Offbeat/quirky...New genre type

[CACTUSWENDY]

If this is not in the right place please feel free to move it.

This was news to me, it might be to some of you folks also.

I have been working on a WIP that does not fit in any of the regular genres and have had a nagging thought of what type of agent would I even seek out when it is finally done.

Offbeat/Quirky is now a genre that agents are listing. I can't tell you how thrilled I was to find this. I then went down through their published books that fall into that type and read the blurbs, and sure enough, they are offbeat/quirky.

When you go to the Agentquery.com and scroll down the list of genres you will find it.

To me this is great news. I'm sure some of you here will fall into this also.

[Stunted]

In my experience, even if you don't think your novel fits into a genre, it definitely might. Why don't you post a synopsis and see what people say?

No, but in answer to your question, I agree! That's great! Maybe this signifies a shift in the industry. (or not.) I'm happy, because I have some novels down the pipeline that may fit into that category (but may totally fit into an established genre).

[SarahMacManus]

If this is not in the right place please feel free to move it.

This was news to me, it might be to some of you folks also.

I have been working on a WIP that does not fit in any of the regular genres and have had a nagging thought of what type of agent would I even seek out when it is finally done.

Offbeat/Quirky is now a genre that agents are listing. I can't tell you how thrilled I was to find this. I then went down through their published books that fall into that type and read the blurbs, and sure enough, they are offbeat/quirky.

When you go to the Agentquery.com and scroll down the list of genres you will find it.

To me this is great news. I'm sure some of you here will fall into this also.

I didn't think "quirky" is as much a genre as a subgenre; ie. quirky fantasy (Pratchett), quirky magic realism (Rollins), quirky sci-fi (Adams), quirky literary (Irving) and so on.

I will have to check this out. I have often had my work described back to me as "Whoa, that's fucked up!" and took it as a compliment.

I've also been compared to Oscar Wilde, but my husband says it's only because we have the same haircut.

:/

[motormind]

To fit in there, does a work have have to be funny?

[Enzo]

Excellent. Should be the writing equivalent of movies like Being John Malkovich and Memento.

[Etola]

So I went to the suggested website, but I couldn't find a full description on their genre description page. I'm a little confused as to what distinguishes offbeat/quirky from satire, literary fiction, or magical realism (all of which have books in them which I would consider weird or hard-to-classify). For example, would "offbeat/quirky" contain something like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Only Revolutions, works by Salmon Rushdie or Toni Morrison, or something like I Am America, and So Can You?

[Lady Ice]

Offbeat/quirky is more marketing as opposed to an actual genre. I'd class comic fantasies and your typical 'outsider' teen.

[Phaeal]

I think offbeat/quirky usually has humor in it, if only the startled or bemused humor of "Wha....? Damn!"

For me, a prime element of the genre or mode (a style extending over genres) is a convoluted, wacky, conspicuously baffling plot. Another is (yes) quirky and offbeat characters often lost in the broken wilderness of postmodern life. Another is an emphasis on voice, perhaps even over plot. There may be a lot of mixed media special effects -- say, bits of film scripts, graphics, comics, musical references.

But if novels were families, offbeat/quirky would be the ones Tolstoy would prefer, as each being unhappy in its own way. If novels marched in parades, offbeat/quirky would be annoying the other novels by deliberately messing up the formations. Come on, they're offbeat and quirky! You aren't squeezing them into any one mold.*

* Except that the mere coining of a genre or mode to describe a type of work does imply that it has a type, many common elements.

;)

And yeah, I see a lot of agents calling for these lately.

[backslashbaby]

Well it's very good news for my WIP, I hope! Thank you :)

[ChristineR]

Being John Malkovich is dark comedy and Memento is crime thriller.

Experimental is a genre, though.

[CACTUSWENDY]

All I know is that when I went to some of the agents sites, and read some of the blurbs of books they had sold and published in this description, they sure fit this type of theme real well.

What I found interesting was the number that do look at this kind.

Sometimes finding your 'place' is and of its self kind of liberating...lol.