You have encapsulated exactly why I get so frustrated with modern, sales-driven genre designations. The tools used to serve readers or aid scholarship are now a giant cluster of a machine that just perpetuates itself. It's very frustrating when promoting, because you feel like you *have* to fit into these narrow boxes in order to market your work. I wish I had a answer for you! It sounds like your books are some that could fit into multiple genres depending on the context. You are correct that most classic Romance readers expect a happily ever after. Would literary (with romantic elements) be a more apt genre for you? Or historical fiction/fantasy with romantic elements? It's unfortunate they don't have fluid designations like that in most promos.
Love this. I’m always struggling to define the genre of my own books and I also read widely across many genres. And I worry a lot about reader expectations and genre expectations in my book sales process. It’s so hard! Categories feel very limited.
You have encapsulated exactly why I get so frustrated with modern, sales-driven genre designations. The tools used to serve readers or aid scholarship are now a giant cluster of a machine that just perpetuates itself. It's very frustrating when promoting, because you feel like you *have* to fit into these narrow boxes in order to market your work. I wish I had a answer for you! It sounds like your books are some that could fit into multiple genres depending on the context. You are correct that most classic Romance readers expect a happily ever after. Would literary (with romantic elements) be a more apt genre for you? Or historical fiction/fantasy with romantic elements? It's unfortunate they don't have fluid designations like that in most promos.
Love this. I’m always struggling to define the genre of my own books and I also read widely across many genres. And I worry a lot about reader expectations and genre expectations in my book sales process. It’s so hard! Categories feel very limited.
Just throwing spaghetti at the wall: "Psychological romanticism"