Fiction Genres Explained | Literary vs. Commercial vs. Upmarket Fiction

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Genres allow publishers to classify your book and help readers understand what to expect from your story. But what exactly is genre and how do you select the right genre for your book? Learn the differences between literary vs. upmarket vs. commercial fiction, as well as the subgenres that fall under these categories. Knowing your novel's genre and subgenres will help you describe it effectively to potential agents, publishers, and readers.
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RELATED LINKS:
3 Popular Genres Publishers (Still) Love: • 3 Popular Genres Publi...
What's the Right Novel Length?: • What's the Right Novel...
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Опубликовано:

2 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 80

@AlyssaMatesic 3 года назад

What genre is your novel? Does it have a subgenre?

@clintcarpentier2424 3 года назад

Adult military sci-fi; NOT YA!!!

@MrAbeck1 2 года назад

Commercial Fiction - Fantasy. In my agent outreach, I just said fantasy though when referencing it

@danielkelley7548 2 года назад

Commercial "Mid-grade' Fiction.

@jetmeerkat5485 2 года назад

I have decided that the genre of my novel is Up Market Historical Semi-Fiction. A little bit of a mouthful, isn't it? The era in which my novel is set (Early 1600's in the Scottish Highlands) actually existed, but the events that I portray against that backdrop are made up. I guess if it has a Sub Genre, then it is Adventure / Romance. So, pretty much a hotch potch of everything!

@rudolphpyatt4833 2 года назад

Military and conspiracy thriller. Think Tom Clancy, but shorter.

@rishikajhamb1111 2 года назад

This has to be one of the best and clearest explanations of the genre topic. Thank you, Alyssa!

@AlyssaMatesic 2 года назад

Glad it was helpful!

@MariaMilenovasArt 9 месяцев назад

Can an author write novels that fall on different ends of the spectrum? for instance, one of their novels could be commercial, one could be literary fiction, etc. Does this ever happen??

@DACorderoArt Год назад

I am defining my novel as upmarket- science fiction-thriller. It has major elements of both with a character story and romance layered within due to the large scale of the overall plot yet specific focus on a family in the first installment, I pre-planned my 3 Novel trilogy and know my direction and the tone or focus of each novel, I just don't want to miss-genre my story I have planned

@DalCecilRuno 3 года назад

Wow! I was searching for this topic a few days ago. I have this problem. My story is a genre-blend trilogy. I'll comment again after I finish the video.

@toryhunterbooks 3 года назад

I was just talking about this recently and am so happy to have a clear, concise breakdown I can share to writers. Thanks Alyssa!!!

@AlyssaMatesic 3 года назад

You're welcome! So glad you found it helpful!

@WhirledPublishing Год назад

This is a great explanation, Alyssa, thank you.

@MrAbeck1 2 года назад

Wow, I'm actively looking for an agent, and I had no idea about these definitions! So thank you!

@AlyssaMatesic 2 года назад

Glad it was helpful!

@scotttanner8043 2 года назад

Thank you

@jenachristianson9629 3 года назад

Thank you for this insightful video! I had it in my head that literary fiction meant the driving force of the novel was in character development rather than plot. Obviously, both are vital to all genres, but I thought literary fiction just meant the novel leaned towards that character emphasis. It’s invaluable to learn how the industry categorizes it. I’ve always struggled to categorize my work. It’s rooted in modern day reality and basically follows characters wrestling with mental illness and a general disdain for cultural norms. There’s a lot of sarcasm and non conventional narrative style. I’ve always categorized it as “transgressive fiction,” but I’m worried when it comes to query time that it won’t stand out in this genre due to its lack of shock value.

@AlyssaMatesic 3 года назад

I'm so glad you found the video helpful! I would consider "transgressive fiction" a subcategory rather than an overarching genre. It does describe the type of story you're telling, which will be helpful in the query letter, but a piece of transgressive fiction could still lean more literary or commercial. You don't need to worry so much about "shock value" in the query letter - it's more important to be authentic and true to your novel!

@jenachristianson9629 3 года назад

@@AlyssaMatesic Thank you for the response! The problem isn't the lack of shock value, the problem is that I don't know how to categorize it to begin with. It's kind of satirical, but not enough to pitch it as satire. It's kind of transgressive, but it doesn't have the shock value usually attached to transgressive so I don't want to pitch it as such for it to not live up to the genre. Do I call it dark contemporary realistic fiction with transgressive and satirical elements? Maybe haha. I guess my question has less to do with categorization specifically and more to do with making sure I'm querying the right agents. Thank you again--your videos are fantastic :)!

@faithmiracle5878 Год назад

Hi Alyssa! I'm writing a literary fiction... It's about 120, 000 words... But, it's got detective/crime scenes, it's about a serial killer Who, is spiritually driven, as in, my book has paranormal scenes as well! To make things more confusing, my book has a sequel. Oh Goodness, I don't know if it's a literary fiction, or an upmarket fiction Please, what do you think? My writing style is poetic, good quality, it reminds me of, jane eyre and, sometimes, pilgrims progress But I'm using multiple points of view I have characters in: I YOU HE SHE What do you think?

