Paranormal subtypes

[Ken]

I'm trying to build a sense of what paranormal authors are out there, and which ones my own books are like. And of course the whole subject is tricky, since any categories we make have books straddling them, and some readers who use one term in spite of another, and then there's Amazon rescrambling it all...

But, could people give examples of some of the types and authors out there? I know we have:

"Slayer" contemporary-fantasy stories of the Buffy style.
Paranormal romance, when the above shades more into the, um, necking.
Ghost-type stories, when they aren't being called horror.

But, what others clusters are there, and who are the bigger authors among them?

[Lex]

How about paranormal sci-fi? Then there's speculative science fiction or the newly minted, as yet wholly unknown book genre "contrast dogma"! lol.

All of those describe my novels, but Amazon and, more importantly, readers haven't quite gotten around to examining and (hopefully) accepting those terms / genres. I initially used "religious thriller", but have since learned that this genre class is passe... out... no longer among the living, breathing book categories! I wonder why not?

Your "Shadowed" certainly has elements of paranormal abilities. The question then becomes... do these abilities connect scientifically to something, or perhaps, romantically to someone?

Have you identified your so-called "target" audience? It's hard to call potential readers a target isn't it? lol. But, it's very important as that, plus the content of your story, will drive how you best describe it as a particular genre.

My books have been compared to Dan Brown and James Rollins. Having difficulty labeling my genre (as you have) I checked on how they are marketed. I was quite surprised to learn that "action/adventure" was the primary search words on Amazon for these two.

I doubt that I've helped you much with the above rambling. So... specifically, I think that your novel would be similar to much of the work of Dean Koontz, in particular his Odd Thomas series. Check him out and see how his books are classified... ;o)

[Ken]

Hmm. The problem with identifying the target audience is... everything.

I just don't know how to reach from what I write to type of readers. I know I'm not writing for teens, or writing romance or some of the other genres, but after that point I don't have much left except adjectives. "Fast-paced"? "Conflicted character" --no, everyone claims they have those.

(And I'd rather check out the Amazon ratings last-- if only so I have the example of what parts make sense before I start herding the 500-pound amoeba-cats that really matter. 8-0 )

So, match myself to other authors, like Koontz and his Odd Thomas. Does anyone else know other ways to divide the paranormal or define readers?

Who else is having a problem like this?

[Justin]

I've come across Paranormal Romance and Paranormal YA a lot. Many times it seems as though books have that scare factor or creepy parts to them but you can call it horror so it falls under paranormal. Lately the subtypes however get harder to distinguish because you cant put your finger on what the book can go towards.

Paranormal YA
Parnormal Romance
Paranormal SciFi
Paranormal Horror
Paranormal Fiction...this one could some up all and save a lot of trouble.