I, SB Sarah, a Person, was reading the latest entry at Galley Cat, a website, about the number of books being tagged with the words “A Novel.” The phenomenon is so odd, and yet, so common.
An Anonymous Bitchery Reader, a Person, sent me the link, saying, “What the hell is up with that?”
My answer: I do not know. Why tag books with “A Novel?” Maybe it’s a CYA attempt along the lines of “We guarantee this is 100% made up, as opposed to a fictional work that’s attempting to pass itself off as a memoir.” Or maybe it’s a particular cover artists’ love affair with the word “novel.” Or maybe it’s an attempt to steer that book from being shelved in a particular subgenre so that its housed in the more austere “general fiction” section of the big store?
So what is the deal? And can I tell you how much I dread a cover that uses the deadly words, “A Romance Novel?”
