Genre – The Rabbit Hole Conundrum

Published May 5, 2026

by Steve Posner

You’ve finished!  You wrote a genuinely creative novel.  Your beta readers adore it.  It’s time to send it out into the world, but—

Uh oh.  What genre does it belong to?

The Horror

Before I go further, let’s recognize that genre is not the sole reason that good books get rejected.  Agents and publishers have individual tastes, lists into which books fit, perceptions of market demand at the time they receive your query, etc.  Each one has several pigeon holes into which a book they accept must fit.  If you’ll let me mix metaphors, for the submitting writer, it’s a game of Whack-a-Mole.  Maybe even harder, because the writer can’t see most of those holes.

Nor is it much different if you go the indie route, because you still have to deal with Amazon categories and keywords, and they are genre-sensitive.

But genre touches upon all the above concerns.  And it is a hole we writers can see—and a variable over which we can exert at least a little control.

That said, there are holes within holes, and who knows what lurks within…

Down the Rabbit Hole(s)

            Trying to find your genre can be like falling into a strange new land.

Until the mid-1990s, genre was a fairly simple concept.  E.g., a fantasy was a story whose plot, setting, or characters depend on elements that cannot exist (or are at least explained as impossible) in the real world, especially magic, supernatural forces, or entirely invented worlds, supported by an internally consistent rules-based logic.

But more recently, digital catalogs, Amazon‑style metadata, and algorithms made precise tags (dystopian, paranormal romance, military sci‑fi, romantic suspense) essential for discoverability, which turned loose “types” into official‑sounding sub‑genres.

These days, within the old straight-forward definition of fantasy, there are many others, and so there are more agents and publishers whose lists are hyper-specialized. ( And more mole holes for us to whack.)   A January 2026 Reedsy article[1] identifies fifty sub-genres of fantasy in alphabetical order from Alternate History thru Sword and Planet thru Weird West.

What is the common thread linking those three?  They mix genres, and even sub-genres.  Our holes are not only numerous, they overlap as well.

Alternate History mixes the historical novel (which involves identifiable past era, with plot and setting based on conditions, and the atmosphere of the time) with at least one fantastical element.  A prime example is T.H. White’s The Sword in the Stone—which also exemplifies a sub-genre of Alternative History, the Arthurian fantasy.  (So, now we’re three levels down:  Fantasy/Alternative History/Arthurian fantasy.)

Similarly, Sword and Planet borrows the feel and structure of sword and sorcery and places it inside a space‑opera setting (although usually on a single planet).  A classic example is Edgar Rice Burroughs’s John Carter on Mars series.

As to Weird West, how about Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series?

Time-Travel

There is a timing element to this.  Some books anticipate a genre that is unrecognized at the time of writing.  Romantasy as a recognized sub‑genre label began to take hold in the late 2010s, but it only became widely used and clearly defined in the trade and marketing sense around 2020–2022.  Recently, I came across Deborah Hale’s Wizard’s Ward, a romantasy published in 2004.  The romantasy label was not yet established, so it was marketed as fantasy romance or “otherworld” romance.  Robin McKinley 1978 Beauty, Emma Bull’s 1987 War for the Oaks, and Wizard’s World pioneered this type of book before the algorithms took hold of the market.  McKinley, Bull, and Hale appeared too soon to ride the kind of mass‑market, blockbuster‑style sales that later romantasy authors like Sarah J. Maas or Rebecca Yarros enjoy.

Psychological Thrills

Two types of psychological thriller depend on the character(s) through whom events are seen.  One viewpoint is that of the single, possibly unstable narrator, whose view of things may be distorted, delusional, or dishonest.  The second type is the multiple narrator story in which “truth” depends on whose perspective you’re inside at that moment.

The concept of multiple perspectives is important to our marketing efforts, because genre expectations can differ for each recipient of your query.  Here are a few contrasting definitions of “thriller” used by different publishers and agents:

1. Stories arousing excitement, suspense or fear; borderline horror, with dark themes illegal activities, sex/violence, and sensationalism.
2. Crime stories centered on a profession like espionage, law or medicine. Fast-paced with jargon, danger, loner hero vs. power-hungry villains; cat-and-mouse chase emphasized.
3. Action-heavy; differs from suspense (defined as danger sans action) or mystery (defined as whodunit).

These differences are the pigeon holes into which the recipient needs your story to fit in order to say yes.

Agents think in terms of whether and how they can pitch the project.  Publishers think about how and where a book can be shelved and sold and, even within that thought process, one house’s “thriller” might be another’s “suspense” or “crime.”  Both will say no if a manuscript doesn’t align with their expected category tropes, shelving needs, or list focus, even when the writing shines.

How do you, the writer, cross this field full of mole holes, rabbit holes and pigeon holes to the promised land of market acceptance?

Hitman Thrills

Hitman thrillers focus is on tradecraft, targets, and the tension of being hunted while hunting.  For writers seeking markets, the focus is on tradecraft, targets—and the tension of being ignored until you hit your target.

First, identify your book’s primary genre.  If you can’t drill down through the levels of sub-genre and find one in which your book clearly belongs—find the closest one.  Then find the secondary genre the same way.  Maybe there will be a tertiary genre as well.

Second, assess your market timing.  If your genre isn’t ripe yet, maybe you want to wait.  (If your genre is obsolete, you may have to decide how much effort to put into seeking trad publishing or—if you go the indie route—trying to get read widely.)

Assuming your timing is good, polish your pitch.  Describe your book as [genre 1] leaning toward [genre 2].  E.g., a police procedural with a Lovecraftian horror edge.

Then, identify the agents and publishers whose views of your genre(s) come close to matching yours and slant your query pitches accordingly.  And make sure your book meets the expectations your query claims it does.

That’s our challenge as writers who want to be read.

Go for it!

[1] https://reedsy.com/discovery/blog/fantasy-subgenres

Steve C. Posner, a native of New York City, holds degrees in creative writing (BA), business (MBA), and law (JD), plus a certificate in jazz composition.  Steve has been a database designer and administrator, session guitarist and composer, Madison Avenue copywriter, freelance reporter, law professor, and litigator in private practice with special interests in intellectual property, privacy and surveillance law. He is the author of the legal treatise “Modern Privacy & Surveillance Law” and, in seventeen years of writing semi-annual updates, has studied AI, Big Data, quantum computing, virtual/augmented reality, cybersecurity, and related issues.  “Questioner” is his debut novel.