Marketing Portal Fantasies (and the annoyance of genre categories)

I got nothing, but I'm just commenting so I can find this later to see how it goes. Good luck, fellow portal person.

Do you think it comes down to the difference between trope vs subgenre?

As far as querying goes, I'd look at what the stylistic category is. So I'd have to look at the thing and decide, "Is this magitech? Or is this technomancy?" and that would help me decide whether or not it was primarily fantasy with sci-fi elements, or primarily sci-fi with fantasy elements.

The portal door thing is more trope-y, so I wouldn't emphasize that part too much. It's ultimately a plot device that allows you to get on to important stuff. I liked the door/portals in Howl's Moving Castle. And there's a good list of portal books/movies/etc over at TvTropes that you might look at.

I’m surprised Amazon isn’t on this, given how enormously popular both English-language portal stories and the Japanese Isekai genre are.

Honestly I think Narnia is enough of a universal touchstone that just mentioning it will clue people what to expect. It’s a nice short name too. In my own conversation I’ve also called these “through the looking glass” stories, since Alice is probably the other seminal one absolutely everyone recognizes. I like the “portal stories” moniker, though this is the first time I’ve heard it used. Catchy!

If I were trying just to list classic and “typical” examples of the genre I’d bring up:
- Alice in Wonderland
- Through the Looking-Glass
- The Wizard of Oz
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
- Narnia
- Spirited Away
- A Wrinkle in Time
- Lord Foul’s Bane / The Thomas Covenant Chronicles
- Magic Kingdom for Sale (the Magic Kingdom of Landover series)
- Twelve Kingdoms
- John Carter of Mars
- The Nutcracker
- The Pagemaster

For some less typical or even subversive examples:
- Erfworld
- The NeverEnding Story
- Peter Pan
- Coraline
- Neverwhere
- Neil Gaiman’s work writ large
- Over the Garden Wall
- The Matrix (complete inversion)
- Pan’s Labyrinth

Other Films:
- Labyrinth
- MirrorMask
- Hook
- The NeverEnding Story 2
- The Book of Life
- Coco
- Rock-a-Doodle
- James and the Giant Peach
- TRON and TRON Legacy
- Space Jam (sorry, I had to )

Video games:
- Ultima
- Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
- Brütal Legend
- The Longest Journey / Dreamfall

lonestarlibrarian said:

Do you think it comes down to the difference between trope vs subgenre?

As far as querying goes, I'd look at what the stylistic category is. So I'd have to look at the thing and decide, "Is this magitech? Or is this technomancy?" and that would help me decide whether or not it was primarily fantasy with sci-fi elements, or primarily sci-fi with fantasy elements.

The portal door thing is more trope-y, so I wouldn't emphasize that part too much. It's ultimately a plot device that allows you to get on to important stuff. I liked the door/portals in Howl's Moving Castle. And there's a good list of portal books/movies/etc over at TvTropes that you might look at.

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I would definitely call what OP identifies a subgenre, not a mere trope or plot device. There’s a very specific structure to this kind of story where a character, often a child, faces some challenge they are not fully equipped to deal with in the real world. The character is quickly transported to a strange fantasy world where either some mundane attribute of theirs makes them special or they are a magical chosen one. The character often seeks to escape this world, bucking against their destiny (the usual “denial of the call” from the hero’s journey), and on their way to do so or save the world they discover something transformative about themselves that, upon returning to the “real” or primary world at the end, allows them to mature as a person and overcome the more mundane challenge presented at the beginning of the story.

Portals don’t necessarily have to be involved at all, unless you call any means of transit to another reality or dimension a portal — which I suppose you could. In several of the Narnia books the characters are just straight-up painfully teleported to Narnia, for instance, without ever stepping through a Wardrobe or looking glass. Dorothy travels via tornado.

eta. This TVTropes page focuses more on the subgenre than the plot device, for instance.

