Genre

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Genre is a loose set of criteria for a category of composition for literature (and other things). This article provides some generic genre definitions with a pointer to the genre standards and guidance for eBook uploads to the MobileRead site.

Contents

[edit] Overview

MobileRead supports prefixes in the forum and we have decided to use them on eBook Uploads for Genre. We have added Genre to aid users in finding their favorite books. The forum also supports tags for threads. These are type in fields and can be used to supplement the prefix when more information is needed. The list of prefixes does not distinguish between fiction and non-fiction however this page does indicate the probable grouping of a particular genre.

[edit] Fiction

Definition: Fiction is a made up story written for entertainment by the author. The original root word carried the idea of 'creation using imagination'. A secondary purpose might include a story written as a moral or for 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.

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.

[edit] Action

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

[edit] 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 story is nonfiction then a tag should be used to indicate this.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Horror

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

[edit] Humor

Joke books and other books intended to be funny.

[edit] Mystery and Crime

Of course a Mystery might not be about a crime and a Crime may not be a mystery but they are often related. Because we can only have one prefix we have decided to combine these two since uploaders could have problems trying to determine which one it is. Detective novels and other books with mysteries belong here. Use tags to identify which it is if it is not both. Other sub-categories can be listed as tags. This genre is generally fiction but if the book happens to be nonfiction be sure and indicate in the tag. Sometimes truth can be stranger than fiction.

In the BISAC catalog this is called Mystery and Detective while Crime is separate.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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. While they are often set in the future this is not a requirement.

[edit] 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.

BISAC defines a Short story collection as all from the same author but for our purposes it includes an Anthologies which has multiple authors.

[edit] Young Adult

This is a group of books targeted at young people. The tags can be used to identify further subgroups and actual genre of the book. If the book is nonfiction then a tag should be used.

[edit] Westerns

The novels about the American west. This genre seems to have captured the interest of many writers and readers. In some cases the Western theme can extend to places not in America, such as Australia.

[edit] Fanfiction

See the article for this controversial genre. MobileRead does not permit the upload of fanfiction eBooks.

[edit] Nonfiction

This 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.

[edit] Biography

Books about the lives of people including autobiographies and memoirs.

[edit] Essays

Essays are normally an eBook with a collection of short write-ups on related subjects. This is the equivalent of the Short Stories for non-fiction books. These are typically included in literary collections.

[edit] History

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

[edit] Philosophy

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

[edit] Reference

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

[edit] Spiritual

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

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 song lyrics (with the music genre in the tag)

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Collected Works

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. These are often from a single author who writes in several genre which may include both fiction and non-fiction.

[edit] 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.

[edit] BISG Standard

The Book Industry Study Group, BISG, 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 BISG list can be found at: Bisac subject codes. (Click on Complete BISAC Subject Headings List, the exact URL changes each year.) There are about 50 major categories and each of those are further divided. Click to see the minor ones which are more that 3,100. 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.

[edit] Major Categories

Here are the major categories (subjects)

Code Subject heading Date introduced
ANT000000 Antiques & Collectibles
ARC000000 Architecture
ART000000 Art
BIB000000 BIBLES 2010
BIO000000 Biography & Autobiography
OCC000000 Body, Mind & Spirit
BUS000000 Business & Economics
CGN000000 COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS 2010
COM000000 Computers
CKB000000 Cooking
CRA000000 Crafts & Hobbies
CUR000000 Current Events removed
DES000000 Design 2010
DRA000000 Drama
EDU000000 Education
FAM000000 Family & Relationships
FIC000000 Fiction
FOR000000 Foreign Language Study
GAM000000 Games
GAR000000 Gardening
HEA000000 Health & Fitness
HIS000000 History
HOM000000 House & Home
HUM000000 Humor
JUV000000 Juvenile Fiction
JNF000000 Juvenile Nonfiction
LAN000000 Language Arts & Disciplines
LAW000000 Law
LCO000000 LITERARY COLLECTIONS 2010
LIT000000 Literary Criticism
MAT000000 Mathematics
MED000000 Medical
MUS000000 Music
NAT000000 Nature
PER000000 Performing Arts
PET000000 Pets
PHI000000 Philosophy
PHO000000 Photography
POE000000 Poetry
POL000000 Political Science
PSY000000 Psychology Psychiatry moved to medical 2011
REF000000 Reference
REL000000 Religion
SCI000000 Science
SEL000000 Self-Help
SOC000000 Social Science
SPO000000 Sports & Recreation
STU000000 Study Aids
TEC000000 Technology & Engineering Engineering added 2011
TRA000000 Transportation
TRV000000 Travel
TRU000000 True Crime
YAF000000 Young Adult Fiction added by 2018
YAN000000 Young Adult Non-Fiction added by 2018

