Opps! Wrong Genre

My publicist and I met recently to plan the campaign to attract and capture readers with publication of Dead Reckoning, the final book in the Ian Murphy series.  I mentioned to her that I was concerned that unlike the previous two books, Murphy’s Troubles and Out of Darkness the third book may not be accepted as historical fiction.

Both the Historical Novel Society and the Historical Writers of America define historical fiction as events that occurred 50 years ago.  Dead Reckoning occurs in 2003-2005 – a mere 15 years in the past.  However, historical fiction is defined as much more than the time period.  Elements of historical fiction include accurate portrayal of social conditions, customs, language, historical events and setting.  The period in Irish History known as The Troubles is the backbone of my novels and the plot for each book is woven into historical events.

Yet . . . there is that pesky time period element of historical fiction.  My publicists told me to pose the question to Henschel HAUS publishing and let the publisher make the determination because they would select the correct ISBN.

That same day I emailed Kira Henschel.  Her response was swift and definitive – I wouldn’t call the book historical fiction.  Maybe it could be called Ireland-Fiction or Ireland-Drama.  She asked which I preferred.

I would prefer Ireland-Drama but then worried potential readers would be confused that the work is a stage play and not a novel.  I worry about things like that.  Kira promised to do additional research on the best genre – sub-genre.  Who knows, maybe a change in category or genre will expand potential readers.
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I’ve always thought I wrote historical fiction, there has been no intent to misguide readers.  In terms of how the novel is written, all three books are historical fiction – just not 50 years in the past.
Opps!  Wrong genre – my bad.