One of These Things Is Not Like The Others…

Do you remember that segment in Sesame Street when they showed you a group of items and you had to guess which one didn’t belong?

This is what I’ve been doing this week. I have been pinpointing exactly where I belong.

Why do this? Because there is something on Amazon called meta-data. Meta-data allows the Amazon to pair you up with readers who are likely to enjoy your work. The more accurate you are, the happier your readers will be when they pick up your book (and hopefully, give it a positive review).

If you remember, I narrowed down my genres to four categories: Cosmic Horror, Lovecraftian Fiction, Supernatural Thriller, and Urban Fantasy. Looking at the books in the genre using Amazon Advanced Search, I discovered Lovecraftian fiction was a good fit, as was cosmic horror.

Urban fantasy, however, was one of the things that didn’t belong.

Why?

A common element is urban fantasy seems to be magic. Either the characters possess it as part of a supernatural heritage (usually fey or faerie) or they have been taught (think Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series).

A Typical Urban Fantasy Character

While there is some magic in my series, it is not a central part of the story. My characters do not “naturally” possess it and don’t trust it. If I listed my work as urban fantasy, my readers would not find the things they expect in the genre. They might walk away from my book unsatisfied. They might even give it a bad review. And that does not translate into good book sales.

But exploring urban fantasy was productive because it pointed me to another genre, one I had never heard of before.

Occult Horror.

More on later…