Sci Fi marketed as mainstream

[Alex Scarrow]

I've noticed mainstream book-buyers tend to vigorously ignore the science fiction/fantasy shelves within a book store. They'll happily browse through all the other genres...Young Adult, Crime, Thrillers, Historical etc etc...but they steer well clear of scifi/fantasy, almost like its the porn shelf of a news agents.

Which is a shame, because this genre, I think, has the greatest potential to grow, evolve. I suppose the problem is, it's still considered childish or nerdish by most mainstream readers.

Anyway...I've recently finished a manuscript which was specifically aimed at luring mainstream, mainly female, readers towards science fiction. It's sort of 'Thelma and Loiuse in Space' to use a really cheesy pitch. And I'd like my agent to pitch it to publishers as science fiction for the mass market. I suggested that part of this pitch would be to show that the mainstream market can happily digest science fiction if it's presented as regular fiction, and has done so already...by giving a few examples:

Margret Atwood - HandMaiden's Tale
Doris Lessing's - The Story of General Dan....
David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas
Aldous Huxley - Brave New World

Can anyone here think of any other science fiction/fantasy works that were never really pigeon-holed as such?

 

[Jay]

For a long timw, Jonathan Carroll's fantastic works were.

There also classics that get this, alot of the magic-realists like Franz Kafka, Gabriel Marquez, Calvino, Borges, etc.

 

[zorcarepublic]

I think the main reason why people don't read SF is because of Star Trek and various other television shows:

The fans of these shows really get into the spirit of the thing, wearing outfits and suchlike, so that anyone will think "weirdo" about anyone who likes science fiction. A shame, I know, but there you are.

 

[Princess Ivy]

i'm sorry to disagree here, but science fiction and fantasy are two of the top five selling genres nowadays. everyone and his uncle is now writing a LOTR epic style novel. In fact, i find the oposite problem. i find it difficult to find good condition second hand sciencefiction and fantasy novels. they get snapped up as soon as they're put on display!
when i was younger, i'd always have people giving me funny looks when they saw that i was reading something with a lurid science fiction or fantasy cover. Now, they ask me if it's any good (to which i alsways have the insane urge to say no, i read to punish myself) and then ask to borrow it, as they're now trying to break into the genre.
And the sheer number of people who want to talk tolkien with me (why, i'll never understand, because apart from the hobit i can't stand his books).

 

[GOLLUM]

I think the main reason why people don't read SF is because of Star Trek and various other television shows:

The fans of these shows really get into the spirit of the thing, wearing outfits and suchlike, so that anyone will think "weirdo" about anyone who likes science fiction. A shame, I know, but there you are.

I agree with zorca that there is certainly some Stigma associated with people who are into fantasy/Sci Fi, my experience anyway...

*HMM.. so that's why I like those dresses so much*....

 

[Gary Wassner]

Crossover titles are what publishers and book sellers dream about. If an author can be marketed in more than one genre, the potential is much greater. If they shelve you in general fiction, they are looking to attract the browser who isn't certain of what they came into the store to purchase. As long as you don't disappoint them, it could work. My books are being shelved in general fiction by Barnes and Noble, despite the fact that they are very much Epic Fantasy. It's too soon to tell what the results will be. I have my fingers crossed.

 

[warlock]

A lot of authors themselves always try to say that they have never written science fiction, such as Margaret Atwood, or if a reviewer likes a particular book, hastens to add that is is not science fiction, but speculative fiction (eg JG Ballard's The Drought), or comedy (eg Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide).

Of course all of these are science fiction, but then that begs the question, how do you define science fiction. For me, it's if at the heart of the book is a What If scenario - What if the world was flat, what if Earth was going to be demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass, what if Margaret Atwood admitted she was a science ficiton writer.

 

[red_temple]

Seems that most sci-fi authors would rather be classified as "speculative fiction" these days. A couple of days ago I went to a Dan Simmons book signing, and he expressed a desire to get rid of the sci-fi tag altogether, and replace it with the speculative fiction tag. He was very witty and a good sport about it, though, and really didn't seem all that bothered by it when you get right down to it. To me, it's just a name. I don't care what you call it, I'll still read it and enjoy it. And really, as long as it's good, should you really care how it's classified?

 

[littlemissattitude]

Well, I don't know how the choice is made by publishers or booksellers to classify a novel in any particular genre of fiction, but I spoke to a cataloguer who works for our local county library system about the subject when I noticed that within the local system, different branch libraries will often classify the same book in different categories. She said that it is quite subjective and basically up to whoever happens to be doing cataloguing at that particular branch.

IMHO, as far as I can see the only value to keeping genre distinctions within fiction is so that people who want to find books in their favorite genre won't have to be exposed to any other genres. And I don't exactly see that as a good thing. Then again, I'll read just about anything.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

When it comes to the pitch, publishers already know which titles have successfully crossed over, and they rarely appreciate it when authors or agents take it on themselves to tell them what the market "can digest."

What you need to do is figure out which of these other mainstream/sf books your own book most nearly resembles, and that's how you pitch it.