Book genres are used to categorize your books. There are lots of benefits to this, of course – if a reader wants to read a romantic story, they will be grateful to find the romance section, as opposed to looking at every single book in the bookstore to see if it aligns with their interests.
Additionally, a genre helps agents know which editors to pitch your book to, and it helps editors know how they can package and sell your book to readers. Not every agent is interested in the same genres, just as some publishing imprints specialize in some genres over others.
Below you’ll see a list of the main genres in the publishing world. Note that these are main genres, and that there are often subgenres associated with a category (for instance, there are different types of mysteries – cozy mystery, police procedural, etc.).
When you are pitching your book, it is essential you know the genre your book lives under (e.g., “My 110,000-word novel, Murderous Kisses, is a romantic police procedural…”). As you can see in the example, you will likely have elements of more than one genre – however, you’ll want to have one be the primary focus (in the example, the book is a police procedural that also has romance.)
It also helps to use comparative titles when pitching, as it gives the agent or editor a shorthand understanding of your book’s potential spot in the marketplace (for instance, “my self-help empowerment guide for women has the sassiness of Girl, Wash Your Face and the spiritual elements like those in The Universe Has Your Back”).
Here are three lists of genres (fiction, nonfiction, and bonus) to get you started:
Fiction Genres
1. Fantasy
2. Adventure
3. Mystery
4. Romance/Erotica
5. Literary
6. Contemporary
7. Dystopian
8. Horror
9. Thriller
10. Paranormal
11. Magic Realism
12. Historical Fiction
13. Science Fiction
14. Children’s
15. Young Adult
16. New Adult
17. Realist
18. Upmarket
19. Mainstream
20. “Women’s”
Nonfiction
1. Memoir/Autobiography
2. Self-Help/Personal Development
3. Cooking
4. Art/Photography
5. Health/Fitness
6. History
7. Travel
8. Guide/How-To
9. Families/Relationships/Parenting
10. Humor
11. True Crime
12. Biography
13. Business/Money
14. Politics/Social Sciences
15. Science/Technology
16. Religion/Spirituality
17. Essays
18. Poetry
19. Children’s
20. Young Adult
21. New Adult
Bonus Genres:
1. Graphic Novel
2. Short Stories
3. LGBTQ+
4. Bildungsroman
What genre are you writing? Let me know in the comments below.