Not Knowing Your Genre = A Likely Rejection

I started thinking about this when I read a fellow colleagues post about cross over books and how to pitch something like that to an editor or agent. I didn't want to address that issue, but one I see far too often. Writers not having a clue what genre they have written.

For a lot of these authors, they "think" they have written a specific genre, or in more cases, authors have been told by someone else (who probably doesn't know genres) that their book fell into a specific category. In either case, the odds are that author is going to get a lot of rejections.

The first reason deals with the issue of genre specific nuances. Each genre has specific characteristics that categorize the books. Your story must meet a specific set of criteria to fall into that genre. This is very similar to anything else that we categorize. Art, Architecture, Music...the list is endless. Writing is no different.

Now, the rejections will come because the authors who are "clued out" are just writing words and not taking the time to really dive into that genre and understand the specifics of it. Even if that author thinks he or she has written a specific genre, the editors and agents will see something different. Your book is not doing what that genre expects. I should note, this also goes for self-publishing authors. You put a book out claiming it is one thing and readers see something else, you will disappoint.

I don't know how many times I get a manuscript from someone who "thinks" he or she wrote a romance simply because they had hot sex scenes or that it was "romantic." Here comes the rejection letter because your story is simply not a romance.

The second reason is that you will likely send that project to the wrong person. I only acquire romance and women's fiction. Send me something other than that, you get a rejection.

Just writing something without that focus or understanding might seem to be "the way you write" because you don't want to be "categorized" but the reality is, the world likes order. It is how we think.