Bringing together lovers of all things reading and writing.
Started by Kristen Kramer and Rich Duncan Jr in 2026, Genre Buzzword is a project that strives to be equal parts webzine and thriving literary community. We wanted to create a place that celebrates all types of books in a fun, approachable way, hence the name that playfully pokes fun at the rampant proliferation of genre terms. We hope to achieve this through a series of reviews, interviews, essays, a book club and other community driven events.
We’re big on vibes here at Genre Buzzword and the atmosphere we’re hoping to cultivate is a thriving, friendly book club that sets up shop in the back of a cozy coffee shop on a rainy day. Venues larger and more tenured than ours already do a fantastic job of serving up critical analysis, so we'll have no desire being another voice in that space. Instead, we want to focus on books we’re passionate about and focus on building a community of readers and writers.
Life’s too short to focus on books that are just “okay”, we want to focus on the things that really move us and light up our lives. We hope you’ll join us!
Our Team
Rich Duncan Jr.
FounderRich (he/him) is a writer, book reviewer and podcaster from Central New York whose work has been featured in The Horror Tree, FUMPTRUCK, Truborn Press, and Schlock!. He is a co-host of the Ink Heist podcast, which is run and produced by Shane Douglas Keene and won the 2021 This Is Horror Award.
He spent his childhood reading R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series and Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark - which featured the unsettling, yet utterly terrific illustrations of Stephen Gammell - which was the start of his lifelong love of horror, exploring the unknown, and fiction of all genres that isn’t afraid to push boundaries.
Follow him on Bluesky @horrorbookshelf.bsky.social
FounderKristen Kramer
Kristen (she/her) is a book lover and reviewer based in Rochester, NY. She is the founder and organizer of The Morally Grey Girls bookclub in Rochester, focused on a variety of romantasy and urban/dark/paranormal fantasy novels. She is an avid reader and loves crafting fun, low-stakes book reviews for fellow “vibes only” readers. As a busy toddler mom and business owner, she simply doesn’t have the brain power for critical analysis or slow storylines, and she’s not afraid of a little DNF. You can typically find her spending way too much money on books or drinking way too much iced coffee - and if we’re being honest, it’s usually a combination of both.