Children’s book genres: Do agents need to know your subgenre?

• Siobhan O'Brien Holmes
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This is part nine of my serialisation of my kidilt genre course Space opera, steampunk and slashers, oh my! I’ll be sharing the content here every week over the coming months but you can grab the full course now if you just can’t wait! Read on for lessons with videos and transcripts.

Pitching agents

I’ve talked about why understanding your manuscript’s genre is important, particularly when it comes to pitching your book to publishing professionals. They’ll want to know quickly what sort of book you’ve written so they can ascertain whether they’re the right person to address your query, and whether they’re looking for books of that genre right now.

But what about subgenre? Do agents need to know that upfront?

There is no rule that you have to tell agents your book’s subgenre. If you want to just call it ‘science fiction’ or ‘fantasy’ or ‘mystery’, that’s absolutely fine! You won’t get in trouble!

If you do know your subgenre, include it, because it’s a quick and concise way of communicating what kind of book you’ve written. But if you’re really struggling to narrow it down or you just don’t think your book fits neatly into a subgenre (and it’s definitely easier with some genres than others), DON’T PANIC!

If you’ve written a fantastic novel with great characterisation, a strong voice, a compelling hook and a well-developed plot, you’re not going to destroy your chances of publication forever by pitching it as ‘urban fantasy’ rather than ‘steampunk’ or calling it ‘a queer romance’ rather than ‘an adventure story with a strong romantic subplot’.

But you will be making the process easier and giving yourself the best chance of success if you know what sort of book you’ve written as it means you can approach the right agents and cut to the chase quickly in your query letter.

So if you’re not sure of your subgenre, leave it out and focus on other ways of communicating your story’s category to agents.

Maybe it’s a fantasy with science fiction elements, or a gothic-inspired mystery, or a romance with fairytale influences, or historical fiction with a spooky twist.

Or perhaps you just call it a romance or a fantasy or a western and let your pitch and synopsis give agents the rest of the picture. That’s fine, too! Don’t lose sleep over pinning down that subgenre if it’s not coming easily.

This is a really interesting interview with two publishing professionals discussing how important genre is when pitching to agents. They both agree that mentioning a specific genre is important, even if your manuscript is genre-bending, but Laura Zats warns against getting ultra specific. What’s she’s really saying, I think, is that it’s great to name familiar subgenres like the ones we’ve been discussing in this course but don’t try to narrow it down to the point that you’re cramming all the book’s tropes into a made-up subgenre!

‘I’ve written a paranormal horror’ is one thing but ‘I’ve written a haunted-house, found footage, enemies to lovers romantic horror novel’ is pigeonholing your manuscript into a space that doesn’t really exist!

Here’s a sample from the interview that I think is really useful:  

Do you expect writers to indicate their genre in a query letter, or is it just as effective to leave it open ended, so that you can make the final call? Are you impressed when a writer deems their work “genre-bending” or “hybrid,” or is this too vague of an assessment? 

 

TSF: Genre is very important to include. The purpose of your query letter is to intrigue the agent enough to want to start reading your work. Being able to give a sense of what type of book you’re asking them to read is a crucial part of that. It also shows you know your market. I do love when a writer calls their work “genre-bending”—if that’s what it is—but I want to know specifics. Don’t just leave it there. Genre-bending in what way? Take a classic example in film. If I knew nothing about the movie “Alien,” calling it genre-bending or a genre hybrid would do nothing to tell me what I was getting into. But if you told me it was horror/science fiction, I’d be intrigued enough to want to read on.

 

LZ: Personally, I love working with books that are cross-genre or genre-bending, but crucially, every book still has a primary genre. Naming one primary genre tells me that you understand genre, that you’re a reader, and that you know where your book fits in the market. When I sell books that cross the boundaries between literary fiction and fantasy, for example, to literary fiction editors, I’ll call it a “work of literary fiction with speculative elements,” and to sci-fi & fantasy (SFF) editors I’ll call it “literary (literary being a quality mostly describing writing here) fantasy.” If a writer has a crossover, I encourage them to use the same technique for querying, with the caveat that stretching a description of your book to fit a genre will end up being a waste of your time.

 

Continuing this line of thinking, if a writer takes a granular approach to identifying their genre, does this give them an edge? A self-publishing writer who chooses an obscure enough genre often becomes a bestselling writer, at least in that genre. Could this same thinking apply to traditional publishing? Or is there a limit to the number of genres, subgenres, and other descriptors they should use when searching for an agent? 

 

TSF: This is a difficult question because I think every agent and editor is different in what they’re looking for. I think the best thing to do is look at their websites and see what kind of information they’re asking for when you query them. For me, personally, if there’s a snappy marketing way of saying it (“this is an enemies-to-lovers, one-bed-only sci-fi/rom-com set on a spaceship orbiting Mars”) then I’m into it. (I’m not looking for a sci-fi/rom-com, but there’s a ton I am looking for and I love a well-done genre blend). However, if you need to go into more detail, it’s probably better to work it into the description of the plot or in a separate paragraph after you describe the plot.

 

LZ: While a granular approach might be helpful if an indie author wants to hit an Amazon bestseller list, being too specific with your genre will actively hurt a writer querying their book to agents for a few different reasons. First, listing hyper-specific subgenres can communicate that the writer doesn’t understand how traditional publishing approaches genre (which can be extrapolated to mean that they don’t understand how genre relates to larger organizational structures like imprints). Second, a lot of those online retailer subgenres say more about theme than subject, and theme is not an effective way to pitch a book! And finally, focusing too specifically will more than likely mess up your agent research—you might end up querying too broadly (because no one lists your specific subgenre), which is a waste of time, or you might end up eliminating agents based on broad wish lists without giving them a chance to look at your book. As a rule, stick to well-known and well-established subgenres and let your plot paragraphs do the heavy lifting!

 

Assuming there is no definitive list of genres, how do you suggest that writers narrow theirs down? Do you have any other advice on why this does (or doesn’t) matter? 

 

TSF: Ultimately, on top of helping industry professionals position your book, it’s also important to show you know the market your book will be competing in, to understand the fans of that genre, to be well-read in that genre, etc. The more you know about the areas you’re publishing into, the easier it will be for you to reach those readers, both with your work and with your marketing efforts to promote your work. And knowing those things, and having a wider reach, will also make you more appealing to publishers.

 

LZ: Stay as general as you can while still being descriptive! “Fiction” doesn’t cut it as it’s too vague, but “commercial fiction” is fine! “Women’s fiction” is fine! If you’re writing genre fiction, you’ll have more access to common subgenres (for example, urban fantasy, military science fiction, domestic thriller), but if you can’t pick one or are having trouble deciding, it’s okay! Just zoom out a ton and make sure your plot paragraphs in your query are doing their job!