What the heck is my genre???

beck_magruder

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I'm finally caving...I've been sending out queries for a few months now, and I'm finding that I'm changing the genre description in almost every single one because I just don't know what is best to describe my novel. Is it NA or Adult? Is it fantasy or speculative fiction? Is it magical realism? I don't know!!! I'm getting conflicting data from websites I've checked and from people who have critiqued.

First, the New Adult/Adult/YA conundrum. My novel's MC is 27 years old, so I figured, New Adult. However, it is NOT erotica/romance at all (there IS romance, but it's clean, focusing rather on the character development and a deep plot). I recently found that a lot of agents, when they hear "New Adult", automatically think it's gonna be all sexied up. So should I just stick with "Adult"?

Second, the subject matter. Pretty much everything happens in the real world, in contemporary times, and focuses on the conflict between the encroachment of humans into our world's last wild places, at the expense of nature (particularly wildlife species and pristine wilderness areas). The idea is that humanity NEEDS these things still, that it's part of our DNA, and we'll kill ourselves if we kill Nature.

Where the "fantasy" aspect comes in is the idea that Nature actually has a force of its own, and that humanity used to be able to feel it, but lost that ability a long time ago.

So basically, the fantastic or magical elements are incorporated in such a way as to suggest that it's not magic at all, but something that was once real, which we lost. Again, everything important that happens in this novel happens with character choices, and non-magic battles/escapes...except for the end, which is somewhat further-fetched, but very symbolic.

So, I was thinking...magical realism, right?? Or is it speculative fiction? Or just fiction? or just straight fantasy?
 

Torgo

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It's not New Adult, no. Hard to tell what it is without knowing a bit more. Is there a book it's like?
 

beck_magruder

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It's not New Adult, no. Hard to tell what it is without knowing a bit more. Is there a book it's like?

Honestly, I can't think of other books that come to mind as being completely similar. The nature/wilderness aspects might be similar to what you find in Nicholas Evans's "The Loop" about wolves near an anti-wolf town in Montana - very realistic, very gritty. Except then you throw in native folklore (not just Native American, but western European/Celtic folklore) and "magic" like that found in the Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley). It's believable magic.

It's actually a trilogy of novels (gasp!) that culminates in a conflict that has worldwide repercussions. Basically modern-day humanity has so compartmentalized and tamed and destroyed Nature, but the danger is that it IS still a part of us and mankind absolutely can not live without it...even though we think we can, and we're unstoppable in our destruction of it. The main antagonist is ourselves, and the MC must somehow find a way to undo the damage.

Ugh, it's so hard to summarize like that but I hope that helps people understand. What I just wrote makes it sound kind of philosophical, but the novel doesn't read that way - it's adventurous, and the characters are fully flushed out and likable/relatable. Maybe even Chronicles of Narnia-ish, particularly the Last Battle.
 

Karen McCoy

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27 is too old for NA, so it's probably just adult. And I'd agree with the magical realism angle.
 

beck_magruder

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Cool, thanks...yeah I found the FAQ after I'd posted, oops (this got moved here when I posted it in the wrong place....this forum is a big place!). I wasn't worried so much about the genre when I was writing it, but now that I'm actively trying to submit it, I want to make sure I'm describing it accurately.

And you can see the problem - one person says it's definitely not magical realism, while some of you think it is. Urg. I'll prob just go with contemporary fantasy since it seems to be a bit more of a discrete description than magical realism (which seems to be a rather mystical, undefinable thing). But goodbye New Adult...I'll stick with Adult.
 

Randy Lee

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I'm not sure what species of speculative you'd want to call it (or if you'd even want to go under that umbrella at all) but--and please someone correct me if I'm wrong about this because I'm rather new to this--you can leave off "adult," "NA," and "YA." When none of those are mentioned, it just defaults to "adult." It's extraneous information.
 

Kerosene

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27 isn't too old for NA, but NA isn't exactly determined by age--just like YA. Depends on the character's situation and sometimes associated with their age.

I wouldn't say it's exactly magical realism. Explanations and how the fantastical elements work within the world don't exactly determine if the magic is represented within the world as a natural element. You pretty much described the way my fantastical elements work in my books, I'm selling them as Epic Fantasy.

I agree with Zanzjan. Pitch it as pure Fantasy because that opens up the agent/editor pool. If you pitch it as something more specific, agents/editors are more likely to turn the story away by just reading what you determined as the genre. Let the agents/editors choose the pigeonhole to stuff the book into--as it's mostly marketing anyhow.
 
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gingerwoman

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A lot of people asking for NA say 18-25. And yes I do think they expect "sexed up" and romance a lot of the time when they say NA.

Honestly with that little magic in it I wouldn't go with fantasy. I think magic realism might be a better choice, but it depends on the feel of the overall manuscript. It it at all literary?

I don't know if you should use the term "Adult" it can imply erotic. Why not just general fiction/magic realism and if it's literary say literary or if it's commercial say commercial. General fiction and NOT saying YA or NA would imply it's for regular adults without actually saying "adult" in my opinion.
 

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Cool, thanks...yeah I found the FAQ after I'd posted, oops (this got moved here when I posted it in the wrong place....this forum is a big place!). I wasn't worried so much about the genre when I was writing it, but now that I'm actively trying to submit it, I want to make sure I'm describing it accurately.

