Genre, Genre, What’s my Genre? One Writer's Journey into Speculative Fiction Genres

Sunglasses on, I’m reclining as a golden light washes over me. I could be at the beach or the pool, but I’m not. I’m at the dentist. Being a busy homeschooling mom of two, I liken a dentist visit to a spa day. You might ask why. Well, let me tell you. For close to an hour I get to close my eyes while someone attends to me. All that is missing is a massage. Settled in, I close my eyes, but being a busy parent, simply relaxing feels like a missed opportunity, plus, let’s be honest, I am still at the dentist and not a day spa. So I decide to ponder the genre of my book.

I wrote my novel, After End, because I had a story to tell. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) I didn’t write it with the book market in mind, which is a thing, apparently. This means I have to settle on a genre after the fact.

Turns out writing the book was the easy part. Figuring out which shelf it belongs on is an ongoing challenge. My book’s genre will influence everything from my cover and blurbs to where and how I market it. Whether I publish traditionally or self-publish, choosing the wrong genre can lose me potential readers.

The problem is every time I learn of one genre, and think, Aha! That’s my genre! another shinier, more specific genre comes bounding along. At first I thought my novel After End was Soft Sci-Fi, because it is set in the future and has as-of-yet-to-be-invented technology like hovers, holoscreen and matterizers. 

Then, I found my kindred genre in Cozy Speculative Fiction which tells stories from a warmer, more hopeful approach. That is absolutely my book. For one, a thousand years before my book starts, governments around the world worked together (for FREE!) and built underground shelters that are settled with a cross section of ethnicities regardless of financial status. Second, a new belief system created a kind, inclusive community who worked to stay in balance with nature. That sounds pretty cozy to me!

For a brief, shining moment, I found my happy ending. Then I learned that Speculative Fiction is an umbrella genre. Literary agents, publishers and, most importantly, readers need me to be more specific. As the dental hygienist moves to polishing my teeth, I further parcel out my genre. This is where it gets complicated. After End’s main character identifies as female, and the story focuses on her emotional journey. That’s Women’s Fiction. Could be my book. It’s also been called hopeful or cozy from readers. So far I’ve got hopeful women’s speculative fiction. It is set in a world where most of society’s current social issues have been resolved, and has LGBTQIA+ in the world building, but it is not front and center in my story. 

Before my genre journey, I told people my book was Spec-topian, neither dystopian nor utopian, my book was firmly balanced in between. Spec-topian however isn’t a recognized genre, at least not yet.

At the San Francisco Writer’s Conference, I was introduced to Thrutopian. The niche genre imagines a society that finds a way through a crisis like climate change or political instability, and attains a future where humanity lives in balance with nature. For a while I thought this was my genre. Then I realized that my book is Post-Thrutopian, which is also not a recognized genre.

Then a Beta Reader told me my genre was Solar Punk. Another niche genre, Solar Punk imagines a future where humanity, through renewable technologies, lives in peaceful existence with nature. That could absolutely be my book, but for some reason, I am hung up on the word punk, which to me evokes steam punk technologies and aesthetics, which I don’t see in my book. Perhaps I am being too nit-picky. 

By now, my teeth are gleaming, and until Spec-Topian and Post-Thrutopian become bona fide genres, my book will share the same shelf as (imagine a drumroll) Solar Punk! 

May your own genre journey be more straightforward than mine.