# What Is Mainstream Fiction?

And so we come to Mainstream Fiction. I know, I know - just when you've grasped the differences between literary fiction and genre fiction, I have to go and confuse things by introducing a third type of novel! Actually, though, mainstream fiction could well turn out to be the kind of fiction you end up writing if you...

- Want to write a genre novel - a romance, say - but don't want to stick to the strict rules, or conventions, of romantic fiction.

- Want to write a novel which isn't covered by any of the genres - that is, the subject matter doesn't revolve around crime, horror, or any of the other traditional concerns of genre novels - and you find the whole concept of literary fiction too "highbrow" for your own tastes.

Still confused? Then you're not alone. When I researched the subject of mainstream novels myself, it was almost impossible to find two people who could agree on what they actually were (and I'm talking publishers and agents here). Consequently, I have come up with not one but three definitions:

## 1. Mainstream Fiction is Genre or Literary Fiction that Sells Well

According to this first definition, any novel, whether genre or literary, which attracts a wide audience and sells in large numbers can be called mainstream.

Each of the fictional genres comes with an existing audience of readers who are fans of that particular variety of fiction. (In the context of this argument, literary fiction can be seen as just another genre, in that it comes with an existing audience of readers who like the things that literary novels have to offer.)

Novels aimed at a particular genre will appeal to fans of the genre but not to a more general reader.

So the fan base for a science fiction novel, for example, might well be very large (meaning the potential for big sales), but it is unlikely to appeal to fans of westerns or romances or literary novels.

But when a genre novel or a literary novel reaches beyond its traditional audience and is bought by people who aren't normally fans of that variety of fiction, it can be said to be mainstream.

- Stephen King, a horror novelist, might also be considered a mainstream novelist by virtue of his huge popularity and his ability to attract readers who wouldn't normally read horror novels written by less well known writers.

- The English Patient, a literary novel, also became a mainstream novel when it was bought by people who wouldn't normally buy literary novels and it sold in huge numbers (helped, no doubt, by the Oscar-winning film adaptation).

So that is the first definition - and one that isn't particularly helpful to you as you try to decide what kind of novel you are going to write!

After all, if your genre novel or literary novel becomes hugely popular and gets classified as mainstream by the publishers and booksellers, it still remains a genre novel or a literary novel...

- It will just have a bigger marketing budget behind it.
- It will be displayed more prominently in the bookshops.
- And it will make your bank account grow fatter, of course!

The second definition of mainstream fiction is more useful, though. (And the third, I would be willing to bet, is the type of novel that many of you will end up writing.)

You can read this article in full, and loads more besides, in my 500-page eBook. Follow this link to discover more about the Ultimate Guide to Novel Writing.

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