Why do we care? Is it really that important?

[Saigonnus]

I have had a dilemma for the longest time. Basically, it is wondering why many writers actually worry about what genre the finished product will end up as. Why does this really matter? Is falling under one genre beneficial in some way compared to another? Why even classify the subgenres and what's the point?

So I write a book in a fantasy world, but set in the future, but still maintaining most of the fantasy aspects with the exception that space travel is possible and used everyday. Ghost-like creatures from another planet play a big part in the story, yet look like the more mundane ghosts that inhabit the fantasy world and can actually be mistaken for one. What would it matter if it's classified as Sci-fi vs. Fantasy vs. Speculative fiction vs. dark fantasy?

 

[Steerpike]

I don't care.

If you publish traditionally, the publisher will market it under the genre they want.

If you self-publish, you'll have to decide at some point what genre you want to put it under, but I don't generally see the issue being distilled down to the level that it gets talked about on writing sites.

If you publish short stories in the available markets, you have to know at least enough to make sure you are sending sotires within the genres accepted by the markets.

 

[Ophiucha]

The nuanced differences between subgenres - sub-subgenres even - of fantasy and science fiction are largely irrelevant to an author who is being traditionally published, and I think should only matter at the end for self-published authors. It shouldn't have an effect on how you write the story, and really, aside from having a convenient term to refer to it as, it doesn't do much good for the writing process. But between full genres, it can be a concern.

There are considerations with how you present it at the end, because little things could change where your story is published. For my little group of writer friends, we are always dancing the line between SFF and LGBT - since all of us write about LGBT characters. Being published in the latter section is almost certainly going to be to our detriment as authors. Those books are not likely to sell as well, and fantasy fans who would enjoy our worlds and our stories are simply not going to go looking in that dark corner of the book store for a dragon-fighting epic. I know a few girls who write romance/SFF that have the same problem, and while some might scoff, I have read a few 'steamy werewolf romances' that had some fantastic worldbuilding and would probably be enjoyed by the standard Tolkienian fanboy if they weren't put aside and plastered with pictures of the new generation's Fabio.

But few book stores bother to separate even fantasy from science fiction, let alone 'urban fantasy' from 'high fantasy'. So I don't think it is really something that should matter. I guess with people using goodreads and whatnot, it might be worthwhile to consider who your 'peers' are (will you be shelved alongside George R. R. Martin or J. R. R. Tolkien?), but that is largely out of your control... so it's probably not worth worrying about.

 

[Philip Overby]

I don't think consciously considering what genre you're writing is important until after you're finished writing and looking for markets. Some markets are extremely strict about what kind of stuff they want. Usually if they say "no vampire stories" they mean "no vampire stories." Sending something that goes directly against guidelines is a good way to waste your time.

I can't comment really on self-publishing, but I would imagine if you're trying to sell your book, you're going to at least go with a broad genre so people know what they're looking at (literary, fantasy, sci-fi, horror, romance, etc.) I think a lot of writers discriminate against books that aren't in the genres they may be looking for. For instance, if a book is marketed as a romance, there's a good chance I'm not going to read it no matter how wonderful it is. If it's marketed as "romantic fantasy," I may be a little more interested. If it's marketed as "romantic dystopian minotaur romance" then my interest would be thoroughly piqued. Everyone has different things they're looking for when shopping for books, whether it be an interesting blurb, good reviews, an awesome cover, or specific genres.

 

[tlbodine]

I think the thing with pin-pointing genre is an issue of identifying your market. The issue isn't so much, "What do I call this thing" as "what do other people call this thing, so I can figure out who's reading it?" If you have no idea where to find your readers, you'll have a hard time selling them your book.

There's another element to it, too, for those seeking trad-pub options. I think people who read a lot of agent blogs tend to psych themselves out about genre. I know I spent an embarrassing amount of time agonizing over whether this sub-genre was "dead" or that sub-genre was "hot" and worrying about whether I could market to one or another so I could attract an agent. (Then I realized that I was acting supremely stupid and decided maybe trad-pubbing was bad for my health).

One other area of interest: If you're self-pubbing, it's in your best interests to target your book as tightly as possible. By picking the right categories, you improve your chances of being higher on a bestseller list (the more books in a category, the lower your chances of being a best seller), and you can further specialize that with meta-tags.

For example, the book I just released is ranked 80,000-something in the Kindle store. But if you search for "dark fairytale retellings" it pops right up on the first page (or at least it did the last time I looked). So if anybody with such a hyper-specific interest happens to search Amazon for that specific niche, they can find it fulfilled. (that same search, for the record, introduced me to a series of books that literally made me sit up and say "Where has this been all my life?!" so, y'know, maybe I should search for weirdly specific categories more often).

 

[Rob P]

The main reason I understand for genres and sub-genres once you get past the marketing aspect is primarily where your book sits on the bookshelf and amongst which other titles and authors. Knowing who your contemporaries are and their current works will identify if your work is currently trending - very good for sales - or has passed a trend, not so good.

There is also one other important aspect and that's whether your work closely resembles another already published work, especially if it's recent. In regard to this, knowing where you think your story sits might help to show that your idea for a story has been done already. Having this knowledge up front might prevent writing the wrong story.

Plus it always seems to be one of the questions asked when you mention you're writing a book.

 

[Jamber]

I use genre-setting only as a way of situating the work, not writing it. I like to do this early, at the ideas phase, so I know what I've got (which is usually between genres, so not exactly being rulebound).

However some people do regard genre more as a formula. I can't see anything wrong with that, personally -- it can be inspiring to have to work with tight limits, and there's a lot of fun to be had finding new ways to explore old territory, or to recraft it and supply novelty without alienating those readers.

Some audiences like novelty and strangeness; some like familiarity (e.g. the Twilight copies). Knowing where you sit in relation to those audiences is a very useful thing.

Not sure if this is much of an answer, but it's how I view genre/subgenre.

cheers
Jennie