Hi everyone, I'm in the process of reaching out to publishers and agents for my novel 'Same New World'. I'm limited as I've self-published it already so some are put off of it. If you're a fan of anime or kdrama you'll easily understand the story. It features childhood friends who are secretly in love with each other, a group of antagonists and eventually the discovery of an underworld and my MC's hidden power, isekai (other world) blah blah blah. The dilemma I'm having is genre. The distinction I hear people make is that if the romance is the main plot then it's paranormal romance. Okay well done deal then because the romance is the pudding in this story. Except the consensus I also see is that if the story is harsher and more violent it's urban fantasy. My story ventures into horror towards the end and some characters leave the story with less parts than they arrived with. I have more books planned in the series where the fantasy world is fleshed out and the romance shares the spotlight more but this first book is really a romance with a fantasy/horror climax. Think 'The Notebook' meets 'Berserk' or 'Hellraiser I wanted the world to feel real, and I wanted the impact of it's discovery to hit the reader as hard as it does my characters. I didn't want to do the standard first thirty pages introduces the characters and then we get to the monsters. But clearly it's not gonna do me any favors trying to sell this book as one thing when it'll be looked at as another. I wont lie the question of which is more likely to sell is in the back of my mind too. I'm curious what y'all think as readers and as writers. Thanks, Ran
I think your biggest problem is going to be that you just self published this book a few months ago. Even if your sales have been awesome for this book, you're more likely to attract an agent or publisher with a new work rather than one that has been or is already out there. I know that's not really what you're asking about, but I thought it was worth mentioning as querying agents and publishers for this book might not be the best use of your time. When I have been looking for an agent or publisher, I've tended not to mention the genre at all. I think a strong query letter can show exactly what the genre is without the writer spelling it out. I know maybe some places or people might ask for the genre, but I still believe this is something a writer get across in other ways. This is assuming you've done your homework on the agents and publishers and believe your novel is along the lines with others they've published or sold that as far as genre. I mean, you could just call it fantasy if you wanted to, letting the publisher or agent help get it more specific when it comes time to sell the story and/or put it on the market. But this story has already been introduced to the market. I think that is going to be the biggest hurdle you're facing at this stage with this book.
