The Importance of Genre Matching

Since many of this site's readers have also kindly offered to review my manuscript, I'd like to explain why your contributions are so vital. For novels, proofreading isn't just about checking for spelling and grammatical errors. The quality of the story and writing style are equally important. In addition to these elements, my primary concern in regard to marketing the manuscript is identification of the book's genre.

Forgive me if this sounds too simple. If you happen to be one of the gracious amateur editors who've read the review copy, please tell me what category you think the story falls under. I'm too close to the project to see the forest for the trees.

Before anyone counsels me on the artificiality of labels, there are very specific reasons why accurately categorizing a book is crucial to its success. Most of them have to do with how publishers pick which manuscripts they buy. Almost all publishers compile a yearly list of books they want to print. These can be specific titles or just kinds of books. Once assembled, the list sets the company's budget for acquisitions, printing, and advertising. Think of it as the publisher's wish list.

Most publishers want to establish a reputation for promoting a certain genre. This specialization helps customers to identify them. Therefore, a publisher's list will be heavily weighted toward their specialized genre.

The length of the list varies between publishers, but a hundred books is a decent hypothetical figure. Of those hundred, let's say that seventy-five slots on the list are reserved for appropriate genre titles. Of the seventy-five, some places are filled in advance by titles in existing series and new books from established authors. The remaining twenty-five slots could be allotted to marginal projects--books that are less likely to make money than the publisher's standard fare. Marginal projects could be poetry anthologies, technical materials, etc. Unfortunately for me, manuscripts from first-time authors are always considered marginal projects. There's just no guarantee of profitability. This means that the fewest slots on the list are available to new authors.

A first-time author should make every effort to maximize the appeal of his book to a potential publisher. An indispensable part of marketing a manuscript is researching agents and publishers to find buyers who specialize in your book's genre. The more your book resembles a publisher's established titles, the better the chances of them buying your manuscript.

On the downside, producing something truly original can be the kiss of death for a first-time novelist. Publishers can't assign a market value to a book that's so unlike anything else that there's no economic frame of reference for it. Offbeat material is far more likely to be accepted after the author has gained industry clout through success on more mainstream projects.

So, if you've read my book and know of any published work that's like it, please let me know.