Now that NaNoWriMo is in full effect, I thought I’d return to a post from approximately a year ago to see which way the genre winds are blowing in late 2010. Will the breakdown be the same as last year? Is there a genre or two that are growing in popularity?
Poll below.
Also, I know genre distinctions are blurry, so just pick one in case there’s overlap. And remember, when in doubt: go with the section of the bookstore your book would be stocked in. As before, I added “paranormal” to the categories even though it’s not typically a bookstore section simply because there are so many people writing about vampires, werewolves, etc.
My answers is still the same as last year: middle grade science fiction.
I've been seeing a ton of steampunk going on amongst writer friends lately, most of whom were writing paranormals last year.
My book is sort of like the Indiana Jones movies. What genre is that?
Mine is part of a series. I have roughs of two more, done in the previous two NaNos. After this one, I follow your instructions for making a series bible and then I polish!
Marian Allen
Mine started off as what I thought of as YA fiction, but others who've seen it in progress say it's tipped into sci-fi, so I guess I have to reclassify it.
I voted for "science fiction", but it's actually erotic science fiction romance.
*beams*
Women's fiction here!!!!
Mine is a near-future spec-fic/sci-fi novel. So far, it's going well.
Mine is historical (to be more specific, Biblical) fiction. Not doing NaNo though. Interesting!
Why isn't there a young adult suspense category?
Thought there would be more Supernatural/Paranormal votes so far!
An attempt at a supernaturalist list for twitter here: http://twitter.com/#!/CjEggett/nanowrimo-supernaturalist
becca-
There's YA mystery, intended to include YA mystery/suspense/thriller – I didn't want to write out everything in that category because it would have been too long.
I don't know – Unofficial Girl begins with a science fiction experiment which sets off a series of events involving romance, spies, and a life-and-death hunt through London.
Did chick-lit become humor or women's fiction?
What happened to mainstream or adventure?
Yay – a post from Nathan. I was starting to have withdrawal symptoms. 🙂
Hope New York is treating you super-duper.
I choose prescriptive non-fiction, although humor, memoir, picture books and….I don't what to call them, these other thingies…are also genres within which I write.
And papers. Academic papers. Are you sure you're not interested in representing my school papers, Nathan? This week, I'm doing an observation study on the DMV. That's where I observe people in the DMV, and write a paper on what they did. This is a very exciting study, and there should be a HUGE audience for my results. Let me know.
Go Giants!!!
Is this supposed to be for our NaNoWriMo novels, or any WIP? (My Nano novel and my "real" WIP are in different genres.)
My word verification right now is "seducr," which tells me maybe I should try to add romance to the list…
I know it's too late but Literary Commercial Fiction is the best way to categorize what I write.
Is it appropriate to use that term in a query?
Thanks, Nathan.
Mine is horror, like last year.
Fantasy! At least, I think if it's set in a fantasy world quite different from modern-day normal that happens to include werewolves it's still primarily classified as fantasy . . .
Unfortunately, this is the same one as last time and it's not much closer to being finished 🙁
Why isn't there a YA Rural Fantasy option? I thought we talked about this Nathan.
Congrats on being world champs by the way. It's really nice to see someone who isn't NY/PHI/STL on top.
Mine's steampunk, which I suppose falls under fantasy (it's more magically-oriented steampunk, not very science-y, so I don't really view it as sci-fi)
🙂
Mine's a ghost story, so I'm going with paranormal. Not quite fantasy, but no vampires. *shrug*
Romance for me. It'll be my first time doing a romance, so I'm pretty excited. And nervous, but that's normal.
After reading Bookends blog earlier today I realized that my work is best classified as, cross-genre fantasy romance. It is a mouth full but it best discribes what I am writing.
I chose Science Fiction because that's what almost all of my novels have been. But the WIP…the WIP is more of a contemporary Lovecraftian story. I didn't think Cthulhu fit in with paranormal. (He certainly doesn't sparkle in the sun.)
