What do you think is the most popular genre out today?

[Horserider92]

Why do you think this?

[maestrowork]

More than 55% of novels sold are romance.

Why? Because everyone wants to be loved and it's good escapism and also more women read (more) fiction than men.

[LittleFlowerLei]

Vampire fiction, without a doubt. Bad vampire fiction at that (Is referring to Twilight and The Vampire Diaries (From what I've seen of hte TV show, its a pretty lame idea. A vampire can't sit DIRECTLY in the sun without burning. It just doens't happen.))

[Ken]

... I'd guess romance novels. I'm so awed by their popularity that I've even thought of trying to pen one, myself, though I know it'd come out horrible, lol.

[virtue_summer]

Vampire fiction, without a doubt. Bad vampire fiction at that (Is referring to Twilight and The Vampire Diaries (From what I've seen of hte TV show, its a pretty lame idea. A vampire can't sit DIRECTLY in the sun without burning. It just doens't happen.))

Don't judge a book by its television show. LOL. Seriously don't write off the Vampire Diaries as "bad vampire fiction" before actually reading any of it. The books address the issue of the sunlight. The reason they're not burning to a crisp is because of special rings they're wearing. Take off the rings and eventually they'll be left a pile of ashes. As for it being lame, do you realize the original trilogy by LJ Smith was published in 1991? That's fourteen years before Twilight and before the current influx of paranormal romance and urban fantasy. It was more unique back then. Oh, and LJ Smith's vampires didn't sparkle either.

As to the original question: Romance certainly would be the most popular. After that I'd guess maybe childrens and young adult fantasy followed by thrillers/suspense. Just a guess, though.

[Starhorsepax]

In the kids department it's fantasy ,probably because of Harry Potter. In young adult oh yes definitely vampires. Dragons second.

[Chris Grey]

Cookbooks. Can't live without 'em.

[TwentyD]

It really seems like the YA genre (and all of its subgenres) is blowing up. I can't escape seeing that acronym at least a handful of times a day while browsing various writing-oriented sites, whether YA is the focus of the sites or not (which they aren't.)

[TwentyD]

Vampire fiction, without a doubt. Bad vampire fiction at that (Is referring to Twilight and The Vampire Diaries (From what I've seen of hte TV show, its a pretty lame idea. A vampire can't sit DIRECTLY in the sun without burning. It just doens't happen.))

What, are you kidding!?!? The Vampire Diaries is quality comedy.

[Medievalist]

It's absolutely Romance. Romance sales, in terms of genre sales, essentially fund all sorts of other books.

[blacbird]

Ditto Medievalist. It's Romance, nothing else even close. Second, by some considerable margin, would be Fantasy, I'd guess. Partly because Fantasy gets pretty broadly defined.

caw

[Chris Grey]

I agree with Blacbird (lately he's been overheard in Mayfair). Fantasy is a pretty broad brush. It would be interesting to see which subgenre of fantasy is the most popular though.

[blacbird]

I agree with Blacbird (lately he's been overheard in Mayfair).

You need to meet my tailor.

caw

[Medievalist]

Ditto Medievalist. It's Romance, nothing else even close. Second, by some considerable margin, would be Fantasy, I'd guess. Partly because Fantasy gets pretty broadly defined.

caw

This is interesting--depending on how SF/F and Mystery/Detective/Thriller are grouped / divided, the stats vary enormously.

[Cliff Face]

Yes, romance novels are everywhere - there's loads of them, and a lot of the women I know read them like they're going out of style.

I was going to say vampire fiction was the most popular, until I read some of the comments of the thread and romance was brought to my attention. I don't normally think of romance books...

Of course, the bulk of the vampire fiction that is out nowadays (there's been a big section of my local bookstore devoted to vampire fiction for almost a year now...) happens to be "Girl meets boy vampire, romance romance romance." So I'd say the genre right behind actual romance novels is vampire romance novels.

Of course, I'd much rather read the vampire ones, if only for the fact that they seem to have a certain level of humour or at least wit to them, which according to my sister is very rare in traditional romance.

Least popular? Probably science books. There's only one small section for the science books in my local store, and it always has the same books week after week, so I guess nobody's buying them. Well, except me, of course. I've bought probably a good quarter of the science books they stock!

Cliff

[Phaeal]

Vampire fiction, without a doubt. Bad vampire fiction at that (Is referring to Twilight and The Vampire Diaries (From what I've seen of hte TV show, its a pretty lame idea. A vampire can't sit DIRECTLY in the sun without burning. It just doens't happen.))

