Defining Fiction: Literary, Women's, Multicultural & Ethnic

[Melissa LR Handa]

Hello again, Nathan.

I've spent a great deal of time puzzling over genre distinctions. I've researched online and scoured my Writer's Digest and Writer magazines, still I'm a bit uncertain...

Wherein lies the difference between literary and women's fiction? I remember reading a blurb in WD that said women's fiction is an offshoot of literary fiction that deals with the problems of women. I also know that literary fiction is more focused on character development and stylized prose, while commercial fiction tends to be more plot-oriented.

And what of multicultural and ethnic fiction? I've read on Agent Query that multicultural fiction is hard to define, but includes a diverse cast of characters--I've also read that some agents only consider stories involving Hispanic or African-American characters as "multicultural." My understanding of ethnic fiction is that it takes place in a different culture entirely, whereas multicultural may be rooted within a separate, base culture.

Now that I've attempted to frame my question(s) in a way that I hope is general enough to benefit any reader of this forum, I'd like to present you with a very short background of my novel to see which category it actually fits into... My protagonist is Caucasian American, but her love interest is Indian (from India) as are several other characters. Roughly 1/3 of the book takes place in India, and the book's title relates to an Indian monument. I've previously tagged this novel as women's fiction, but am beginning to think it might be literary fiction (the number one comment I get from anyone who reads an excerpt is "Wow, your prose are beautiful," not "Oh, how I am moved by the struggles of your strong female characters."

What do I call my book when querying agents, and how can I distinguish between the aforementioned genres? I'm especially concerned, since there are numerous agents who rep literary or multicultural fiction, but not women's fiction.

I appreciate your patience and infinite wisdom,

Melissa

[Nathan Bransford]

Well, I don't know that multicultural is really a genre, but yes, there can sometimes be some blending between literary fiction and women's fiction. The differences goes back to my essential breakdown of the difference between literary and commercial fiction, which is that commercial (and women's) fiction tends to have a plot that happens above the surface (i.e. people doing things, going places, etc.) and literary fiction tends to focus more on what happens beneath the surface (i.e. motivations, emotions, etc.). Beyond that though, I think it's also about whether the novel is written with a unique prose/style that makes it literary.

As with anything genre-related though, don't over think it. Just pick one.