Boomer Lit?

[Libbyfh]

This discussion started on another forum, but I thought I'd raise it here.

Is there a need for Boomer Lit? Fiction for and about Baby Boomers? Kind of "grown-up reads for grown-ups?" Or is that too dismissive a term? Would young people gravitate toward it? I'm thinking of fiction that could be historical, could be a thriller, could be romance, whatever... but would eschew the tropes of fantasy, chick-lit, and sci-fi.

Yes, we do have women's fiction, and a number of wonderful authors writing it... but I guess I'm wondering if there's something broader and more inclusive... perhaps including fiction written about the Vietnam War (Michael Dymmoch's WHITE TIGER comes to mind, although I really liked THE THINGS THEY CARRIED, which was non fiction), the civil rights movement, or the Sixties, particularly the energy and passion we brought to everything.

What do you think?

[ATDrake]

I thought authors were supposed to only push their books in the self-promo forum now, under the MR guidelines?

In any case, I think disingenuous stealth advertising by asking leading questions about one's authorial genre in the Reading Recs forum is a turn-off, especially when it's copypasted from another website to boot.

But of course, your mileage may vary.

[Libbyfh]

Sorry you didn't like the tone of the post, AT. I've edited it so it, hopefully, won't offend you further.

[ATDrake]

It's not the tone of the post. It's that you're pushing your own book, complete with its cover image at the very top and its title entered in the thread tags, in the wrong venue.

Also you copy-pasted from the Nookboards forum, where the original seems to have gotten deleted. I'm afraid that sort of thing does kind of make it look like a multi-site spam attempt.

We do have a self-promo forum for authors now. Best of luck with it!

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Libbyfh

This discussion started on another forum, but I thought I'd raise it here.

Is there a need for Boomer Lit? Fiction for and about Baby Boomers? Kind of "grown-up reads for grown-ups?" Or is that too dismissive a term? Would young people gravitate toward it? I'm thinking of fiction that could be historical, could be a thriller, could be romance, whatever... but would eschew the tropes of fantasy, chick-lit, and sci-fi.

Yes, we do have women's fiction, and a number of wonderful authors writing it... but I guess I'm wondering if there's something broader and more inclusive... perhaps including fiction written about the Vietnam War (Michael Dymmoch's WHITE TIGER comes to mind, although I really liked THE THINGS THEY CARRIED, which was non fiction), the civil rights movement, or the Sixties, particularly the energy and passion we brought to everything.

What do you think?

You might want to clean up (edit) your initial post and remove the crap from the beginning (same as I did in the quote above).

[Libbyfh]

Thanks dwanthny. I did clean up the initial post; at least it shows that I did on my computer. But I can't do anything about the quoted post. I've tried, and it keeps telling me "an error occurred."

I am truly sorry for intruding on a thread that was inappropriate. Consider me properly chastened.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Libbyfh

Thanks dwanthny. I did clean up the initial post; at least it shows that I did on my computer.

I couldn't care less what you had in your post and certainly wasn't referring to the image of your book. After all the book is your avatar.



[Promotional material deleted - Moderator]

I was referring to leaving all of the crap cluttering the beginning of your post.

Originally Posted by Libbyfh

But I can't do anything about the quoted post. I've tried, and it keeps telling me "an error occurred."

You can't edit anyone else's post.

Originally Posted by Libbyfh

I am truly sorry for intruding on a thread that was inappropriate. Consider me properly chastened.

No apology needed, but good etiquette says you should clean up the junk that you cut from other forums when posting to this forum.

[Belle2Be]

Are you sure you want to limit your readers to such a small niche? For example, just because I'm in the "instant gratification" generation, doesn't mean I have any wish to read about it...

[Worldwalker]

I guess I'm not really a "boomer" because my preferred genre is SF. Oh, well, guess I'm not who our friendly neighborhood spammer is selling to.

[Dr. Drib]

OK - Promotional, extraneous material has been deleted.

The thread is now ready for a discussion. Everyone please stay on topic.



Don
(Moderator)

[queentess]

*sigh* The thread is also tagged with your book name.

Originally Posted by Libbyfh

Yes, we do have women's fiction, and a number of wonderful authors writing it... but I guess I'm wondering if there's something broader and more inclusive... perhaps including fiction written about the Vietnam War (Michael Dymmoch's WHITE TIGER comes to mind, although I really liked THE THINGS THEY CARRIED, which was non fiction), the civil rights movement, or the Sixties, particularly the energy and passion we brought to everything.

I'm not sure how "Boomer Fiction" is supposed to be different from any other type of fiction, except your post seems to suggest that it limit itself to certain topics that are particularly relevant to Boomers. But wouldn't some of the fiction written during that time period properly reflect those subjects? I don't see a need for a genre... it would be better worded as "a fictional account set in the sixties" or "mystery takes place during Vietnam War", something like that. To me, these topics are more like settings, not story lines. I wouldn't take all books set in Canada and label them as Canadian Fiction.

[Worldwalker]

I think the major flaw in the whole concept is the idea that people primarily want to read about events that occurred during their own lifetimes. Given my taste for historical mysteries and WWII-era non-fiction, I can say for a fact that doesn't apply to me, at least, and I suspect it likewise doesn't apply to a lot of other people.