I had to shorten this question for the chapter title, so before we begin, I think it's a good idea to see the full question, because it's a great one.

Do you ever think labelling a book as a certain genre can be limiting? Back story to this: I attended a writing conference over the weekend. I had submitted a piece of work to be assessed by an editor and she seemed to like it but questioned whether it fit the YA genre as the idea of having a cult in the book was too mature. I've been thinking a lot about this and I'm not sure how to move forward because I don't think it's an adult book either. And then novels like The Hunger Games are considered YA and are literally about the murder of children as entertainment. So, do you think sometimes putting a label on something such as "YA" or "new adult" can be limiting? How would you respond to something like this?

This question centers around commercial publishing. There's lots more to say about genre and the creative process, but we'll leave that for another time.

In commercial publishing, genre is important because it's a shorthand for agents, editors, publishers, booksellers, and ultimately, readers. An agent interested in mystery isn't going to love your teen romance, no matter how good it is. Likewise, a reader who wants steampunk erotica isn't going to find your suspense thriller about a blind detective because those books just wouldn't be shelved anywhere near each other in the bookstore, nor would Amazon's algorithm group them in such a way that a reader would discover the second because they loved the first.

What this boils down to, sorry to say, is that genre is a useful label.

I know, I know... we're supposed to hate labels, right?

Well, I'd argue that writers are always pushing the boundaries of a label. Or, at least, they should be doing that. Genre fans want their genre's conceits with each new book, but they don't want the same old story. It's the writer's job to put a new twist on the genre, to take a trope and turn it on its head, to blend one genre with another, to explore and expand a sub-genre within the larger genre. 

So, would I take that feedback seriously? Yes and no.

First, it's important to note that we're only talking about one person's opinion. If twenty YA editors all tell you your book is too mature, your book might just be too mature. If one YA editor tells you that the book is too mature, it's a question you need to raise with more YA experts. 

But let's dig into the reason this editor gave for calling the writer's manuscript too mature. We haven't read the story, but the reason given was the topic, in this case a cult. 

OK, this might be a little controversial for some of you, but I'm not of the opinion that particular topics are off limits for YA. To me, it's much more about how the author presents the material, than the topics they choose to address.

Which brings us to The Hunger Games.

In the edition of the final book, I read a note by the author,  Suzanne Collins, where she talked about her inspiration for writing the series. The idea came to her while switching between coverage of the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and reality television. Knowing that, it's not hard to see how Collins created a world, much like our own, where violence is presented as entertainment.

But why tell her story with teenage characters?

According to Collins, she wanted young readers to grapple with the idea of violence as entertainment, of young people being asked to fight and die in a war that benefits the rich, wealth inequality, and democracy. These are adult themes, to be sure, and the books certainly appeal to adult readers, but Collins did her best to make the story accessible to readers who were roughly the same ages as her characters. 

Will teens read a book about a dystopian society where kids are selected to compete in a death match? Probably not. But will those same teens read a book that helps them grapple with their conflicted feelings about a culture that simultaneously celebrates and destroys youth through the depiction of an epic battle that's both a nod to ancient martial rites of passage as well as reality TV spectacle? They just might. The difference isn't the topic, it's the presentation.

So, can a YA book about cults do the same thing? Sure! But it's all in the telling. 

What do you think? 

Do you find genre to be a limiting label, or does it have utility for you?