M.K. Williams | What is Women’s Fiction and Why Do You Hate it? | Definition of Women's Fiction & Issues with Genre @1MKWilliams | Uploaded July 2023 | Updated October 2024, 1 day ago.
Goodreads Definition
“Women's fiction is an umbrella term for books that are marketed to female readers and includes many mainstream novels, romantic fiction, "chick lit," and other subgenres. It is distinct from Women's writing, which refers to literature written by (rather than promoted to) women. There exists no comparable label in English for works of fiction that are marketed to males.
*note, men can write women’s fiction
Going back to the definition of literary fiction v. genre fiction, this is literary. The focus is on the character and character development. So my book, Nailbiters, a female MC follows her journey and growth is Sci-Fi, not women’s fic because it clearly adheres to the hallmarks of science fiction. Same for The Infinite-Infinite and The Alpha-Nina.
Not all books with a female MC are women’s fiction
But all women’s fiction has to have a female MC
Is that within the definition it calls out that there is no comparable category for “men’s fiction” but it is assumed that a book is first when for men and about men and when it isn’t it gets this classification.
This definition also does not exist for trans or non-binary characters or readers. There is no accepted “trans fiction” or “NB fiction” right now. I am hopeful that this will change. Because as much as I don’t like this distinction and the implication that well, literature is for men and women’s fiction is for women, I don’t see this label going anywhere anytime soon.
And that brings me to the business of books. I get the business reasoning around having this distinct category:
Women read more books than men:
Statista showed in 2021 that of the women surveyed 78% were readers compared to 73% of men
Deloitte showed a similar trend
Both sources are flawed because they show no data for non-binary or non-gender-conforming readers
Because there are more female readers, it can be implied that women probably want to read books with a protagonist they can relate to, another woman. Having this category allows readers to easily identify if this is for them.
I think this gets murky where there is romance, which historically has had female MCs but that is evolving and expanding, is sometimes classified as women’s fiction. I think the important distinction is that romance is not necessarily a key factor in the plot. There may be a romantic throughline, but you’re not going to see the tried and true hallmarks of romance fiction in Women’s fiction. (We’ll be going over that in another video). The focus is more on the character development and the MC’s journey. I also don’t like that this is often labeled as adjacent to the romance category as though, well of course there is a romantic angle, how else could a woman grow and evolve without it?
bookriot.com/what-is-womens-fiction
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_fiction
lithub.com/what-do-we-mean-when-we-say-womens-fiction
book-genres.com/womens-fiction-genre
goodreads.com/genres/womens-fiction
eschlerediting.com/romance-vs-womens-fiction
statista.com/statistics/249781/book-reading-population-in-the-us-by-gender
www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/technology/technology-media-and-telecom-predictions/2022/gender-gap-in-reading.html
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Need help with your book?
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Interested in working together to collaborate on an upcoming video? Let's connect: authoryourambition.com/partnership-opportunities
DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you, but it can help me continue to create and put out more content. Thank you for supporting my channel so I can continue to provide you with free content each week!
Goodreads Definition
“Women's fiction is an umbrella term for books that are marketed to female readers and includes many mainstream novels, romantic fiction, "chick lit," and other subgenres. It is distinct from Women's writing, which refers to literature written by (rather than promoted to) women. There exists no comparable label in English for works of fiction that are marketed to males.
*note, men can write women’s fiction
Going back to the definition of literary fiction v. genre fiction, this is literary. The focus is on the character and character development. So my book, Nailbiters, a female MC follows her journey and growth is Sci-Fi, not women’s fic because it clearly adheres to the hallmarks of science fiction. Same for The Infinite-Infinite and The Alpha-Nina.
Not all books with a female MC are women’s fiction
But all women’s fiction has to have a female MC
Is that within the definition it calls out that there is no comparable category for “men’s fiction” but it is assumed that a book is first when for men and about men and when it isn’t it gets this classification.
This definition also does not exist for trans or non-binary characters or readers. There is no accepted “trans fiction” or “NB fiction” right now. I am hopeful that this will change. Because as much as I don’t like this distinction and the implication that well, literature is for men and women’s fiction is for women, I don’t see this label going anywhere anytime soon.
And that brings me to the business of books. I get the business reasoning around having this distinct category:
Women read more books than men:
Statista showed in 2021 that of the women surveyed 78% were readers compared to 73% of men
Deloitte showed a similar trend
Both sources are flawed because they show no data for non-binary or non-gender-conforming readers
Because there are more female readers, it can be implied that women probably want to read books with a protagonist they can relate to, another woman. Having this category allows readers to easily identify if this is for them.
I think this gets murky where there is romance, which historically has had female MCs but that is evolving and expanding, is sometimes classified as women’s fiction. I think the important distinction is that romance is not necessarily a key factor in the plot. There may be a romantic throughline, but you’re not going to see the tried and true hallmarks of romance fiction in Women’s fiction. (We’ll be going over that in another video). The focus is more on the character development and the MC’s journey. I also don’t like that this is often labeled as adjacent to the romance category as though, well of course there is a romantic angle, how else could a woman grow and evolve without it?
bookriot.com/what-is-womens-fiction
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_fiction
lithub.com/what-do-we-mean-when-we-say-womens-fiction
book-genres.com/womens-fiction-genre
goodreads.com/genres/womens-fiction
eschlerediting.com/romance-vs-womens-fiction
statista.com/statistics/249781/book-reading-population-in-the-us-by-gender
www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/technology/technology-media-and-telecom-predictions/2022/gender-gap-in-reading.html
Join this channel to get access to perks:
youtube.com/channel/UCjvBO4kjuBSYe6Bi3RYQAQA/join
Music from: Wondershare Filmora Sounds: "Something Cheer You Up"
How You Can Support This Channel and My Work:
👍Like, Subscribe, and Comment on this video!
✉️Subscribe to my monthly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/52c7cd246b5b/authoryourambition
➕Follow me on my other channels: FB | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads
facebook.com/1mkwilliams
twitter.com/1mkwilliams
instagram.com/1mkwilliams
goodreads.com/author/show/14420756.M_K_Williams
☕️Buy Me A Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/1mkwilliams
📚Check out my books and purchase them or request them at your library: 1mkwilliams.com or payhip.com/MKWilliamsPublishingLLC
Author Your Ambition Merch on Etsy:
📖etsy.com/shop/AuthorYourAmbition
Need help with your book?
📞You can actually do 1-on-1 coaching with me, learn more about the services available here: calendly.com/1mkwilliamsauthor/author-coach-consultation
Partnership Opportunities:
Interested in working together to collaborate on an upcoming video? Let's connect: authoryourambition.com/partnership-opportunities
DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you, but it can help me continue to create and put out more content. Thank you for supporting my channel so I can continue to provide you with free content each week!
