How to Pick a MARKETABLE Genre for Your Book (Fiction Writing Advice)

Don't make the mistake of underselling your novel to agents, publishers, and audiences. Learn how to pick the best genre or subgenre for your novel.
0:00 The Importance of Genre Labels
1:50 Accuracy
3:08 Marketability
4:07 Strengths & Weaknesses
5:46 Outro
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Get Brandon's supernatural thriller novel ENTRY WOUNDS:
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- AMAZON (AUS): www.amazon.com.au/dp/B097YGX2DH
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Credit to SkyDilen for my video intro.
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[@BigPhilly15]

Great video. I noticed you write standalones, which I do too. Great to see the rare writer not preaching series, series, series.

[@mr.graves2867]

My first novel I'm working on is a sci fi and fantasy genre, dragons and skyrippers with plasma guns, cyborgs and automatons along with pixies and dwarves. All while a young prince must find an ancient armor to defend the realms against a demonic evil bent on the corruption or destruction of the world.

[@MyWorld-eb9oz]

As far as genres go, Camp Cult is my luckiest story, falling under Supernatural Thriller, just like Bad Parts.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

What are two genres that your WIP falls under? Let us know!

[@MyWorld-eb9oz]

Monster - Action and Horror.

[@standardrobloxian7212]

mine is mystery and science fiction.

[@Hanedie1]

Hi Brandon! I’m a fairly new subscriber to your channel! I like how succinct the information is. It never disappoints! My WIP is psychological thriller and science fantasy. My two point of views are my 16 year old protagonist and her dad. Although my hero is 16, I’m marketing it as adult because of the murder.

[@edxcal84]

Sadly, Urban Fantasy/horror for one and science fiction for another. Edit: Really thinking about it, the story I'm currently working on is more mystery/horror, the fantasy part is hinting but doesn't come till much later and isn't a large impact on the story itself. I guess your video did help!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Awesome. Yeah, definitely try out different genres and see what works best. If you're trying to get an agent, steer clear of Urban Fantasy, but if you want to go Indie, you can get away with it.

[@ilyas_elouchihi]

I'm currently working on a Lovecraftian Horror story and I learned A LOT from you, you are the best!!!

[@astevenswrites]

Great points Brandon. Thanks for the insight! For my current WIP, it's definitely fantasy. I guess my secondary could be "coming-of-age", but I'm trying to cater this more towards an adult audience rather than YA. But maybe that's a mistake... YA seems pretty popular at the moment, even among "older' readers. So, still need to figure this out.

[@bethlondonart]

I'm at the early stage of trying to decide which of my story ideas I want to develop so videos like yours are very helpful.

[@himbolable]

My current work in progress: espionage thriller/horror/fantasy/sci-fi. Think I’ve got quite a genre library to choose from 😆

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Good variety. Sounds like espionage thriller is the main genre, so the rest is there to spice it up

[@tiarailic4086]

Definitely something I've struggled to figure out with my current novel. It's military/scifi/ spy/ action?? lol😆

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Haha well Military Sci-Fi is pretty popular, so you might do best to roll with that (just do some research first to be certain). Spy... I'm not sure on that one's popularity. "Action" kinda goes without saying if you have Military Sci-Fi as your genre, so It might be redundant to mention Action

[@Sacrengard]

Military Sci-Fi Spy? sounds like Metal Geeeaaarrrr xD I'm interested lol

[@birdsnestcreations]

I'm working on my first novel. I'm still discovering a lot despite how much planning I've done for it. I'm on chapter five and this most definitely will change. However as of right now. Technically it's an urban fantasy, but I can get around this. My book, A Moment of Truth is A Thriller/sci-fi about a disabled guy trying to figure out the real reason for the hero draft as he slowly discovers that the heroes aren't as heroic as they make themselves out to be.

[@MyWorld-eb9oz]

3:58 I love how blunt you are 😂

[@theimaginarium]

Excellent and concise as always. Question: where do you get info on the marketability of the various genres? Thanks.

[@NancySherer-t9v]

Mystery, magical realism.

[@Sir_Southpaw]

Horror, sci-fi(?) Basic jest is post apocalyptic, main group wants to relocate after finding a stash of supplies. Protagonist wants, instead to hunt a "creature" that killed his father when he was a kid. The creature is going be Inspired and take parts from different Skinwalker and wendigo tellings.

[@greg_nk]

I'm working on a science fiction/space opera novel, I do hope that these genres are not over saturated.

