The Women's Fiction Conversation We're Still Having
Revisiting: Should You Stop Pitching Your Novel as Women's Fiction?
We’re just a few days away from Women’s Fiction Day (June 8, 2026), so I wanted to revisit the women's fiction conversation from last spring. I wrote the post, Should You Stop Pitching Your Manuscript as Women’s Fiction?, in response to Jane Friedman’s paid industry newsletter, The Bottom Line, which reported in April 2025 that agents were pivoting away from pitching manuscripts as women’s fiction in favor of positioning them as upmarket.
A few days later Jane not only linked to my post in her next newsletter, kindly calling it a “A great evidence-based article that every women’s fiction author (or women’s fiction author by another name) should read,” but by the end of 2025, it was her 5th most clicked link of the year.
I share this not to pat myself on the back but because this is a conversation that clearly hit a nerve, and it’s a conversation we’re still having...because—despite what agents may call it—publishers are still publishing women’s fiction. And, writers are still writing women’s fiction.
Over the last year I’ve come to see how this industry pivot is not only related to positioning, but also because women’s fiction is evolving. The genre has always encompassed a spectrum of stories…from light-hearted, fun reads to the more literary tomes. And, while women’s fiction still centers on a protagonist’s personal growth journey, genre-blending is more common across the industry, and we’re seeing a greater variety of women’s fic subgenres.
In Women’s Fiction Writers Association, for example, we’re welcoming members who are writing women’s fiction blended with science fiction, thriller, and even horror. (I know because I’ve been the co-chair of the Rising Star Awards the last two years, and we continue to see more subgenres in submissions.)
This means nailing your positioning when you query is even more important now than it was in past years.
Comments