List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature

The definition of a fiction genre is simply a category of literature. It determines, among other things, what shelf it sits on in a bookstore or a library.

For readers, it’s good to be aware of different fiction genres. Sometimes we can widen our horizons and read a book in a genre we don’t often explore.

For writers, knowing what genre of literature your novel falls into is so important. It helps you have a clear idea of who your audience is and what they’ll absolutely love. It makes it easier for you to market the book if you self-publish it, and easier to get a publishing contract if you want to go in that direction.

If you’re a writer, knowing your genre can also help you avoid clichés. What seems original to you may actually be done to death. But if you do find out that you are working with an over-familiar concept, no worries! You can think of ways  to make it original and make it your own.

I’m including general ideas of word counts for different genres. These can vary a lot, and it’s good to keep in mind that publishers are much more likely to publish a very long book from an established author than they are from a debut author.

What if you’re inventing a new genre, or your work transcends genre? Well, it’s not all that likely. The major genres of literature are very broad, including many subgenres. Genres are often combined (for example, “scifi romance” or “young adult historical fiction.”)

Every fiction genre has traditions that are fun to tweak or subvert. It also has boundaries that you can’t cross without really making readers mad. For instance, if it’s a mystery, the case must be solved at the end; if it’s a romance, it must end in an HEA, or happy ever after.

This isn’t a complete list, but it’s some of the major ones. The lines between genres are often quite blurred, but they’re still useful. You can click on any of the examples to go to Amazon and read more about the book.

List of Fiction Genres, With Word Counts and Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature

CHRISTIAN FICTION

This is any fiction that includes strong themes of Christian faith. In many works of Christian fiction, the characters overcome a crisis of faith and/or become closer to God at the end. Christian fiction may also be referred to as “inspirational fiction.”

If you’re writing one, 80,000 words is a reasonable word count target.

List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
Redeeming Love, Francine Rivers

 

List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
The Broken Road, Richard Paul Evans

HISTORICAL FICTION

Historical fiction, very simply, takes place in a historical era. These books are often on the long side (90,000 – 120,000 words) because it takes more words to evoke another time.

List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah
List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles

HORROR

These are stories intended to scare the heck out of the reader. 80,000 – 90,000 words is a reasonable word count, though some run much longer.

List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
The Witching Hour, Anne Rice
List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
Salem’s Lot, Stephen King

FANTASY

Fantasy novels have a lot in common with our oldest myths…which often provide inspiration for them. They generally feature adventure, invented worlds, and magic. The subgenres include high fantasy, a.k.a. epic fantasy, and urban fantasy. These books usually run long: 100,000 – 120,000 words is a good average, though some run much longer.

List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
The Assassin’s Apprentice, Robin Hobb

 

LITERARY

These novels are artistic, beautifully written, and often more challenging to read.

Here’s a pretty good discussion of the difference between literary and mainstream novels, but honestly, the border between them is very fuzzy.

These vary a lot in length, but 80,000 – 100,000 is a good range to think about if you’re writing one.

List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison
List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
The Overstory, Richard Powers

 

MAINSTREAM (UPMARKET)

I always think of these as “book club books.” They have literary cachet but also commercial appeal. 80,000 – 100,000 is a good length to think about here.

List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng

 

MYSTERY

Mystery subgenres include cozy mystery, noir, police procedural, and historical mystery. 65,000 – 80,000 words is a good target range.

List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
Dark Sacred Night: A Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch Novel, Michael Connelly
List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
A Quiet Life In the Country: A Lady Hardcastle Mystery, T.E. Kinsey

 

ROMANCE

This is an enormous and enormously popular genre. Subgenres include contemporary, romantic comedy, romantic suspense, historical, and paranormal. The length varies a lot by subgenre. 75,000 – 85,000 words is a good target for single title.

List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
A Princess in Theory, Alyssa Cole
List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
The Kiss Quotient, Helen Hoang

 

SCIENCE FICTION

Scifi novels deal with futuristic or speculative scenarios and technological advances. They tend to run long, 100,000 – 120,000 words, due to the elaborate worldbuilding. Subgenres include dystopia and space opera.

List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
The Martian, Andy Weir
List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler

SUSPENSE/THRILLER

There’s a lot of overlap between suspense novels and thrillers. I would say the latter is more action-packed. 80,000 – 90,000 is typical for a debut.

List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
The Guardians, John Grisham
List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
Then She Was Gone, Lisa Jewell

WESTERN

Westerns are a more niche genre. They deal with stories in the Western U.S., usually in the late 19th or early 20th century and usually focused on ranching and life on the frontier. These can be pretty short, 50,000 – 80,000 words, though my first example here (which is both a Western and literary fiction) is much longer.

List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy
List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
Riders of the Purple Sage, Zane Grey

WOMEN’S FICTION

This is probably the most slippery and the most unhelpfully named of the genres. Like romance, it does tend to be written by and read by women, but it does not mean “all fiction written by women”! It’s usually defined as a story about a woman’s emotional growth or journey. Family relationships or friendships often play a big role. I believe “chick lit” is generally seen as a subset of women’s fiction. Aim for 80,000 – 90,000 words here.

List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
The Identicals, Elin Hilderbrand

YOUNG ADULT

Young adult novels feature teenaged main characters and are read by both teens and adults. 65,000 to 80,000 words is a reasonable range here.

 List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell
List of Fiction Genres, With Examples! #blank page to final draft #common book genres #genre list #major genres of literature
The Fault In Our Stars, John Green

I’ve left off graphic novels because they’re so different from novels that don’t use that kind of visual storytelling. Note that categories based on identities, since as “LGBTQ Fiction” or “African-American Fiction,” are sometimes used in order to help readers who are looking for them find them. I wouldn’t call those genres, however.

 

If you’re in the middle of writing a novel and want to stay inspired…or if you’re interested in starting something new…check out my book 5,000 Writing Prompts!  It has hundreds of prompts and inspiration for different specific genres, including fantasy, science fiction, mystery, romance, horror, and young adult.

Did I leave out a genre that should be on this list? Do you have a favorite book from one of these genres that you want to recommend! Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

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