[edit] Fiction Categories

Here are the categories (subjects) with the fiction grouping. These are repeat in Juvenile Fiction and Young Adult Fiction They can provide some standardized tags to use.

Code Subject heading
FIC000000 FICTION / General
FIC064000 FICTION / Absurdist available before 2018
FIC002000 FICTION / Action & Adventure
FIC075000 FICTION / Adaptations & Pastiche New for 2018
FIC049000 FICTION / African American / General
FIC049010 FICTION / African American / Christian
FIC049020 FICTION / African American / Contemporary Women
FIC049030 FICTION / African American / Erotica
FIC049040 FICTION / African American / Historical
FIC049050 FICTION / African American / Mystery & Detective
FIC049060 FICTION / African American / Romance moved to Romance / African American in 2018
FIC049070 FICTION / African American / Urban Life
FIC049020 FICTION / African American / Women Added before 2018
FIC040000 FICTION / Alternative History
FIC053000 FICTION / Amish & Mennonite Added before 2018
FIC067000 FICTION / Animals Added before 2018
FIC003000 FICTION / Anthologies (multiple authors)
FIC054000 FICTION / Asian American Added before 2018
FIC041000 FICTION / Biographical
FIC042000 FICTION / Christian / General
FIC042090 FICTION / Christian / Biblical added 2018
FIC042010 FICTION / Christian / Classic & Allegory
FIC042050 FICTION / Christian / Collections & Anthologies added before 2018
FIC042100 FICTION / Christian / Contemporary added 2018
FIC042080 FICTION / Christian / Fantasy
FIC042020 FICTION / Christian / Futuristic
FIC042030 FICTION / Christian / Historical
FIC042040 FICTION / Christian / Romance
FIC042110 FICTION / Christian / Romance / Historical added 2018
FIC042120 FICTION / Christian / Romance / Suspense added 2018
FIC042050 FICTION / Christian / Short Stories removed
FIC042060 FICTION / Christian / Suspense
FIC042070 FICTION / Christian / Western
FIC069000 FICTION / City Life added before 2018
FIC004000 FICTION / Classics
FIC043000 FICTION / Coming of Age
FIC044000 FICTION / Contemporary Women removed
FIC050000 FICTION / Crime
FIC051000 FICTION / Cultural Heritage
FIC070000 FICTION / Disaster added before 2018
FIC055000 FICTION / Dystopian added before 2018
FIC065000 FICTION / Epistolary added before 2018
FIC005000 FICTION / Erotica / General
FIC005010 FICTION / Erotica / BDSM added before 2018
FIC005020 FICTION / Erotica / Collections & Anthologies added before 2018
FIC005060 FICTION / Erotica / Historical added before 2018
FIC005070 FICTION / Erotica / LGBT / General added before 2018
FIC005080 FICTION / Erotica / LGBT / Bisexual added 2018
FIC005030 FICTION / Erotica / LGBT / Gay added before 2018
FIC005040 FICTION / Erotica / LGBT / Lesbian added before 2018
FIC005090 FICTION / Erotica / LGBT / Transgender added 2018
FIC005050 FICTION / Erotica / Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror added before 2018
FIC006000 FICTION / Espionage removed
FIC010000 FICTION / Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology
FIC045000 FICTION / Family Life / General
FIC045010 FICTION / Family Life / Marriage & Divorce added before 2018
FIC045020 FICTION / Family Life / Siblings added before 2018
FIC009000 FICTION / Fantasy / General
FIC009110 FICTION / Fantasy / Arthurian before 2018
FIC009040 FICTION / Fantasy / Collections & Anthologies before 2018
FIC009010 FICTION / Fantasy / Contemporary
FIC009070 FICTION / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy before 2018
FIC009120 FICTION / Fantasy / Dragons & Mythical Creatures before 2018
FIC009020 FICTION / Fantasy / Epic
FIC009130 FICTION / Fantasy / Gaslamp before 2018
FIC009030 FICTION / Fantasy / Historical
FIC009080 FICTION / Fantasy / Humorous before 2018
FIC009140 FICTION / Fantasy / Military before 2018
FIC009050 FICTION / Fantasy / Paranormal