Given the detail you gave to the YA and MG markets, I would have thought separating urban fantasy from fantasy would have also been appropriate.
mine's a fantasy that will end up being entirely too long. one of the downfalls of being a pantser.
Mine is a high concept adventure story, but I put sci-fi because the inciting incident involves an another-worldly source.
I'm a little strange, I guess. I have one Sci-Fi novel, one modern Romance/Adventure novel, one Fantasy novel, and one trashy Romance/Erotic novel all in the works at once. *sigh* Now, if I can just get one of them finished to my liking…
Memoir which might turn into fiction.
Fantasy in beta status where I've tried to leave all the fantasy cliches behind and create a brand new world with it (Based on the beta reviews it seems the novel is succeeded on this front.). My other WIP is a dark sci-fi story, which will be a comic novel.
My WIP is straight-up fantasy.
I've also written urban fantasy, YA fantasy, steampunk, and historical paranormal. My next WIP is likely to be either steampunk-flavoured science fiction or YA science fiction.
Why yes, I do enjoy playing in all corners of the SF/F genre…
Pseudo sci-fi dystopia novel with a love story… I threw it under sci-fi. Why not? 🙂
I voted fantasy because I'll be pitching it as urban fantasy, but it's got a bunch of sci-fi elements.
A fellow writer friend turned me on to a new and upcoming genre called New Adult fiction or something of the like. Written for post-grad twenty year-olds, not appropriate for a young adult crowd, but not technically a true adult fiction.
This is what mine falls under.
Lisa K
Mine is science fiction/ fantasy blend with a slight tinge of horror targeted for 12+ gifted kids, though some kids down to 10+ might can read it. It is set in present day and the story interacts with present day Earth. I don't know what exact genre classification that makes it. Anyway, it's a 4 part serial.
I wish NaNo had your options. My book is classified as "Young Adult" in NaNo since the protagonist is seventeen, but it's also a sci-fi and I wish I could choose both options for it.
Not doing NaNo this year because I'm finishing my paranormal romance and then revising another.
romantic drama
I clicked MG Sci-fi but it didn't register.
Did you block the genre to keep it all to yourself? I'm thinking you did.
😉
Is rawhide a genre? Oh wait! You said WIP! Well, I'm still wipping mine into shape, but Young Adult Dieselpunk is probably the most succinct description. Of your listed categories, Nathan, I could have selected Fantasy or Science Fiction or YA Fantasy or YA SF. I selected YA SF as the best fit.
As I've commented before, Irish bookstores have Teenager sections, but no YA sections. My series would probably end up in the Teenager or Fantasy or SF sections, the last two sections often being combined. There are no MG sections because Irish schools have classes, not grades, and none are described as 'middle'. Do American bookstores really have SEVEN different YA sections and MG sections?
Anima, my WIP also resembles the Indiana Jones series. Indy is Action/Adventure with Fantasy elements, but has more recently been claimed by Dieselpunk. Interesting how the religious/occult fantasy of the first three movies is replaced by Science Fiction in the fourth movie. Interesting too that Nathan lists no Action/Adventure category. I wonder where he would shelve Indy? Apart from a 'Movie tie-in' shelf.
JACOB WONDERBAR sounds like MG Fantasy to me, although it does feature Extra-Solar Planetary Flatulence…
Romance, always romance…
Does 1954-64 count as historical? It's Gypsy meets The Bean Trees during the Cold War.
Woman's fiction for me. I'm continuing a novel I began last month but am determined to input 50K this month! So far I've upped my word count by close to 6K.
YA and MG writing have grown in popularity (which isn't surprising when you consider a few factors). I don't read them but I can't miss them in the bookstores.
My revision WIP and new WIP (being mapped) are genre fiction aimed at the adult audience.
Markets are fickle, I'm banking on that. What's in today may very well be out tomorrow. So the best thing to do is to keep writing, testing the waters, and learning.