Some suggested titles that might be close to what you're looking for:

The Invisible Library (Genevieve Cogman) - The titular library stretches between worlds; librarians travel between them to collect rare and unique volumes, and become entangled in local troubles. Magic, some steampunk elements, etc.

A Darker Shade of Magic (V. E. Schwab) - Three Londons superimposed on each other each have varying levels of magic; travel between them used to be open, before a darkness claimed the lost fourth London. But that darkness has spread, and now threatens them all. There's a bit of an anime vibe to this one.

The Iron Dragon's Daughter (Michael Swanwick) - An older title, but with another installment recently out: a human was abducted into Fairyland as a child, and is now a slave in an iron war dragon factory... until one of the dragons uses her to help it escape and plot vengeance against the universe itself. (Content warning: copious levels of sex, and the ending's... well, not my cup of cocoa, let's say.)

War of the Flowers (Tad Williams) - A slacker musician finds himself abducted into a fairy world that has twisted its magic to mimic human technology, in an effort to mitigate humanity's mysterious but growing drain on its powers.

You also might consider the graphic novel Birthright series, by Joshua Williamson: a boy disappears while playing in the woods with his father, only to return a year later as a grown man and barbarian warrior, claiming to have been taken to another world to be their hero... but did he save Theranos, or simply bring their doom home with him to Earth?

Also in graphic novels is James Tynion IV's The Woods series: a high school is transported to an alien world for unknown purposes.

Do you think it comes down to the difference between trope vs subgenre?

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I think it is a trope and not a genre. Having read a lot I knew many fantasy books employed devices to get real-world characters into imaginary worlds, and that it was mainly an old-fashioned, rather archaic device that was used more in older works... like Burroughs' series, and Lin Carter's which were in imitation of it, and of course Alice in Wonderland. And The Worm Ouroboros, and other Victorian fantasies I can't recall now. But the phrase used to describe it, "portal fantasy," I never even heard until last year, when I was reading the Seanann McGuire book.

If you can call it a genre, I think it's more "real-world person travels to a fantasy world and has adventures." I'm sure there's a snappier way to say it. "Portal fantasy" isn't the best way, because it implies an actual gateway, rather than the protagonists swooning, being in a coma, suffering supernatural kidnapping, etc.

If we're casting a wide net about the genre, whatever it's called, I would nominate the movie Avatar as well.

Cobalt Jade said:

I think it is a trope and not a genre.

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Strange. When I was trying to figure out what The Door in My Hand was I looked at portal fantasy and it came up as a genre. Maybe Amazon's just behind?

It's not just an issue with portal fantasy. Most fantasy stories fall under multiple categories. George RR Martin's series, for instance, has been categorized as low fantasy, epic fantasy, grimdark fantasy and so on. Most fantasy readers have intersecting interests within the genre, so it can be really hard to know which categories will pique the interest of a given set of readers.

A portal fantasy can also fall under many different categories: high fantasy, sword and sorcery, urban fantasy, romantic fantasy and so on, not to mention being aimed at kids or adults or teens.

Maybe portal fantasy isn't included as a category on Amazon because they figure it's not a category that specifically pulls readers the way urban fantasy or grimdark or historical fantasy might. Perhaps they regard particulars, such as world particulars or character types to be more important in establishing reader base. A portal fantasy, like "Every Heart a Doorway," for instance, has a very different feel and potential target audience than the Narnia chronicles or The Dragon and the George.

Mind you, I've found the categories on Amazon to be confusing and inaccurate for some stories anyway, and the process of finding books I might enjoy by writers I haven't yet heard of is frustrating.

What other elements are in your story that might attract certain subsets of fantasy readers?

I also think there's a lot of disagreement about subgenres within fantasy. For instance, looking at pharm's list, I'd categorize some of those as wainscot fantasies (similar to portal fantasy, but the alternative world exists within our own, hidden "behind the wainscot" so to speak). I'd categorize Spirited Away and Neverwhere, Coraline, and even Harry Potter in this way. But stories can fall under multiple categories too.

