There seem to be few of us who don't have some sort of problem with the genre we must assign our books. What additions to the genres would you make to better classify your book. Or if you were to replace genre classification altogether, what system would you use instead?
Harry Potter is Fantasy? But..but...
So - how is the idea of "genre" and the practice of locating books on shelves in a shop going to be affected by E books, Kindle and all the rest?
Is it possible that the whole issue will be changed by the ability not just to dip into a book (or a part of a book) electronically to see if you like it but the development of "communities" etc. ?
David
Thank you, Louise. Everyone wants that mainstream label really because you won't gain a really high readership without it. As fantasy becomes more niche, writers edge away from it. It's a strange problem because some of the genre titles are actually putting readers off. I'm preferring to choose something new and mainstream because it could be anything, whereas books in the romance or saga sections tend to be a little old-fashioned. I assume it's the same for other sections of the 'bookshop'. Something that is traditionally Sci-fi will be put in its natural home, but that will mean doesn't wander off the path too far and knows its place - Sci-fi with boundaries. Who wants to read that?
I don't remember the last time I bought a book that wasn't in the Bestseller List, the Recommended Books or the New Fiction selection and that is the way people buy books now. They want something someone else has said is good so they don't waste their precious leisure time on a nicely jacketed dud. I don't blame them. I'm one of them!
Louise is right about people not stepping outside their comfort zones, but if you ask anyone what genre the last book they read was in, would they know? If they picked it up at the front of the shop, they might not.
So pardon me if it feels as if choosing a genre is preparing to fail, but asking me which back shelf I'd like my book to sit on always seems like such a daft question. Don't you feel as if genre is being replaced? I do.