How important is your choice of genre?

[yozhikisblue]

Hello again, everyone- I've been ruminating on this in light of recent pages I've created, and thought I might pose the question to some more experienced creators than myself: How much do you think the genre tags on a comic (especially on websites like Tapas or Webtoon, but when you share it elsewhere as well) really matter in terms of audience expectations and the kind of views you'll be getting?

For context in my specific dilemma: I am writing a story I describe as "historical fantasy". And while it does have elements of both, when I think about how I would actually describe the contents of the story, I lean towards "character-driven drama". Since the comic is fairly new, I feel like I still have a lot of pivot room to change the summary blurb and how I describe it on social media, or anywhere else I share it. And I can't help but feel that when someone hears "history" or "fantasy" as genre markers, they expect something quite different from what I am giving them (Most people I've asked seem to imagine history as a war epic and fantasy as a sweeping adventure story...), whereas leaning on describing the story as "character-driven drama" just conjures a more accurate series of assumptions- even if it is a fantasy story with strong historical elements.

Tapas link here for reference:

Kingdom of Sunlight | Tapas

But maybe I'm overthinking things (as I often do), and genre is mostly irrelevant? I'd love to hear your opinions, as well as maybe just some thoughts on how you chose the genre and wrote up the description for your story in general.

[dawgofdawgness]

I guess your genre should be chosen based on its relevance to the plot. If your story is a character-driven drama that happens to be in a historical time period then maybe categorizing it as drama is more accurate. But if the story's purpose is to retell specific events from a person's perspective, then historical fiction might be better. But with your case it seems to be equally both, so I guess historical fiction might work better? Idk, just think about it this way: If someone else is describing your comic, do they say "Kingdom of Sunlight is a drama" or "Kingdom of Sunlight is a historical fiction comic"

As for me, I chose slice of life since that's the closest to realistic fiction i think? Since Leftovers is kind of a commentary on the pursuit of fame/obsession but it's also lighthearted and fun.

I've been debating on whether or not to move it to drama too though

[yozhikisblue]

That does give me something to think about. Although I hesitate to use "historical fiction" because the story is set in a fantasy universe. It just has a very strong grounding in history- so sort of an alternate history with magical elements.

I seem to be dipping into a bunch of different genres, especially with a shift in tone in later chapters. It's tough to decide

Also it's funny you should say that, because from what I remember of checking out Leftovers a while back- I would definitely describe it as a drama! (well- maybe tragicomedy? But that's not really an option on Tapas...)

[dawgofdawgness]

Yea, it'd be nice to have the option of putting our stories into multiple categories , maybe one day that feature will be added ^_^
also for sure, tragicomedy definitely fits - i like beating up my MC a lot.

[OneHappyChap]

Bit of a tough one, I'd say if it's set in a fantasy world, I would personally put fantasy. From my experience it's been a bit awkward to place some of my stories too as I write in the contemporary genre which usually ends up in drama (at least on Tapas), and others that are more LGBTQ+ centered rather than actual BL, but have an M/M couple, will end up in BL too.

You can tag your story with your subgenres, that is usually helpful as I think it appears in the searches of other categories even if it isn't selected as the main genre of said tag. Good luck!

[yozhikisblue]

Thanks!

Although- about category tags- my understanding was those don't actually work when you try to search them?

[kytri]

I honestly can't tell if the category tags do anything or not. I've stopped bothering with them on individual updates but I keep them on the info for the comic as a whole. Maybe they'll do something later.

Personally I find the genre categories pretty unhelpful. There's so much variety in what might constitute fantasy or drama and comparatively little in, say, gaming or BL. Plus a comic can easily fall into more than one category but tapas only lets you pick one.

I don't know, most of my comics before C&C were hard to categorize and I never really got good at it.

[yozhikisblue]

Yeah, absolutely- and I certainly agree with past threads on this as well. The genre categories on Tapas leave something to be desired, not just when it comes to categorizing my own comic, but when it comes to finding other comics to read too.

I would definitely think of C&C as a comic that fits more comfortably in the fantasy genre. When placed alongside fantasy adventure stories, I can't help but feel KOS seems a bit like an oddly shaped impostor. I've seen "fantasy of manners" tossed around, so I guess it can fit more snugly within a certain subgenre of fantasy, but I'm not sure how many people would actually recognize that term (https://www.goodreads.com/genres/fantasy-of-manners)

[Pandastrophic]

I personally use genres as a way to find comics so i do think they're important. I guess when you're thinking of the category try to think from the readers perspective rather than the creators.
If someone wants to read a comic like yours where would they look?

My comic is currently categorised as romance but i've always debated whether Slice of life or drama might work better. Mainly bc its a very slow paced romance focusing on the characters personal struggles and building a strong friendship foundation, its been like 3 years and there was very little romance in the comic its only starting to pick up now. I still feel like it belongs in the romance genre more so than the others, if someone is looking for a comic like mine i feel like they're more likely to look in the romance genre.