[@brycesonflowers8758]

Brandon, In the year 2023, is it possible to establish a new genre label to market your book as? I have an idea to write a story. However, there was no already existing genre that best suitable for it. I am calling this new genre I'm writing in, IMAGINATION PRESENCE. How it works: You first need established a reality of the character's current world. Then incorporate an imaginary perception of their surroundings. One example from an actual book is in... And To Think That I Saw I All On Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss. (The boy walks home from school and he imagines a donkey pulling a wagon into a zebra pulling a chariot.) Thank You!

[@jmmartin7766]

Working on my first novel, which I've always had in my mind (since childhood) as "adventure fiction." Just recently though, I've come to realize it also includes heavy "Folk Horror" elements, while definitely not being a dedicated "Folk Horror" novel. So lately, my mind has been reaching for a new genre label when describing it to others, although I think I've simply decided to continue with "an adventure novel with folk horror elements." lol That said, now that you've got me thinking about it, maybe "Adventure Fantasy" is more apropos... Hmmmmm... THANKS A LOT, BRANDON! lol! "Adventure Noir," maybe? lol

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

"Adventure Fantasy" sounds pretty clear to me. Since you have horror elements, maybe try Dark Fantasy Adventure?

[@jmmartin7766]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty I like it... But do you think the "present day" setting of my novel might send the wrong message? Or, at least throw my audience off a little

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

@@jmmartin7766 "Contemporary Fantasy" is a label that's been gaining in popularity. Maybe try "Contemporary Fantasy Adventure"?

[@erkscollectibles]

My WIP falls under Western and Mystery. Not sure if western is very marketable right now, but thats a crucial part of the story so it cant be changed!

[@jeffersonrose9719]

I'm working on an anthology of short stories and while some are more Thriller or Survival Horror, the vast majority fall into Romance and Horror. I find the stakes to be higher when someone the main character cares about more than themselves is in jeopardy. Maybe it's because I failed to exorcize alcoholism from my marriage before it ended. Write what you know.

[@scottjackson163]

I’m writing the story that I want to write. If forced to provide a genre label for my WIP, I would say mainstream literary.

[@Sacrengard]

I would say mine is Science Fantasy with Dark Fantasy and Mystery Elements (Dark Sci-Fantasy Mystery kinda thing)

[@arctwolf5885]

My WIP is definitely Sci-fi maybe Mystery or Dystopian as well? I'm unsure right now, about the second genre since the plot is still a bit loose.

[@TracksOnSnow]

My story is a horror/mystery/supernatural thriller/sci-fi/historical fiction. In this case, do I need to pick fewer to label my novel?

[@crimson2knight]

Are authors limited to just one classification to label the book? Can't we use multiple genre to place the book under?

[@keithhannah3911]

Mines a western, but it does have some romance elements to it.

[@uncertaintyunravelled8273]

Fantasy and Mystery

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Out of curiosity, does it lean more Urban Fantasy or more Supernatural?

[@kirtiomart]

Fantasy & Science Fiction

[@kenward1310]

Timely video for me as I'm currently unsure about my work in progress. If I understand you correctly, you're saying 'Bad Parts' suffered from a marketability standpoint because you'd labeled it as horror when you should've labeled it under a less saturated genre? Do I have that right? As for my work in progress, it's sort of a mix between Jack Reacher and High Plains Drifter. Kind of a Nic Cage 'Mandy' kind of vibe. I'm not sure I should even be writing it because I don't have a clue what genre to stick it in. I know I want it to have the potential to sell well, so of course I don't want to place it in a completely saturated category like Thrillers or Crime, but at the same time I don't want to put it in a genre that doesn't have many eyeballs either like Horror Western or Contemporary Western.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

What killed Bad Parts during the querying process was that I labeled it as Horror or Supernatural Horror (Horror is not oversaturated, but has a stigma and generally sells poorly). When I labeled it as Dark Fantasy or Supernatural Thriller, agents were more receptive to it. As for your dilemma, I would roll with Thriller or Crime. Both genres have massive audiences and and appeal to readers outside the genre. If you want to get more specific, you can pick a subgenre under Thriller or Crime

[@kenward1310]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Thank you for elaborating, and for the advice as well. Food for thought. Also, just wanted to mention I really quite like your premise for Bad Parts, a heck of an idea. Same for Entry Wounds. You seem to have a knack for coming up with high concept story premises, hey? It's a talent unto itself. Thanks again.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

@@kenward1310 Thanks for the kind words! I need to get excited about a concept before I can start writing a story. Once I have a solid concept in mind, I build outward from there (characters, plot, setting, etc.). For some people this works. For others, they start with character, plot, setting, etc. There's no right or wrong place to start. Whatever gets you energized is best

[@historicvic2795]

What about fantasy? Is it best to pitch it Epic/High fantasy or YA fantasy if you have a teenage main charcter?