What do you glean from this information, Nathan? It would be interesting to know if the types of responses in this vote will equal or come close to the types of queries you receive in your in-box.
I wonder why there's no YA – Literary Fiction.
What would Catcher in the Rye and Huckleberry Finn qualify as? Obviously they're timeless and qualify under the general lit-fic banner, but their demographic is typically younger readers.
Is it because their technical proficiency can still be appreciated by adults as well?
Frankly, I find the brunt of the YA label to be a cop-out.* It's allowed too many authors who haven't honed their writing skills or world view beyond that of a teenager to publish books all willy-nilly. I'm sure some would argue that if they're getting published and kids are reading it, that's all that matters, but I would beg to differ. The fodder teenagers are reading nowadays is teaching them that mediocre writing isn't just acceptable but it's rewarded. As a result, aspiring young authors never feel the need to set lofty literary goals for their own work.
Basically, it's compounding the problem of the collective dumbing-down of society (although probably not as much as television shows like Ghosthunters, UFO Hunters, and whatever 'psychic' show is having its 'fifteen minutes' this week).
*(No offense to anyone classifying their work as YA. There are certainly quality books in the genre – they just seem to be getting fewer and further between. So make your work extraordinary!)
Speaking of setting a higher standard for writing:
I'll give a cookie to whoever spots the glaring grammatical error in my comment above.
Here's a hint: I misappropriated a word.
/begins baking cookies
Mine is adult mainstream, though I see no category for it.
It's adult urban/dark fantasy for me. Leaning more toward the darker side of things for NaNo.
Best
J
My first NANO, I did an urban fantasy romance…basically hot werewolves running from the bad guys and falling in love. 🙂 Hey, it was SO FUN to write.
This year I'm doing a dark action-adventure comedy where I hope to break most of the rules of novel writing.
🙂
WHat fun is NANO if you don't stretch.
Tirzah Laughs
MG Fantasy. :o)
Currently working on a creative non-fiction novel focusing on three generations of family, the emotional and psychological traditions that are passed on, as well as the inability to truly defeat the parent/child role, and how the one-two punch of that combination can cause a person to break. Not sure exactly where to classify that, as it isn't a memoir (while it focuses on members of my family, it's not about me), but it's not literary fiction.
Women's fiction with a supernatural thread – I think. That is what I have been querying it as anyway. Think Alice Hoffman with more ghost and less fairytale.I'd love to run into other writers of this genre in the bloggersphere – but they seem to be few and far between.
Urban Fantasy. More specifically, a supernatural suspense/police procedural with strong romantic elements (but not a HEA)…but it will be shelved in the Fantasy section, 'cause I'm pretty sure book stores don't have that particular category. 🙂
Is "help me my characters are out of control and they are taking over" a genre?
No, that wasn't a cry for help! I swear! I'm not typing anything that isn't the MS or work!
Honestly. They are taking over. What happened to my summary?
What about magical realism?
YA – General. NaNoWriMo to start it off. Coming of age in the 50s. Jackie Robinson, Lyndon Johnson, Joe McCarthy, and others appear.
Mine's Romance. More to the point Christian Romance. (There's quite a difference between the two).
I guess the question isn't limited to NaNo writers. I had to think about if there would be Early Reader or Picture Books with 50k words. That was hard to imagine.
I selected literary fiction, but my WIP is more accurately called experimental crime noir literary fiction. Ha. Its a genre I've never tried before–I usually read and write fantasy. So far its been fun and disturbing to write.
I'm so happy to SEE YA Historical Fiction as a category in your list. 🙂
Among the many things to worry about while trying to get published, at least this one hasn't been difficult for me. Mine's straight-up adult sci-fi. Oh, it has its interesting complicating elements (gay main character) but it's about adults in the future. Clean-cut categorization.
And my one in the wings is pure epic fantasy. The main character is 16, but that doesn't usually matter in epic fantasy, in my experience.