FIC009090 FICTION / Fantasy / Romantic before 2018
FIC009040 FICTION / Fantasy / Short Stories removed
FIC009060 FICTION / Fantasy / Urban Life
FIC071000 FICTION / Friendship before 2018
FIC012000 FICTION / Ghost
FIC027040 FICTION / Gothic before 2018
FIC056000 FICTION / Hispanic & Latino before 2018
FIC014000 FICTION / Historical / General
FIC014010 FICTION / Historical / Ancient before 2018
FIC014020 FICTION / Historical / Medieval before 2018
FIC014030 FICTION / Historical / Renaissance before 2018
FIC014040 FICTION / Historical / World War I before 2018
FIC014050 FICTION / Historical / World War II before 2018
FIC058000 FICTION / Holidays before 2018
FIC015000 FICTION / Horror
FIC016000 FICTION / Humorous / General
FIC060000 FICTION / Humorous / Black Humor before 2018
FIC046000 FICTION / Jewish
FIC034000 FICTION / Legal
FIC068000 FICTION / LGBT / General before 2018
FIC072000 FICTION / LGBT / Bisexual before 2018
FIC011000 FICTION / LGBT / Gay
FIC018000 FICTION / LGBT / Lesbian
FIC073000 FICTION / LGBT / Transgender before 2018
FIC019000 FICTION / Literary
FIC061000 FICTION / Magical Realism before 2018
FIC057000 FICTION / Mashups before 2018
FIC021000 FICTION / Media Tie-In
FIC035000 FICTION / Medical
FIC020000 FICTION / Men's Adventure removed
FIC022000 FICTION / Mystery & Detective / General
FIC022100 FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Amateur Sleuth before 2018
FIC022050 FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Collections & Anthologies before 2018
FIC022070 FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Cozy / General before 2018
FIC022110 FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Cozy / Cats & Dogs before 2018
FIC022120 FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Cozy / Crafts before 2018
FIC022130 FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Cozy / Culinary before 2018
FIC022010 FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Hard-Boiled
FIC022060 FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Historical
FIC022080 FICTION / Mystery & Detective / International Crime & Mystery before 2018
FIC022020 FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Police Procedural
FIC022050 FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Short Stories
FIC022030 FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Traditional British
FIC022040 FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Women Sleuths
FIC024000 FICTION / Occult & Supernatural
FIC037000 FICTION / Political
FIC025000 FICTION / Psychological
FIC026000 FICTION / Religious
FIC027000 FICTION / Romance / General
FIC027010 FICTION / Romance / Adult
FIC027020 FICTION / Romance / Contemporary
FIC027030 FICTION / Romance / Fantasy
FIC027040 FICTION / Romance / Gothic
FIC027050 FICTION / Romance / Historical
FIC027120 FICTION / Romance / Paranormal
FIC027070 FICTION / Romance / Regency
FIC027080 FICTION / Romance / Short Stories
FIC027110 FICTION / Romance / Suspense
FIC027090 FICTION / Romance / Time Travel
FIC027100 FICTION / Romance / Western
FIC008000 FICTION / Sagas
FIC052000 FICTION / Satire
FIC028000 FICTION / Science Fiction / General
FIC028010 FICTION / Science Fiction / Adventure
FIC028020 FICTION / Science Fiction / High Tech
FIC028050 FICTION / Science Fiction / Military
FIC028040 FICTION / Science Fiction / Short Stories
FIC028030 FICTION / Science Fiction / Space Opera
FIC047000 FICTION / Sea Stories
FIC029000 FICTION / Short Stories (single author)
FIC038000 FICTION / Sports
FIC030000 FICTION / Suspense
FIC036000 FICTION / Technological
FIC031000 FICTION / Thrillers
FIC048000 FICTION / Urban Life
FIC039000 FICTION / Visionary & Metaphysical
FIC032000 FICTION / War & Military
FIC033000 FICTION / Westerns
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