choosing between fantasy and contemporary?

The kind of fantasy you mean is called epic fantasy

Because of branding. When you're a published author, you have to try to cultivate a brand around your name. If you publish something in every genre and don't seem to have any concentration in one genre, you're not going to be able to grow a cohesive fan base. Sarah Dessen, Stephenie Meyer, John Green, David Levithan, Courtney Summers... all of these authors have a very definite genre that they write in. When you see a new book coming out from one of them, you already have an idea of what it's going to be like. And that means that a fan of, say, The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen pretty much already knows they're going to like her new book.

It's generally advisable to publish a few books in the same genre so that you have an established brand, and then write outside that. For example, Melina Marchetta was well-known for her contemporary novels (Jellicoe Road, Saving Francesca, Looking for Alibrandi) before she published Finnikin of the Rock, an epic fantasy. Her departure from her usual genre is also kind of a marketing tool: "wow, that's different from her usual books, I wonder if it's just as good?" That question will make a lot of people buy it just to see.

That said, I think in YA there's some leeway. You could publish a contemp and then have your next book be fantasy or PNR or something, as long as it's still YA. Where a problem would come up is if your first published book is a YA contemp, and then you put out an adult mystery, then a hard-core sci-fi, then something else totally different. In that kind of case you're better off to publish under a pseudonym.

I felt the same way when I started my first YA book ever. I've since completed it but learned (through this current MS) that writing YA contemporary is a better choice for me. I feel like I can write consistently in that category where as if I write in YA Romance Sci-FI...catch my drift? It's good that you're deciding now though and not later =)

I don't have any light-shedding answer for you, sorry, but I can so relate. *sigh*
I was always told the best path for a writer was to pick a genre and stick to it for at least several books and years. Okay, I finally thought, settling on fantasy. But then it turned out that urban fantasy and high/secondary world fantasy are two different beasts as far as the industry is concerned. Then I fell in love with YA, and now it turns out that if you want to write both YA and adult stuff, you also limit yourself severely in your choices.

Just wanted to add, it might also depend on how prolific you are.
Some writers I know write, like, five books a year, I imagine they'd be able to satisfy several groups of readers in different genres if all those books sold.

I've been wondering about this too in light of the fact that bookstores are starting to respond to the increasing breadth of YA by separating YA into its own genres. Which makes a lot of sense, but it also makes me wonder if it's OK to just "write YA" or if I need to specialize within.

This is why, whatever I write, I try to come up with more ideas of the same I wouldn't mind writing. But I'd really rather not be tied down within YA... I have a YA mystery drafted and a YA scifi and a YA paranormal as WIPs, and a YA contemp I've been dreaming about... It's one thing to enjoy, though, about being unpublished. Right now we can write whatever the hell we want.

Averon 2011 said:

One way to get around the unable to publish outside your genre baggage is to just go via a pseudonym - have a different name for each genre you want to publish in, as long as people are buying the books it won't hurt you too much, unless it's fame that you really want & not money

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True, but the problem with having a different pseudonym for everything you write is whether or not you're prolific enough to grow your fanbase in each genre fast enough. For example, say you come out with a YA contemp under the name Sarah Smith, and then you write a sci-fi under another name and a romance novel under another name, etc. How long is it going to be before "Sarah Smith" publishes another YA contemp? Fans of the first book may have waited so long for another that they forget all about her.

Hmm, I wonder just how long is too long. As for me, I'm impatient, waiting a year for the next book feels like eternity, and I usually lose quite a lot of steam during the wait. Which is why I don't like cliffhanger endings if I'm reading an unfinished series.

Like most things, it's not a hard and fast rule. It's easier to build a career around a single genre but plenty of authors write in more than one. Write both, and shelve one for a while.

Becca C. said:

The kind of fantasy you mean is called epic fantasy

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*nerd nitpick* Graceling isn't an epic, or even high fantasy as some people have called it. I usually refer to this genre as secondary world or otherworld fantasy, though there's not really a name for it besides "fantasy."

There is also the issue of building your skills within a genre. World building has to be done skillfully to make it believable, and avoid info dumps. After writing an epic fantasy, you have *hopefully* improved your world building skills. But if you move to a contemporary high school romance you aren't utilizing your experience, in fact you might have a whole new set of writing skills to work on by building a believable romance and all the characterization that needs to happen there. Of course you should have a believable world in contemporary fiction and well thought out characters in an epic fantasy but it seems like by focusing in one genre you can improve your writing faster because you are consistently focusing on the same skills.

I shelved my fantasy to work on a contemporary and I am finding that there really are differences in how you build your world and your characters in each genre. I'm so much better at contemporary.

Plus the author branding/marketing thing.

lenore_x said:

*nerd nitpick* Graceling isn't an epic, or even high fantasy as some people have called it. I usually refer to this genre as secondary world or otherworld fantasy, though there's not really a name for it besides "fantasy."

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I actually think it might be wise to avoid calling one's fantasy book epic unless it can't pretend otherwise--when I was researching agents, I saw an amazing number of statements that went like, I take fantasy but plz plz no epicness whatsoever.

lenore_x said:

*nerd nitpick* Graceling isn't an epic, or even high fantasy as some people have called it. I usually refer to this genre as secondary world or otherworld fantasy, though there's not really a name for it besides "fantasy."

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High fantasy? Traditional fantasy?

I dunno. Beyond Tolkien, fantasy's not my genre.