I recently learned that what I'm writing is called New Adult literature. My characters are early twenties- too old for YA, too young to be real adults. I'm excited to (try to) add something to relatively uncharted territory. But also scared it will may spur rampant rejections!
Mine is an urban fantasy (I voted paranormal, though there are no witches, vampires or werewolves). It has very strong suspense/thriller elements as well.
Word Ver is bedho–which sort of relates to my story in a disturbing way.
Didn't see a category for lgbt fiction, so I clicked other. And I'm kind of curious about what the rest of the "other" people are writing.
Late, but thank you Nathan. I haven't been able to get an answer to that before.
MG-Horror is I'll be writing next, but there wasn't a place for that so I put "other". It isn't "paranormal", there are no vamps, witches, or anything supernatural. Just a good old fashioned creepy monster (a biological oddity). I'm sorry that there weren't places for YA-Horror and MG-Horror, though you included Sci-Fi for each. I love Sci-Fi, too, and read a lot of it, but I love Horror more (and it sells better anyway). Please include "Horror" in your kids choices next time so the horror-writers don't feel like poor cousins.
I called it sci fi – it's really steampunk, but with no magic elements – just alt history, so I didn't say fantasy. I think you could make an argument either way, though. 😉
Last year it was Mystery, this year it's true thriller. Anyway we can split that category up next year so the subtleties of my vote can count? Also, I understand that there are already a ton of categories on your list. . . why do these two so easily get lumped together? Couldn't a case easily be made that the two are distinct, and if you don't know for sure which yours is, you should probably do a bit more editing? Just thoughts.
I put YA paranormal, but I am simultaneously working on several picture books, both rhyming and otherwise.
I finished a YA sci-fi two days ago and it's going out to my critique group this weekend. I'm super excited about it, even though there are no space monkeys involved.
I don't know what I want to write. I have YA, erotica, romance, and mystery all in the works right now. But the one I'm focusing on now, because I can't really focus on anything until I get this out of my system, is sort of noirish-mystery-romance.
I fear I won't be able to sell it (assuming it's even worth reading), but it's space-opera Science fiction loosely informed by the history of Ireland, especially the 1916 Uprising and the Irish Civil War, as well as by Irish Literary Fiction. I know; weird, right?
It's got aliens who conquered humanity and turned them into a second-class worker caste, a lost homeworld, an epic journey, secrets and dualities a-plenty, all wrapped up in the trappings of spaceships and plasma weapons.
My NaNoMo this year is hard sf. Totally untrendy. I don't care–I've wanted to write this story forever and never had time. Not that I have time now either.
Middle Grade Magical Realism.
Does that count as Fantasy?
It has fantastical elements, but is rooted in the real world.
I'm doing a historical mystery, neither of which I have ever attempted before. It's interesting so far. My subconscious seems to have taken over the plot.
I completely suck at the genre thing…as someone else said, my project (series) is based in today's world, but has fantastical elements in it – curses, a time-travel element. There's mention of a witch, but I wouldn't call it "YA paranormal" and "fantasy" makes me think of castles and dragons and wizards, so… *eek* Help?
YA. I called it fantasy, but it could be paranormal, I suppose…I don't really know the difference. Maybe a future topic for you to go over?
It's a ghost story, which I've since realized a lot of people are writing. Pretty cool.
I think what writers like to write can be very different from what readers like to read.
My Darcy Mutates
transgressive.myc
Mine is middle-grade fantasy.
A research team drilling ice cores at the North Pole finds something amazing buried deep in the ice: a book that tells the origins of Santa Claus.
This story-within-a-story explains everything from the origins of Santa’s white hair and red suit to his ability to fit all those presents in one sack.
It has a sense of adventure to it, it's kind of like Santa Begins.
WORD VERIFICATION: arsterna. Pig Latin for Narster.
My NaNo is literary fiction, but really, I'd term it "New Adult" if that category really took off. My other WIP, once NaNo is over, will be paranormal YA. I'm all over the place with what I like to write, but I'm trying to stick with one audience – the YA/new adult sort of thing.