And you can see the problem - one person says it's definitely not magical realism, while some of you think it is. Urg. I'll prob just go with contemporary fantasy since it seems to be a bit more of a discrete description than magical realism (which seems to be a rather mystical, undefinable thing). But goodbye New Adult...I'll stick with Adult.

No worries, welcome, and yes, AW is huge. Even now I still find pockets I didn't know about.

I'd worry that tagging it as adult would automatically translate to "erotica" in some people's minds, and as Randy Lee says, you can probably just omit that entirely anyhow. Fantasy can be quite subtle, sometimes, and the lines do get blurry. You may be best off trying to see which agents and publishers also walk that gray area and target them.
 

Laer Carroll

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I’d not struggle to label it at all. Let the agents and editors do that – if they care to. Give them a brief description of your story, something along the lines of what you wrote in your original post. But shorter, with a zinger final sentence.
 

hikarinotsubasa

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I'd say contemporary fantasy.

And definitely not NA... just plain old contemporary fantasy. If your character has a job or a wife or something else adult-ish going on in his life, instead of high school, that'll be enough to let agents know it's for an adult audience.
 

Filigree

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This sounds a little like 'The River Why' which was just re-released by the Sierra Club a few years ago. I'd read it in the eighties: rollicking and thought-provoking environmentalism with a fair bit of magical realism woven in.

So maybe not only pitch to fantasy agents, but those interested in literary magic realism, as well.
 

MkMoore

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My thought would be that it depends on how far you push the mystical aspect of it. If it's contemporary, I think the fantasy element would have to be pushed more to make it outright fantasy; otherwise you fall into that grey zone between fantasy and magical realism. Magical realism is kind a hazy term anyway, as you've apparently discovered. If it's supposed to be more like "science that looks like magic," I might just call it speculative fiction. It sounds a little like the link in the movie Avatar (as in the way the people and animals can connect to the planet), but I don't know if that's what you're going for.
 

beck_magruder

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This sounds a little like 'The River Why' which was just re-released by the Sierra Club a few years ago. I'd read it in the eighties: rollicking and thought-provoking environmentalism with a fair bit of magical realism woven in.

So maybe not only pitch to fantasy agents, but those interested in literary magic realism, as well.

I LOVE the River Why - one of my favorite books, and not a lot of people have heard of it!!! I hadn't really equated my novel quite with that one (partially because I could never match David James Duncan's pure wit - that guy is hilarious), but some of the overall environmental themes might be similar.
 

beck_magruder

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My thought would be that it depends on how far you push the mystical aspect of it. If it's contemporary, I think the fantasy element would have to be pushed more to make it outright fantasy; otherwise you fall into that grey zone between fantasy and magical realism. Magical realism is kind a hazy term anyway, as you've apparently discovered. If it's supposed to be more like "science that looks like magic," I might just call it speculative fiction. It sounds a little like the link in the movie Avatar (as in the way the people and animals can connect to the planet), but I don't know if that's what you're going for.

Yes, I know there is quite a bit of Avatar similarity - but I think the differences are pretty huge, tying more with mankind's history than with its future. But yes, I'm sort of in that gray zone....this is really good advice and I'll keep it all in mind as I query. Sometimes I even think the broader themes of my novel and (hopefully) my style of writing make it more literary fiction - I just think some people dismiss the idea that any kind of fantasy could be literary fiction, so I haven't really been considering it as that. Ugh. Dear Self: Make next novel not so genre-confused. :)
 

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I would say:

- definitely not YA because that's generally about teenage characters with teenage issues (fantastical or otherwise)
- not new adult because NA is typically for characters 18-25ish whose stories are about "becoming adults", but not necessarily erotica; it could just be about making your way on your own, after your parents stop supporting you. The Devil Wears Prada and The Nanny Diaries come to mind.

Magic realism is typically everyday life with strange things thrown in as if they're completely normal, (e.g., 100 Years of Solitude or Sea Change).

This sounds like what you've described. I would choose magic realism or speculative fiction, which can be used for stories that 'speculate' what could or might've happened.

Honestly? If an agent you like reads literary magic realism, sell it as that; if the next agent reads speculative fiction, call it that. Genres can be fluid sometimes. Although, in this case, not fluid enough to call it YA or NA, imo.
 
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Cathy C

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Well, there's The Weather Wardens series by Rachel Caine, where weather (hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, etc.) is both sentient and malicious and must be contained by a group of magic wielding hero(ine)s who are kick-butt meteorologists. Really. The series rocks!

Of course, there's always Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters, too.

Both are in the adult SF/F shelves and both sell very well. You could arguably call yours urban fantasy if it's set in the here and now. Otherwise, call it fantasy and you'll be fine. :)
 

Roxxsmom

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I think new adult usually focuses on the 19-24 age demographic and the stories tend to revolve around the sorts of things people of that age are often dealing with in contemporary society--college, moving away from home, first serious "adult" love affair, landing one's first "real" job etc. I'm pretty sure a historic, fantasy or SF story with a protagonist who happens to be 21 wouldn't qualify.

But I could be wrong.
 
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