Lesson 6 of Think Sideways is all about finding the market to suit your story. It's about seeing how you can emphasize different elements of your story to shift it into different markets and creating your own market.

Markets for novels seem to be most commonly split into literary, mainstream and genre fiction. I found a decent definition of these three from Middle Tennessee State University. Happiness Matters seems to fit best into mainstream women's fiction with these elements:

  • father-daughter relationship
  • love story
  • fertility
  • happiness
  • divorce
  • drifting
  • healing
  • suicide
  • charity
  • artistic
  • workaholic
But with a little emphasis here and there I can mould it into romance, paranormal romance or even a YA coming of age story. Thinking about an idea this way can open up more exciting possibilities.