Writing is fun, editing is hard, and getting published is murder. Navigating the murky waters of the literary scene is tricky, but having a stellar query letter will help you enormously. However, it’s difficult to write about your novel when you don’t know exactly what genre your work falls into. I had this problem when sending out my latest novel, Red Hands. The novel is part alternate history, part romance and part fantasy. Although I struggled at first to explain the genre in a single sentence, these tips helped me to better describe my story:
Get Them Hooked: The most important thing about a query letter is that it intrigues the reader. If you have too many potential descriptions for your novel’s genre, pick the one that sounds the most intriguing. Even if it’s not 100% accurate, if your story is interesting, it won’t matter.
Look for the Big Umbrella: It’s possible that your genre isn’t as complicated as you think. Is it a Space Western and a Dystopian novel? If so, both of these genre’s fall under the larger “Sci-Fi” umbrella. Keep it simple, and just write the overarching genre.
Put it On the Shelf: Put yourself in the shoes of a librarian. If you had to put this book on a shelf in the local library, where would it go? You may have written a romance novel with aspects of magic, but that book would undoubtedly go in the Fantasy section.
Do Your Research: How you pitch your book should vary depending on who you are pitching to.Let’s say you wrote a thriller with teenage main characters, but you believe it has crossover appeal. When sending your query as YA to agents in that request young adult novels, but try pitching it as a thriller to agents who don’t work with YA.
Passion Place 