The more I look into the genre labels/tags on Amazon, the more I realize its not just my Superheros that are having issues finding readers due to the pull of "PLEASE NOTICE" this book over millions to gain a livable wage on writing vs genuine genre gems getting buried underneath.
I can empathize to a point. I know most want to get 6 figures writing full time. To play bills but on the other end of it: I want to read books, learn how to put stories together so my own series will have a decent enough development, but abusing the algorithm wont help in the long run. What happens when that fad dies down? Will most jump ship to the next "hot" genre?
If I could, I'd love to make additional genre specifications: Actual Tabs, not subcategories.
- Main Genre: Lit RPG, subcategories: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, MMO, Base Building, Harem, Reverse Harem.
- Main Genre: Harem/Rev. Harem, Subcat: Sci-Fi, Fantasy....ect.
This is not to hurt those types of books but to get them situated in a category unto themselves because its so prevalent. So popular that it tidal waves out other books.
Romance also needs an overhaul. If your primary theme is romance, don't put it in Westerns or Occult or Self Help. Not all Genres are a giant umbrella. Pick a primary and work with that.
When I finally get my books ready to publish, they are going Primary Superhero(SciFi and Fantasy) with the 3rd Genre being Space Opera. Then Ill try to pin point my descriptors to pull in the genre readers.
If your book has the whole Alien Lover angle, then that's Romance. Primary Romance. Please be kind and put that book there instead of mainline sci fi. Its so genre readers can find your books quicker.
I think key words are messing with the searches too. Like if you have a super soldier character, dont list it as superhero. Or as cyberpunk. Unless its a part of an expanded universe that has actual caped crusaders in it. Enhanced doesn't automatically mean it should be placed in certain categories. Look at the actual setting you have.
I'm mainly going about this as a reader. To help other readers and writers understand the frustration of not being able to find a book you truly want to read. The only reason I've been able to find some of the books I want is because of blogs and twitter links to those blogs.
Plus I wanted relief from books that just wanted to preach to very specific topics that I just wanted to escape from. So where does one go for that? Across the Internet, find the writers that want to have fun, then go for broke. Give them the coffee they need to keep going. In general, from the looks of it, most indies have this spirit. Some in trad still do but its not as prevalent as it used to be.
Be the Ball of Fun. Tell the stories of times past. There's a reason stuff like Dune still sells like hotcakes.
If
Clawson hadn't been going on about the issues he had with Wheel of Time, then I would have never found his lovely book. Go here to have fun:
Pulpy Good Fantasy
IF you are writing in a popular genre like UF or Para Romance or Romance in general, it sucks but you are already fighting in a bigger more popular arena. Purposefully mis-labeling your book to get more views hurts everyone. Even many LIT RPG books do this. Because there's so many of them now, many smaller presses and indies are putting them into stuff like: African Studies in order to get that tag to pop orange or climb the charts.
Not all are doing this but enough are that its making it hard for me and other readers to pinpoint genre favorites.
In fact:
https://portal-books.com/ are one of the good ones putting their books into categories that make sense:
Just to give an example. I personally don't think LIT RPG is cyberpunk but if amazon would add an MMO Prose Genre tag, that would help.
Here's an example of why I think those other setups above would be good for LIT RPG:
The Example
Trapped on a derelict space station, Jake must destroy an alien infestation—or he’ll never see his home again.
Still
reeling from the death of his parents, Jake finds a doorway to an
abandoned space station in his grandfather's basement. But when he walks
through, he discovers he's trapped there and he’s got company.
The
stations’ AI enlists Jake to reclaim the systems needed to support life
, but there’s a catch—he has only eight hours to complete the task or
he’ll die alone in the cold vacuum of space. With only his trusty
wrecking bar, work boots, and some basic survival equipment he must
defeat the horrific monsters that infest the station before his air runs
out.
But aliens aren’t all he has to worry about. Hidden in
the station is a message that could spell doom for Earth, and the entire
universe along with it.
If you're a fan of crunchy,
sci-fi LitRPG with a healthy dose of base-building, then this space
survival adventure with visceral combat is the book for you.
Many elements here are what's involved in MMOs. So why not have a PROSE MMO genre separation? Many of these books want to bring in a reader most familiar with gaming tropes. Thats alright but don't do it as the expense of other genres and readers. That's all I ask. Its a fairly straightforward plea.
The Importance of Book Blurbs
A terminal illness. A dying wish. A secret so vast, it will change
humanity forever. This is a story about how something beautiful begins,
how it ends, and where it picks back up. Isekai style!
formally Hyperspace. Rewritten. Re-edited. Revised. Retconned.
The Reviews:
One has the emotional gut reaction, the other lists some of the bare-bones about the genre that the blurb wasn't able to make clear.
Again, this is all just my POV. Take it as you will. Onward and Upward! Keep on finding books you love. :D
