How "fantastic" must it be?

Still sounds like fantasy to me, but it depends...

Depending on how you treat the "fantastical" elements, it could be magic realism.

Are the fantasy elements relevant to the plot? Is there a purpose for them?

Or are they just sort of there in the background, or are used as metaphors, or have a "dreamy" feel to the narrative, etc?

Depending on how you use those elements, it could be either fantasy or magic realism.

Are there any books you've read that are similar to what you wrote?

paddismac said:

The Family isolates itself from the rest of the community out of a sense of superiority, and the community steers clear of the Family out of a sense of "something's not quite right about those people who live in the cave." Even at the end of the story it's not clear whether magic exists or not - it just is what it is. (Not sure if that clarified anything at all!)

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Could still be either.

It's really going to come down to plot, voice, tone, and overall feel of the story.

Could you give us, like, a basic idea of the plot? Doesn't have to be long. Could be a brief idea (like a small blurb) or small paragraph describing what the story is about. It could help some.

And/or, once you get enough posts, you can put up an excerpt of your writing under SYW. That could give us a better idea about what your story feels like. If you're not sure where to put it, ask a mod about it.

IMO, if it has trolls, it's a fantasy, even if it's also other things. I don't think you don't need to fuss too much over genre borders. (Standard caveat: this is a marketing question, and I'm no expert on marketing, or on anything else for that matter )

I would call it a fantasy when sending out queries, and let the query letter capture the tone of the book. Fantasy includes stories where magic is subtle. If you spend a lot of time dancing on the border of whether or not magic is real, you might technically be writing "speculative fiction," but at the kid lit level I think you are better off simply querying it as "fantasy."

Sounds like fantasy to me. If you want a specific, you could look into low fantasy and see if that fits?

The backstory is definitely fantasy. If the trolls are hinted at all, and it looks like they are somewhat related to the plot, then it's still fantasy. If the goat has hints of magical effects, then it's fantasy. The goat is relevant to the plot, and the mc discovers the backstory.

I don't know much about magic realism, as I never read any, but in magic realism, the fantasy stuff are not...important? Relevant to the conflict directly?

Someone on AW had an example long ago (and I'll try my best to remember how it went):
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A man is in a rush to go to work. His car turns into an elephant.

In magic realism, the man is just frustrated and is worried he will now be late to work.
This fantasy transformation would of course surprise him, because he doesn't have a car anymore, but it's a normal thing in the background. Not something to be curious about. Or, at least, not something to be dramatic about it happening at all. Fantasy elements are normal occurrences, after all.
(I can't really explain it, but that's what I interpret it.)


In fantasy, the man would be surprised (but could still frustrated and worried) at this strange event. He would probably want to figure out how his car changed into an elephant, or, at least, may be a bit curious about what caused it to happen. The fantasy element is (somewhat) involved in the plot. It's noticed and commented on.
Even if it happens all of the time, he would still comment on it in a direct way.
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So, with what I heard so far, your story seems like fantasy.
Quiet, "low" (oh, I don't like that term) fantasy, but still fantasy.

It's fine if the fantasy aspects are subtle, as long as it's hinted at, and they are part of the plot.

The fantasy stuff has to be hinted at or revealed, though. As a fantasy reader, I would expect some hint of fantasy. Why else would I pick up this [fantasy] book? As a child, I always want to have some evidence of fantasy shown or hinted at. I would be disappointed if no fantasy aspects were shown, and I was expecting a fantasy read.

If it's magic realism, then there may be other factors to consider. However, I have never really read any that are considered such, so I wouldn't know what Magic Realism readers expect from such a book...

EDIT: SYW may be the best way to see if there's enough fantasy.

killdeer said:

IMO, if it has trolls, it's a fantasy, even if it's also other things. I don't think you don't need to fuss too much over genre borders. (Standard caveat: this is a marketing question, and I'm no expert on marketing, or on anything else for that matter )

I would call it a fantasy when sending out queries, and let the query letter capture the tone of the book. Fantasy includes stories where magic is subtle. If you spend a lot of time dancing on the border of whether or not magic is real, you might technically be writing "speculative fiction," but at the kid lit level I think you are better off simply querying it as "fantasy."

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I know this thread is pretty much done, but I just want to add that for children's books, 'magic realism' is not going to sell many titles. People, especially children, may read all kinds of fantasy (look in bookstores, it's all lumped together) but 'magic realism' sounds overly 'literary'. If it's got trolls - it's fantasy.
And I like your idea, it's the kind of thing I loved as a child, and still read as an adult: stories about myths and retold legends, gods in disguise and people who don't realize who they're talking to.
I loved that moment, as a child, when the penny dropped and I realized that the author was talking about stuff that I knew, the Greek gods, or Scandanavian myths, only it's all in code.

When you're querying classify it as fantasy. Then, when you get the agent, they can worry about sub-catting it when it goes out on submission to publishers. Then they will call it whatever they want, usually having it land in the category with the biggest audience. Which will probably be fantasy.

I know all is solved, but as a fellow MG magical realism writer I know your frustrations (and yeah yeah, it's supposed to be oh so serious, but I think it doesn't have to be and genres can evolve etc, so there ). Calling it fantasy should be good enough, but you could even say "My middle grade novel with fantastical elements" or "with a touch of the fantastical" etc.

Ultimately what sells the work to the agent though is the small query plot synopsis and the writing of the work itself. Don't worry too much about the small question of how to categorise it. Just make sure the agent knows it isn't straight up contemporary realism and you're cool .

Good luck!