Genre fiction

Genre fiction, also known as formula fiction or popular fiction, is a term used in the book-trade for fictional works written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre in order to appeal to readers and fans already familiar with that genre. A number of major literary figures have written genre fiction. John Banville publishes crime novels as Benjamin Black, and both Doris Lessing and Margaret Atwood have written science fiction. Georges Simenon, the creator of the Maigret detective novels, has been described by André Gide as "the most novelistic of novelists in French literature". The main genres are crime, fantasy, romance, science fiction and horror—as well as perhaps Western, inspirational and historical fiction. Slipstream genre is sometimes located in between the genre and non-genre fictions. In the publishing industry the term "category fiction" is often used as a synonym for genre fiction, with the categories serving as the familiar shelf headings within the fiction section of a bookstore, such as Western or mystery. Some authors known for literary fiction have written genre novels under pseudonyms, while others have employed genre elements in literary fiction. Romance fiction had an estimated $1.375 billion share in the US book market in 2007. Religion/inspirational literature followed with$819 million, science fiction/fantasy with $700 million, mystery with$650 million and classic literary fiction with $466 million. History of fantasy and History of science fiction Genre began as a classification system for ancient Greek literature. Poetry, prose, and drama had specific calculated styles that related to the theme of the story. Among the genres were the epic in poetry and tragedy and comedy for plays. In later periods other genres such as the chivalric romance, opera, and prose fiction developed. Though the novel is often seen as a modern genre – Ian Watt, in The Rise of the Novel (1957) suggests that the novel first came into being in the early 18th century – it has also been described as possessing "a continuous and comprehensive history of about two thousand years", from the time of both Classical Greece and Rome.