genre blurring

How strict are agents' lists of genres they will accept if your book almost fits? Especially if your book is the kind that is hard to exactly fit in such lists at all?
This is what I'm dealing with: my book is juvenile literature, narrative nonfiction. It is very similar to juvenile fiction, but because it is a folklore collection that concerns actual beliefs systems and traditions, it is technically nonfiction even though most (or all) of the events it describes obviously never happened.

I want to submit to agents who list both juvenile fiction and narrative nonfiction. Very few agents specifically list juvenile nonfiction, and these often don't want my book because it is narrative nonfiction, and therefore way too similar to fiction for their tastes. I feel like I'm slipping between the cracks, but I don't want to upset agents and waste my time by submitting to agents who wouldn't want a book like mine anyway.

Is there a special exception for genre-spanning books, if the agent already lists the genres that are being spanned? Or is this a no-no?

Maprilynne said:

Okay, um, you are mixing up fiction and nonfiction. Just because there are some true elements does not make it nonfiction. If the events are made up, it is fiction.

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This is a mistake that people are always making with folklore. Folklore is classified as nonfiction, and it is always placed in the nonfiction section of a library. I'm not talking about fiction adapted from folklore (for example Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine is an adaptation of Cinderella), which is most certainly fiction. I'm talking about retold folktales, which are always considered nonfiction. Even though my book is narrative in style, there isn't much difference (in a folklorist's eye) between it and a tome discussing the superstitions that have become ingrained among baseball players. I haven't personally made up any of the characters, dialogue or events that occur in my book, any more than the hypothetical author of the baseball superstition book made up superstitions that don't circulate among actual baseball players. You might find it easier if you think about the distinction this way: fiction is your own lie, nonfiction is when you write a report about someone else's lie.

However, since people are always making this mistake, I thought that it was a blurry enough area, in terms of genres that agents say they will work with, that I could easily bend the official rules.

Maprilynne said:

I took a look at the link to your book and what you have here is academic YA fiction. It is still not non-fiction any more than greek mythology is considered non-fiction. You seem to be much more educated about folklore than I am, but an agent is not going to classify things quite the same way as the dewy decimal system. An agent will consider this YA fiction--with an academic bent, obviously--but it is still a book of stories more than a textbook about the folklore (or at least that's how it appears to me.)

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Thank you. This has been very useful, and it will certainly help me search better. Of course, a professional folklorist would start foaming at the mouth if they heard you call Greek mythology fiction, but what matters in terms of my problem is how agents will view me in practical terms.

I've been thinking about this some more, and even though the question is now answered in regard to my own personal situation, it still hasn't been answered in general terms, and I think some writers here might want the full answer so that they know what to do in their own searches.

So, to reiterate, is it okay to send queries to agents who include two or more genres which your book spans? For example, is it okay to send a fantasy western to an agent who lists both fantasy novels and westerns? Or is it okay to query about your nonfiction history tome to an agent who takes both historical novels and adult nonfiction, but has no specific mention of nonfiction history in particular? Is it okay to query an agent about your same-sex romance novel if that agent lists LGBT under nonfiction and lists romance under fiction?

What is the usual procedure for genre-spanning books?

victoriastrauss said:

If your book blurs genres, you need to figure out which genre is dominant. I think that in this case, the fact that the book is YA probably trumps everything else. Remember that many YA imprints don't make the kinds of rigid genre distinctions that are the norm for adult fiction--fantasy, mystery, and nonfiction are published right alongside mainstream fiction. Try to find an agent who specializes in YA, preferably one who has sold some YA nonfiction.

- Victoria

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Thanks. I've been looking more deeply into the situation, and I'm seeing a bunch of agents who only list YA fiction, but who have also sold some YA nonfiction. When I'm ready to query, it looks like I'll have a long list to gradually work through (I'm going to give the book one last overhaul before letting a professional look at it - I expect to begin querying agents in 3 to 6 months).