@DalCecilRuno 3 года назад

This gave me some thoughts. I don't really like the term upmarket. Sounds snobbish. I should find some books to read in this category. My story has 4 elements that I cannot take away because the story wouldn't exist without either of them. So it becomes hard to categorise this in short words. 1. Sci-fi 2. Paranormal 3. Own Voices 4. Literary Why literary? No elitism from me, I just care about the quality of my prose, I care a lot and I want my story to sound good when I read it. I've also heard that literary fiction dives deep in topics like the human condition, which again it's something I deeply care about. It's hard for me to find where to query my novel. I've been aiming at the wrong people for sure. I'm trying to improve my strategies. Thank you for your videos.

@AlyssaMatesic 3 года назад

Glad this got you thinking more about what genres your novel fits under!

@irenetanzman3976 2 года назад

I struggle to categorize my book. It is based on twentieth century history-so the timeline is too recent to be called "historical fiction." The “refrigerator mother” theory, popular in the US from the 1940s through the 1980s and beyond, promoted maternal rejection as the cause of autism. My book, Refrigerator Mother, is about the effect this theory had on one young couple. Right now, I'm categorizing this as "book club fiction." This book was difficult to research and write because I had to align my story to the historical timeline. So far, I've received many rejections.

@DejanOfRadic 8 месяцев назад

Would "upmarket fiction" be placed in the "literature" section of the bookstore, or would it be placed in the genre section under which it fits best?

@intellectually_lazy Год назад

so i guess my novel falls in the upmarket category, speculative fiction, kinda gothic, the focus is on a relationship, but it's mad toxic, and it's gay, so idk, getting pigeon-holed in some bl ghetto could be a way bigger problem than my scifi not being literary, or possibly not science enough to call scifi

@kg30004 3 месяца назад

At the end of the day it’s all arbitrary but I understand wanting labels

@intellectually_lazy Год назад

my background is nothing. i'm no one, an ugly duckling, a black swan

@jayashreechakravarthy4949 Год назад

Destroy one more very important thing that belongs to Abbie Emmons.

@aaronsaunders6974 Месяц назад

Literary fiction 😎👍 thanks

@abhishektodmal1914 2 года назад

Thank you so much for your insights, Alyssa. Greatly appreciate it! Continued success in all your endeavours :-)

@AlyssaMatesic 2 года назад

Thank you for your kind comments! I wish you the best with your adventures as well :)

@StevenWilliams2560 3 года назад

Thanks for the tips! I am currently writing a women's fiction novel and outlining a thriller series.

@adglobal 10 месяцев назад

Sorry. Late to the question. But curious what is the difference between upmarket and contemporary fiction. How to position it if a mix of both ? BTW love your content.

@intellectually_lazy Год назад

i like to comment before and during the vid to showcase my ignorance. that being said, i'm very sure my story is literary along with all the other things it is, though i'm sure knowing the definition of that could help to make me even more certain. if there's something it might not be, it's probably commercial, again pending me learning the definition of that term... is it the dunning krueger effect, or simply late capitalism which makes me this way? only lucille ball's hairdresser knows for sure

@intellectually_lazy Год назад

well, you see, that's why my shit is literary. i didn't write something to be thrown away after a weekend at the beach and forgotten for all time

@JustClaude13 9 месяцев назад

I just finished my first try at a novel; a NaNoWriMo project. It's a young adult commercial fantasy. It was written as a single stand alone work, but two issues came up that need to be resolved after the end, so it'll be a trilogy when I'm done. I'm currently working out the beat chart for the series as a whole while trying to find out who the new characters are and what their motivations might be.

@lindadiggen9973 3 года назад

My story is speculative fiction. The first half of the book is a mix of a mother/son relationship and horror of the child's nightmares. The second half the MC has a several life changing events happen to her. I don't know how to better genre it than speculative and how to find an agent that would be interested in it.

@munafruit 2 года назад

this premise has intrigued me. i'd buy it. (im not an agent or publisher or anything, so that's not relevant or helpful at all lol but i had the thought and felt i ought to say...)

@SleepParty30 Год назад

My book is commercial fiction, with a Young Adult Fantasy subgenre.

@intellectually_lazy Год назад

fine, i got other genres, and my real strong point is characterization, but i got a sweet freaking voice. i'll chalk my non- literary status up to the small mindedness of editors, but i will be expecting cliffnotes, eventually

@intellectually_lazy Год назад

pfft! and who would say asimov, or token, or martin ain't literature... and l'engel stayed winning literary awards

@intellectually_lazy Год назад

and kafka, orwell, atwood, prachett, addams, rushdie, dick, lovecraft, are you kidding me? none of these are literary? gtfo!