Then there is the whole, when is it an urban fantasy vs a contemporary or wainscot or portal fantasy question. A lot of that is about narrative style (imo), characterization and on an emphasis on the urban environment as setting that drives the story.

starrystorm said:

Strange. When I was trying to figure out what The Door in My Hand was I looked at portal fantasy and it came up as a genre. Maybe Amazon's just behind?

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I don't think there is universal agreement on what constitutes a subgenre, or even a genre, either, let alone which stories qualify as which. Genres and subgenres aren't rigid literary categories so much as marketing tools. Heck, "subgenre" isn't even a word, according to my spell checker (which is redlining it every time I type it).

Ooh, wainscot fantasy. That's a great descriptive, and new to me. Thanks!

Stytch said:

Ooh, wainscot fantasy. That's a great descriptive, and new to me. Thanks!

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Didn't know about this either. Reminds me of urban fantasy.

I ran into this Amazon classification issue with DOMAINE DELAFAIRE, the first book of THE STEWARD series. Admittedly a genre mash-up (science fantasy/police procedural/mystery), I fully expected Amazon to consider it overall a portal fantasy; it didn't happen. At the time I didn't realize Amazon didn't even use the term. Books in the series were classified in a host of categories; mystery, thriller & suspense, police procedural. supernatural mystery, literature & fiction, genre fiction, mash-up fiction, etc. It was all over the classification map and undeniably confusing.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077ZSD3KK/?tag=absowrit-20

No matter what the author or publisher may think to be an appropriate category, the vendors will likely categorize as they please.
Eventually I realized that's probably just as well, especially since I have no control over vendor decisions. Now that the series is gaining some traction, I quit worrying about classifications; it's just not that important to me.

I actually love the term 'Wainscot Fantasy'. So pretty and evocative, exactly describes the vibe you find in Charles de Lint or Little, Big. No problem with 'Hidden World' though, Wainscot Fantasy to me refers exclusively to books about fairies and humans living in upstate New York.

I'm not a fan of portal fantasy put there are a few I like pharm already quoted some. I'll add a few to the last:

That time I got reincarnated as a slime
Gate
Magic Knight Rayearth (the second part is different between the anime and the manga)
Grimgar (can't remember the complete title but you don't need it to find it)

Kjbartolotta said:

I actually love the term 'Wainscot Fantasy'. So pretty and evocative, exactly describes the vibe you find in Charles de Lint or Little, Big. No problem with 'Hidden World' though, Wainscot Fantasy to me refers exclusively to books about fairies and humans living in upstate New York.

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And for me, it's 'The Borrowers' by Mary Norton (children's book).

OMG. Such fond memories of those books! Have they ever been re-issued?

starrystorm said:

Didn't know about this either. Reminds me of urban fantasy.

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The difference is in the vibe, I think. In urban fantasies, the setting focus is on the city itself, which exists within "the real" world (often our own contemporary world), with a secret population of magical beings who hide their true natures and have hangouts that aren't in a different dimension but simply unobtrusive (like secret bars, or hangouts in the sewers etc). The urban environment, whether real or made up, drives and informs the story. Often the story is a bit gritty. Wainscot fantasies have more emphasis on magically hidden places that can only be accessed by magic and aren't exactly a part of our world, though they are connected to it. Wainscot fantasies often have a more whimsical feel as well, while UF are often darker and sometimes focused on crimes or renegades. Portal fantasies involve people from one world being magically transported to another world that has no real connection to the "real" one.

Subgenre categories are always shifting and have blurry lines, though, and stories can encompass more than one. I've been in many an argument about what is meant by terms like "high fantasy" vs "epic fantasy" vs "sword and sorcery," for instance. The great thing about fantasy is that the writer can create whatever rules they like, so long as they can get readers invested in it.

