One of the difficult things I need to address when researching appropriate agents is to identify the genre of my story. It’s historical based on mythology. Is it just Fantasy or is it better labelled as Historical Fantasy? It all comes down to commercial appeal. Will it sell under the broader classification of Fantasy or should it be streamlined? Its hard to know which way to go. I’d be happier to put under the Historical Fantasy genre but it does have mass appeal and can be regarded as popular fiction.
I had one agency regard it as ‘supernatural’. To this day it still mystifies me. I always regarded mythology more as fantasy rather than supernatural. I did ask a few friends what they thought and had mixed responses. So what is the difference between the two? There is no easy way to define either one, even literary experts have difficulty in explaining them. Each have so many elements they cross over including the genre of Science Fiction. I have defined them for my own purposes and by no means this is the only way. Simply supernatural stories contains paranormal elements, whereas fantasy stories uses magic as the main impetus.
Where does this leave me? For the purposes of enquiring literary agents I will classify it as Historical Fantasy.
Luciana Cavallaro 