Romance vs. Chic Lit vs. same genre??

I would say that if 50% or more of the plot is about a romance relationship, yes--otherwise, probably not.

I would suggest you (a) stop worrying about genre - if your market is chic-lit, call it that - if it's romance, call it romance instead, and more important, if you want to establish a reputation, (b) stop entering contests. They are for the most part a one way ticket to nowhere and seriously restrict your chances of getting into print.

Aim for publication, find mags that take the kind of stories you write (storypilot.com is a good starting point) and get published. Get your name in print.

Genre

From my reading, romance and chic lit are not at all the same thing. At least usually. But I agree with Mike. While there are a handful of contests out there that are very good for writers, and that winning can get a writer's name out there in a great way, such contests are very few and very far between. The vast majority of contests are a complete waste of time, effort, and money.

And in all honesty, a short story that's good enough to win a major contest is also good enough to find a home in a major magazine.

I'd also say the best way to handle a novel is by writing the novel. The only sane reason to write short stories is because you really and truly enjoy writing short stories. It's true enough that having good short story credits, or winning one of the few major short story contests, and make an agent or editor give you a faster read, any novel you write is going to have to stand or fall on its own merit. And writing short stories for any reason other than the love of writing them is probably not going to result in the greatest of short stories.

Chick lit (and Lad lit) are hitting territory that is outside what would be called romance. It is becoming a somewhat diverse area connecting with romance, saga and mainstream. But if the sory is mainly about a love relationship it can generally be called romance even if written with a chick lit sensibility.

Here's a link to an article that does a good job of defining Chick Lit.
http://www.citypaper.com/special/story.asp?id=5972
Here's an excerpt:
Chick Lit is often confused with romance literature, but it has little to do with bodice-rippers and frothy historical pas de deux. Its roots are in books like Mary McCarthy's The Group, Helen Gurley Brown's Sex and the Single Girl, Rona Jaffe's Best of Everything, and Nora Ephron's Heartburn: works that linked the touchstones of their eras--white-gloved marriages, career girls, the Pill, divorce--to the women.

Hope this helps!
Marie

Romance

I think, when talking romance, you need to think about how romance is defined in the writing world. Chic lit has nothing in common with romance as Harlequin and Silhouette and Pocket define it. A love story and romance aren't usually at all the same thing in the writing world.