There are a few questions today about genre so I thought I would post something to help.
When we write something as large as a novel there are often crossovers to other genres. This especially applies to great big epics like mine. I've been giving some thought to what metatags I might use on a website and it occurred to me it might help others place their genre.
For instance, some keywords which apply to my series of novels are;
Travel, Children as carers/breadwinners, Mental Illness, LGBT, Bisexuality, Metrosexuality, Fiji, Gap Year, Backpacking, Secret Internet Forums, Family Saga, Will they/Won't they Romance, Toxic Waste, PTSD, Miscarriage, Genetic Abnormalities.
There is no genre which covers that mixed bag but fortunately for me the one theme running all the way through the main characters' lives are each other and no matter what happens to them the relationship is always centre stage, so I can easily place my genre as romance.
What are your keywords? Is there one which runs as a theme thoughout your novel? What one subject underpins your story? Feel free to list your keywords and let others help. Vxx
Jonathan, my series would be a saga if some wonderful publisher decided to publish all six, but as that's virtually unheard of from a first book deal I've decided to try to sell them in twos. The first two were originally one book and are definitely just a romance.
And a quick skim through my records of chapters has revealed a different romance in each book. Phew! So calling each one a romance is accurate, even if the publication of book three onwards would render it more of a saga.
Charley - sorry, I forgot to mention yours.
'I'm writing a supernatural/suspense/drama/hurt and comfort story'
If you cut that down to basics it's got 'Supernatural Thriller' written all over it. Hopefully, anyway ;)
Best of luck with it :)
There's something of a clash here between the ideas of genre and theme. Genre gives a reader only a very vague guide to a story's content: theme might be more explicit, or might not. But that often depends on individual interpretation.
I've no idea what Victoria's story is about (sounds intriguing, though), but I'd have thought it must fall into a genre that's more saga than romance. The problem arises if it's pigeonholed somewhere the author did not really intend, often by the publisher.
I can only give an example from my own viewpoint. My stuff is historical fiction. It's set in the past, and could not transfer to a modern setting, so that's fine. But it's usually sub-genred as 'military' or 'war' fiction, when it's really the story of a friendship during wartime. Again, I'm not that bothered if such cataloguing attracts a readership. At least I've avoided the Historical Romance section ;)
The main theme running through the first story was 'belief' - in self, in others, in God. Then there were classism, bigotry, avarice, fear, death; the usual stuff. Unfortunately they don't make good keywords, as I found out!
I'd say if Adrian's story is set in the past it's HF first and foremost. If not it's Historical Fantasy. The Romance and Chivalric elements are secondary, and in that order. Chivalry might be at the core of the story but it won't cut much ice against Waterstones shelving system ;)