When I started writing romance, even a whiff of paranormal, no matter how small, automatically classified the book as a Paranormal Romance. This was THE RULE. So I obediently classified The Jaguar Legacy as a paranormal romance because my heroine discovers that, in a past life, she’d been an Olmec High Priestess. Ancient Mexican Olmecs believed their priests could shapeshift into the jaguar god they worshipped.
In reality, the book is more of a ‘Lara Croft meets Indianna Jones’ action adventure, but with a strong romantic element and an undertone of the paranormal.
I had committed the inexcusable crime of genre-combination. I prefer to think of it as genre-busting.
I’m told this is confusing and a BAD THING. Bookstores don’t know where to shelve the book, editors and agents don’t know how to market it, and readers don’t know how to find it.
Strangely enough, those readers who found it ignored THE RULE. The Jaguar Legacy took two 1st Prize awards in RWA contests. Readers discovered it on Amazon. Most reviewers gave it 5 stars. Go figure.
I have now solved the problem, at least in my mind, by classifying The Jaguar Legacy in Amazon as both a ‘Romantic Suspense’ and ‘Women’s Fiction’, and set the keywords to ‘Action Adventure,’ ‘Mystery’ ‘Reincarnation,’ ‘Historical Fiction,’ ‘Contemporary Romance,’ ‘Reincarnation,’ and ‘Paranormal Romance.’
Please decide for yourself which categories The Jaguar Legacy belongs in. I would love your feedback.
THE JAGUAR LEGACY (Kindle eBook, only $2.99. Also available on KINDLE UNLIMITED)
US: http://amzn.to/1FQe7jw
Cda: http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B005L40LX6
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005L40LX6
Universal Link (all countries): http://amzn.to/13PIvaQ
