Is it better to claim a genre, or be "mainstream" ?

lucidzfl · Aug 19, 2009

I tend to write books that could either be genre books or not genre books. They have aspects of sci fi, or fantasy, or thriller, but do not necessarily need to be lumped in with them.

For the purposes of getting published is it better to find a genre that closely matches your story and try to push it as such?

Should you decide to make a non-heavy-genre book into a genre offering, should you increase the genre aspects?

IE: If there are subtle overtones to your sci fi novel, do you ramp up the sci fi gobbledeegook?

stevewed · Aug 19, 2009

Usually a call your agent makes, I'd think. Then the pub house.

I try to talk my pals outta writing for a certain genre. "Just tell the story you want to tell," I say. Don't know if that helps.

I think "adding in" genre details just to have a sci-fi book is a bad idea. just my opinion, of course. The sci-fi books I like transcend genre.

Red-Green · Aug 19, 2009

Yup. When I queried my novel, I mostly didn't identify genre, but my agent is pitching it as urban fantasy.

stevewed said:
Usually a call your agent makes, I'd think. Then the pub house.

stevewed · Aug 19, 2009

Redzilla said:
Yup. When I queried my novel, I mostly didn't identify genre, but my agent is pitching it as urban fantasy.

Exactly. I asked my agent, "Uh, what the hell genre is that book I wrote?" When she said "mainstream," I put in an order for new hardwood floors.

lucidzfl · Aug 19, 2009

stevewed said:
Exactly. I asked my agent, "Uh, what the hell genre is that book I wrote?" When she said "mainstream," I put in an order for new hardwood floors.

rofl.

ChristineR · Aug 19, 2009

I don't know, maybe I should start a new thread, but I was under the impression that genre outsells "mainstream" by most metrics. Maybe a mainstream bestseller sells more than a genre bestseller, or maybe per book sales are higher, but I'm not so sure of that. All the mega-sellers that leap to mind (Twilight, Harry, Da Vinci) seem to be genre.

lucidzfl · Aug 19, 2009

ChristineR said:
I don't know, maybe I should start a new thread, but I was under the impression that genre outsells "mainstream" by most metrics. Maybe a mainstream bestseller sells more than a genre bestseller, or maybe per book sales are higher, but I'm not so sure of that. All the mega-sellers that leap to mind (Twilight, Harry, Da Vinci) seem to be genre.

Here are some interesting statistics gathered regarding genre writers.

http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/2005/02/07/how-much-does-a-science-fiction-or-fantasy-writer-make/

It looks like fantasy pays better than sci fi.

Also according to this:

The typical advance for a first novel is $5000. The typical advance for later novels, after a typical number of 5-7 years and 5-7 books is $12,500.

Puts things in perspective huh?

MsGneiss · Aug 19, 2009

lucidzfl said:
Puts things in perspective huh?

Hardly. The analysis is severely flawed from a statistical perspective, and even though the author corrected the obvious mistake initially and presented the median instead of the mean, the significance of these results is minor.

Danthia · Aug 19, 2009

It depends on the day. Right now, science fiction is having a hard time even though tons of science fiction novels are on the bestseller lists. Time Traveler's Wife...science fiction, though you rarely see it called that. If you have a book that has science fiction elements, but doesn't fall into the traditional sci fi tropes, you might be smart to call it mainstream or don't list a genre at all. But in six months or a year, sci fi might be on top again and everyone with a slight sci fi element will be labeling their books sci fi.

You DO want to honestly represent your book whatever you pick. Don't call it one thing if it really isn't or couldn't be that. The agents will know from your hook that you're lying and then you're done. If you happen to be on the fence, I don't think there's anything wrong with tweaking to position the book is the best light. The agent will adjust as needed when they submit anyway. Offering a genre when you query is just a good way to show what kind of book you have and where it fits in the marketplace. I have an urban fantasy in the works that could just as easily be a supernatural thriller. Since the UF market is pretty saturated right now, my odds will likely be better if it's a supernatural thriller, so I plan to lean more in that direction and market it as such. Won't change the story any, just the way I position it.

I would NOT change a book just to fit a genre unless you honestly feel it will make the story better. Writing for a trend never works, as trends are often over or fading by the time a book it actually out.

Oh, the highest selling genre out there is romance (unless it's changed recently). So genre does outsell mainstream, and romance I think outsells pretty much everything. If I remember right, something like 60% of all novels sold are romance.

lucidzfl · Aug 19, 2009

Danthia said:
It depends on the day. Right now, science fiction is having a hard time even though tons of science fiction novels are on the bestseller lists. Time Traveler's Wife...science fiction, though you rarely see it called that. If you have a book that has science fiction elements, but doesn't fall into the traditional sci fi tropes, you might be smart to call it mainstream or don't list a genre at all. But in six months or a year, sci fi might be on top again and everyone with a slight sci fi element will be labeling their books sci fi.

You DO want to honestly represent your book whatever you pick. Don't call it one thing if it really isn't or couldn't be that. The agents will know from your hook that you're lying and then you're done. If you happen to be on the fence, I don't think there's anything wrong with tweaking to position the book is the best light. The agent will adjust as needed when they submit anyway. Offering a genre when you query is just a good way to show what kind of book you have and where it fits in the marketplace. I have an urban fantasy in the works that could just as easily be a supernatural thriller. Since the UF market is pretty saturated right now, my odds will likely be better if it's a supernatural thriller, so I plan to lean more in that direction and market it as such. Won't change the story any, just the way I position it.

I would NOT change a book just to fit a genre unless you honestly feel it will make the story better. Writing for a trend never works, as trends are often over or fading by the time a book it actually out.

Oh, the highest selling genre out there is romance (unless it's changed recently). So genre does outsell mainstream, and romance I think outsells pretty much everything. If I remember right, something like 60% of all novels sold are romance.

Stupid question:

You said UF is pretty saturated... How do you know where the glut is and where the rut is?

Is it better to claim a genre, or be "mainstream" ?

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