By Paul Goat Allen

I’ve worked in the publishing industry for almost 30 years—as an editor, book critic, publicist, and publisher, to name a few positions—and all of those jobs have essentially revolved around discovering and promoting noteworthy titles. That said, I know how monumentally important identifying category is: it’s an invaluable aid to help get the respective title in the right readers’ hands. Read any press release and the category indicator is inevitably in the first sentence. I get dozens of press releases every week. Here are just a couple of random examples from the last few days:

• “The past has teeth and it is ready to bite in Matthew Lyons’ phenomenal new horror novel: A Mask of Flies (Nightfire, Hardcover, e-Book, and Macmillan Audio; August 6, 2024)…”

• “I’m touching base on coverage opportunities for Jenna Levine’s paranormal rom-com My Vampire Plus-One (Berkley Trade Paperback; September 17, 2024)…”

• “I’d love to know if you might be interested in… Stephanie Wrobel’s The Hitchcock Hotel (Berkley Hardcover; September 24, 2024), a gripping locked-room thriller…”

These publicists know what they’re doing. They’ve identified the category and given a hint as to the quality and marketability potential of the title. Book buyers, book reviewers, book-related website editors—and most importantly, readers—know exactly what they’re getting.

But here’s where things can go terribly wrong, especially for indie writers. This may sound unbelievable—but I see this frequently: self-published authors inexplicably mis-categorizing their releases.

I recently reviewed a novel that was described by the author as a YA fantasy—the only problem was that there were no YA elements present! No age-appropriate characters, no exploration of any YA themes, no YA tone. It wasn’t YA, not by any stretch of the imagination.

Another release I recently reviewed was tagged as mainstream fantasy, although the main crux of the story revolved around a (quite compelling) sapphic romance. The main audience for this novel was obviously fans of WLW romance—not fantasy—so why did the author not market this as romance?

In another instance, I reviewed what I thought was a “romantic thriller’—it was described thusly right on the cover!—with barely any thriller elements. The entire novel was conspicuously low energy and low intensity. I had the opportunity to talk with the author at a regional book convention and I asked her why she was marketing the novel as a romantic thriller when the storyline was not constructed like a thriller and had very few elements that could be described as thrilling. She didn’t quite answer my question but explained that that romantic thrillers were the bestselling subcategory in romance (it’s actually romantic suspense, but same difference) and that tagging it under that category would help sales. The conversation stunned me. She cavalierly admitted to lying to her readers just to make a quick buck. I vowed never to review any of her titles again.

The one big takeaway here is don’t disrespect your readers. Be as honest and clear as possible. And when it comes to category, less is sometimes more. I would rather give one correct detail of a release than numerous misleading details. Here’s a great example: Scott Semegran’s fantastic novel The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island. He could’ve easily piled on the (unnecessary and inappropriate) category tags: YA, existential horror, thriller, literary fiction, etc. but instead simply (and fittingly) called it “suspense.” By going for the straightforward approach, he gave readers a much more unbiased, and entertaining, reading experience.

So, if you’re an indie author, make sure you categorize your release properly. If you don’t, you run these risks:

• You look incompetent. If an author truly doesn’t know what category their novel is—or what elements define a specific category—chances are good that the novel isn’t going to be that good.

• You come across as having a questionable character. If you’re tagging your novel under multiple categories just to take advantage of some Amazon algorithm, and have no qualms misleading your readers, your career is already all but over. The reading community is great about spreading the word about a great book. They’re also very good about voicing their displeasure over shyster writers. Don’t mess with bibliophiles.

• You’re throwing money out the window. Quality of story is everything, regardless of category. But category is a useful tool for writers to find their audience. Identify your audience and use that category tag to let the world know you have a new [insert category here] coming out! If you’re releasing an erotic fiction novel, for example, and don’t categorize it correctly, you’re losing money. Category is a tool. Use the tool properly.

I hope some of these cautionary tales help you as you continue your respective writing journeys!

Paul Goat Allen has been reviewing books for almost three decades. In addition to BlueInk Review, his work has appeared with BarnesandNoble.com, The Chicago Tribune, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and more. He also teaches in Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction graduate writing program.