Let’s start with this: BOOKS DON’T HAVE AGE RATING.

Why? Some people argue that books are not visual and that R18+ scenes in a movie can’t be compared with the same moments described with words (in a book).

Every person is unique and will experience written content differently.

One twelve-year-old might be fine reading about blood splattering, while another might have nightmares. That is why there is no definite way of classifying content that will work perfectly.

The rating system for any product exists to protect the younger audience from mature content.

For books, in most cases, age rating will be used as an advertisement that it IS appropriate for children.

Children can’t clearly tell the difference between fiction and reality. A ten-year-old girl will read about a ritual for summoning demons and might try to sacrifice her pet in exchange for powers to rule the world. She read about it, and it sounded cool. By the time the girl in question realizes what she has done, she will end up with mental trauma, no pet, and no powers from the underworld.

It is also important to mention that age ratings for any media are not standardized. The same content in one country can be rated for age 9+, while in another country will be rated as 17+.

Age rating on MyFavReads

On MyFavReads, authors know their work best, and they have the power to set the age rating.

The staff of the MyFavReads platform is available to provide guidelines.

For books on our platform, we are offering three classifications:

• General Audiences (GA)
• Restricted (R)
• R18+

General Audiences (GA) are books appropriate for everyone, from children to the elderly. These books can have slight sexual references and mild violence, but they will not be dwelled on. If there is any anti-social behavior or discrimination, it must be clearly disproved.

Restricted (R) are books for teens and older audiences. These books might have profanity, crude humor, sexual references, and nudity. No detailed sex scenes or gore is allowed.

R18+ are books where anything goes, including but not limited to profanity, crude humor, violence, nudity, drug use, or sex scenes.

Authors ask: How will setting the age rating impact my book?

1: It will give your future readers an idea about what kind of content your book offers.

2: It will allow for proper filtering of books in the search results.

3: Readers who find what they are looking for quickly are happy readers and they will more likely give your book a good rating.

Setting the age rating for my book to R18+ will exclude some readers. Why would I keep it at R18+?

This is not necessarily true. Our data shows that most of our readers are looking for R18+ content.

Romance novels allow your readers to immerse themselves into the imaginary world where love blooms and steamy scenes are optional, but they can add that extra spice readers are looking for.

As for books with GA or R rating, keep in mind that a grownup won’t complain if they read a scene where a couple holds hands while walking on a beach, but they will complain if their preteen ends up reading about that same couple going at it in the sand. Do you see the difference?

If you mark your book as GA, and it has sex scenes or gore, it might earn you bad reviews from dissatisfied readers, and the rating of your book will drop.

Our advice: Keep it real.

There are only three options: kid-friendly (General Audience), some smut and violence (Restricted), or spiced up and perfect for those Friday evening reads with a glass of wine (R+18).

Use a suitable age rating, so your novel can be seen by the right readers.