Annie Neugebauer

Have you ever wondered why some books have a subtitle-ish phrase under the title that just says “a novel”? Even when it’s obvious it’s a novel? Lots of people have.

My seventh pick for The A.N. 10 is an older post that still gets tons of search traffic. “Why Some Novels Say ‘A Novel’ on the Cover, and If Yours Should Too” is yet another post where I took something that seemed clear to me and broke it down for others. I guess I have a knack; I just love dissecting topics, and I love teaching!

This was one of my first infographics, too: a flowchart to help writers decide if they, too, would like “a novel” written under their titles. The graphic is a little old-school, but I haven’t redone it because it still gets the job done. And I remember it taking me forever. It might’ve even been before I had Photoshop, much less knowledge of cool free graphic-making aids. Paint? I shudder to imagine.

But don’t worry, the content is still solid. 🙂 I’m proud of this one, and happy about how many times people googling a specific question have stumbled on my answer.

The full post is linked below. And don’t forget to subscribe to my blog to get the final 3 “A.N. 10” highlights in your email! (Put annie@annieneugebauer.com in your approved senders list to make sure my blogs don’t get lost in spam.)

Why Some Novels Say “A Novel” on the Cover, and If Yours Should Too

My sixth pick for The A.N. 10 reaaaaally makes me want to re-read a favorite novel. “Thoughts on Beloved by Toni Morrison and Horror’s Literary Problem” is one of those posts that hasn’t gotten enough attention. Not that my post is just that amazing (honestly, it’s mostly fangirling!), but because the topic is so important and I wish I could make more people take notice.

The most important part is that Beloved is incredible. It’s a top-top book, and I talk all about why in the post. But there are also issues of bias, discrimination, genre, and literature tied up in it. Y’all know how passionate I am about this stuff. I hope you’ll go give it a read (or re-read), and then I hope you’ll pick up Beloved if you haven’t already.

The post is linked below. And don’t forget to subscribe to my blog to get the final 4 “A.N. 10” highlights in your email! (Put annie@annieneugebauer.com in your approved senders list to make sure my blogs don’t get lost in spam.)

Thoughts on Beloved by Toni Morrison and Horror’s Literary Problem

My third pick for The A.N. 10 is another popular favorite: “What Is Literary Fiction?” This post is the way that many people originally find my blog. (You wouldn’t believe how many people google the phrase “what is literary fiction?”!)

I wrote this one sort of framed as defending literary fiction, because I hear a lot of my commercial fiction writer friends dismiss it entirely. But then I went on to write its counterpoint, “What Is Commercial Fiction?“, because the literati are no less judgmental. And then I went on to write “The Differences Between Commercial and Literary Fiction” because I really just want everyone to get along.

Alas, when it comes to books and genres, I fear folks may never join hands and sing kumbaya. Until that fateful day, it’s fun to share my take on what makes things what. For those of us who just want to understand the labeling system and make sense of why certain books get called certain things, my What Is Genre series has become a really cool ongoing discussion.

The lit-fic post is linked below, if you’d like to join that discussion yourself; everyone is welcome! And don’t forget to subscribe to my blog to get the next 7 “A.N. 10” highlights in your email! (Put annie@annieneugebauer.com in your approved senders list to make sure my blogs don’t get lost in spam.)

What Is Literary Fiction?