How to Determine Your Book’s Genre

“So, what kind of book are you writing?”

“Oh, it’s really dramatic. But it’s also funny. There’s a great romance, too. And there’s some suspense. But there’s also…”

And you’ve lost their attention. Generalities don’t sell. This is why determining your fiction book’s genre is important.

No matter how unique or a mishmash of genres your book is, it has an audience waiting for it. Labeling your book accurately will help the right readers find it.

Would you go to a restaurant just called “Food” where the only menu item was called “It’s A Surprise!” ? Probably not. You don’t know if you’ll like what’s served.

And if you go to a restaurant and order spaghetti but get hamburgers instead, you’ll probably be upset. Even if you normally love hamburgers. Because in that moment, you wanted spaghetti. And you didn’t get it.

Genre labels are how readers find the books they’re in the mood for. Just like restaurant go-ers, readers want to know what to anticipate.

So if readers buy a book that was marketed as a romance but it ends up being a domestic thriller, they’ll be unhappy! They may even leave a negative review. Even if it’s a great domestic thriller. Meanwhile, the readers that do want a domestic thriller will miss out on the book because it wasn’t marketed accurately.

But how do you describe your work of fiction accurately when you’re familiar with its every nuance and micro-trait? Who is your target audience if you think it has something for everyone?

Age Demographic

First, what is the age demographic of your target audience? Is your book for children? Teens? Even if there’s no graphic violence or explicit intimacy, would your book be most enjoyed by adults?

Age categories is its own topic, so I won’t go into too much depth here. But your book’s age category will determine tone, narrative voice, and even how much you can blend genres. There is typically more genre blending in children’s and young adult books than in adult. Children’s and Teen’s sections in bookstores and libraries are typically smaller compared to the large sections devoted to adult fiction. Which makes sense, considering adults make up most of the population. So adult fiction tends to be more distinct in how it breaks down genres to help readers find what they’re looking for.

Literary Fiction vs Genre Fiction

Next, is your novel literary fiction or genre fiction? Literary fiction is its own topic, but it’s often described in vague terms such as “realistic,” “character-driven, and “carefully crafted.” At the risk of literary fiction purists accusing me of oversimplifying, allow me to dispel some of this vagueness.

Essentially, if your novel was a film or a play, would it be a drama? …specifically for white cishet men? If so, congratulations, you’ve written literary fiction.

Now, the book world is, unfortunately, still fairly conservative, sexist, racist, and queerphobic. “Serious” fiction, aka dramas, are considered the standard of fiction, and white cishet men are considered the standard reader. …despite most readers of fiction being women, according to pretty much every study on the subject.

So dramas written for white cishet men are just labeled “Fiction” or “Literary Fiction.” Or, colloquially and problematically, “real” fiction. So yeah, no wonder literary fiction is often accused of being pretentious and its fans considered derogatory towards other genres.

But what about dramas that don’t center white cishet men?

Dramas written by, for, and about women are given the often-belittled label of “Women’s Fiction.” Dramas written by, for, and about Black and Brown readers are often under the much-contested and criticized label of “Urban Fiction.” And “Queer Fiction” is, you guessed it, dramas by, for, and about queer people.

Of course, you don’t have to use any of these labels for your book, especially if you find them offensive. Some readers find these labels useful in order to find books about the themes and identities they care about. And some authors hate the segregation and condescension of the publishing industry forcing unwanted or even offensive labels on their books, sidelining them out of the general public’s view.

However you see these particular labels, it is important to know, whether your novel is a drama, aka standard or literary fiction, vs a different genre such as comedy, science fiction, horror, or fantasy.

Is Your Genre Fiction Book a Drama?

But what if your book is a fantasy drama? Congratulations, you’ve written a fantasy novel! What if it’s a science fiction drama? Congratulations, you’ve written a science fiction novel!

But what if it's a dramedy? Well… is it more comedy or more drama? If it’s a comedic drama, more drama than comedy, put it under drama, aka fiction. If it’s a dramatic comedy, more comedy than drama, go ahead and put it under comedy. If it really is an equal mix of both, look at your ending. If it’s a happy or particularly funny ending, comedy is probably a better label, especially if it ends on a funny line. If the ending is sad or bittersweet, even if there are lots of funny moments leading up to it, I recommend labeling it as standard or literary fiction.

This is a similar case with books heavy in both romance and drama. Which is there more of? And how does it end? The romance genre demands a Happily Ever After or a Happy For Now. If the romantic leads don’t end up together at the end, the story may be “romantic” but it is not a romance. There are plenty of literary fiction books that are heavy on the romance, so if that’s the kind of book you’ve written, it’s in good company! And if you’ve written a romance, congrats, your book is in the most popular and most profitable book genre there is!

Historical fiction that is a drama may still fit under the literary fiction category. Some bookstores will have a separate section for historical fiction, while others, usually smaller ones, will include historical dramas with the general fiction and literary fiction books. But if your historical fiction book is a mystery, a thriller, horror, fantasy, comedy, romance, or other genre fiction category that happens to be set in the past, then your book would be considered a subgenre of that category. So, if your book is a romance, it would fall under the subgenre of historical romance.

Genre Fiction, Descriptors, and Subgenres

There’s a lot that can be said about each of the major genre fiction categories: romance, mystery, thriller, horror, comedy, fantasy, and science fiction. Lines may blur more between certain genres than other, such as thriller and horror. But overall, they each serve a different purpose in how they entertain or create catharsis for their readers.

But these are broad categories. “Legends and Lattes” and “A Song of Ice and Fire” are both fantasy, after all. This is where descriptors come in handy. The first is “cozy” and the other is “grimdark.” Depending on your genre, words like “sweet,” “cozy,” “steamy,” “dark,” and “grimdark” may be helpful in marketing your book to its most-fitting audience.

There are an infinite number of subgenres. Knowing what your book isn’t will help just as much as knowing what your book is. Is it a cozy steampunk fantasy romance? Or a sci-fi gothic horror? Even when you’re pretty certain of your genre, beta readers -- a test audience for your book -- will help you fine-tune how best to describe your book. So long as you remember to ask them in your questionnaire!

Questions to Ask Yourself

There is so much more to say on subgenres and genre expectations. So keep an eye out for more blog posts on these subjects in the near future!

In the meantime, here are some questions to ask yourself when trying to determine your genre:

• What is the main emotional experience I want to give my reader consistently throughout the book?

• What emotional experience do I want to leave the reader with?

• If there are any fantastical or futuristic elements to the story, how large a role do they play in the overall story?

• If there is romance and the romantic leads end up happily together at the end of the story, did their romance drive the plot? Or simply add to it?

There are endless more questions to ask yourself of your book. But these should get you past some particularly common hurdles writers face!

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