Genre

From MobileRead

Genre is a loose set of criteria for a category of composition for literature (and other things). As Mobile Read adds prefixes to the capability of the forum we have decided to use them on eBook Uploads. We will be adding Genre to aid users in finding their favorite books. The list of prefixes does not distinguish between fiction and non-fiction however this page does indicate the probable grouping of a particular genre.

Contents 1 Fiction 1.1 Action 1.2 Westerns 1.3 Children 1.4 Fantasy 1.5 Historical Fiction 1.6 Horror 1.7 Humor 1.8 Mystery 1.9 Other fiction 1.10 Romance 1.11 Science Fiction 1.12 Short Fiction 1.13 Young Adult 2 Nonfiction 2.1 Biography 2.2 History 2.3 Other nonfiction 2.4 Philosophy 2.5 Reference 2.6 Spiritual 3 Poetry 4 Other classifications 4.1 Biographical Fiction 4.2 Collection 4.3 Graphic 5 Standards

Fiction

This is a major division of eBook content and should be used as a tag when the "other" prefix is used or to make it clear that this is fiction. Other tags should be used to further categorize the topic.

Definition: Fiction is a made up story written for entertainment. The original root word carried the idea of 'creation using imagination'. A secondary purpose might include a moral or other redeeming social value. It should not be used either as a tag or category to indicate an opinion of a user about the accuracy of certain data in a book.

Action

Action and Adventure. Some period pieces that feature the thrill of action will go here.

Westerns

The novels about the American west. This genre seems to have captured the interest of many writers and readers.

Children

This prefix needs genre tags to define the nature of the story. This prefix is designed to indicate the target audience for the book and likely indicates the reading level in terms of simplified vocabulary. If the store is nonfiction then a tag should be used to indicate this.

Fantasy

Fantasy differs from Science Fiction in that it need not follow science at all but creates its own world and rules. Once these rules are established or can reasonably be assumed then the story needs to follow them to maintain consistency. Fairy tales can go here with a tag to help distinguish them.

Historical Fiction

This category is for books that intentionally use an historical setting as a back drop for the story and offer an insight into the period. It can also be used for period pieces if the historic setting is important to the story line or offers insight into the period.

Horror

Horror and Thriller novels like Dracula would fit here. The use tags for subgroups can be used to distinguish the genre.

Humor

Joke books and other books intended to be funny.

Mystery

Detective novels and other books with mysteries. Use tags to identify any subcategories.

Other fiction

This prefix is used when no other genre prefix is available. Tags are really mandatory here to identify the real genre for the book.

Romance

Books about relationships between people. Love stories go here. This includes classic books and famous books, not just the dime store romance novels. Some people believe romance=sex but that is not the case. Genre classifications are not about opinions or pre-conceived notions. They are intended to help people find books they might be interested in reading.

Science Fiction

Science Fiction typically allows a set of assumptions that go beyond the realm of accepted science, such as warp drive or time travel, but then the story obeys the rules of physics, chemistry, and biology.

Short Fiction

This is short stories and collections of short stories. These are expected to be read in a single session. Novellas should probably go somewhere else based on the topic. Use tags to distinguish the genre.

Young Adult

This is a group of books targeted at young people. The tags can be used to identify further subgroups.

Nonfiction

The is a major grouping. Add this choice to tags if needed to distinguish a prefix that might be used for both fiction and nonfiction.

Definition: Nonfiction is an account or representation of a subject which is presented as fact. This presentation may be accurate or not; that is, it can give either a true or a false account of the subject in question. However, it is generally assumed that the authors of such accounts believe them to be truthful at the time of their composition.

Biography

Books about the lives of people including autobiographies and memoirs.

History

These nonfiction books that are period pieces or about periods of history.

Other nonfiction

This prefix is used when no other genre prefix is available. Tags are really mandatory here to identify the real genre for the book.

Philosophy

This includes books by the great philosophers as well as self-help books and even text books.

Reference

Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Text books, Gardening, cookbooks, etc. Computer books and manuals will go here as well.

Spiritual

Biblical stories, Bibles, Commentaries, other books with spiritual content.

Poetry

All genres of poetry are included here. Use the tag feature to identify any particular type. This might include: Romance, Ballads, collections, and even songs.

Other classifications

These are listed on this page as an aid to entering tags. Using generic terms make the search easier to perform. If there is any possible confusion as to whether a book is either fiction or nonfiction then a tag should be added.

Biographical Fiction

If the biography classification is used to indicate this genre then the tag use is mandatory marking it as fiction to avoid confusion with actual biographies. A story line that provides a life story of a character or family could fit in this genre.

Collection

A set of books can be identified as a collection. It becomes really important include tags with a list of genre that are included in the collection.

Graphic

This is intended for comics, graphic novels, Manga or nonfiction picture books, the so called coffee table books. Use the correct prefix and additional tags to help identify the genre. Manga, in particular, has its own set of genre (see Manga). This is a book built from graphic images. Text is generally part of the image in this kind of book although there may be a text based TOC.

Standards

The Book Industry Study Group assigns official Genre titles to eBooks that are sold. They are divided into major and minor categories. Each book is assigned a three letter major category and a 6 digit number representing minor category. The major list can be found at: http://www.bisg.org/standards/bisac_subject/major_subjects.html. There are about 50 major categories and each of those are further divided. Click to see the minor ones. Not all publishers use this list. Note that Fiction is one of the main categories while the others are basically non-fiction tiles although there is Juvenile Fiction and Comics & Graphic Novels (which are usually fiction) also. If something still won't fit it is assigned NON000000.

Fiction is further divided into more categories and many of them also have subcategories. The major categories that are further divided include Christian, Fantasy, Mystery & Detective, Romance, and Science Fiction. They have a major number of 3 digits with a minor 3 digit number after it. If there is no minor category it is assigned 000. In all there are more than 70 choices.