I'm Guilty of Swapping Genres

I swap between sf and fantasy, YA and adult. It makes things more problematic in terms of finding a good agent fit but it keeps the writing fresh...

I think branding is important as it pertains to "over the long-haul" and your readership. Those who read one brand may not read the other. That being said, you have to follow where your gut takes you. You could always consider a pen name.

I've been thinking about this recently, because I know that I'm going to likely be the same. pixydust mentioned brand, which is of course important, but why does brand have to be anchored to genre? My first novel was adventure, the second is sci fi, the third will likely be crime. But while the stories are technically in different genres, they still share similar themes and structures. Consider Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad. The audience for those shows overlaps hugely. One is crime, one is fantasy, but they both deal with trying to attain power.

It depends on what you write, of course. Different books from different genres can obviously be hugely different. A whodunnit and a historical romance, for example.

Anyway, the theory is that an authors brand could be something like "dark, thrilling stories that deal with moral ambiguity and paranoia" as opposed to something more rigid like "crime" or "science fiction". But yes, this would probably be an issue with agents because many specialise by genre.

I'm REALLY breaking genre - I'm going from travel books on Ireland and Scotland to historical fiction with mysticism based in Ireland and Scotland. At least I have continuity of place!

Some books, like Diana Gabaldon, defy genre. Her books are called romance, adventure, science fiction, historical fiction - and they are all of those. So, the only thing truly required is how to market it.

If I like an author's work in one genre, I'm more likely to give 'em a try should I see their name on some genre that I don't normally read. I may not care for the latter, but still, they get more of a chance with me than does some author I've never heard of.