Episode 006 | Genre 101

GENRES & SUB-GENRES: WHAT ARE THEY AND WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT?



There is always going to be a little wiggle room on what genres are out there. Things are always shifting, with new subgenres appearing and others all but disappearing. At their core, genres are simply a tool to help readers find the kinds of stories they enjoy. That’s it. I would suggest that while nobody gets too hung up on them, it is smart for writers to have a working knowledge of them.



Like I mentioned in the podcast episode, you will basically NEVER get bonus points from an agent or publisher for saying that your work “defies genre” or “has created a new genre.” Agents and publishers (including indie authors) are in the business of getting their books and stories into the hands of readers. When you say these things, you’re basically saying, “I need you to go create a new market from scratch.” #NotSoMuch #Pass #ThanksAnyway



Following are some great sites for familiarizing yourself with what genres are out there. I would suggest that you give special attention to the link that includes typical word count ranges. Especially if you’re looking to traditionally publish at some point (i.e. get an agent and publisher), you’ll want to be mindful of what they typically expect from debut authors. Once you’re a famous writer, you can (sometimes) get away with ignoring those typical word counts.



* Genres of Literature – Genres of Literature List* Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers – Colorado Gold Contest Categories & Genres* Writer’s Digest – List of Sub-Genre Descriptions* Lit Rejections – Recommended Word Count Ranges by Genre



There are about a bazillion subgenes. For example, here are just some of the sub-genres of Science Fiction/Fantasy (and these do not include Amazon’s unique subgenres):



Alternate History | Arthurian Fantasy | Bangsian Fantasy | Biopunk | Children’s Fantasy | Comic | Cyberpunk | Dark Fantasy | Dystopian | Erotic | Fable | Fairy Tales | Game-Related Fantasy | Hard Science Fiction | Heroic Fantasy | High/Epic Fantasy | Historical | Mundane SF | Military SF | Mystery SF | Mythology | New Age | Post-Apocalyptic | Romance | Religious | Science Fantasy | Social SF | Soft SF | Space Opera | Spy-Fi | Steampunk | Superheroes | Sword and Sorcery | Thriller SF | Time-Travel | Urban Fantasy | Vampire | Wuxia | Young Adult



I keep a poster next to my desk to remind me of just how many different types of stories there are out there and how important it is to find the readers who enjoy the kind of stories I write.



THERE ARE READERS OUT THERE FOR ALL OF US. YOU JUST HAVE TO FIND YOUR AUDIENCE.

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