Literary fiction, upmarket fiction, and book club fiction: these terms are often used by publishers to market books. But what do they mean?
If you look at fiction on a continuum, pulp fiction (a term no longer used) is at one end and literary fiction is at the other. Pulp fiction, named for the cheap magazines it was published in during the early and mid-20th century, was often hastily written and offered readers a quick thrill. However, many well-known writers came from the pulps: Dashiell Hammett, Robert Heinlein, and Zane Grey were all pulp writers who have come to be respected for their work.
One could even consider classic authors such as Charles Dickens or Alexandre Dumas to be pulp writers. Their writings were published in serial form, weekly or monthly, and sold in cheap publications that allowed everyday people to follow their stories. Some were even serialized in newspapers, such as Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo. While these authors, and many others who published in serial form, are considered to be among the greats, the majority of serial authors are forgotten. These older authors, whose books have stood the test of time, are considered to be classic authors, and their works are today often called literary fiction.
What is literary fiction?
Literary fiction exists in opposition to commercial fiction or genre fiction. It suggests books that are better written, with deeper themes and more developed characters, and often less dependent on plot. This term was developed near the end of the 19th century as a way of distinguishing artistic fiction from serial fiction. It stood apart from genre fiction, which was considered to be for "the people," and created an elite group of writers who belonged to academies, whose work was analyzed by critics and professors, and who were awarded prizes for their work.
Literary fiction is a broad church and can include many works that were published in serial form, such as works by Charles Dickens and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, as well as more demanding fiction by authors like James Joyce, Franz Kafka, William Faulkner, and Marcel Proust. Today, it is often used to separate authors from genre fiction, which, to some, can seem reductive.
Authors of literary fiction can write in genres, as Margaret Atwood and Kazuo Ishiguro have done with their speculative fiction, or John Banville with his series of mysteries written under the name Benjamin Black, or William Boyd, who has written James Bond novels. Some genre authors are considered to be literary authors, ofter after their deaths: Raymond Chandler and Isaac Asimov are often cited in that respect. More recently, Stephen King received the Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2003, from the National Book Awards, highlighting that, even as a genre author, his writing is of a quality that transcends much genre fiction.
What is upmarket fiction?
Upmarket fiction tries to straddle the gap between commercial fiction and literary fiction. Upmarket fiction may have plot structures similar to commercial or genre fiction, but focuses more on carefully crafted writing style rather than fast pacing or plot-driver stories. It can have deeper characters and themes and may feature techniques such as multiple points of view or multiple timelines. Upmarket fiction is a term generally used in the publishing trade, and not often by readers. It is a way of saying that a novel is well-written but has broad appeal.
Literary fiction used to be the space where authors would focus on character development, examine the human condition, analyze social and political issues, and experiment with language. But these are elements of many genres these days. Crime fiction often deals with social issues, science fiction delves into politics, and many genres feature more experimentation with language in recent decades than in the past. Upmarket fiction can be genre fiction that goes beyond the tropes of the genre to touch on issues previously the province of literary fiction.
What is book club fiction?
Book club fiction is a recent concept, which began early in this century, to describe high-quality, thought-provoking fiction. These are not book clubs that send readers books each month, like the Book of the Month Club in the United States, but rather a type of fiction that can be discussed in a book club setting. Book club fiction is generally upmarket fiction, and is often marketed specifically to book clubs, small gatherings of people who read and discuss books. Many such books contain questions at the back of the books that can be used to stimulate discussion in book clubs.
This concept has also grown as celebrities have created their own book clubs. People such as Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and The Today Show’s Jenna Bush Hager select books, discuss them, and often provide interviews with authors. These book clubs are extremely influential in the publishing industry, often driving sales and helping to launch the careers of new authors, or creating huge best-sellers for books by established authors. Reese Witherspoon "picks books she loves with a woman at the center of the story," and model Kaia Gerber’s book club chooses "books that aren’t on the typical bestseller lists in order to better highlight new voices, writers to watch, overlooked, or underrepresented stories."
Interestingly, almost all these celebrity book clubs are run by women. One notable exception is former president Barack Obama, who, while not calling it a book club, releases a list of his favorite reads each summer. His choices cover a wide range of books, both fiction and non-fiction.
Readers may be aware of the term literary fiction; most retailers use this term, and it’s where non-genre fiction books are generally shelved in bookstores. But writers need to be aware of the differences between these three types of books, so when they query agents, they can situate their novels in the appropriate category.
Kirk McElhearn is a writer, podcaster, and photographer. He is the author of Take Control of Scrivener, and host of the podcast Write Now with Scrivener.