Thema 1.6 is now fully supported on TitlePage and will power the next generation of TitlePage search. With 131 new subject codes and 411 qualifiers, including 24 new codes in F* Fiction, this update offers a wealth of opportunity for publishers to boost discoverability and connect with readers.
In this spotlight we're diving into genre fiction – Romance, Crime, Fantasy, and Science Fiction – highlighting the improvements in Thema 1.6 and showing you how to make the most of Thema as a tool for improved discoverability and sales.
Why use detailed Thema codes?
Thema is a hierarchical system, and this structure allows books to be classified at varying levels of detail to suit different needs. For instance, a book tagged FRN: Sports romance can appear in a general F: Fiction section, a FR: Romance section, or a FRN: Sports romance subsection for large retailers or specialised searches. Simply coding a book as FR: Romance gives it far less ability to stand out amongst all of the competition – what makes this romance book different from all of the others?
This flexibility ensures your metadata serves a broad range of sales channels, from small booksellers with limited sections to large online retailers offering granular genre searches, and to support SEO.
Step 1: Choose a primary subject code
Choose the code that best describes the book’s main subject or genre. This should be the most accurate, overarching categorisation of the title. If the bookseller looks at nothing else, where should this book live in their store?
While Thema offers deep flexibility in allowing non-fiction codes to be used to provide subject nuance for fiction titles (we’ll dedicate a future spotlight to explore this further), the first/main subject code for a fiction title should always be a fiction code!
For example:
- FRN: Sports romance for a romantic drama with a sports theme.
- FMJ: Cosy fantasy for fantastical stories with a comforting, feel good narrative approach
- FFH: Historical crime and mysteries for a murder mystery set in a historical context.
- FMT: Dark fantasy for a gritty, magical tale with moral complexities.
Step 2: Add secondary subject codes
Secondary codes help reflect additional themes, genres, or elements of a title. Use them to highlight crossover appeal or nuanced themes. Secondary codes provide additional layers of detail to capture a book's nuances. Romance in particular has several new trope specific codes to explore, including multiple variations on unlikely or unexpected lovers.
Secondary subject codes should:
- Complement the primary code without duplicating the hierarchy (e.g., avoid pairing FRN: Sports romance with FR: Romance).
- Highlight alternative or overlapping genres.
- Include a relevant non-fiction code if the book incorporates significant non-fiction elements.
- Not go overboard. 1-2 secondary codes should be all you need in most cases - consider 4-5 category codes (including the primary category) to be the upper limit.
For example:
- Within the same genre:
- Primary: FRN: Sports romance
- Secondary: FRG: Romance: College/University
- Across genres:
- Primary: FMT: Dark fantasy
- Secondary: FRM: Romantic suspense
- Mixing fiction and non-fiction:
- Primary: FFH: Historical crime and mysteries
- Secondary: NHDA: European history: The Romans
This layered approach ensures your metadata captures the richness of your title and enhances its discoverability across diverse search systems.
Step 3: Add qualifiers for depth
Qualifiers refine your metadata further by drawing out particular areas of interest or audience, or explicit content warnings. For genre fiction, they can highlight age suitability, location or time period, or themes that may impact discoverability.
Age qualifiers (5A):
Age suitability (5A): The 5A interest age qualifiers allow you to specify appropriate age ranges for books, from early childhood to young adult and adult. For young adult titles, use 5AV Interest age: from c 17 years to c 29 years. Pair with 5X: Explicit content warning when relevant.
Place qualifiers (1):
Setting can play a crucial role in genre fiction with a strong sense of place. Geographic qualifiers ensure books set in specific locations are discoverable by readers seeking titles from or about particular regions. There’s a suite of new Australian place qualifiers in Thema 1.6 that we’ll explore further in a future spotlight.
Interest ‘relating to’ qualifiers:
Consider whether some of the qualifiers describing particular aspects of the content or audience might be appropriate. For example:
Like categories, only use as many qualifiers as you need – consider 4-5 your upper limit, but most books will need less.