PREVIEW - What's Your Genre and Why Does It Matter? Part 1

The word "genre" can mean a lot of things in the publishing world, from a set of story tropes or archetypes-a set of reader expectations-to a vital marketing tool that will determine your all-important place on a bookstore shelf.

Most of the time, the genre you're writing in is obvious to everybody involved, but it can often get complicated, and even too complicated. Every author needs to know when and how far to narrow in on sub-genres like Steampunk or Paranormal Romance, or be sensitive to the business decisions behind calling a novel either "horror" or "urban fantasy."

Philip Athans has spent the last thirty years as an author and editor primarily in genre fiction, especially science fiction and fantasy, and has seen the publishing business from the inside even as it's moved into the so-called e-book and indie publishing "revolutions."

In this 43-minute tutorial video, Phil Athans looks at the major genres not just in terms of story content, but the commerce behind those divisions:
What is "Genre"?
Why Genre?
The Genre list
Learn to embrace your chosen genre-and how to carefully choose a new one!

This is part 1 of a two-part tutorial.

Writer's Digest Tutorials was launched in 2010 to provide online writing tutorials from experts in the industry on everything you need to know to help improve your craft and get published. The tutorials are streamed to Writer's Digest Tutorial members so that they can be viewed 24/7 from any computer with a high-speed internet connection without requiring software downloads. You can choose to purchase a membership to all of our tutorials for either a 1-month ($25/month) or 12-month ($199/year) period. For more information on ordering options, please mouse over the "Buy Tutorials" link in the top navigation bar & select membership length you'd like. Writer's Digest Tutorials is operated by F+W Media, Inc. -- owners of Writer's Digest Magazine, Writers Market, Writer's Digest University, and the Writer's Digest Shop.

[SaraAWatts]

Wow, I never really thought about the word "genre" meaning those three different definitions.  I've always thought about genre as more a category of reading, but the "set of reader expectations" definition is something I don't think about often. As a writer I guess I should keep it in mind.