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Originally Posted by fjtorres
Are Asimov's Robot Novels mysteries or SF? He wrote both genres and the stories are a blend of the tropes and techniques of both. Is THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE SF or romance? In the end, you have to dig deep and figure out what the story is *about* in the end.
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And then you have to decide, "do I advertise this by its most essential themes, or by a label that isn't inaccurate and will bring in the most sales?"
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Mislabeling (accidental or purposeful) can result in directing the story towards an audience that might not appreciate it for what it is. I could see higher sales but poorer reviews...
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Or, if it's honestly both, it just serves to increase marginalization of whatever the less-popular label is.
I read the Clan of the Cave Bear in the same month I'd read a couple of SF short stories involving Neanderthals, and automatically tagged it "Alternate history SF" in my head. It took me *years* to figure out that almost nobody else categorized it that way.