Genre, Subgenre, History and a Rabbit Hole

Caroline
Warfield

Sometimes a simple question leads you down a rabbit hole. That was the case when I puzzled over which historical genre categories I should assign to the books in my new series. It started as a binary choice: Victorian or Regency? Alas! Stories set in the 1830s fit in neither category—if I pay attention to actual history—should I? It depends on your point of view. Readers of Historical Fiction care about historical accuracy and specificity. Some readers of Romance do not, although it isn't fair to assume none of us do—far from it. Most of us read a wide range of historical periods and tropes, and like to know what we are getting. Retailers care what readers want too, though their primary concern is matching readers to "more like this". Authors care about finding readers, but also about making lists. It feels good to say your book is in the top ten on a list, even if it is a narrow subgenre.

Read the entire article in the May 2017 issue of InD'Tale magazine.

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