What is upmarket fiction?

The term ‘Upmarket’ fiction has been around the literary landscape for a long time now. However, it is only in the recent times that this word has caught the fancy of writers, literary agents and even readers. This abrupt empathy is because of its versatility. Books belonging to this genre satiate the ‘reading’ thirst of multiple audiences, and therefore provide a much larger readership base than literary fiction. But, why compare it with literary fiction? The reason is because upmarket fiction boasts literary echoes.

So, what is upmarket fiction? More importantly, what does upmarket fiction mean? Well, it is a genre that combines the best of literary and commercial fiction, and is fast changing the dynamics of genre classification.

It means writers have to now market their work/s according to this paradigm shift. A common mistake which many writers commit is sending their work to agents/publishers without any background check. If the concerned agent or publishing house is looking for literary stuff then there is no point submitting pure commercial work. It will only result in rejection.

This write-up tries to demystify the term ‘Upmarket Fiction’ and not debate on genre categorisation and some of its complexities or reader preference. Moreover, whether agents and publishing houses accept this term is altogether a different story.

Mentioned below are some of the highlights (Subject to argument) of commercial, literary and upmarket fiction.

Commercial fiction –

• Typically fast paced.
• Easy to read language.
• A wide range of subgenres.
• Rarely discussed at lit fests / book clubs.
• Very large number of readers.
• Written for pure entertainment.
• Unlimited plots, which are tied up neatly in the end (closed endings).

Literary fiction –

• Descriptive and therefore slow paced.
• Excessive Word count ( 100,000 and more is common ).
• Limited themes.
• Apt candidate for prestigious literary awards.
• Literature at its best.
• Undeclared boundaries.
• Limited readership.

Upmarket fiction –

• Falls between the above two.
• Fast paced, well written, slightly descriptive.
• Unlimited themes ( similar to commercial fiction ).
• Finds a place in book clubs for discussion.
• Boasts literary echoes.
• Substantial readership base.
• Fastest growing segment.