# Why :A Novel?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-novel/924751>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** books-writing-myths\
**Created:** [November 4, 2020, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-novel/924751 "2020-11-04T14:41:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 5

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**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-a-novel/924751/5 "2020-11-04T14:57:11Z")

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Previous thread

> [@A novel](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-novel/838289):
>
> My impression is that recently a greater percentage of the fiction books I read have the words “a novel” on the dust jacket. (Presently Karl Marlantes’ Deep River. Excellent read, BTW.) Yes, I realize that some percentage of novels have always advertised their nature, but the trend seems to me to be increasing. Has anyone else noticed this trend (or am I just noticing it more now for some reason? Whether the practice is increasing or not, why would a fiction producer feel the need to advert…

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