Commercial fiction?

alex sultan · Jun 19, 2007

My book is equal parts historical fiction, thriller, action-adventure, romance, fantasy, mystery and young adult. Talk about shooting myself in the foot when it comes to actually quering it. I was already thinking about writing a different query for each of the genres, when I found this:

Commercial fiction:

Commercial fiction uses high-concept hooks and compelling plots to give it a wide, mainstream appeal. Commercial fiction often has the “ouuuh” factor: summarize what happens in your novel is a single, succinct sentence, and you invariably get, “ouhhh, that sounds interesting!” Plot (the events) and story (the overall tale) are first and foremost; characters’ choices and actions create heightened drama that propels the reader forward with urgency.

Like literary fiction, the writing style in commercial fiction is elevated beyond generic mainstream fiction; but unlike literary fiction, commercial fiction maintains a strong narrative storyline as its central goal, rather than the development of enviable prose or internal character conflicts. Commercial fiction often incorporates other genre types under its umbrella such as women’s fiction, thriller, suspense, adventure, family saga, chick lit, etc. Commercial fiction is not the same as "mainstream" fiction, which is an umbrella term that refers to genre fiction like science fiction, fantasy, romance, mystery, and some thrillers.

It felt like a "deus ex machina" resolution to my problem, because the description fits the premise perfectly. Yet I've never heard of said genre.

What should I do? Should I choose one of the genres at the expence of the others? Which genre?

Should I write different queries for each of the genres? Or should I run with the "commercial fiction" tag?

Have some of you, people, had the same problem? What did you do? Thanks!

ChaosTitan · Jun 19, 2007

alex sultan said:
My book is equal parts historical fiction, thriller, action-adventure, romance, fantasy, mystery

"Commercial fiction" is a good catch-all for a novel that doesn't clearly fit into one genre, and lots of agents rep it. If you truly can't pick one single genre from your list, go with commercial. However, I do recommend choosing the strongest theme.

For example, historical romances are hot right now.

and young adult.

Caveat here: you need to know your target audience. If the book is better targeted at a teen audience and the protag is a teen or in their very early twenties, you may be better off marketing it as Young Adult. If the protag is a grown up, and you think you'll do better with an adult audience, skip the YA part.

job · Jun 19, 2007

What Titan said.
Young Adult is an animal all to itself.

If this intended for a YA audience, market as YA.

mscelina · Jun 19, 2007

I would think that if the MC and storyline centers around a YA theme, that's the best route to take.

Shady Lane · Jun 19, 2007

You've got to categorize your YAs too, though.

But, seriously, go for YA. It's where the cool kids hang out.

JamieFord · Jun 19, 2007

Hmmm...sounds familiar.

I considered my current book to be historical fiction, and I queried as such, but the agents that offered representation considered it commercial/literary--a commercial hook with a literary execution.

Maybe that's where you're going with it.

Commercial fiction?

alex sultan

Back to Writing

ChaosTitan

Around

job

In the end, it's just you and the manuscript

mscelina

Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you

Shady Lane

my name is hannah

JamieFord

giving resonant directions