The Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold contest requires entrants to select from a list of five possible genres. The options are Romance, Speculative Fiction, Mystery, Mainstream and Action/Thriller.
The contest also requires identification of a subgenre. If I go with Romance as my broad genre, I can choose between paranormal, time travel or fantasy as the sub-genre. On the other hand, if I choose Speculative, I can pick either fantasy or supernatural.
Let's look at sub-genre first. Two of the major characters in my book are a witch and a sorcerer. Neither has what I would consider a super power. For the most part, they're skilled illusionists and hypnotists. Selection of paranormal or supernatural will pit my book against novels whose characters have far more interesting powers. I'm not sure that's the best fit.
Time travel is a major element of my story. However, the majority of the book takes place in the modern era. I suspect most time travel stories take place either in the past or the future for the most part. Therefore, I'm not comfortable selecting this sub-genre, either.
Finally, we have fantasy. My book introduces a vast hallucinatory universe. This is the element that makes my novel unique.
I'm going with fantasy as my sub-genre.
Now, I have to choose between Romance and Speculative. I've entered about eight Romance Writers of America contests and done well in them. I want to see how my book measures up in a different environment, so I'll be entering the book as speculative fiction and hoping for the best.
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You're named kin to a boxer. I'm sure you've heards that more than once.
ReplyDeleteCool blog. How did you get followers to your blog? Thanks in advance for your help.
Wow a lot goes into writing a book than I though. Can't wait to see it....will you sign mine when it's published =)
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