What genre is this?

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rockondon

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So I wrote a 104,000 word fantasy novel.

The protagonist is 14, his brother (a POV character that is nearly as talked about as the protagonist) is 19.

Their parents died years ago and they're mature for their age - they support themselves, they work, they pay bills, and the issues they deal with are adult issues.

The writing level is appropriate for teens and up.

Should I refer to this as simply a fantasy novel? I've been calling it a YA fantasy but people say its too long for that. I started the characters young to allow for plenty of growth, physically and mentally, over multiple books. But if that's an issue for agents I'd just make the MC older.
 

Twick

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Not sure, but I'd love to know the answer, as I'm in a somewhat similar predicament.
 

rockondon

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200+ views and no answers. And here I thought it was a simple question.
 

Gringa

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You might ask in Basic Writing or AW Roundtable or Novels...not sure which....
and/or better yet...
ask a MOD to move the thread for more feedback

Gringa

ps: give a few more details for a more detailed response
 
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ElaineA

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200+ views and no answers. And here I thought it was a simple question.

I think it's because this is one of those hard-to-pigeonhole stories. There are plenty of adult stories with kid MCs, and plenty of stories written for adults that are accessible for teens. It isn't the age of the MC that defines it as YA, but the themes it deals with. Whether the themes are relevant for a teen.

My gut tells me to submit as general Fantasy and don't focus on the age of the MC in the query unless it's absolutely necessary to understand the plot. Maybe start with a handful of agents, see if you get any feedback that indicates they view it as strongly YA?

IDK, a lot of us struggle with this problem. Sometimes you have to take a flyer and hope you're right. Which is where early caution comes in. Good luck with it. I feel your pain.
 

cornflake

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So I wrote a 104,000 word fantasy novel.

The protagonist is 14, his brother (a POV character that is nearly as talked about as the protagonist) is 19.

Their parents died years ago and they're mature for their age - they support themselves, they work, they pay bills, and the issues they deal with are adult issues.

The writing level is appropriate for teens and up.

Should I refer to this as simply a fantasy novel? I've been calling it a YA fantasy but people say its too long for that. I started the characters young to allow for plenty of growth, physically and mentally, over multiple books. But if that's an issue for agents I'd just make the MC older.

There are several things going on, I think.

Why were you calling it YA? Just because of his age? Why is he that age? If the thing contains things that are dealt with in YA traditionally, and the MC is a teen, and the tone is YA, then it's YA.

If you can simply change the character's age by a half decade or more and it have no impact whatsoever on anything else in the story, then I'd question the characterization, honestly, among other things, when we're talking about someone this age. I mean if you changed a character from 34 to 39 with no larger issues, fine. If you can just swap 14 for 20 or whatever, that's concerning.
 
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Booklover199

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I think from what you describe it, that is sounds like a YA Fantasy. 104,000 isn't too bad, especially comparing it with other YA Fantasy stories. They are usually around that word count. 104,000 is a bit high but it's not ridiculous or anything.
 
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