At Inkitt, we believe every story deserves the right home — and every reader should be able to find the stories they love with ease. That’s why we’re thrilled to announce a major update to our genre system: a multi-genre expansion that introduces 4 brand-new genres and hundreds of subgenres across the platform.
With this update, we’ve taken a big step forward in improving discoverability for readers and giving authors more precision and flexibility when categorizing their work.
- Readers can now browse with greater accuracy, diving deep into the types of stories they truly love — whether that’s slow-burn Regency romance, post-apocalyptic sci-fi, sapphic fantasy, or cozy mystery thrillers.
- Authors can finally tag their stories with the specificity they deserve, helping them connect with their ideal audience and giving their books a better chance to be discovered.
We’ve added:
- 4 new top-level genres to broaden storytelling categories
- Young Adult
- LGBTQ+
- Literary Fiction
- Historical Fiction
- 500+ subgenres spanning everything from Romantasy to Reverse Harem, Biopunk to Mythpunk, Cozy Mystery to Gothic Horror — and everything in between
And this is just the beginning. Here are just a few of the subgenres now available:
🩷 Romance
- Contemporary Romance
- Historical Romance
- Paranormal Romance
- Romantic Comedy (Rom-Com)
- Romantic Suspense
- Regency Romance
- Small Town Romance
- Reverse Harem
- Second Chance Romance
- Sports Romance
- Mafia Romance
- Rockstar Romance
- Workplace Romance
- Enemies to Lovers
- Billionaires & Millionaires
- Alpha Male
- LGBTQ+ Romance (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Sapphic)
- Polyamory
- Clean & Wholesome Romance
- Later in Life Romance
- Marriage & Divorce
🧙 Fantasy
- High Fantasy
- Urban Fantasy
- Dark Fantasy
- Epic Fantasy
- Sword and Sorcery
- Fairy Tales & Folklore
- Gaslamp Fantasy
- Gothic Fantasy
- Romantasy (Fantasy Romance)
- Grimdark
- Portal Fantasy
- Arthurian
- Mythology & Folk Tales
- Mythpunk
- Silkpunk
- Steampunk
- Hopepunk
- Magical Realism
- Alternate History Fantasy
- Historical Fantasy
- Paranormal Fantasy
- Cosmic Horror / Lovecraftian
- Vampires, Werewolves & Shifters
- Angels, Demons & Devils
- Witches & Wizards
- Dragons & Mythical Creatures
🚀 Science Fiction
- Space Opera
- Cyberpunk
- Biopunk
- Solarpunk
- Time Travel
- Military Sci-Fi
- Hard Science Fiction
- Space Marine
- Space Western
- Space Exploration
- Galactic Empire
- Alien Invasion
- Genetic Engineering
- Technothriller
- Dystopian / Post-Apocalyptic
- First Contact
- Xenofiction
- Doctor Who / Star Trek / Star Wars / Stargate
- Science & Fantasy
- LGBTQ+ Science Fiction
- Colonization
- Parallel Worlds
🔪 Mystery, Thriller & Horror
- Psychological Thriller
- Crime & Mystery
- Police Procedural
- Cozy Mystery
- Historical Mystery
- Spy Thriller
- Legal Thriller
- Suspense
- Serial Killer
- Locked-Room Mystery
- Domestic Thriller
- Amateur Sleuth
- Noir / Hardboiled
- Conspiracies
- Espionage
- Murder
- Slasher
- Found Footage
- Occult
- Ghost Stories
- Zombies
- Supernatural
- Queer Horror
- Gothic Horror
- Horror Comedy
🪖 Action & Adventure
- Action-Adventure
- Survival
- Exploration
- Military Adventure
- Swashbuckler
- Disaster
- Martial Arts
- War
- Spy / Espionage
- Heist
- Assassination
- Eco-Adventure
- Adventure Comedy
- Action-Horror
- Men’s Adventure
- Motorcycle Club (MC)
- Western Adventure
🎭 Drama & Literary Fiction
- Coming of Age
- Historical Fiction
- Contemporary Fiction
- Literary Fiction
- Psychological Fiction
- Philosophical Fiction
- Postmodern Fiction
- Stream of Consciousness
- Biographical Fiction
- Autofiction
- Social Commentary
- Own Voices
- Neo-Victorian Fiction
- Renaissance Fiction
- Political Fiction
- Satire
- Melodrama
- General Fiction
🌈 LGBTQ+
- Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Fiction
- LGBTQ+ Romance
- LGBTQ+ Science & Fantasy
- LGBTQ+ Mystery
- LGBTQ+ Parenting & Families
- Queer Horror
- Sapphic Fantasy
- Gay Historical
- Bisexual Romance
- Transgender Romance
- Nonbinary Representation
- Own Voices
🧒 Young Adult & New Adult
- Young Adult (YA)
- Teen Drama
- Coming-of-Age
- New Adult
- New Adult & College
- LGBTQ+ YA
- Fantasy YA
- Sci-Fi YA
📜 Historical Eras & Regional
- Ancient World
- Gilded Age
- Medieval
- Renaissance
- Tudor
- Victorian
- Viking
- American
- African American
- Black & African American
- Asian
- Middle Eastern
- European
- Canadian
- Prehistory
- 19th Century / 20th Century / 21st Century
- Civil War / Revolutionary Periods
- Colonization
📖 Other Categories
- Anthologies & Short Stories
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Essays
- Nonfiction
- Memoir
- Graphic Novels & Comics
- Light Novel (Ranobe)
- Poetry (Lyric, Narrative, Haiku, Sonnet, Free Verse)
- Humor (Satire, Slapstick, Surreal, Deadpan, Parody, Observational, Puns)
- Classics
- Education & Careers
- Religion & Spirituality (Christian, Mythology, etc.)
- Holiday Fiction
- Cooking & Food
- Parenting & Families
- LGBTQ+ Studies & Literature
- Travel
- Internet & Pop Culture
- Self-Help & Counseling
- Reference & Guides
This Isn’t the Full List…
There are too many subgenres to list in one place — which is a good problem to have! The subgenres you now see when uploading or browsing are just the start of how we’re helping stories shine in the categories they were always meant for.