The prologue of my debut novel A Divine Existence has been successfully uploaded. I would classify the story as cross-genre fiction. Please feel free to have a read and leave a comment. If you like it, let me know. If you don't like it, let me know. Thanks in advance for your time / comments.

KHG

Hi, it looks like an very interesting Sci-fi story, but I was wondering what you meant exactly by 'cross-genre fiction'?

- NaomiM

Hi Naomi

Thanks for taking the time to read my work, and to send me a reply. It is greatly appreciated.

You asked me about 'cross-genre fiction'. It has been difficult for me to decide on a specific genre for this book, as it crosses the boundaries on more than one occasion. The prologue you have read suggests that the story is sci-fi, which is fair enough, however the rest of the book has more of a supernatural/paranormal theme, although not immediately. The second book in the series will have a much greater emphasis on sci-fi.

I hope this answers your question, Naomi If there's a more accurate term for this type of story, please let me know.

Perhaps other writers have had a similar experience when deciding which genre their book falls under. It worries me slightly that an agent or publisher may not look so favourably on a book whose story crosses from one genre into another. It could prompt the question, 'under which section of the bookshop would this book be displayed?'. Maybe it should be displayed under the 'cross-genre fiction' section.

Kieron

Thanks for replying, Kieron.
Yes, choosing a genre in which to place one's work is a perenial problem for writers.
One either goes for the generic 'Adult Fiction' or tries to narrow it down to a genre such as Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Literary, Historical fiction, Crime....
There is the added problem (if you can call it that), of some agents specializing in certain genres, while others reject them altogether. Crime, Children's and Sci-Fi are common specializations.

If yours spans two genres, then you have the advantage of submitting to both Sci-fi and Fantasy Agents (and playing up that element of the story in the synopsis, respectively) - as well as submitting to Adult Ficton. However, I would leave it to the Agents to decide whether or not it is cross-over - some can be purists who might ask you to strip out the paranormal in favour of the sci-fi, or vice versa.

But then trying to second guess the Agents is another game that writers like to play

- NaomiM

<Added>

- Of the two, I would go for Sci-fi. Purely on the basis that there is a bigger market for those kind of books, compared to Fantasy, and subsequently more Agents specializing in it.

<Added>

- one has to be pragmatic in this game. :)