Superhero? Action? Mystery? YA Sci Fi? Another genre help thread

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MynaOphelia

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Hey all!

So my current project I AM THE JACKAL is about a teenager living in a violent, crime-ridden city. When his father, a police officer, is poisoned and nearly killed, Seth decides to figure out who did it so that he can find the suspect and stop them before them come back to finish the job. Early on, he finds a super serum and uses it to pretend to be a super in the city's infamous Hero Core, which fights the street gangs and also took his father's case--meaning they're the ones who have the best lead as to who this suspect really is.

Along the way, he deals with a lot of other threats, such as the scientist who first created the serum and an ex-super who is out for revenge. Seth also starts to find out that the Hero Core is not really all that different from the vicious gangs they try to fight.

I'm wary of classing this "Superhero" or "Action" because the action-y scenes take up minimal space in the book, and I don't want people to think this is just a comic book regurgitated into a novel. But I'm not really sure where this novel goes. Any help?
 

Niccolo

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Cyberpunk mystery? I throw cyberpunk out there because of the super-serum and the crime-riddled city. The high technology and low-life mix seems to be there, and it's certainly a mystery. You know your story better than I do, it's just a thought.

Good luck :)
 

MynaOphelia

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I thought cyberpunk was supposed to be in the future though?
 

Sage

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A serum giving him powers wouldn't necessarily make it a superhero story, because I'm seeing quite a few YAs with something giving a teen powers without calling it "superhero fiction," but I feel like having a league of supers does feel like it is a superhero novel. But even my superhero novel, I call "YA urban fantasy." I think the superhero elements will show up in your query, no matter what you call it, though. I would avoid "action" for the reason you say. So is it sci-fi-ish? Urban fantasy-ish? Maybe it's urban sci-fi ;)
 

MaCain

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Only label it YA if your audience is YA. If you're writing for an adult audience, your genre isn't YA just because your characters are.

I was thinking fantasy as well, but not sure about the type of fantasy. Here is a link describing the different types. http://bestfantasybooks.com/fantasy-genre.php

Coming-of-age Fantasy seems like it might be a good fit, but I think the best would be Magic Realism, which by the way is SUPER HOT with agents and publishers right now.
 

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I'm really certain this isn't magical realism. And teen main characters in an urban setting with a coming-of-age plot is almost always going to be YA.

Myna, I see you're betaing the novel right now. See what your betas think about genre. The reason I suggest that is that they'll have a better feel than, say, I would about how the speculative elements play out in your novel. It feels like this could be fantasy or SF, depending on how scientific feeling this serum is. My guess is that you're urban fantasy, based on this blurb. UF often has a mystery element, has the gritty setting, and superheroes--even those with super-science elements--often end up labeled as fantasy because of their powers.
 

MynaOphelia

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@MaCain: Thank you for the input! I am writing for a teen audience, so it is YA. That's as far as I've gotten when it comes to classifying this though, haha.

As much as I'd love love love to write magical realism, this definitely isn't it. I'll look into the other fantasy options, though.

@Sage: Thank you also! I'll look into urban fantasy and urban sci-fi. I actually never even considered fantasy for this. I guess I kind of assumed that urban fantasy is almost always paranormal creatures or magic-based superpowers.

The reason I posted this now was because I was about to start betaing, but I didn't want to go into the beta forum and list four or five different genres under the thread for this novel and confuse people, or attract readers who wouldn't actually enjoy the material...

That's part of my concern with labeling this urban fantasy actually... Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought most urban fantasy dealt with vampires/angels/witches/wizards or at the least had magic based powers, fantastic creatures and monsters, etc. It's a super fun genre but that's not really what the novel is about, and I'm worried I'll attract betas looking for that kind of thing and then disappoint them.

I mean, I'll still post a blurb on the thread anyway so they can read it and see, but yeah.
 
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MynaOphelia

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Haha I'm now off to go read extensive definitions of urban fantasy...
 

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Urban fantasy is the fantastical in an urban (or any contemporary, some people-who-are-not-me would say) setting. What are powers of the supers in the Hero Core based on? Were they created by the serum or are they natural powers? Are they explained scientifically? I personally put superheroes with your vampires/angels/witches/dragons, etc., but I could see exceptions.

Just call it a superhero novel when you ask for betas. There are superheroes in it. If you're worried they'll be expecting comic book action and you don't have it, say so. Describe the book and let people decide if they want to read it.
 

MynaOphelia

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That sounds like a good idea, I will do that.

Ah, that's a good point about the source of the other supers' powers. It's never really explained (although there's a reason for that), but Seth is the only one who gets powers via the serum.

Thank you for the suggestions :)
 
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