As I finish tightening and tweaking my novel, I am also trying to figure out who to target when I submit. Reading through submission guidelines for various agents and adhering to them is a project in itself. THIS is the one part I didn't miss in the whole process. I HATE self promotion! It feels icky (<--I know, genius, right?) and goes against everything in my nature. Worse yet, my story doesn't really fit into a specific genre.
On my crit site, Scribophile, I have it tagged as "paranormal romance".A love story is central, but I'd hesitate to call it a romance. The story is more about the MC and how this 'love' has affected her life...and death...and the choices she's made. And the ending isn't quite happily ever after, either. It seems almost too dark for your typical romance...the paranormal kind or not.
Paranormal? Well, yeah. MC dies, she meets a grim reaper, hangs out as a ghost for a while,then she comes back as a zombie. Lots of paranormal stuff going on. But that's not really a 'genre'.
Zombies? Ghosts? Doesn't that make it horror?! Hmmm...I don't know? It's not really scary, and it's not really meant to be scary. It's a little morbid. The humor is dark and ironic and sometimes just silly. But scary? I think if you compared it to a zombie movie 'tone-wise' it would be more 'Zombieland' than 'Night of the Living Dead'. And I'm not sure I'd call that horror.
Of course, while there is a sense of humor to it, the entire book isn't funny. There are lots of dramatic scenes. Tough choices. Inner reflections. You know, serious stuff.
So I'm left wondering...do I just NOT categorize it and hope for the best? I can't think of an author I've read that I could compare it to as being similiar (though that is kind of a no-no in pitching, but I think it would be helpful to figure out where a piece fits). Ah well...my brain is fried.
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