@behnamlak3203 3 года назад

Thanks for the nice video! How should I call the genre of my novel: LGBTQ+ fiction novel which falls in the spectrum of literary fiction. The quality of language, craft, and deep philosophical aspects play a major part in this book. Genre is very confusing. Some people say LGBTQ+ is a genre itself. I am quite confused. Is this a genre or merely a theme?

@AlyssaMatesic 3 года назад

Great question. It's something I've been thinking about too, and I'm not sure there's an industry standard. My personal view is that LGBTQ+ is an aspect/element of your novel, but it's not the genre in and of itself. So, you could say something like "a work of literary fiction with LGBTQ+ romance" or whatever suits your story.

@behnamlak3203 3 года назад

@@AlyssaMatesic Thanks for the information!

@jawakkakar Год назад

😊

@robertnorok 3 года назад

One project I'm working on is a collection of short stories for children. I guess the genres should be commercial, fantasy, and some mystery, others adventure. The other one is still commercial, although less so. And fantasy, adventure, with a bit of heist.

@AlyssaMatesic 3 года назад

Awesome! Sounds like you're covering several different genres - cool.

@robertnorok 3 года назад

@@AlyssaMatesic the problem is focusing on one project long enough and not getting sidetracked by the new, shiny one 😅

@gabrielcubar5372 2 года назад

Im writing a rather prophetic novel but with excerpts and references to science, not sure where it falls.

@marias8007 3 года назад

Very interesting. Didnt know about upmarket but that's my fave

@annah.1569 Год назад

I consider my short stories to be "New Adult" Psychological Horror and Crime-Thriller, since they mostly consist of stalkers, serial killers, and scorned men and women. Actually they're more like psycho and sociopathic characters, when you think about it. I still have yet to finish crafting my debut novel, which has been on and off hiatus for the last decade for my own reasons. Are there LOTS of disadvantages to writing for the New Adult demographic and in short story format?

@melodyhawthorne4024 3 года назад

Maybe you could do a video on how to chose the age range for your book? I'm currently having trouble with that :(

@AlyssaMatesic 3 года назад

Great idea! I will add this to my list!

@katybeaver 3 года назад

I second this

@purezentity6582 2 года назад

Hi Alyssa How do you classify my book? In generally, this book suppose to be an Introduction book to a system of 13 books, contain 2 series. This is a coded system spread out 13 book in 2 series to form an opposite spectrum. In this intro book, I have an envelope, that the reader not suppose to know the question until the friend read it to the reader, and within certain time, those answer will be entering the map of coded symbols, in turn, it will decode the information from that reader. This book has to be in physical form, can not be an ebook. I need to know what is my Genre for the book/s or system?

@lexietalionis 2 года назад

I'm very glad to know that despite any pretensions I might have had to the contrary, my work falls firmly under commercial fiction. 😆

@AlyssaMatesic 2 года назад

Haha, just because it's commercial fiction doesn't mean it's automatically "low-brow" or low quality! It's just a genre title, at the end of the day :)

@jcourt58 Год назад

Thank you. I have an understanding of genre now. Excellent presentation

@AlyssaMatesic Год назад

So glad you found it helpful! Thanks for commenting.

@emilymurphy3958 3 года назад

what if my book fits multiple genres like fantasy, and romance and maybe even science fiction?

@AlyssaMatesic 3 года назад

I recommend focusing in on the genre that comes most to the forefront in the story. Many books have a romantic subplot, for instance, but if the romance isn't the main plot point, I'd recommend categorizing it under the more prominent genre. Does that make sense?

@emilymurphy3958 3 года назад

Thank you by the way I find your videos so helpful. I can’t thank you enough.

@mohammedkamran5257 2 года назад

Do traditional publishers consider erotica as a commercial or literary genre?

@AlyssaMatesic 2 года назад

Erotica is usually considered under the commercial umbrella, as it often comes hand in hand with other genre tropes found in romance books, etc. Of course, any book of any genre (commercial or literary) can have erotic elements. But if they are the focus of the novel, then it's considered to be in the erotica genre. Thanks for the question!

@gamewriteeye769 2 года назад

Thank you for sharing! So, I specialize a striking balance of upmarket fiction in my prose depending on where the story is at. I think literary fiction is generally more provocative but at the same time we want to be those good storytellers so we might opt for commercial fiction which fluffs out the narrative and more than likely, focuses on characters over plot.

@mileswhite4329 3 года назад

Could LGBTQ be considered its own genre?

@AlexeyShort Месяц назад

My fiction book is a "About RU-vid amateurs trying to invent new genre" subgenre of a genre about genres. Preparing to print

@thepsychoticempress03 2 года назад

Thankyou!!!!

@AlyssaMatesic 2 года назад

You're welcome!

@jawakkakar Год назад

I think your concept is unclear

@jawakkakar Год назад

Why do you look and then read ?

@jawakkakar Год назад

What is the difference between genre and literature

@DejanOfRadic 8 месяцев назад

The term "commercial fiction" seems banal, almost cynical.....like why are we bringing money into the conversation? Wouldn't "popular fiction" be a far less tacky term, not to mention more accurate?