Hi.
I clicked Historical Fiction, but really it could be Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, too. And I'm not doing NaNo. I'm doing it on my own. If this book is done by next November, maybe I will do Nano then. =]
Monica
thisismybookonly.blogspot.com
Suspense/thriller and also working on a horror novel.
I voted other. Although when seeking publication I'll find a category to fit into. I would describe my style as scientific supernatural thrillers. I base the stories on all the information I have gleaned from governments religions and long time dedicated scientific amateurs and professional sources added to forty-five years of extended personal exploration. Physics changed forever in 2002 and most science fiction writers have not adjusted – caught up. Information theory has come to be the dominant lenses after string and brane-m theory were found to be too difficult to utilize. The Americans, Chinese, and Russians have each spent multiple billions in researching Quantum Consciousness as an extension of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle and the eternal dilemma between a universe composed of waves and oppositely a universe composed of point like particles. The results of the research scared everyone deeply but the Americans the most. I learned what they know from key(-man)former contract workers and career military. I understand their fear and cautious denials. It makes for great speculative fiction though if you have the true forms and formulas.
It took four hundred years from the Da Vanci's plane schematics to the Wright Brothers plane. I don't have four hundred years to spare. Long range transportation-communication services are already being installed for China and Russia. America is becoming a third world country very very very very rapidly. The disease of conceit taking its toll rapidly.
My underlying purpose is to expose the ideas to a broader audience while becoming a very effective writer in terms of plot, pacing and magnetic characters of both dark and noble motivations
I currently believe that I'm writing YA dystopian, but my last WIP was more of YA magical realism…I dabble in all the realms of YA and focus on what interests me most at the time.
Currently I am writing mystery, sci-fi adventure stories.
No NaNo for me this year–busy doing edits for my publisher.
Science Fiction. 🙂
Mine's YA urban fantasy (you could stretch and call it paranormal romance, but it isn't one of those regular paranormal creatures, so I ticked the YA fantasy box).
Good idea, getting a sense of the Nano novels this year. I'm sure you'll be seeing too many of them in your inbox next month. *cringes for you*
I promise to edit my Nano novel before querying. I promise to edit it a LOT.
******
My NaNo is YA thriller. I haven't started typing it yet, but the MS is complete in my head — except for a few twists before the end.
Nathan – congrats to the Giants , their pitching was awesome.
*******
Mine is an off-the-wall kind of sci-fi noir adventure. Nothing like crossing genre'!
Mine is a political steampunk Early Reader called, HARVEY KENNELLIS RIDES A TRAIN THROUGH THE SKY.
I said mine is women's fiction. Last year I said literary fiction, but I'm not feeling so lofty. 🙂
In any case, I didn't finish last year and am starting over, so it's sort of the same book. Same beginning characters at least. Maybe someday I'll take writing seriously? In the meantime, I'm just having fun!
Wow. The poll results seem to indicate that the writing trends haven't changed much over the past few years.
Looks like you're still seeing lots of vampire and YA queries, Nathan.
YA Sci-fi.
I put fantasy even though mine has some paranormal elements (but not vampires, werewolves, ghosts, or angels). I think most people think "romance" when they hear "paranormal", and that's not what I'm writing, so I just went with fantasy. Most of my other stuff is SF, or has strong elements of both SF and fantasy/though. 😀
Not a NaNoWriMo, 'cause I write on my own schedule, but it's a (deep breath) post-apocalyptic dystopian science-fiction future history teen romance with overtones of steampunkery. An alien invasion turned off the electricity 72 years ago, and now Amarylla and Marlowe are trying to turn it back on. So far, the only sparks are their own.
trying my hand at humor and experimenting with making the whole thing public (as a motivational tool). i wonder how sick of myself i will be after 50,000 words of me trying to be funny.
my nano book is ya contemporary fiction. i'm hoping to enter it in the delacorte writing contest.
my other wip is ya fantasy.