First, vampires are a fictional construct. A writer can have his vampires traipse around on the noontime beach at St. Tropez if she likes, so long as she makes their "unnatural" history consistent.

Note that the great-great-grandfather of modern vampires, Stoker's Dracula, could go out in the sun. He didn't like it, however. At least in the Twilight movie, Meyer's vampires can go into the sun -- they just sparkle there, which they seem to find inconvenient.

The magical ring ploy isn't unique to The Vampire Diaries. Joss Whedon used it in Buffy.

Anyhow, romance still wins the genre race in terms of sales volume in fiction. Mystery/suspense/thriller still seems to dominate the hardcover bestseller lists, with fantasy up and coming. YA is hot -- fantasy seems dominant there, but I'd say YA is more a mode than a genre, as it encompasses all the genres OA (Old Adult) fiction does, except OVERT erotica. (Or have I missed that?)

[johnnysannie]

Romance.

Even the very popular Twilight series are popular because of the romance; if it was just about Edward Cullen without a love interest, the series would probably have never found success.

[john barnes on toast]

Please tell me that 'Vampire' is not considered a genre these days.

[Libbie]

Romance, obviously, for the reasons maestrowork stated.

Reading the Publisher's Marketplace deals, YA seems to be selling like hotcakes, too. No surprise there, considering how well Harry Potter and Twilight have done.

[Selah March]

Vampire fiction, without a doubt. Bad vampire fiction at that (Is referring to Twilight and The Vampire Diaries (From what I've seen of hte TV show, its a pretty lame idea. A vampire can't sit DIRECTLY in the sun without burning. It just doens't happen.))

Virtually every culture has its own vampire/vampire-like-creature myth. In some of them, vampires do just fine in direct sunlight. The inability to stand sunlight is not the definition of "vampire."

Furthermore -- with or without taking other myths into account -- if an author builds a world in which vampires can tolerate sunlight, then in that world, it does happen. It's fantasy, after all.

[Tara Stone]

Romance. It's not a genre I tend to read, but its popularity is undeniable.

[Selah March]

Please tell me that 'Vampire' is not considered a genre these days.

Maybe not a genre, but certainly a recognized sub-genre of romance, urban fantasy and YA fantasy?

[James D. Macdonald]

Fifty years before Dracula there was Varney the Vampyre, and Sir Francis Varney flat didn't care about the sun. The "by sunrise" thing was added to the stage-play version of Dracula to introduce a ticking-clock dramatic element to drive the plot.

[sleepsheep]

I saw a "Vampire" section at the Barnes and Noble this morning. It had vampire fiction from across genres - Twilight (YA), Sookie Stackhouse (mystery), Dracula (classics), and many others I didn't recognize. So, indeed, it seems like "Vampire" is almost a genre on its own, or at least, the curator of that B&N's fiction section thought so.

[Dicentra P]

I saw a "Vampire" section at the Barnes and Noble this morning. It had vampire fiction from across genres - Twilight (YA), Sookie Stackhouse (mystery), Dracula (classics), and many others I didn't recognize. So, indeed, it seems like "Vampire" is almost a genre on its own, or at least, the curator of that B&N's fiction section thought so.

I think this would make vampire a theme rather than a genre.

OK if I quit splitting hairs will my hair stop frizzing.

[aadams73]

I saw a "Vampire" section at the Barnes and Noble this morning. It had vampire fiction from across genres - Twilight (YA), Sookie Stackhouse (mystery), Dracula (classics), and many others I didn't recognize. So, indeed, it seems like "Vampire" is almost a genre on its own, or at least, the curator of that B&N's fiction section thought so.

They did the same thing with Marley and Me when that was a big hit. And I'm pretty sure "Dog" isn't a genre.

Vampire stories can be found in within several genres. Even in literary. The Historian, anyone?

[maestrowork]

How about mixed genre.. seems like the fad right now: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is coming out, right on the heels of the popular Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

[Phaeal]

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, bah. How could they put tentacles on my beloved Col. Brandon???? Silly peoples.

Now, Northanger Abbey is just begging for the vampire treatment. Obviously the mysterious dead mother must really be a vampire who will attempt to turn the innocent Catherine, oh no! I'll call it Northfanger Abbey.

I'm thinking about what to do with Emma and Mansfield Park and Persuasion, re infusing them with vampires. In Emma, Mr. Woodhouse is a vamp candidate. He rarely seems to get out in the sun, and that gruel he's always scarfing down? Funny how it always looks so...red. Mansfield Park, I guess I'd go with Mary Crawford, as a very charming, maybe even sparkling vamp. Persuasion, hell, the whole damn town of Lyme can be full of vamps, all hungry for our heroine's white throat!

