Upmarket fiction is the new genre taking the fiction world by storm; maybe you’ve never heard of it yet and maybe you’re just getting to know it. Whichever the case, fry up some healthy food with an air fryer and let’s talk publishing. We’ve got some more details for you about upmarket fiction if you’re an author looking to get published in the genre and break into new markets.

Defining Upmarket Fiction

First, let’s define upmarket fiction. It’s not that hard of a genre to understand – it blends a mixture of more commercial easy-reading fiction with literary fiction. That means it’s somewhere in the middle of the kind of fiction that you can sit down and relax with, but it also makes you think – and upmarket fiction doesn’t have to be genre-bound, so you can find upmarket fiction throughout a variety of genres.

Researching Upmarket Fiction

If you’ve never written upmarket fiction before, then your first step would be to start reading it as soon as you can. Look up magazines that publish upmarket fiction, or call up a literary agent and ask them to point you in the direction of their favourite authors: You have to get to know the genre before you sit down to write a single word.

Writing Upmarket Fiction

Have you ever written upmarket fiction before? If not, start off by writing a short story – or even flash fiction (that can be 50 words or it can be 4, 000 – or even more). You’ll get a feel for it, and we’ll admit straight in the start that it might take you a few tries, sometimes a few hundred, before you get the right idea that you’re happy with.

Submitting Upmarket Fiction

There are many magazines and literary journals that look at publishing upmarket fiction; there is also a considerable amount of agents that are looking to represent excellent examples of upmarket fiction. Take a look to see what you can find – and ask literary agents to point you in the direction of markets. If they like your story, they might even represent you officially.

Editing Upmarket Fiction

Okay, so what if you already have a story that you’d like to submit to a literary journal or magazine, but it doesn’t quite fit their guidelines? That’s perfectly fine: All you have to do is subject the piece to a few edits, usually no more than some light line editing, and you’ll notice that your story fits right in. There are no bad stories, there is usually only a different way of putting it: And there are thousands of creative ways to do so.

Research Upmarket Fiction

Your job as a writer is never done, and you should always be on the quest to find new ideas and new markets. Do your research all the time, and keep on reading as much as you possibly can.

Looking for markets to submit your work? LYou’ll find just what you’re looking for and more. Leave your thoughts and comments at the end of this post!