For February's tips and tricks, our topic discussion is 'Picking The Right Genre'. Oftentimes, we writers have a hard time choosing the best fitting genre(s) for our books. Especially those of us who write multiple genres in one. However, with a little bit of guidance and research, it isn't too hard.

Ⅰ) What are genres? Genres are the groups in which you categorize something (literature, music, etc.) based on the components they share. At least, in simplest terms. For instance, horror is a genre but what do all horror films, books, and the likes have in common? The haunting atmosphere it creates; often meant to frighten.

Ⅱ) How do I choose my genre? Pinpointing your target audience may be a good start. Now, this isn't only limited to age categories (Young adult, New adult, Adult, etc.). How are your books supposed to make readers feel? What do you want readers to remember your books for? Be careful not to attract the "wrong" readers. And by that, I mean, when your book is marked as something it's not, it can cause confusion and misunderstandings.

Once you have that in mind, the next step would be learning more about your genre options. There are so many main genres, and subgenres of books. It's important to know what elements fall into your book. Sometimes, this may be difficult due to certain genres sharing strong similarities – fantasy and paranormal is one example. But it helps to look through lists on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. Because those lists often compare books for you.

Ask yourself, what do my books have in common with these books? Elements would be things like crime, love, magic, dystopian worlds. Pinpoint what makes each genre different, and which one you fall into.

Loutka

Team Of Dreams