.
But once I get going, all different ideas and such end up creating the story. It usually ends up being nothing like what I’d originally imagined.
As far as marketing, I believe an author has to choose one genre so that the agent can sell it easier, but that doesn’t mean people who read other genres won’t pick it up or hear about it….
I’m just writing and not worrying about it until/unless I have to. Hope it works!!

By: L.T. Elliot

L.T. Elliot — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:39:15 +0000

I think that having a genre helps a lot BUT I also think that sometimes you need to go with your gut. It can be a matter of vision and finding the right person to share your vision. I hope your work finds a home that both you and your publisher/agent/editor can feel at peace with.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:01:19 +0000

I never write with a genre in mind. I simply write the story and figure out what genre it fits into best when I’m done. I don’t want to limit myself by a genre either.

By: HWPetty

HWPetty — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:30:59 +0000

I think of genre only as a means to an end. It’s a way to package your book for sale to a book seller, who needs to know where to place the book on the bookshelves.

As to the YA issue, I agree with the agent that to keep in the YA genre, the book should be immediate about a teen protag. But Women’s Fic/Literary etc can definitely span time. And if the book has YA appeal, they’ll find it in the fiction section.

I guess what I’m saying is that while your book can be 900 genres, you need to pick one for selling it. And using your example: Stephen King. His books are many things, but they are sold as Horror. And no matter what they really could be defined as, when you want a King novel, you trot over to the Horror section of the bookstore.