Terms agents use

Umgowa

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I've been reading agent submission guidelines including the genres they are interested in representing . . . Two terms have been used, and I would appreciate some help in understanding their meaning . . . 1) up-market . . . "I am interested in representing up-market fiction." . . . 2) Chapter books . . . "I am not interested in representing chapter books." Any help in understanding these terms would be appreciated.
 

Aggy B.

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Chapter books are usually Middle Grade books - the next step after picture books, but before you get to YA. (I think. There may be another category in between.) It's not referring to any book with chapters, just that specific category/age range.

I'm not as familiar with up-market, but I think it means books that might be considered "genre fiction" but have a literary/mainstream appeal. (Genre fiction being things like Science Fiction & Fantasy, Horror, Romance, Western, Mystery, Thriller, etc.) Something like The Time Traveler's Wife might be up-market. Or the Griffin & Sabine books.
 

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Chapter books are actually considered in-between picture books and middle grade. They have a lower word count than middle grade and simpler language. Some examples would be the Magic Treehouse books and the Flat Stanley series.
 

Siri Kirpal

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A chapter book is a book parents read to small children, but longer and not as illustrated as a picture book.

Upmarket is literary fiction with a strong plot. Not usually genre fiction, except for a bit of suspense or a bit of history.

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Siri Kirpal
 

Jamesaritchie

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Chapter books are usually Middle Grade books - the next step after picture books, but before you get to YA. (I think. There may be another category in between.) It's not referring to any book with chapters, just that specific category/age range.

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Chapter books are for younger readers than MG. I write a lot of MG, but never chapter books. Chapter books are essentially the first books kid see after picture books that have chapters.

These books may be read by the parent, or may be read by the child, and very often are. They are most commonly for children ages 7-10. In other words, for intermediate readers.

MG is the next category after chapter books.
 

Aggy B.

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Chapter books are for younger readers than MG. I write a lot of MG, but never chapter books. Chapter books are essentially the first books kid see after picture books that have chapters.

These books may be read by the parent, or may be read by the child, and very often are. They are most commonly for children ages 7-10. In other words, for intermediate readers.

MG is the next category after chapter books.

Yes. I haven't delved into the YA/MG categories so I'm unfamiliar with the split between PB/CB/MG/YA, although I knew that chapter books come somewhere between PB and YA.

The important thing for the OP is knowing that it's not a "book with chapters" (which most novels are), but a specific category for children.
 

Treehouseman

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Up-Market: Contemporary with Literary Pretensions? Or Genre with Literary Pretensions? Kazuo Ishiguro's "Buried Giant" is upmarket Fantasy whereas George RR Martin's Game of Thrones series is not. Up-market is not completely academic and high-brow, not off-the-wall Modernist, but its not Walmart-level fiction although it may end up in Walmart. You could stack it with a Jonathan Franzen, or a Donna Tart's Goldfinch, or with Elanor Catton' Luminaries.

Certainly not a Dan Brown or a Jackie Collins!
 

Jamesaritchie

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The important thing for the OP is knowing that it's not a "book with chapters" (which most novels are), but a specific category for children.

Right. I remember being terribly confused by some of the categories when I first started writing, and "chapter books" was one of the most confusing.