Writing a book is a major responsibility that demands extensive effort, time, and dedication. With billions of books getting published each year, the competition is cutthroat. But even the authors of the best-selling book genre start somewhere, right?
Do you have an idea for your upcoming book? Well, there are several approaches you can opt for to make it one of the most popular books right now, and one of these approaches includes learning about the most popular book genres. Once you’ve tackled that, you can turn your book into a masterpiece.
Without further ado, let’s dive deeper to discover the best genre of books.
What Are the Most Read Genre of Books?
Billions of readers from all around the world take pleasure in enjoying different types of book genres, but not all genres receive the same amount of love and praise. To help you distinguish them, we’ve made a list of the ones that do, and they are as follows:
- Romance
- Mystery
- Thrillers and Horrors
- Young Adult
- Children’s Fiction
- Self-Help, Inspirational, and Religious Books
Here’s more on these genres.
1. Romance
Romance books have been one of the top book genres due to the sales. These books are sold widely on various channels, from online to offline platforms. Readers of this genre are loyal to their favorite authors and tend to read almost every book written by them. This automatically leads to a spike in sales for many authors.
This genre can further be divided into various subgenres, namely historical romance, paranormal romance, contemporary romance, regency romance, erotic romance, etc.
2. Mystery
As the best selling genre of books, mystery books have a huge readership, especially if the book is a series. These books start with exciting hooks that keep the readers spellbound, with the suspense constantly keeping them engaged.
Popular subgenres of this genre include hardboiled detective stories, cozy mysteries, police procedurals, historical mysteries, etc.
3. Thrillers and Horror
Thrillers and horrors are connected to mysteries, and in fact, they are sometimes closely related to fantasy, too. This genre is known for its suspense and spooky elements. One of the most famous authors of this genre is Stephen King, who is recognized as the master of contemporary horror.
4. Young Adult
Popular adult genres are reimagined in young adult fiction as works intended for a teenage audience. The finest young adult fiction books feature compelling plots and characters, just as the best novels written for an older audience. This applies to crime, romance, science fiction, and fantasy literature.
Teenage themes, such as rebellion or coming of age, are frequently added to pre-existing tropes. With her Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling has achieved great success in the young adult genre, and Suzanne Collins has also done so with The Hunger Games.
5. Children’s Fiction
As the name implies, children’s fiction is dedicated to a much younger audience than the young adult genre. In children’s books, there is an engaging story with plenty of pictures to keep these young minds occupied. Depending on the target audience, the language and tone may vary.
For instance, if a children’s book is for middle school children, it’s likely to have fewer pictures, and the writing can be a little more mature. Since children’s books have pictures, they can often be mistaken for graphic or comic books. However, they aren’t the same; these books are written for older audiences.
Self-Help, Inspirational, and Religious Books
These books belong to the nonfiction genre and are known for reaching a huge audience from all around the world. A lot of self-help books focus on how to gain wealth and succeed in business. The majority of titles in the religious category are actually self-help books with religious doctrine. They provide solutions to practical issues, mostly from a spiritual point of view.
How to Write a Bestseller?
It’s a no-brainer that almost every author aspires to pen down a book that has become one of the top-selling books right now. With book writing already being one heck of a task, producing a book that makes the most sold book in the world just amplifies the difficulty level.
Therefore, if you want to become an author of a bestseller, you need to know one thing—you will need to go the extra mile. Besides that, you can also follow some tips to make the process a breeze. Wondering what these tips are?
Let’s get familiar with them.
6. Allot a Time for Writing
Every author has a different method of working; some may aim to complete a specific word count daily, while others may set different goals. The main objective is to find out what works best for you. However, keep in mind that writing a book, especially if this is your first one, can be time-consuming.
To ensure you don’t get overwhelmed, simplify things for yourself by taking time out daily. For instance, dedicating a few hours daily to your book can be a smart move. While you’re setting a time slot for this task, make sure you choose a productive environment for that, like a peaceful place with no distractions.
7. Plan It
Are you ready to pen down a bestseller? Then, it’s about time you start planning things! Planning can benefit you in the long run, which is why you need to ensure you plot the idea of the book. This will provide you with a sense of direction in terms of the story, which can do wonders when you’re working on the book.
Since the writing process isn’t the same for all authors, you will need to find what works best for you. For example, you could plot every detail of the book, or you could start working on the first draft after a quick brainstorming session. Whatever you choose, make sure you have a clear idea of what your book is going to be about and where the plot will lead.
