"Women's Fiction Novel" Acceptable to say or Redundant?

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allz28

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I'm wondering what the general consensus is regarding the phrase "Women's Fiction Novel."

I, of course, in general hate it when someone refers to something as a fiction novel, but this may be the one exception to the rule.

So, in query letters or just general conversation, do you think it's OK to refer to your book as a Women's Fiction Novel?
 

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I'm wondering what the general consensus is regarding the phrase "Women's Fiction Novel."

I, of course, in general hate it when someone refers to something as a fiction novel, but this may be the one exception to the rule.

So, in query letters or just general conversation, do you think it's OK to refer to your book as a Women's Fiction Novel?

No; it's amateurish. It's a novel. It may be chick lit, it may be a "women's novel" (personally not fond of that phrase either) but leave off the "fiction novel."
 
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allz28

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But Women's Fiction is a genre. So if you were to say, "City of Girls is a . . . " most people would finish that sentence "City of Girls is a women's fiction novel."

Of course there are ways to rephrase, but that's what I'm referring to. I see, hear, and read the phrase "women's fiction novel" a lot.
 

Woollybear

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I don't talk about reading science fiction novels. I talk about reading science fiction.

I don't think the word novel appears in my query. I'd say:

"At 97,000 words, THE ONE WITH THE ANSWERS is women's fiction that will appeal to fans of X and Y."
 

mccardey

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I'm wondering what the general consensus is regarding the phrase "Women's Fiction Novel."

I, of course, in general hate it when someone refers to something as a fiction novel, but this may be the one exception to the rule.

So, in query letters or just general conversation, do you think it's OK to refer to your book as a Women's Fiction Novel?
Not in query letters. I guess you can say it in general conversation if you want to. I think most people would say women's fiction, if that's a category.
 

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Using the words fiction and novel together is redundant and, AW Admin is right, amateurish. A novel is a book-length work of prose with fictional characters, fictional events, and sometimes even a fictional setting. If it's a novel, it's fiction.

Not in query letters. I guess you can say it in general conversation if you want to. I think most people would say women's fiction, if that's a category.

Yep. Women's Fiction is indeed a marketing category and that description is both standard and sufficient.
 
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Barbara R.

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But Women's Fiction is a genre. So if you were to say, "City of Girls is a . . . " most people would finish that sentence "City of Girls is a women's fiction novel."

Of course there are ways to rephrase, but that's what I'm referring to. I see, hear, and read the phrase "women's fiction novel" a lot.

Not anyone who works in publishing. All novels are fiction, so saying a "fiction novel" is redundant and amateurish. You just dodged a bullet!
 

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But Women's Fiction is a genre. So if you were to say, "City of Girls is a . . . " most people would finish that sentence "City of Girls is a women's fiction novel."
I would say "City of Girls is women's fiction." If it were necessary to also specify that's it a novel (as opposed to, I don't know, a collection of short stories) I might write "The novel City of Girls is women's fiction" or "City of Girls, a novel, is women's fiction" or any number of other ways to rephrase -- but that seems like a rare case. Most times, "City of Girls is women's fiction" would suffice, I imagine.

Of course there are ways to rephrase, but that's what I'm referring to. I see, hear, and read the phrase "women's fiction novel" a lot.

If anyone uses this phrase in writing at all, they should probably hyphenate: "women's-fiction novel". But it is redundant and awkward, and I don't think a competent, non-overworked editor would let it stand. If you see it frequently, I would wager that it is in informal settings (like forum posts) or in work that isn't carefully edited -- which category contains the vast majority of content on the internet, unfortunately.

:e2coffee:
 

mccardey

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Yep. Women's Fiction is indeed a marketing category and that description is both standard and sufficient.
I thought it was. It just sounded odd when I focused on it. I confused me. I do that sometimes.
 

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I thought it was. It just sounded odd when I focused on it. I confused me. I do that sometimes.

It's still used, but less often than it was used say five years ago, based on looking at LOC metadata.

Not sure why that is.
 

cool pop

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A novel is fiction so no need to say "novel". :e2file:
 

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A little off-topic maybe, but I really dislike the "women" part of it. It's stupid. And what is "men fiction", then? Jeez.
 

lilyWhite

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A little off-topic maybe, but I really dislike the "women" part of it. It's stupid. And what is "men fiction", then? Jeez.

From the Wikipedia:

The Romance Writers of America organization defines women's fiction as, "a commercial novel about a woman on the brink of life change and personal growth. Her journey details emotional reflection and action that transforms her and her relationships with others, and includes a hopeful/upbeat ending with regard to her romantic relationship."

...

*wonders if there's a market for contemporary-fantasy women's fiction*
 
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Quote: "The Romance Writers of America organization defines women's fiction as, "a commercial novel about a woman on the brink of life change and personal growth. Her journey details emotional reflection and action that transforms her and her relationships with others, and includes a hopeful/upbeat ending with regard to her romantic relationship."

When women write this is it is Women's fiction, when a male author write this then it is a profound study of our humanity or of our time.
 
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