How important is book genre?

Here’s a worst-case scenario:

1974: Stephen King’s first novel, Carrie, is released. The publisher lists it as a Biography by accident. The book sits on the wrong shelf across the country.

2014: No one knows who Stephen King is.

Yes, that’s an exaggeration, but when you choose the wrong genre for your books on Amazon you’re choosing the wrong shelf. Simply put, that could destroy the book’s chances.

Luckily, we can change genres as often as we change writing software. Every online retailer allows you to genre-hop until you find your right audience.

 

5 simple steps you can take to choose the right genre:

1) Go to a bookstore!

Okay, this is going to sound trite. If it does, then head to #2. But it worked for me! If your book was inspired by a particular novel or author, then go find them on the shelf.

Now imagine that your book sits next to it.

Does it feel right?

It sounds loopy, but it really works! Especially if your book is a mix of many genres.

 

2) Armed with your best guess, head to the BISG site.

Click on the genre you chose in #1 and study the sub-genres on BISG.

Then bookmark BISG! Why? Because new genres pop up every year. The BISG site is the most transparent method of spotting a new mainstream, “official” market for your work.

And guess what? Most booksellers comply with the BISG list!

 

3) Head to the major online booksellers and find your niche.

These sites are your stores. You get a place on the shelf. You get a small display. You get a few seconds to make the sale. So know your store.

Luckily, with the BISG list you whittled down the choices so you don’t need to dig as much now that you’re about to dive into the morass of online bookstore genre lists! How big a mess are they? Well, here’s the Mystery genre list of four top online stores.

 

And check out this small taste of what genres each store offers: (all lists are from April, 2014)

 

Amazon genre list

[showhide type=”genrelist” more_text=”>>Click this link to show the Amazon genre list” less_text=”>>Click this link to hide Amazon genre list” hidden=”yes”]

#s in parentheses are the total number of titles in that genre

Arts & Photography (939,077)
Biographies & Memoirs (691,601)
Business & Money (1,967,372)
Calendars (136,574)
Children’s Books (1,110,182)
Christian Books & Bibles (652,410)
Comics & Graphic Novels (410,241)
Computers & Technology (496,343)
Cookbooks, Food & Wine (187,337)
Crafts, Hobbies & Home (430,882)
Education & Reference (4,512,483)
Engineering & Transportation (710,286)
Gay & Lesbian (52,727)
Health, Fitness & Dieting (610,932)
History (3,805,653)
Humor & Entertainment (453,318)
Law (566,246)
Literature & Fiction (3,178,315)
Medical Books (771,156)
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense (272,265)
Parenting & Relationships (165,447)
Politics & Social Sciences (1,597,281)
Religion & Spirituality (1,271,853)
Romance (435,075)
Science & Math (1,518,315)
Science Fiction & Fantasy (287,324)
Self-Help (309,223)
Sports & Outdoors (254,091)
Teen & Young Adult (279,009)
Travel (414,616)

[/showhide]

Barnes & Noble genre list

[showhide type=”genrelist2″ more_text=”>>Click this link to show the Barnes & Noble genre list” less_text=”>>Click this link to hide the Barnes & Noble genre list” hidden=”yes”]

Art, Architecture & Photography
Bibles & Bible Studies
Biographies
Business & Money
Children’s Books
Computing & Internet
Cookbooks, Food & Wine
Crafts & Hobbies
Education & Teaching
Fiction & Literature
Graphic Novels
Health & Fitness
History
Home & Garden
Humor
Libros en español
Medicine
Mystery & Crime
Nonfiction
Politics & Current Events
Psychology
Religion
Reference
Romance
Science & Nature
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Self-Improvement
Sports & Adventure
Travel

[/showhide]

Kobo genre list

[showhide type=”genrelist3″ more_text=”>>Click this link to show the Kobo genre list” less_text=”>>Click this link to hide the Kobo genre list” hidden=”yes”]

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
Artists, Architects & Photographers
Business
Composers & Musicians
Entertainment & Performing Arts
Historical
Literary
Philosophers
Political
Reference
Religious
Royalty
Sports

BUSINESS & FINANCE
Accounting
Business Reference
Career Planning & Job Hunting
Economics
Entrepreneurship & Small Business
Finance & Investing
Human Resources & Personnel Management
Industries & Professions
Management & Leadership
Marketing & Sales
Personal Finance

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS
Anthologies
Contemporary Women
Crime & Mystery
Erotica
Fantasy
Gay & Lesbian
Historical Fiction
Horror
Literary
Manga
Media Tie-In
Non-Fiction
Religious
Romance
Science Fiction
Superheroes