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

I'm not an expert on YA, so I don't want to steer you wrong. Try to find writer groups on Facebook, Reddit, etc. and ask around. I heard somewhere that YA's popularity was fading, but I'm not sure if that's true. Epic/High Fantasy is usually pretty stable

[@hbookreviews]

My story is a trilogy with romance being it's overarching plot. But book1 is more of a dark fantasy and we don't see the depth of the romance until end of book2 and book3. I'm struggling whether to market it as a dark fantasy or romance.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Since you lead with Dark Fantasy and the romance takes a backseat until late in book 2, I would be upfront with your audience and call it Dark Fantasy

[@shrinkingviolet1953]

Although a requirement for romance books is a happy ending for the couple involved, so labeling Titanic as a romance could be problematic and anger your readers.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Is that a hard requirement for the genre? I read a supernatural romance last year where the guy died but the girl overcame a bunch of issues and was able to find happiness in the epilogue. I guess it depends on the subgenre?

[@shrinkingviolet1953]

It is required that a romance ends with a happily ever after, or a happy for now. Of course, that doesn’t stop anyone from writing a tragic love story and labeling it as romance, they’d just end up angering their target audience if that was the case.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

@@shrinkingviolet1953 Gotcha, thanks for clarifying

[@Sacrengard]

Then its tragic romance I guess... but that would spoil the book xD hahahaha

[@WILLIAMSBENTO-m8r]

When a story has 3 genre, what genre is it really?

[@ulla7378]

I know it was example for the sake of video but Titanic as is would not fit to romance genre because there is no happy ever after or happy for now. It's tragedy. (Like Romeo & Juliet). Of course the theoretical me writing Titanic could have made it romance unlike Cameron. :) I'm actually struggling with if my WIP is fantasy romance or "just" romantic fantasy. The relationship does have happy for now ending, but I am not sure if the romance progression and beats are satisfying for someone who is looking for Romance with big R.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Though what happens to Jack is tragic and the ending isn't purely uplifting, I wouldn't call Titanic a tragedy. The hero (Rose) survives, overcomes her flaw, learns a lesson, and becomes independent enough to allow herself to live a fulfilling life (happily ever after). In a Tragedy, the hero succumbs to a flaw and gets destroyed by it

[@ulla7378]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty good point, I kind of saw it (after rewatching it as an adult) through the lense, that because Jack more or less ends up dead due to Rose's rash and infatuated decisions, that makes it tragedy. Even if Rose lives, she ends up "killing" the first love of her life.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

@@ulla7378 Interesting take. I need to rewatch it sometime and pay attention to that

[@KasumiRINA]

@@ulla7378 Jack is literally willing to die to save her. He does. In more ways than one. That's the entire point of the film. Also blaming passengers on Titanic going down is another level of victim blaming. There are many people who made rash and infatuated decisions like not getting enough lifeboats or being too scared to save people until it was too late, or thinking they can fight God in this ship, the tragedy is about human hubris of the idiots who launched, and sank, the boat. Not of a Manic Pixie Dream Guy who enters a girl's life and changes her forever.

[@ulla7378]

@@KasumiRINA that's why I am arguing it's not romance. It is a love story, though. And getting back to sinking ship when you are in a life boat is not on any merit a wise decision. We buy it because they are in love. But it is the decision that ends up getting Jack killed.

[@benjamindover4337]

Sci-fi Mystery

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Nice. Just curious, is it set in near-contemporary times or is it futuristic like Blade Runner?

[@benjamindover4337]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty I'm interested in using the futuristic sci fi setting as a way to reframe contemporary social issues, while injecting my own technological imagining into the mix. So I've kept it within a hundred years from now. Less dark than Blade Runner, more grounded than Dune. And with flashy action and slightly campy irreverent fun, like the old Paul Verhoven movies; Robocop and Total Recall.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

@@benjamindover4337 Awesome, sounds like you've thought this out pretty well. Best of luck with the writing! Btw you might want to read Altered Carbon if you haven't already

[@benjamindover4337]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Thanks, I'll check it out. 👍👍

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

@@benjamindover4337 The book is amazing. I haven't watched the Netflix version, but I've heard good things

[@beescheeseandwineplease889]

Christian/fantasy