What's Your Genre?

I'm in a reading mood right now. But not a writing one, never both at the same time. I just finished Everlasting, by Angie Frazier, and am busy deciding what I would like to read next. I recently bought quite a few new books and now my, to be read collection, is beginning to pile up. I like to have a few on hand that I haven't read for when I'm poor and shouldn't be buying books. Still with all the lovely sales online, I've gone a bit overboard. Which is leading to today's post.

I love the genre I've chose to write in. For as long as I can remember I've read in it. So you could say, its my thing, its what I'm good at. Because its what I have the most experience in. From Tolkien, to Gaiman and Adams, to Rowling. Which is why, for me, writing in the genre was natural. But lots of writers have trouble finding their niche. They have stories that don't clearly fit in any one, or even five categories. Now mixing of the genres is fine. All YA has that touch of romance, fantasy its mystery. I myself have even had a story critiqued where the reader thought I should market as romance instead of YA, fantasy. I was annoyed to say the least. The critique was based solely on one kiss between characters, in the first chapter. To be a romance the whole plot of the story has to revolve around the romance. But as you can see many genres have aspects of one another. The important thing is to know your market. What are you writing? Can it fit in too many places? If so keep in mind that it might fit in none. Like the main plot with its addition of subplots. Think the same way about your genre. Which one is the main one, and stay true to it. Sure you can have elements of others. But if they are all on par with one another, you've got a problem. Just like no clear main plot, this can be just as confusing. Instead of appealing to a wider base, you might find your appealing to no one.