That is the age range for a main character in women's fiction

No book is going to sell if the author never sits down and writes it.

How many books have you written, and are actually trying to sell?

CryingKatie said:

I've finished a few drafts of a bunch of novels. The problem is I can't decide which one I like enough to rewrite and edit.

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Is that because you like them all, or you don't like any of them enough? If you like them all pick your least favourite to work on. If you don't like any of them much, pick your fave would be my advice. (Because - for the first answer, you'll learn as you go and you don't want to waste your best favourite work early on: and for the second answer, because it's very hard work at times, and your fave will keep you going.)

The key step here is write. Write anything. You can always revise it, trunk it again, or strip-mine it later. You can't do anything with just a collection of ideas.

And speaking from experience, you can do only so much research before it turns into procrastination.

Stop worrying about genre, and write the thing. Then decide what you wrote.

Genres are general categories, and anyone who tells you "Chick Lit (or whatever) can't be sold at all" is either badly uninformed, or trying to put you off. Do they think young women don't want to read about their peers any more?

Any really good story can be sold. Trying to write to catch tomorrow's hottest market only works if you have a crystal ball. And if you do, invest in lottery tickets instead. Much less work.

I don't think anyone has answered the question in the thread title yet.

I'm in no way an expert, but in my mind, "women's fiction" is about adult women, which could mean any age post-college. From the description below, I don't think anyone is going to laugh at you if you call your book women's fiction. It could also be labeled contemporary fiction.

I would stay away from calling it "chick lit," not because that category doesn't sell but because I think the name has derogatory connotations for some people.

CryingKatie said:

I'm very confused. I thought women's fiction was about characters in their 30's and older with darker issues, and that chick lit is for characters in their twenties and are a little more lighthearted. Problem is, my book is more chick lit without romance, but I've read that chick lit is no longer popular enough to sell.
Would my book fit into the women's fiction genre:
A twenty seven year old woman dealing with unemployment, family issues and wacky friendships. There is no romance but a lot of funny moments.

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Chick-lit is classified as "humorous women's fiction" or "romantic comedy" nowadays (I see you're in Ireland; I've heard the term isn't dead in the UK, if you're aiming at UK-based agents and publishers).

If the novel is about women in their early to mid twenties, and focuses on romance and issues relevant to establishing oneself as a grownup, maybe it would fit into the "New Adult" category. It's rather confusing, as some agents seem to favor the term, and others don't, and very few agents define what a genre or demographic term means to them when they include it on their wish (or do not want) list. But if you're subbing to one who says they take NA, it might be something to consider.

I think it is. Chick-lit is kind of looked down by the general public so has been rebranded.

Yeah, "chicklit" was just an awful term. It sounds like something men would call books by and about women when they're being dismissive, like the term "chick flick" for any movie that doesn't have car chases, gun fights, and/or explosions and where the casting ratio might actually be closer to parity between the genders.

I wish we could get past the idea that stories about women have to center on things like dating, shopping, marriage, and motherhood (not that there aren't good stories to tell about these things, but there's so much more to being a woman).

But this is coming from a woman whose eyes glaze over at book covers with a lot of pink and/or high heels featuring prominently. Not because I'm not interested in stories by and about woman in the real world (I like writers like Anne River Siddons, Ann Tyler, Margaret Atwood, and Amy Tan) but because my experience of womanhood is different from what became popular in the post "Sex in the City" era.

I've seen people use "chick lit" in various different ways. I think of it as a type of women's fiction, not something distinct from women's fic. To me, chick lit is humorous women's fiction, often involving young, urban women, which peaked in popularity 10-15 (?) years ago. However, I've also heard people refer to all women's fiction as chick lit.

You could write rural stories for women -- "chook lit".

(That's a real category in Aus. Don't blame me.)

Why not? They have Amish romance in the US.

Roxxsmom said:

Why not? They have Amish romance in the US.

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What's the category called? I hope it's something that puns on "wood".

I'd write it as humorous women's fiction, and just tell agents it's contemporary fiction. If it sells, and they put pink high heels on the cover, closet lovers of chick lit will buy it. Helen Fielding isn't hurting, nor Sophie Kinsella or Emily Giffin, or Jennifer Weiner... If you enjoy writing it, do it!

mirandashell said:

I think it is. Chick-lit is kind of looked down by the general public so has been rebranded.

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Same.

I'm no expert, but I don't think chick lit died. It just stopped being a genre.

Writers are usually pretty bad judges of their writing and even worse judges of genre, especially at the start of their careers. Has anyone read/critiqued the MS? Has it been edited by someone else? Is it the best story you can create? If so I recommend submitting it to the most suitable publishers and write the next story. Publishers will have a much better idea of where to place your story, but readers will ultimately dictate the genre. If your MS is not ready for submission I'd recommend focussing on finishing the story that excites you and leaving everything else for when you're ready to publish.

Good luck

Jezz.

Helix said:

What's the category called? I hope it's something that puns on "wood".

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I think they're jokingly called "bonnet rippers," but they're a subgenre of Christian romance and written and read mostly by evangelical Christian women who don't really understand (or care to understand) Amish theology very well and basically write evangelical Christians in bonnets and suspenders.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish_romance

"bonnet rippers"...I like it!

CryingKatie said:

I'm very confused. I thought women's fiction was about characters in their 30's and older with darker issues, and that chick lit is for characters in their twenties and are a little more lighthearted. Problem is, my book is more chick lit without romance, but I've read that chick lit is no longer popular enough to sell.
Would my book fit into the women's fiction genre:
A twenty seven year old woman dealing with unemployment, family issues and wacky friendships. There is no romance but a lot of funny moments.

Click to expand...

I would categorize this as humorous women's fiction or commercial general fiction. But the agent and/or publisher will make that decision. You don't always have a say. That's what their expertise is for--knowing how to target the right readers. Go forth and edit!

I like that everybody is saying not to worry about genre. I have heard from other people that you need to worry about genre; you need to know your genre and what's expected in it. I have a WIP that's maybe women's fiction? At first I thought it was romance. It's got an 18-year-old heroine. But it deals with "darker issues". I don't know. It could be almost anything: romance, erotic romance, women's fiction, general commercial fiction, literary. I'd rather just finish it and then sub to all of those. Most agents that rep one of those rep several of them anyway.

We in the C-fic submarket call 'em "bonnet books." Check a few out at your local brick-and-mortar. They always have a young woman in a bonnet on the cover and 95% of the time, she's looking down. Would it really cause hissy fits if just once in a while she looks UP? Like, to the hills, whence cometh help?

I still, may, yet write my definitive crossover fisk of bonnet books: SNAKES IN A BONNET, a mashup of Amish story and Greek mythology.

You MUST write this. Medusa hiding out in an Amish community, leading a life of godly chores and contemplation, when along comes a Greek art dealer with a stranded truck.

I don't even read C-fic, so I'm walking slowly away from this right now.