Hello!
I've been reading agents #MSWL tweets, and haven't found many yet that describe my book, and this has sent me on a genre crisis. My novel is about a neuroscientist who is working on a machine that records dreams. That may make it sound sci-fi or fantasy, but I don't think it is. I saw somewhere online that speculative fiction can encompass a world that is just a tiny bit in the future, so I suppose I could call it speculative fiction. It has been a 10 year project and I've re written it somewhere between 20 and 40 times. I paid special attention to the writing/word choice (but really, don't we all?) so sometimes I think that means it's literary fiction. My MC is a woman, but I wouldn't call it feminist literature unless having a strong career driven woman as your MC makes something feminist. At one point one of her research subjects starts to stalk her, but I wouldn't call it a suspense novel, as that is a sub plot. Stuff does go awry with the technology, but that isn't the focus of the book. There's tension between the main character who wants to use the device for scientific gain and the company she works for who wants to sell it for financial gain. My main character has trouble connecting to people and one reader said that it sounds like she's on the spectrum, which she very well may be, but it feels weird at this point to use that as a way to categorize this book.
I talked to my husband about it, and he said "Isn't making it salable the agent or publisher's job" but I think I have to sell it to them first, and I'm wondering who would read this book? Someone looking for their sci-fi fix? Maybe, but it might not be sci-fi-y enough. Women? Sure, but it's not about your standard women's fiction issues. It feels like Megan Abbott's Give me your hand (a pretty science-y book with female main characters ) but without any murdering, or maybe like the podcast "Homecoming"--darkly suspenseful at times but also with a romance. Maybe I just need to add a murder and call it a mystery.
Thank you for reading.
Annie