Do you need to mention a genre for literary fiction?

Status
Not open for further replies.

gettingby

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 1, 2008
Messages
2,748
Reaction score
170
I know people on here think a lot about genre, but do you even have to mention a genre at all if you write literary fiction? Same goes for mainstream or contemporary. Is is even necessary? Can you just talk about your novel without mentioning that you think it's literary? Aside from novels, do any of you mention genre when submitting short stories to literary journals. It would seem to me like you wouldn't have to since they are called literary journals and obviously print literary fiction. It has just never seemed important for me to mention. I'm curious if it will ever be important.

Where I might need to use a genre is to say my work is absurdist fiction, but that is more of a sub genre of literary fiction. I've never felt a need to say it because my stories are clearly of an absurdist nature. I feel like if I say it is a satire of X, it could be overkill. Not everything I write is a satire, but I do play around a lot with the elements of absurdist fiction. Would this be something to say when querying a novel? I'm not there yet, but just thinking about it.

In the past, I did query agents about a novel and never said anything or was asked anything about genre. That book went nowhere for other reasons. It was a really long time ago and wasn't very good.

The problem, I see, with mentioning a genre like literary and even a sub genre like absurdist fiction is that it might sound too specific and/or limiting. Obviously, an agent will probably pick up on these things when reading a short synopsis and/or a few pages. Same with literary journals. I think the are expecting literary fiction, right? So, can a writer just leave that out of query letters and cover letters? What do you guys do?
 

zclesa

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 11, 2014
Messages
164
Reaction score
6
Location
London
Website
www.bethburgess.co.uk
Personally, I would elaborate on the sub-genre. Ie. "It's literary fiction with an absurdist vein running through it" or "It's literary fiction with satirical elements". It gives more flavour to your query.
 

Jamesaritchie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
27,863
Reaction score
2,311
I can't see any reason not to mention a genre, if you know where the story fits. This can save an agent, and you, a lot of time. An agent who doesn't like, or who just doesn't represent, a certain type of fiction should know up front whether a story is something she wants.

Describing the book well enough is much the same thing, I guess, so why not just go ahead and use the genre, if there is one?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.