Genres

Here's a confession: I don't think about genre when I'm writing. Especially not during the planning, the research or the writing process. And mostly not after it's finished, either.

The age old conundrum of which came first, the chicken or the egg, can definitely be applied to author branding and the genres across which an author writes. While many authors establish a brand based on the books they write, others write books (especially non-fiction) inspired by an existing brand.  Read more

Genre is a funny thing.

I've been a science fiction and fantasy nerd for as long as I can remember. And I'm not sure when I started to register that some of the speculative books I love weren't all marketed or categorized the same way.

What makes 1984 or The Handmaid's Tale more literature than science fiction?  Read more

Romance is a genre about women, by women and pored over by women - 84 percent of readers are female, according to Romance Writers of America.

It's a $1 billion industry, and 35 percent of romance book buyers have been reading them for 20 years or more, according to RWA.  Read more

When I'm introduced to someone as a writer, a now familiar pattern of events often follows.

"Oh, really! How interesting!" the someone-let's call her Jane-says, sounding quite enthusiastic. "What do you write?"

"Science fiction," I say.

Jane instantly glazes over. "I'm afraid I never read science fiction."