The book I just finished is YA, but I don't know if I should be selling it as Urban Fantasy or Paranormal Romance as it's both. How do you decide?
What Genre?
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How strong is the romance element?
How gritty is the urban element (might be contemp fantasy--some agents assume urban=gritty)?
Can you tell us a little more about it?
How gritty is the urban element (might be contemp fantasy--some agents assume urban=gritty)?
Can you tell us a little more about it?
OK, maybe paranormal romance or fantasy. It's not gritty. There is a very strong romantic element so maybe I should stick with paranormal romance.
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My two cents, I think you are overthinking this. It's a YA fantasy. That's all.
There are other sub-genres, of course, but your agent will know if you should push one. When getting an agent, keep your genre as simple as possible. I believe it was Miss Snark that said any good book with be a RomanceMysterySuspense novel. That doesn't keep it from being straight up commercial fiction. I mean, do you really want to put three genres is your query? YA (1) Paranormal (2) Romance (3)
Like I said, just my two cents.
There are other sub-genres, of course, but your agent will know if you should push one. When getting an agent, keep your genre as simple as possible. I believe it was Miss Snark that said any good book with be a RomanceMysterySuspense novel. That doesn't keep it from being straight up commercial fiction. I mean, do you really want to put three genres is your query? YA (1) Paranormal (2) Romance (3)
Like I said, just my two cents.
Urban fantasy and paranormal romance are both legitimate sub genres, so you'd be fine saying my YA whatever. If the plot is all about boy meets girl and they live happily ever after, but there's a paranormal element, you'd probably paranormal romance. If the romance is just a subplot and the focus in on the paranormal/fantasy aspect, you're probably urban fantasy. Of course, there's nothing wrong with saying my YA novel and then tell them what it's about.
My understanding was that YA gets shelved in...YA. And that's all anyone can do about it. If it's adult fantasy, then it gets shelved with fantasy. If it's YA fantasy, it's shelved with YA. If it's YA romance, or mystery, or urban magical suspense realism, it gets shelved in YA.
Maybe that trend has changed in bookstores in other parts of the country, but not mine. Anyone heard differently? The size and growth of YA certainly makes it look like breaking it down to subgenres in the bookstore isn't far off.
$0.02
ETA: If you're talking about how to phrase it in a query letter to agents who are looking for a certain type of read, I suppose that's a different thing; just know that when it gets to a publisher, and then to a bookstore, it's going to be shelved with YA.
Maybe that trend has changed in bookstores in other parts of the country, but not mine. Anyone heard differently? The size and growth of YA certainly makes it look like breaking it down to subgenres in the bookstore isn't far off.
$0.02
ETA: If you're talking about how to phrase it in a query letter to agents who are looking for a certain type of read, I suppose that's a different thing; just know that when it gets to a publisher, and then to a bookstore, it's going to be shelved with YA.
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