On The Desegregation of the Novels Section of the Bookstore

I do agree that sometimes their criteria are too narrow: oh, it has a gay protagonist so it must be in the G/L section; oh, its protagonist is African-American so it must be AA -- say what? Did they even read the blurb?

I'm also surprised how little the publishers have any say in this sometimes. My novel is categorized as general/lit fiction by my publisher but the bookstores didn't seem to care.

veinglory said:

If they went by publisher it would get shelved as romance.

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I don't know if that's the case.

If the website is a reflection of their catalog (and I'm not saying it is - note the "IF"), then it's listed as GL first. Even if not, the "some M/M sex" in the description might be enough...

It should be listed as fantasy. But only Ingrams knows for sure. The M/M thing line basically so no one can say they weren't "warned" : / The whole book has maybe one page of spicy material.

veinglory said:

high-fantasy-with-gay-heroes-written-by-women.

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Is this niche going to get its own section of the bookstore, too?

I don't know that many WOULD miss the book if it were shelved in with all the other books, only because there are just so may. Not to say that it wouldn't sell a few copies that way; it has as much of a chance as any other book jammed onto the shelf. I'm not saying that a copies couldn't be put in both places. In a perfect world, that would be so. It would be ideal.

But bookstore real estate being at a premium, I would think that any author would want placement where their audience is going to be able to find it quickly and easily. This is a dog-eat-dog business, and if you don't sell quickly, your book winds up in the returns pile.

I'd much rather have my book on the two shelves of YA in my local B&N than in the seemingly neverending SF/F section, even though I write fantasy. It's segregated by age; is that ageism? No, that's a ridculous idea. But I know a ton of adults who WANT to read that kind of book, including myself, so we go to those shelves to find what we want. The choices are fewer, but I can find things much easier than in the SF/F section, trying to sort through it all to find something that appeals to me. Classification helps patrons find the information they want and need quickly. Yes, bookstore browsers do pick up books without knowing the authors beforehand, but if you are one of 150 instead of one of 15,000, your odds go up.

kuwisdelu said:

Is this niche going to get its own section of the bookstore, too?

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No, we are just going to take over the fantasy section... and then the world.

I don't think things are lost in the herd. I stand in fant sci-fi and scan every book and there are normally other people there doing the same. In romance the section may be larger but the sub-genres have their own secret language of color and font. So the chance of being seen by a potential buyer there may be, well 10% conservatively. The chance of being seen in niche shelving is more like 1%, optimisitically. If I am a cabbage, I want to be in the vege aisle. That's where my peeps will look for me.

Not to mention that the gay/lesbian section is often so small and well hidden that I need staff help to find it--and the staff member sometimes needs other staff help to find it for me because she didn't know the section existed (true story from a recent trip to Washington, I had to insist several times that they did indeed have such a section.).

Christine N. said:

I don't know that many WOULD miss the book if it were shelved in with all the other books, only because there are just so may. Not to say that it wouldn't sell a few copies that way; it has as much of a chance as any other book jammed onto the shelf. I'm not saying that a copies couldn't be put in both places. In a perfect world, that would be so. It would be ideal.

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It depends on placement. Most books are displayed with only the spine out, so all you get is the title and author's name. If you're not familiar with either, then you most likely will pass on, unless the title really grabs your attention.

Exhibit A: Title is important -- first POS opportunity

The better placement would be cover out, but not many books get that treatment because of limited shelf space. Whenever I see a fellow AWer's book, I ALWAYS move them so they are face out.

Exhibit B: The cover design is very important (themes, colors, mood) -- it should immediately tell the readers what kind of stories they may expect.

Only if you can attract the would-be readers by the title and/or the cover would you have even a slight chance. Nobody cares about the author's name unless you're well known.

Thus, if books are al shelved together by author's name, the named authors would pretty much drown out everyone else because a) they're recognizable and people look for them specifically, and b) their books most likely would be the ones facing out.

I started observing my own books scanning behavior a while back. I seem to scan for cursive font, black background and emo titles, and if the cover has a cute guy on it I read the blurb. But on a slow day I have been known to look at every cover in the fantasy aisle... Yes, I am that sad--but I am not alone

veinglory said:

I started observing my own books scanning behavior a while back. I seem to scan for cursive font, black background and emo titles, and if the cover has a cute guy on it I read the blurb. But on a slow day I have been known to look at every cover in the fantasy aisle... Yes, I am that sad--but I am not alone

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There's a reason why there are so many shirtless dudes on romance covers...

I have decided no matter what I write (epic war fiction, sci fi, thriller, whatever), there is going to be at least one shirtless guy on the cover.

Will it be you, Ray? (I know it will...)

I don't write Jaba the Hut stories...