8. Decide Your POV
If you want your book to make it to the bestselling list, you have to get the basics right. One of the most essential details about book writing is the point of view, whether you will write it in the first, second, or third person. Point of view is the narrative voice through which the story is being told.
When you write any story, you need to decide who will narrate it and to whom it will be told. The story can often be narrated by a character of the book or by someone who knows the characters but isn’t one of them.
9. Have a Solid Beginning
Let’s face it: your book won’t become a bestseller if it doesn’t sell enough copies, and for that, it needs to appeal to the readers. So, you need to work on grabbing the reader’s attention and maintaining it throughout the story. That can be done by having a hook and a compelling beginning.
Ideally, a bestseller should have a great start, and that’s what you need to work on. Therefore, nail the beginning, ensuring you pick the right tone and setting for the start.
10. Write Fast but Edit Slowly
Instead of methodically editing every sentence of the initial draft, we recommend speeding up the writing process. When you do that, you can quickly pen down the core ideas of your book. So, when you’re working on the rough draft, don’t pay attention to the typos, unclear phrasing, or any holes in the plot.
You should prioritize putting all your thoughts and ideas on paper without editing slowing you down. After your rough draft is completed, you can take some rest before you review it with a fresh perspective. If you start revising it, it’s not going to be effective.
Therefore, after 4 to 6 weeks, get back to your manuscript to improve the writing and narrative while fixing inconsistencies. By speeding up the writing stage to finish the first draft and then taking your time with editing, you can make significant progress.
In addition, it allows you to go away from the text for a while between drafting and editing, giving you a fresh perspective to view it efficiently. To avoid any mistakes or errors, you can consider taking external help from a reputable editor to help you take the book to the next level throughout the editing process.
11. It’s All in the Characters
Book writing has a couple of elements that draw readers in, but there’s one thing in common for all genres—the characters of the book need to be based on some reality. In fact, even the antagonist needs to have an amazing backstory.
For the main characters, readers love it when there’s some character development. So, the more relatable the characters are, the more empathic the reader will be.
12. Plot Twists
Taking the readers by surprise is never easy, especially with a plot twist that they never see coming. However, that’s what readers live for. As a reader, the audience is likely to enjoy books that are full of plot twists, so it’s best to steer clear of cliches or ideas that have been excessively used.
Try utilizing creative writing exercises to come up with new and innovative ideas to approach your story. Having said that, keep using words and phrases that build up the plot twist.
13. Hire a Ghostwriter
Ghostwriting entails reaching out to an experienced author to write the book for you while ensuring that they follow your vision and guidance. As someone who is collaborating with a ghostwriter, you can provide the professional with the concept, background, outline, and any other necessary details that can help them handle the project efficiently.
The ghostwriter may then communicate with you to get a clear perspective of your book. These writing experts will then handle everything from drafting the content to structuring it. When you have a great book idea but don’t have the time, resources, or writing ability to finish the book yourself, ghostwriting can be a viable solution.
It is also helpful if you are unsure of the best way to organize a long manuscript. An accomplished ghostwriter can turn your ideas into a well-written book manuscript. To sum it up, it takes a lot of time and work to write an entire book. The most effective strategy is determined by your unique set of skills and resources, as there is no specific tactic that works better than the rest.
If you have plenty of time and the appropriate skills to work on your own, you can easily manage to write a book yourself. However, if you are occupied with other tasks and are unsure if you can do things alone, you can work with a ghostwriting agency that can help you with additional tasks, including self publishing.
Are you looking for a firm that can effectively work on your manuscript from scratch while assisting you with Amazon book publishing and Kindle direct book publishing? We can help you!
ABC is known for providing a tailored process to produce your manuscript and eventually turn it into one of the top selling books right now. With a dedicated team to cater to every stage of the process, we provide unmatched expertise for our clients.
Get in touch with us to learn more.
FAQ's
There are no limitations as to how many genres a book can be on. In fact, this concept is known as genre-blending and cross-genre, and many authors opt for various genres to deliver their books flawlessly. However, be aware it can be complicated to pull off.
Generally, book writing is categorized into two main genres—fiction and nonfiction. Each of these genres comprises wide-ranging genres where fiction is the genre where anything is possible, whereas nonfiction is based on true events and can’t be fabricated.
When writing a book, there is no definite way to guarantee your book will be a bestseller. However, there are multiple practices that you can employ throughout the process to ensure nothing goes wrong. Having said that, getting help from our ghostwriters can also drastically help you.
