The poetry of LGTBQ+ Fiction keywords

.@BookNet_Canada shares insights into the use of keywords in the metadata of LGBTQ+ Fiction titles.
CLICK TO TWEET

We recently published a blog post on LGBTQ+ titles as part of our Subject spotlight series. The results of our data pull showed us some of the codes that are most popular in the retail and library markets. The first quarter of 2022 saw increases year-over-year in two of the LGBTQ+ BISAC subcategories:

• Fiction / LGBTQ+ / Transgender — up 121%; and

• Fiction / LGBTQ+ / General — up 23%.

From January to March 2022, the most purchased LGBTQ+ subcategories were:

• Fiction / LGBTQ+ / Gay — up 55% of all LGBTQ+ titles sales;

• Fiction / LGBTQ+ / Lesbian — up 20% of all LGBTQ+ titles sales; and

• Fiction / LGBTQ+ / General — up 16% of all LGBTQ+ titles sales.

In order to dive deeper into these trends, we decided to take a look at how keywords are being used in the metadata for books with LGBTQ+ Fiction subjects. We pulled keyword data for books with the following subjects:

• FIC068000 FICTION / LGBTQ+ / General

• FIC072000 FICTION / LGBTQ+ / Bisexual

• FIC011000 FICTION / LGBTQ+ / Gay

• FIC018000 FICTION / LGBTQ+ / Lesbian

• FIC073000 FICTION / LGBTQ+ / Transgender

Using our BiblioShare database, we pulled together a list of the top 50 keywords used for LGBTQ+ books, which helps provide a picture of how publishers are categorizing these titles, especially when considered alongside the BISAC code classifications.

Who's using LGBTQ+ BISAC codes?

We found that we have 447 publishers who have used LGBTQ+ Fiction BISAC codes on a total of 7,588 titles. Admittedly, this is a small data set, but it's a good enough size for this initial look into keyword usage in the Canadian supply chain.

Keywords used for LGBTQ+ books

Of the 7,588 titles that are classified as LGBTQ+ Fiction, 50% (3,786) of them have keywords assigned.

Here we see the span of keywords being applied to LGBTQ+ titles. Of the 3,786 LGBTQ+ titles providing keywords to BiblioShare, there are 6,856 distinct keywords being used.

Top 50 LGBTQ+ Fiction Keywords

• fiction, used 1,283 times

• books, used 1,073 times

• novel, used 731 times

• LGBT, used 524 times

• romance, used 458 times

• gay, used 434 times

• LGBTQ, used 322 times

• mystery, used 295 times

• love, used 266 times

• fantasy, used 263 times

• gift, used 242 times

• lesbian, used 234 times

• women, used 234 times

• relationship, used 228 times

• literature, used 215 times

• American, used 176 times

• age, used 157 times

• thriller, used 153 times

• friendship, used 139 times

• queer, used 125 times

• classic, used 123 times

• adult, used 118 times

• crime, used 114 times

• author, used 102 times

• gender, used 95 times

• marriage, used 85 times

• suspense, used 83 times

• award, used 82 times

• art, used 74 times

• life, used 70 times

• horror, used 70 times

• transgender, used 68 times

• feminist, used 64 times

• murder, used 60 times

• humor, used 53 times

• adventure, used 52 times

• sex, used 47 times

• secret, used 45 times

• magic, used 45 times

• detective, used 43 times

• girls, used 40 times

• friend, used 35 times

• lovers, used 34 times

• aid, used 30 times

• protagonist, used 30 times

• sister, used 29 times

• time, used 28 times

• abuse, used 27 times

• bestseller, used 27 times

• sexuality, used 26 times

There are many keywords in this list that restate data that's discoverable by other fields (e.g., "fiction," "books"), which goes against the guidelines proposed by BISG's Best Practices for Keywords in Metadata.

When looking at the keywords used across LGBTQ+ Fiction titles, the top three most popular author’s names used as keywords are:

1. Andrew Sean Greer (3 EANs)

2. Bret Easton Ellis (3 EANs)

3. Jodi Picoult (2 EANs)

Finally, out of curiosity, we decided to take a look at the least popular keywords (i.e., those used on only one EAN). Here are the bottom five:

1. frat (FICTION / LGBTQ+ / Gay)

2. fluidity (FICTION / Romance / LGBTQ+ / Lesbian)

3. offbeat (FICTION / LGBTQ+ / Bisexual)

4. bookstore (FICTION / LGBTQ+ / Lesbian)

5. daddy (FICTION / LGBTQ+ / Gay)

Want to see what keywords are being used on other books? Our handy Biblio-O-Matic Chrome extension detects ISBNs while you're browsing the internet and pulls data from BiblioShare on things like pub date, keywords, cover images, list price, and more. See how it works or try it out. 

It can be tricky choosing which keywords will be the most helpful in constructing the best metadata, and so BISG's Best Practices for Keywords in Metadata often takes a backseat. However, if everyone followed the rules, reading a list of keywords wouldn't be quite as fun.