Page 1 of 1

Trying to determine genre of a story

Posted: May 1st, 2011, 3:10 am
by shasta
Dear Nathan,

I am having trouble classifying what genre my novel is.

I originally categorized the story as mystery since it reeks with mystery. I have read that the plot of a mystery is the mystery unfolding. And this does happen in the story.
However, the story contains magical events and a supernatural entity. It takes place in our real world. So it now sounds to me like the story would fall under urban fantasy. But wait, it gets tougher. There is a love theme to the story as well, and toss in a bit of crime.

So, I am left with the question, what genre is it really? I tend to want to classify it as mystery/urban fantasy or urban fantasy/mystery. Would it be improper to classify it as mystery/urban fantasy/romance?

Maybe it falls under what I have come across as genre fiction or mainstream fiction. I don’t think its commercial fiction, but I could be wrong.

If you have previously addressed a similar question like mine, please point me to the location of your response. I checked the FAQs and didn't see a category that appeared to contain my topic question.

Thanks,
Michael

Re: Trying to determine genre of a story

Posted: May 1st, 2011, 11:57 pm
by Nathan Bransford
I always say when in doubt go with the section of the bookstore your book would be stocked in. Hope that helps!

Re: Trying to determine genre of a story

Posted: May 4th, 2011, 3:19 am
by shasta
That does help. It narrows my list down to 2 possibilities and I believe I know which one of the 2 it is.

Thank you Nathan