On Day 13 of the A to Z Blog Challenge
M
is for
Mix of genres
Please join me at A Book Lover's Library for my fourth review as part of Black Lion Virtual Book Tours.
Rebecca writes that BOUND BY DRAGONSFYRE "is a mix of genres."
When marketing a book, it's important to fit the story into a genre style that readers can easily identify.
When your story is a mix of genres, this becomes something of a challenge.
Young hero Scorpius grows from boyhood into a young man, and BOUND BY DRAGONSFYRE is definitely a coming-of-age tale. Should it be marketed as Young Adult? As the author who knows the upcoming books will deal with darker subject matter, would this be a wise decision?
The story takes place in a fantasy world called the Eighth Dominion, yet the focus of the book is on Scorpius and how he makes his way through the world. Traditional fantasy elements are not highlighted as much as the political intrigue aspects of the story.
If I market it as fantasy, will readers who expect detailed glossaries of Eighth Dominion history and culture wonder where their genre went?
If I market it as political intrigue, will contemporary thriller readers wonder what on earth I was thinking when I placed BOUND BY DRAGONSFYRE in their favorite genre?
This is the challenge for me with both of my releases so far. Fresh and new is often a mix of genres. A marketing challenge for me as an author, but as a reader these are the very books which attract me.
Quite the challenge. Your stories are not easily classified, which is one of the reasons I like them.
ReplyDeletePeople often bring their own comforts into a story based on the genre. That can color a reader's judgment really quickly, even thought it has little to do with your writing or your story.