I think one reason Wainscot fantasy is a term many haven't heard of (aside from the fact that not everyone knows what wainscot is anymore) is that they sort of exist in a blurry boundary between portal and urban fantasies. The connection between the wainscot world and ours is closer than in a portal fantasy, but perhaps a bit more removed from ours than in typical urban fantasies.

As for marketing a book that is a sort of portal fantasy, I suppose some of that comes down to thinking about what other recently popular fantasy stories your target reader is likely to have read and enjoyed.

Roxxsmom said:

The difference is in the vibe, I think. In urban fantasies, the setting focus is on the city itself, which exists within "the real" world (often our own contemporary world), with a secret population of magical beings who hide their true natures and have hangouts that aren't in a different dimension but simply unobtrusive (like secret bars, or hangouts in the sewers etc). The urban environment, whether real or made up, drives and informs the story. Often the story is a bit gritty. Wainscot fantasies have more emphasis on magically hidden places that can only be accessed by magic and aren't exactly a part of our world, though they are connected to it. Wainscot fantasies often have a more whimsical feel as well, while UF are often darker and sometimes focused on crimes or renegades. Portal fantasies involve people from one world being magically transported to another world that has no real connection to the "real" one.

Subgenre categories are always shifting and have blurry lines, though, and stories can encompass more than one. I've been in many an argument about what is meant by terms like "high fantasy" vs "epic fantasy" vs "sword and sorcery," for instance. The great thing about fantasy is that the writer can create whatever rules they like, so long as they can get readers invested in it.

I think one reason Wainscot fantasy is a term many haven't heard of (aside from the fact that not everyone knows what wainscot is anymore) is that they sort of exist in a blurry boundary between portal and urban fantasies. The connection between the wainscot world and ours is closer than in a portal fantasy, but perhaps a bit more removed from ours than in typical urban fantasies.

As for marketing a book that is a sort of portal fantasy, I suppose some of that comes down to thinking about what other recently popular fantasy stories your target reader is likely to have read and enjoyed.

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Ah, thanks! I wish it was a more common term though.

themindstream said:

- If you were querying/marketing a story like mine, what would you do?

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Pitch it as a fantasy. Do you think an agent will look at your query and say "Oh, this is a portal fantasy. I only rep non-portal fantasies"?

Jeff

WeaselFire said:

Pitch it as a fantasy. Do you think an agent will look at your query and say "Oh, this is a portal fantasy. I only rep non-portal fantasies"?

Jeff

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I've seen one (forget her name) on MSWL who went off on how she did NOT want portal fantasy. Sadly one of the only mentions of portal on old #mswl tweets I remember seeing.

starrystorm said:

Ah, thanks! I wish it was a more common term though.

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I think wainscotting is coming back into fashion in home decorating circles. I hope it does. Not only is it a lovely term, but it's cool looking.

I rented a Victorian house some years ago, and I did love scolding my cat to "Get off the wainscotting." He enjoyed walking along the narrow ledge along the top.

Seriously, though, terminology can be hard to pin down with fantasy subgenres. It might be better to simply describe the plot and setting as well as you can when you're querying it, or if self publishing, writing your blurb. Pick whatever subgenres seem close from the ones Amazon makes available. For giggles and grins, check out all the categories various fantasy stories have listed. Heck, I saw secondary world fantasy with a very loose connection to an actual historical period listed as "historical fiction" one time.

I bought the domain PortalfantasyNovels dot com a while back. I haven't done anything with it yet, but I'll probably build a list of books, and throw mine in there, and hopefully that will help me find some great books, and if I'm lucky, steer a few people towards mine. (Once I've created it, I'll throw it open for anyone on AW who wants their books to be included in it.)

I think GameLit has a lot in common with Portal Fantasy, so it may be worth tapping into that crowd as well.

I think that's a great idea, Brad. I'm in! Just let me know. Best of luck!