Yay for us!

First of all, I want to say how much I enjoyed all the guest bloggers during Zombie Week. Such entertaining, great stuff. If I'm honest, I've never really thought much about zombies. I don't watch many horror films because I'm a big pansy, and I've not read a lot of zombie fiction, until reading Mark's books. That said, all of the blogs posted during Zombie Week have inspired my increased interest in this subject.

On an entirely different note, I am going to use this blog post to talk about how excited I am to be an urban fantasy writer. Not least because it seems to be a good time to be one. I go to my local Barnes & Noble about once a week, to wander around and fondle the books. Two weeks ago, when I went, there was a large table set up near the cash registers that was labelled "Dark Fantasy," and which had about 20 selections, including quite a few Urban Fantasy writers. This table was in addition to the usual sci-fi/fantasy section at the back of the store.

This week, when I went to purchase Jaye's book, I was greeted by not one extra table, but three. There were two end-shelf displays and a table, all of which sported mostly urban fantasy writers. One end-shelf display, of which I took a crappy picture I won't bother posting, had many of the writers from our League. I was so proud to be a part of the League, and so proud to be an urban fantasy writer at a time that urban fantasy seems to be so much appreciated.

But I'm also a bit worried. Are we blowing our collective urban fantasy wads? Is this the peak, or are we just building up to more popularity, as a genre?

Can I expect another table/carrel everytime I go into B&N?

Thanks!

Comments

The Dark Fantasy table has been at my B&N for at least three months now, with an ever-changing selection of books and authors. Since it's adjacent to the Romance and SF/F section, I hope it stays for a long time (or at least until Christmas forces them to replace those lovelies with overpriced board games again).

I agree, though, Nicole. It's a great time to be an UF author. *g*
John said…
My local B&N had that for about a month, but it seems to have disappeared in the last week. Maybe nobody in Virginia reads UF. Or maybe this store just has a problem, since they've recently not had several big books on their first day. White Witch, Black Curse and Bone Crossed both took a few days to show up on the shelves.
GB said…
There's a reason I always try to go to independant specialty bookstores - my most recent trip into my local Borders is a prime example (I don't think we have B&N over here).

In order to try to find any of the authors from the League or Deadline Dames, I need to look at five, yes five, sections of the gigantic shop. First, nearest the door, is the Sci-fi/Fantasy section which, in all fairness, is pretty well-stocked compared to other chain stores like Dymocks and A&R. If who I'm looking for isn't there, then it's off to the horror section. Or the romance section. Or the general fiction section. Or the YA section. For example, Keri Arthur's books are both in the romance and fantasy sections. Lilith Saintcrow's are in the fantasy and horror sections, as is Kim Harrison and Jennifer Rardin. Charlaine Harris is in the horror and romance section.)

After all that, I leave in high dudgeon, vow never to go in there again and swear loyalty forever to my local independants. Then, I make a liar of myself the next time Borders offers up a 30% off voucher...
GB said…
Oh! I forgot to add that, for those authors I mentioned, sometimes the same book, or series of books are in the different sections. Special, no?

And on the topic of market saturation, I think right now may be the tip of the iceberg. Everyone loves a good vampire story, and that's a good place to start for reading the UF genre. You can get introduced to all sorts of monsters from some truly great authors.

Also, I think it comes down to true fantasy readers growing up a bit - we're tired of reading about imaginary world with unpronouncable names. We want more something more real in our stories, a character we can almost relate to on a certain level, but we still love the fantastic element in fiction. UF is a perfect fit.
synde said…
Since I actually work at and am a mangager at a B&n(srsly nothing to brag about) i can say you should expect to see this table at least through the year. The company is acknowledging the growth in the genre. They are making suggestions but many of us are adding out favs...
Anonymous said…
I personally think that UF hasn't hit it's high yet, and I really hope it doesn't wane for a very long time. I love UF, so much so that almost every book I've read for the past 3 years has some form of UF in it somewhere (excluding historical romances). So I'd be very sad indeed if it waned. But I also highly doubt it will, not for a long time.
Nicole Peeler said…
First of all, sorry for not responding sooner. It's epic teaching Tuesday and I was . . . wait for it . . . teaching.

Kelly: We's lucky. ;-)

John: That's interesting. I'd think LA, to be honest, would be with VA in the uncomfortable with tables labeled "dark fantasy" section. Considering there's a youtube video of a local church burning Harry Potter.

JD: That's a really good point re: shelving. When I lived in the UK it was SOOOO ridiculous. Charlaine Harris was in a different spot in every store, as was Katie MacAlister. Those are just two of many I had to track down like some gamekeeper to locate. Then there was the store that shelved EVERYTHING vaguely UFey with romance/paranormal romance in a section labeled "Dark Erotic Romance". I was like, "Dude, why not just label us Dirty Buggers and be done with it.

Synde: That is so interesting. I've been trying to teach my students how bookstores create/manipulate our tastes. How much leeway, as an individual manager, on what you can/cannot put out and where you put things?

Nightdweller: You've brought up a good point, for me. I read UF before it was called UF, when I was a kid, and we're constantly talking about how it's evolved and it's still not fully defined, and it crosses SO many genres, etc. So all of the talk of UF being over is probably poppycock, in that UF will just keep changing and growing and evolving. And in twenty years it'll be called post-urban fantasy. Or something. ;-)
Borders used to make me crazy.

While I'd prefer having an indie store closer, I'm content with my B&N. :)
Nicole Peeler said…
We have one super cute indie store here but it's really small and doesn't carry any UF. It's mostly gifts and children's books.
Caffey said…
I'm used to saying the first for the release day because when I was working, I always came home later on the first of the month because I had to go to the book store to get the releases! (Now I have to wait til I am able to get there!).

I'd have loved to be in that store with all the releases of the Urban Fantasy! I think its half and half, one that more are coming out with these, same for when the Paranormal Romances was first out with more authors and books, and true for now with the Urban Fantasy with more authors writing them. But with both, they are popular and I know that when I have to wait for a book I'm reading in a series, I love finding new to me authors to read! I never think that there are 'too many books' of any genre! I really believe with these two genres, more are reading! So keep them going! I for one can't wait for more!
Gareth said…
I don't think that its "blowing the collective wads" to be honest (although could that comment have been any more innuendo thrust upon it?)

I think that its just a case of UF being one of the genres with the biggest amount of growth as different people seek to put thier own mark upon it. Fantasy has many hard and fast rules as has Sci-Fi, but the Urban Fantasy can take the best bits of multiple genres, play with them and have thier own rules. Look at Huston's Joe Pitt for Example before you compare it with Jaye's Sabina etc. No solid rules and regs on the function, use etc, its up to the writer to add what they want.

Add to the mix that you can easily blend ancient myth or even a modern mythos onto the whole thing and the writer will find the options wonderfully freeing. Now is the time of the Urban Fantasy however I suspect that in a few years time there will be some hard and fast rules for it in much the same way that a lot of people say if you've read Tolkien you've read Fantasy.

The question perhaps should be, upon who will the mantle of Tolkien be placed for the UF?
Nicole Peeler said…
Caffey: That's a good point, and one that JD was discussing, this idea you suggest that one person's paranormal romance is another person's UF is another person's horror . . . The genre has so much room for expansion because it's still not defined.

Gareth: Very eeeenteresting, this idea that in a few years UF WILL be defined. Then there will be no more confusion about what UF is, because it will be a known commodity. What existed before Tolkein, in the epic fantasy realm? Did he define the genre or was it pre-defined? Did he just dot the definition's i's and cross its t's? What would be post-UF, do you think?

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