As I’ve been working to market Enemies of Doves, I’ve been thinking a lot about genre. Genre is the style or category of any given book. It’s how bookstores and libraries know where to place the book, and where readers look to find their next great read.
I think most readers stick to a favorite genre. Readers like to read in the same genre because they know what to expect. I probably read thrillers more than anything else, but I really do branch out into all genres. My book club helps with this as it forces me out of my comfort zone. As a rule, I don’t like non-fiction, but the book, The Boys in The Boat by Daniel James Brown was one of the most propulsive reads I’ve ever picked up. I’m pretty cold hearted when it comes to romance novels, but I needed Will and Lou together as I read Jo Jo Moyes’ Me Before You. Needed, I tell you! I’d never imagined that a science fiction book would be one of my all-time favorites, but I’m absolutely haunted by Stephen Kings’ 11/22/63.
My point with this is that I try not to get pigeonholed into a certain genre when I read. I don’t think there is anything wrong with exclusively reading one type of book, but I like to mix it up.
I also like to mix it up while writing a book which, turns out, is a bit of a problem.
When I was looking for publication for Enemies of Doves, I was marketing it as a mystery and crime fiction, although I wasn’t completely sure if these were good fits. I mean, it had a mystery and a crime so okay. Good enough!
Ok, not good enough. Not according to many rejection letters anyway. Besides the word count, my most frequent criticism was my book not falling into the genre the agent typically represented. One agent told me I was a great writer, but my story would never sell in today’s market. Another told me he was so sorry because he personally liked the book, but he just didn’t feel he could find a home for it.
So, after hearing many of the same comments, I hired an editor. She had this to say about the genre: “Your book doesn’t fit comfortably in the crime fiction genre. It blends over into romance, historical fiction, and general fiction. A blend of mystery and romance is not bad but as you read through the rest of my comments, you may want to consider how my suggested changes relate to positioning this more strongly in the crime fiction genre. Or you may decide to market this instead as general fiction.”
Ok so with crime fiction out, what genre is my book anyway? I looked at the editor’s suggestions. Romance? No, most romance readers expect a happily ever after ending. Historical Fiction? No, the book is set in WW2, but that’s not integral to the plot necessarily. It could easily take place in another time. General Fiction? What does that even mean?!
Even when I found a publisher and they asked me to come up with several books comparable to mine, I was at a loss. My favorite author is Kate Morton, so I feel I modeled the style of my book to hers as far as using past and present narratives to tell a story, but our writing styles are very different. She writes very lyrically and descriptively and descriptive writing is HARD for me. I feel I thrive in writing characters and plot, but don’t ask me to describe the way the tree looked or the way a river flowed. I’m trying to improve, but description just doesn’t come naturally for me.
Out of curiosity I looked up what genre Kate Morton’s books fall into and came across an interview where she said this: “My first success as a writer came only after I’d thrown away everything I knew about genres and what other authors were doing, every expectation of publication, and just wrote what pleased me. I’m still not exactly sure what genre it is that I write.”
Well, at least I was in good company.
My publisher ultimately classified Enemies of Doves as a mystery. During the publication process I read a book called The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens, which reminded me more of my own story and style than any other book before. I immediately went to look up the genre and saw it was classified as a mystery as well. I actually had a reader email me this week to tell me that her favorite book is The Life We Bury, and this was the first book she’s ever read comparable. Whoo Hoo! (Best. Praise. Ever.) Okay so I do write mystery. Good to know!
But wait…..
I entered my book into three book contests and chose the category of mystery. I even made sure that the mystery category encompassed more than cozy mysteries, because I know for sure that is not the genre I write in. Where I could, I chose historical mystery. I was feeling good until I got an email back from one of the contests. They had read several chapters and suggested I move my book into the suspense and thriller category. I resisted at first because when I think of a suspense or thriller, I think of a fast-paced, high stakes book, and I don’t feel mine fits into that AT ALL. I went back on their site and read about the suspense/thriller category and saw it also includes some wording about crime solving. I still wasn’t sold until I read the final line. “For lighter-hearted books please submit to our mystery category.” Well, my book isn’t light-hearted at all so suspense it is.
This wasn’t just a one time suggestion either. Earlier this month I was running a promo with a company who sends emails of discounted books to readers. I had marked it as a mystery, but they reached out to tell me it fits better in the thriller/suspense category, and would do much better in terms of sales with their suspense readers rather than mystery. I still don’t see how it could be considered a thriller, but I’ll concede it’s got some suspense.
So, I decided to go back to the other two contests I entered to read their categories again carefully and consider moving my book. I mean, if judges are looking for light hearted books in the mystery category, Enemies of Doves doesn’t stand a chance. I was just about to email to move into the suspense/thriller category of one contest when I read this: “Thrillers do not include romance. Relationships yes, romance no.”
AHHHHHH!!!
As I work on my next book, I’m straying from the multi genre I somehow concocted and trying to follow more specific genre rules. I get that genre books sell better and thus reach more readers. That it’s much less of a risk to a publisher to print one. That no matter how great the story may be, readers notice if you mess with their genre and may feel disappointed. Yet, there are always exceptions to rules, aren’t there? Take the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Romance? Yes. Historical Fiction? Yes. Science Fiction? Also yes.
Even Agatha Christie broke one of the golden rules of crime writing in her day with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. It certainly didn’t seem to hurt her sales any. So maybe some rules are made to be broken after all.
In short, I still don’t exactly know what genre my book falls into, and that’s a bigger issue than I thought it would be. Yet Enemies of Doves is finding a readership. Every day I see new ratings on Goodreads and more and more people adding it to their “to read” list. I get lots of, “that’s not what I was expecting,” in reviews, but thus far it’s been overwhelmingly positive. I guess in the end, you can never be completely sure what will resonate with readers. If a reader loves your book, it’s found a home with them.
I’m curious. What genre(s) do you typically read? Do you ever look beyond that genre when choosing a book? If you’ve read Enemies of Doves, what genre would you classify it as? You can comment here or on the Facebook post. Looking forward to hearing your responses!
Shanessa Gluhm 