Crazy Little Thing Called Genre

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Throughout the process of writing the MS I'm currently querying I have struggled with which genre it fits into. It started out with a romantic idea at its heart. Then the MC's character development (and key events influencing it) began to play a large part in the story, so I researched genres.

I concluded I should call it women's fiction with strong romantic elements. I liked the idea of it being Women's Fiction. It was a convenient way to avoid being known as a “romance author”. The stereotype is of bodice rippers, wooden characters and covers you want to hide. But what am I thinking? Heck, I’d be thrilled to be known as an [anything] author!

The query I wrote as a result  of this decision was well... bland. I see that now. So it was back to the drawing board, and back to my initial inspiration. It’s really about the romance, even though the MC has to learn a lot about other things along the way. So I’ve re-written my query, which has taken weeks, not days*, with the romance at the core. I'd be thrilled to own the title "Contemporary Romance Author". Let’s see how this baby flies.

* Time’s been scarce lately as I’ve been away visiting family and then sick as a dog this week

Update:

One of my wise critique partners has pointed out that by definition a 'romance' has the POV of both the hero and the heroine. I did not know this, although I can see it in effect with many (though not all) of the contemporaries I've read. My hero isn't a POV character. So maybe it's back to Women's Fiction after all! Regardless, for now I'm excited to see what happens with query 2.0.