I Need Your Help

Not money.
Not blog related.
Not time (well, maybe two seconds).

Think back to the summer. Are you there?

You may remember that I spent most of my summer on a blog tour for IN NAME ONLY.

My debut novel was a total learning experience. Of course I learned a lot in the writing of it, but this wasn't the first novel I wrote, and I learn a lot with each one.

With this novel, I learned what it's like to work with professional editors, cover designers, and formatters. I learned what's involved with getting a book Out There for readers to read.

And, boy-oh-boy, did I learn about promotion. Even with all I learned, I don't know enough. I'm certain I'll make more mistakes next time - but they will be different ones!

It's this Next Time I need your help with.

One of the tasks involved with listing the book on Amazon is what amounts to shelving it. Placing it in a genre.

For most of you, this would be an easy task.

For She Who Excels in Complicating Everything ... not so much.

For marketing purposes, I came of with my own genre:
Crime Fiction with a Kiss

What? Amazon doesn't include Crime Fiction with a Kiss as an option? No way!

Truth. Sigh.

What's a writer to do?

This writer futzed around at the Big A and listed her book under Crime Fiction, Mystery, and Romance. And, she thinks, spread herself too thin in the process.

Now time is rolling around to be thinking about the next book. It's a very different story, but the same type of book as IN NAME ONLY.

Both my editor and my proofreader have told me which shelf they believe it should sit on, even though it doesn't meet all the official requirements to sit there. It was the same with IN NAME ONLY, but I don't always listen - LOL! 

Here's the blurb on the back of the paperback - and at Amazon:

No Home. No Family. No Place to Hide.

For Summer Newcombe, that's only the beginning.

The night Summer escapes from a burning Padre Island eatery and discovers the arsonist is stalking her, is the same night she meets Fire Captain Gabriel Duran. As much as she's attracted to him, five years in the Federal Witness Security Program because of her father’s testimony against a mob boss have taught her the importance of being alone and invisible. No matter how much she yearns for a real home, she relinquished that option the night she killed the man who murdered her father. But Gabe breaks down her guard and places both of them in danger. She's vowed never to kill again, but she's frantic she'll cost Gabe his life unless she stops running and fights for the future she wants with the man she loves.

Please select where you would shelve the book if you had to choose:
a. Crime Fiction
b. Mystery
c. Suspense
d. Thriller
e. Romantic Suspense
f. Romance
g. Some Combination of the Above
h. Other (Specify, please)

You can just put the answer in the comments or you're welcome to email me at tikihuttime AT gmail DOT com if there's something you'd like to discuss.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO SAY WHETHER YOU READ THE BOOK. I ONLY WANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU WOULD SHELVE IT BASED ON THIS INFORMATION. IF YOU HAVE READ THE BOOK, YOU MAY DRAW ON THE STORY, BUT YOU DON'T NEED TO MENTION THAT.

Thanks for participating. Your answers will help me more than you know.

I owe you big time. So just yell if you ever need a hugely big favor. Or even a small one :)

See you Friday!