The major sub-categories for mystery are:
1. Private Detective
2. Legal Thrillers
3. Cozies
4. Police Procedurals
5. Historical
6. Miscellaneous
Other than miscellaneous, my books fit the closest into the cozy category. My main character is involved in a mystery in each book and there is no graphic sex or violence, just like in a cozy. But somehow, having read lots of cozies, that term never felt right to me. So, I continued to wonder, what is the sub-category for my books? I was looking for something more specific than "miscellaneous."
Then something happened. A writer (someone I didn't know) contacted me asking me to read her new book, a mystery that she called
a Family Drama Mystery. And the light came on! Family Drama mysteries is a perfect fit for my series and, even though Amazon doesn't list that as a category, it’s very satisfying to me to have finally found the exact niche for my
books. Plus, I was able to add "Family Drama" to my keywords on Amazon.
And then, something else happened. I had asked another
author to be a guest on my blog. She writes two mystery
series and, as part of her post and in the interest of conserving space, I asked her to send me a short blurb for each
series. She replied that she had never thought of doing that and I had to laugh
because I realized that I hadn’t done it either. I decided to remedy that. Here's what I came up with:
"The Malone Mystery Series
isn’t just about the mystery. It’s
the story of Ann Malone Kern and her family and the struggles they face. As the
series progresses, you will see Ann and the other characters change and grow as
they deal with a multitude of problems and are involved in several dangerous, sometimes life-threatening,
situations. But through it all, the underlining message in each book is one of
Hope."
I'm constantly amazed at how life and the world of writing work. Each day of my life I learn something new from someone else and I hope there are people out there who are reading my novels and my blogs and are learning from me too.
How would you categorize the novels you read and/or write?
With the exception of my horror novels, I would characterise all the rest as adult themes with juvenile humour. My wife has always accused me of being a big child.
ReplyDeleteYou made me laugh, Roger, and we all know how important humor is. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteI consider my Lea Chan and Chancey Hernandez novels (and short stories) to be mysteries but it's hard to categorize them. I don't really have a "sleuth" in most of them and they definitely aren't cozy (except for the The Doorbell Rang, 4 short stories, that are more like romantic mysteries).The other books are mostly deadly satire.
ReplyDeleteSo, Pat, you know how hard it is to categorize some books. After writing my fourth Malone mystery, thanks to serendipity, I finally found the sub-category for mine.
DeleteGreat post and excellent description of your books! I write two series. One I'd call Family Cozy Mysteries, and the other would probably be Soft-Boiled Female P.I./Cozy. You're right. It's difficult to come up with a category.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marja! It only took me years to figure it out. LOL
DeleteBTW, I love both of your series!
My novels are hard to categorize too, Pat. I'd say they were a light blend of cozy mystery and romantic suspense. Except for my first novel, which I can't find a category fo. While it has a mystery in it, it's not really a mystery, so I'm calling it a romance, and that's how I'm marketing it at the moment. Any ideas for me on that one?
ReplyDeleteThat's a tough one, Evelyn. Maybe romantic suspense would work for that one too?
Delete