FICTION & LITERATURE
Action Suspense
Anthologies
Classics
Drama
Essays & Letters
Fiction – Young Adult
Historical
Horror
Humorous
LGBT
Literary
Literary Theory & Criticism
Movie & Television Tie-Ins
Poetry
Psychological
Religious
Short Stories
Thrillers
Westerns

KIDS & TEENS
ABCs, 123s
Animals
Beautiful and Interesting
Comics, Graphic Novels & Manga
Creative Kids
Fiction
Français, Español and more
Knock knock, Who’s Funny?
My Family, My Feelings, My Friends
Natural World
People and Places
Read-Along
Religion
School Tools
Sports and Recreation
Technology
Teen
Two Wheels, Four Wheels, No Wheels

MYSTERY & SUSPENSE
Cozy Mysteries
Espionage
Hard-Boiled
Historical Mystery
International
Legal
Police Procedural
Technological
Thrillers
Traditional British
Women Sleuths

NONFICTION
Art & Architecture
Computers
Entertainment
Family & Relationships
Food & Drink
Health & Well Being
History
Home & Garden
Reference & Language
Religion & Spirituality
Science & Nature
Social & Cultural Studies
Sports
Travel

ROMANCE
Contemporary
Erotica
Harlequin
Historical
Inspired Romance
Paranormal
Romantic Suspense
Science Fiction & Fantasy

SCI FI & FANTASY
Fantasy
High Tech
Historical
Horror
Science Fiction
Space Opera
Steampunk

[/showhide]

Smashwords genre list

[showhide type=”genrelist4″ more_text=”>>Click this link to show the Smashwords genre list” less_text=”>>Click this link to hide the Smashwords genre list” hidden=”yes”]

Fiction
Adventure
African American fiction
Anthologies
Children’s books
Christian
Classics
Cultural & ethnic themes
Drama
Fantasy
Gay & lesbian fiction
Graphic novels & comics
Historical
Holiday
Horror
Humor & comedy
Inspirational
Literary collections
Literature
Mashups
Mystery & detective
Poetry
Romance
Science fiction
Themes & motifs
Thriller & suspense
Women’s fiction
Young adult or teen

Non-Fiction
Antiques & Collectibles
Art, Architecture, Photography
Biography
Business & Economics
Career Guides
Children’s Books
Comics (nonfictional)
Computers and Internet
Cooking, Food, Wine, Spirits
Education and Study Guides
Engineering, trades, and technology
Entertainment
Gay and Lesbian
General reference
Health, wellbeing, & medicine
History
Home and Garden
Inspiration
Language Instruction
Law
Music
New Age
Parenting
Philosophy
Politics and Current Affairs
Psychology
Publishing
Reference
Relationships and Family
Religion and Spirituality
Science and Nature
Self-improvement
Sex and Relationships
Social Science
Sports & outdoor recreation
Transportation
Travel
True Crime
Weddings

[/showhide]

The lists above don’t include all sub-genres! So yeah, there are a lot of options. Again, BISG will help you focus.

 

4) Choose every single genre that makes sense.

Every. Single. One.

That’s probably a lot, and that’s okay. Write the list down somewhere safe. You’ll need it for #5.

Each online seller allows you to choose a different number of genres. Choose the genres that feel right. Or choose the genres that solid data supports.

Important note: Make sure your honest with yourself and choose a genre that actually fits. Just because your book includes a cameo of a handsome vampire doesn’t make it a New Adult Paranormal Romance. If you choose the wrong genre for your book you will hear from the readers — with bad reviews (see #5 for my experience).

Important note #2: Some bookstores don’t allow you to choose the precise genre you want. In this case, write to their support team and tell them you’d like placement in a certain genre. They’ll do so, but it may take a while.

 

5) Measure performance and make changes

This might be controversial advice, but it makes sense. If you don’t think your book is finding an audience in the genre you picked, then consider changing to another one.

 

[blockquote author_name=”” width=”50%” float=”left”]Upside: You might hit the nail on the head.[/blockquote]

[blockquote author_name=”” width=”50%” float=”left”]Downside: You might disrupt any momentum you were getting in the genre (which is info that none of these stores shares with us).[/blockquote]

 

I changed genres for the Shirley Link series on Amazon from Young Adult Mysteries to Kids Mysteries. I was getting a lot of downloads in Young Adult, but most of my reviews were *enh* to awful because young adults thought my books were too young for them. While I haven’t yet shown in the top seller list on Kids Mysteries, I’ve seen excellent reviews since I made the move.

It’s a tough call, sure. But if your book isn’t moving after a couple of months, try changing one of your sub-genres before you spend cash on a promo.

What tips do you have for genre seekers? Help out a fellow writer in the comments.

 

By Ben Zackheim