I have some angst and fretting going on here which is reflected in my blog post today, but after some additional fretting and thinking and talking with my husband, I feel like I know where I am taking my work now. I put it in the category of "women's fiction," but I feel as though it will be more down and dirty and thought provoking than your average chick lit (But isn't that what everyone thinks about their own, perhaps? Or, I have a big fat head). Whatever. On with the writing.
I'm going for literary fiction.
It's got dragons, so it might appear fantasy, but it's really science fiction.
Wow, the answers so far are EXACTLY the same as the ones from last year. Adult literary fiction, Mystery/suspense/thriller, and fantasy, and YA fantasy. Though YA general and SciFi are on the rise as well as MG fantasy.
Definitely interesting.
I'm writing a romantic comedy. =)
I'm writing in the "Satire, Humor & Parody" genre. That one is listed in the NaNoWriMo choices section, why did you leave it off your list?
It makes me sad to see so few people are writing historical fiction on any level. What am I going to read in the future???
For those interested. As of 1,880 votes, the biggest changes from last year to this (meaning a change of more than 1%) are:
Literary Fiction -2%
YA (SF) +3%
MG (Fantasy) +2%
And that's it. I'm going to call Hunger Games as a strong reason for the 3% increase in YA SF, but what do I know?
I know Women's Fiction is the PC genre for my book, but dude, it's totally chick-lit. Pure fluff, which is my favorite thing to read…and I'm 30, and a mom, and a semi-smart copywriter.
Middle grade SF here – I'm writing a couple of Hal Spacejock Junior books. It's a refreshing break from 95000 word novels, and it's nice sticking to one viewpoint and a single plot strand.
I think I've spent too long on Facebook – while reading through the comments I kept wanting to 'like' them.
(Would be kinda fun to have that facility here though and see which comments gain the most lurve!)
(Oh and I'm MG Mystery)
It's mid teen/YA fantasy with a dollop of sci-fi. No zombies/vampires/werewolves, but definitely features a few mythological creatures!
I'm curious…it seems like a lot of people are doing steampunk. Is this the next big thing?
I put YA science fiction, but it's more steampunk/science fantasy.
I'm writing an outgrowth of steampunk I refer to as Atomic Punk, Same general setting with a small cast of characters and main protagonist they circle around plotwise who have accessed the full range of technology (still not available)that governments would kill to acquire; including ships as information tranfer agents and the bridges through the timescape fabrics to safeky operate them. In effect they become the dominant Time Mafia that lies behind behind many key events of human history.
My vote is under semi-protest as apparently "Paranormal" now refers to everything *except* ghosts???
I answered science fiction, though it leans cyberpunk. 😀
I so wish Nathan Bransford was posting more this week. Being the first week of NaNoWriMo, I could really use some more pep talk from my coach! What is it about a Friday in November that makes one so melancholy and so in need of milk chocolate?
In other news, I'm chaperoning a junior high dance tonight! I bet I'll be hearing some Usher.
That is all. abc
You know, I wish people would stop giving Nathan a hard time about the catagories (especially since half the time, the catagory is there, just spelled differently).
He's posting from New York, and I think he's going above and beyond, as he always does. He listed tons of catagories.
I find the poll really interesting mostly in looking for trends. It doesn't matter to me if I'm specifically represented – but then, frankly, I'm sort of weird. If I could have my very own Mira genre, that no one else every wrote in, that would make me supremely happy.
Anyway, I think the world of Nathan, and I don't want him to feel unappreciated.
just joining up here…! i am in the very unpopular category of memoir!
I'm ashamed to say that I'm doing a paranormal fiction. After the Twilight craze, it seems like overkill buuut.. that's why I cut vampires out of it. It's the first in a series that is tentatively hoped to be a trilogy.
My book this year is fantasy with my my favorite blend of sub-genres: political/adventure. 😀
Hi Nathan, Would you please add 'poetry' to your list? It is such an important genre, so neglected in the world sometimes. Thank you. A.