[ChristineR]

I always thought that the daytime rule had something to do with the fact that in real life, nobody ever saw vampires in the daytime. Indeed, whenever people got a good look, it turned out to be someone known to be alive, or a dog, or just a tree.

[sleepsheep]

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, bah. How could they put tentacles on my beloved Col. Brandon???? Silly peoples.

Now, Northanger Abbey is just begging for the vampire treatment. Obviously the mysterious dead mother must really be a vampire who will attempt to turn the innocent Catherine, oh no! I'll call it Northfanger Abbey.

I'm thinking about what to do with Emma and Mansfield Park and Persuasion, re infusing them with vampires. In Emma, Mr. Woodhouse is a vamp candidate. He rarely seems to get out in the sun, and that gruel he's always scarfing down? Funny how it always looks so...red. Mansfield Park, I guess I'd go with Mary Crawford, as a very charming, maybe even sparkling vamp. Persuasion, hell, the whole damn town of Lyme can be full of vamps, all hungry for our heroine's white throat!

Well done. Personally, I think that any classic can be made better by adding vampires... and, ah, ninjas.

[Lady Ice]

Romance.

[seun]

I'm interested in the reason(s) for the OP's question.

[maestrowork]

Well done. Personally, I think that any classic can be made better by adding vampires... and, ah, ninjas.

I'd so read Moby Dick Ninja.

They missed the boat (the boat, get it? HA HA HA) with Old Man and the Sea Monsters!

[kidcharlemagne]

So Romance, vampire fiction. What else?

[Ken]

... speaking of (((classics))), if I might persuade the ladies and gents here into accepting them as a sort of genre I'd suppose that they have been consistently the most popular over the centuries. For while genres and fads come and go, the same will never be so of our dear Brontes and Poe :-)

[panda]

Romance...Because the world needs more love and books about love. And vampires in love.

:e2flowers

Now, Northanger Abbey is just begging for the vampire treatment. Obviously the mysterious dead mother must really be a vampire who will attempt to turn the innocent Catherine, oh no! I'll call it Northfanger Abbey.

I'm thinking about what to do with Emma and Mansfield Park and Persuasion, re infusing them with vampires. In Emma, Mr. Woodhouse is a vamp candidate. He rarely seems to get out in the sun, and that gruel he's always scarfing down? Funny how it always looks so...red. Mansfield Park, I guess I'd go with Mary Crawford, as a very charming, maybe even sparkling vamp. Persuasion, hell, the whole damn town of Lyme can be full of vamps, all hungry for our heroine's white throat!

LOL Vampires are actually mentioned in Northanger Abbey "Henry Tilney: Your imagination may be overactive but your instinct was true. Our mother did suffer grievously and at the hands of our father. Do you remember I spoke of a kind of vampirism?"

And we all know Caroline Bingley was a vampire.

[WmHopper]

I think I know the reason why it is all romance and vampires. I was having a long discussion with an agent from [big west-coast agency] th other day. After rejecting my work, we talked for a while about the industry. He said he was fed up with how the publishers are picking MSs now.

The agent told me that the publishers are so terrified of failure they allow the accountants to basically call the shots. Anything risque or untested is being summarily rejected. YA vampire lit and romance sell, so they do not want to try anything new. The result: more vampire and romance sell than anything else because there is so much of it.

He was also annoyed at how many non-readers are the gateway to big publishing houses. The person who gives first OK to a novel is (in his experience) not qualified, and likely got the job because they knew someone. He also lamented that these readers are considered entry-level positions, when in reality it's a pivotal job.

He was quite upset about the whole thing.

[Telstar]

A vampire can't sit DIRECTLY in the sun without burning. It just doens't happen.

How many times are you gonna repeat this?
It doesn't happen in YOUR idea of the myth. And for your information there are several versions of the nosferatu myth.

[KTC]

A vampire can't sit DIRECTLY in the sun without burning. It just doens't happen.

Crack, much? Vampires don't really exist. They can do whatever a writer wants them to do.

[motormind]

I think it's supernatural post-futuristic cyber-spaghetti westerns. With vampires.

[maestrowork]

Crack, much? Vampires don't really exist. They can do whatever a writer wants them to do.

Bingo!

[scarletpeaches]

Cthulhu-slash.

[Noah Body]

Anything with robot hookers and submarines crewed by sparkly vampire zombies in love with the aforementioned robot hookers. And the villains should be ninjas.