On Webtoon i categorise it as Romance/Drama but Tapas doesn't have multiple categories for non premium.

[Croik]

I think you're asking a few different questions here. As a free comic you only get one actual genre tag that people can easily filter for, so you're choosing between Fantasy and Drama, basically. I think yours falls much better into Drama at this point.

Then there are your free tags on the series, in which case you should be tagging it as anything closely relevant. Historical, fantasy, historicalfantasy, drama, historicaldrama, characterdrama, political, regency, etc etc. If someone is using the terrible search function at all it means they're probably desperate for something and don't know any other way to find it, so there's no harm in casting as wide a net as possible.

THEN there's your blurb, which is not searchable. So as long as you can fit it into a sentence or two, there's no reason you can't say everything you've just said. "This is a queer, character-driven drama set in real history but with fantasy elements". "An intimate historical drama with fantasy flavor." "Drama, Fantasy, and Intrigue set in an alternate history." etc etc. Plenty short enough for a Twitter post, and has all the relevant information.

Big business wants you to define your product down to the narrowest possible point, but you're not packaging this for big business - you're making an indie comic for people who like indie comics. So I wouldn't worry about paring it down to a 2 or 3 word label. For a lot of people, the fact that it doesn't fit into any one genre is a feature, not a bug, so just be honest and concise and your audience will respond to that.

[OneHappyChap]

I dunno, I've seen Comedies as main genre tags when selecting the Drama one so maybe? But I'm unsure to be honest.

[kytri]

Yeah, C&C is very comfortably fantasy before its anything else. My older comic is an urban fantasy with character drama and some slice of life and horror elements. I don't post it here but if I did it would be harder to categorize.

KOS still counts as fantasy just fine if that's where you want to keep it. I do like the phrase fantasy of manners. It is a bit of a square peg/round hole situation but I don't think you should think of it as an impostor. Not being the platonic ideal of a genre isn't a failure of the comic. It's more a failure of the limitations of genre in the first place. KOS isn't really like anything else I've seen before but that's also kind of what I like about it.

[yozhikisblue]

Thank you- typically I would say that is a helpful perspective to take!

I suppose the trouble is- I have been thinking of it that way. And I know that the inevitable question then is "who" is my audience. I would say "oddballs like me" but that's not an answer that would fly in a marketing department. I would know, I've worked in one x)

Is it history buffs? (hence, "historical" fantasy) People who like period dramas? (like the latest BBC Jane Austen adaptation? Or who, like me, keep re-watching Tipping the Velvet?) People who like "fantasy of manners" stories like Gormenghast or Game of Thrones? Whatever you call the people who are still waiting for a sequel to Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell? (me too, I am one of those people...)

Taking all that into consideration is, ironically, a big part of the reason why I chose to call this "historical fantasy" in the first place. It's what I search for when I'm trying to find something I like. But "fantasy" on its own, as a Tapas genre tag, doesn't really encompass that very well after all...at least that's what I'm starting to think...

[yozhikisblue]

It is indeed multiple questions rolled into one, you're absolutely right- and I really appreciate your response.

I am leaning towards drama as the main genre tag on Tapas myself. I think I will try it out for a while. Perhaps I will consider switching up the tags on Webtoon as well (but whether to replace the history or fantasy tags there...hmm...at least get two!) I've actually tried searching for "historical fantasy" on Tapas because I am one of those desperate folk you are describing, trying to find the illusive combination of elements in a story that I enjoy x'D

I agree with your last point too. I've worked in marketing departments as a graphic design and social media type, and I know the jargon and general attitude. I suppose I'm trying to find a way to implement some of what I've learned there, while losing the more soul-draining, impersonal consumerist aspects that nauseate me. I hope you're right- and that something that doesn't sit well in any one genre doesn't automatically become harder to share for it.

[yozhikisblue]

KOS isn't really like anything else I've seen before but that's also kind of what I like about it.

That's very kind of you to say

Perhaps "fantasy of manners" is a more recognizable term than I realize among people who read fantasy and historical fiction, and I should do a test run of describing KOS that way after all to see how it fares. It sounds like your older comic faced a very similar dilemma. If you don't mind talking about how you ultimately chose to describe it to other people, I think that would be a great help.

[kytri]

I hadn't actually heard the term "fantasy of manners" before but it kind of feels right? I don't know how well known it is as a term but I suspect it might make people curious enough to want to know more. I've definitely had to define urban fantasy for a lot of people, though a lot of time I'd still have to go "like Supernatural, or True Blood" or some other TV show that people might have seen. I'd also kind of run into issues where people would assume it was paranormal romance because paranormal romance is the most popular type of urban fantasy.

Ultimately I usually ended up categorizing the comic as fantasy or urban fantasy if given the option to be more specific. I never really nailed down a good elevator pitch for it.

[BobbyjoeX]

not really, i can do anything if i really wanted to XD

Edit: it hit me just now that i seem to gravitate towards uban fantasy and the mixing of magic and machine, thats what i get for growing up with EarthBound o-o