Upmarket Commercial - When Your Novel Doesn't Fit a Specific Genre?

Hello everyone. Like a lot of people here, I am currently working on my first novel (not my first project though). I've always thought my story would fit Romance, maybe not traditional romance, but close to it. It's a story about two childhood enemies who become friends then eventually grow up and fall in love. Sounds simple right? However, along the way they have to deal with the trials and pitfalls of PTSD, mental illness, child neglect and substance abuse. I've let a few betas read it. Some of them have told me this doesn't fit Romance and that it is better suited for Upmarket Commercial. I'd never heard of this market until recently. Is there anyone here that writes upmarket commercial fiction? If so, is there any set rules that I should be aware of similar to the rules for other genres? Any insight or advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Also, is there place were I can post my work for Upmarket Commercial on AWC? I didn't see a category for that under Share My Work.

Thanks!

Ari Meermans said:

Your betas have an apples/oranges comparison going, and that can be confusing. Romance is a genre, as are Science Fiction and Mystery. Upmarket is a marketing category, same as Commercial and Literary. Marketing categories are determined by the publisher's marketing department. BUT, there are certain "keys" a writer can use to determine the marketing category under which their manuscript falls. I've used an agent's blog post, with an accompanying nifty infographic, before to give some idea under which of these categories your manuscript might fall. It's not perfect, but it's quite helpful. You might want to check it out to see if it helps: Infographic: Do You Know The Difference Between Literary, Upmarket and Commercial Fiction?

hth

Click to expand...

Thank you so much for the helpful link. After comparing, it does appear that my novel would probably be marketed as Upmarket Commercial Fiction. It's amazing that there are all these sub categories out there. It can all become a bit confusing at times. I look forward to getting others' opinions and experiences when it comes to doing queries. Any editors out there willing to give some insight on why Upmarket Commercial is such a buzz word right now?

Marissa D said:

Not an editor, but I'll take a guess: sales to book groups. Upmarket Commercial fiction is the bread and butter of book groups; when eight or ten people decide to read a book together, at least some of them will be buying it (and some will be getting it from the library, so library sales as well.)

Click to expand...

Thanks, Marissa. Why do you think books that fit Upmarket Commercial are so popular with book groups?

Harlequin said:

Romances is one of the strictest genre categories around.

Most you will have some fluidity (hence I come under "fantasy" despite being a little weird--it's a broad genre.)

But based on what you describe, yeah, I would venture to suggest it's not romance per se. Strong romantic elements perhaps.

I would post under contemporary or literary.

Click to expand...

Thanks so much! Now I know where to post and won't keep getting kicked out of the other groups.

Felix said:

I was told something similar by beta readers and others. Upmarket commercial. When making my spreadsheet of agents, at least 40% of the ones that I identified as a possible fit listed "upmarket" in their list of genres - whether they were loose with the concept of genre in their wishlist or not. I see agents using the term in their wishlists on twitter and elsewhere. However, when I included it in a query for crit, a lot of people felt very strongly that this is completely inappropriate.


I have chosen to stick with "mainstream" for now, although I will customize the phrase, depending on who I pitch. Once I get that far.

Following along on this thread to see how others feel about it. I feel - if an agent says "I want to read upmarket, books about kittens, women's lit, romance, and stories about trees," then it seems logical in the query to say "This is upmarket..."

Click to expand...

I was having a similar issue with the subgenre groups. Everytime I posted my work, I was told by someone that my story didn't fit and that I should post elsewhere. I will definitely be paying close attention to the advice I receive here so I can get a better understanding of subgenres categories and types of marketing.