On Friday, literary agent Rachelle Gardner posted on her blog a revised list of the genres she is looking for right now. She by no means works with every type of literature, most agents don't. However, the only genre she does not publish and listed in big, fat bold letters was adult fantasy and sci-fi.
Here's the thing - I don't know where I fit when agents say they work with writers of thrillers or supernatural books, but not fantasy. My book is a thriller- without equivocation - but with a bunch of Celtic deities running around creating havoc. Doesn't that make it as much supernatural thriller as it does contemporary or mythic fantasy? Where do I fit? Am I a round or square peg?
And why do so many agents shy away from fantasy/sci-fi? What's so wrong with it?
I can't write "high fantasy", but I love elements of it: the characters who are larger than life, the different mores from industrialised societies, the fomenting of cthonic forces coming to the surface of our world, etc. That's why, in addition to thrillers, I've stayed with urban fantasy, contemporary fantasy, paranormal/supernatural, etc. for my personal reading as I have been on this writing journey.
I'm still really struggling with the differences between these genres - and any help/clarification is definitely appreciated!
hmmmm I would say Supernatural Thriller
ReplyDeleteDefinitely agree with you here. Why should a book have to fit into one category anyway? I have written mine for the child in every adult and the adult in every child, if that makes sense to you. Some people think that it is a children's book to start with but that just shows how we get pigeon-holed! I think you should be able to do what you want otherwise every book will be too predictable and indeed some are. For example: the romance stories by Mills and Boon. I'm not knocking them, but I think I'm right in saying that if you want to write for them, you have to introduce the heroine on page 1, the problem on page 10, the denouement on page 76 etc. etc. I don't call that creative writing.
ReplyDelete