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Litfic is not the opposite of genre fiction. All literary fiction has a genre. Slaughterhouse Five is literary sci-fi. The Origin of Birds is literary fantasy. Likewise, having multiple genres does not make your novel litfic. Litfic is not a genre but a style and quality of writing, and the opposite of commercial fiction, to wit:
Literary fiction:
deep, thought-provoking, challenging, has no tropes, anything goes
Commercial fiction:
escapist, lightweight fluff, quick easy beach read, always has tropes
Commercial fiction generally follows a formula, while litfic doesn't. For instance, Anna Karenina is literary romance and has a tragic ending; Harlequins conversely are commercial, very formulaic, and always end happily.
This is probably why commercial fiction is so popular and why litfic is not. With commercial fiction, the reader knows ahead of time exactly what she's getting. If you like one Harlequin, you'll like them all. If you like one cozy mystery, you'll like them all. That's what the publishers are counting on so they can sell more books. Publishers and agents want your book to fit into a mold so they can market it. Literary fiction doesn't fit into a mold, and therefore isn't marketable. Hence, publishers and agents tend to discourage writing it, and prefer that you write sparkly vampires instead.
(ノ_<、)ヾ(´▽｀)
Literary fiction:
deep, thought-provoking, challenging, has no tropes, anything goes
Commercial fiction:
escapist, lightweight fluff, quick easy beach read, always has tropes
Commercial fiction generally follows a formula, while litfic doesn't. For instance, Anna Karenina is literary romance and has a tragic ending; Harlequins conversely are commercial, very formulaic, and always end happily.
This is probably why commercial fiction is so popular and why litfic is not. With commercial fiction, the reader knows ahead of time exactly what she's getting. If you like one Harlequin, you'll like them all. If you like one cozy mystery, you'll like them all. That's what the publishers are counting on so they can sell more books. Publishers and agents want your book to fit into a mold so they can market it. Literary fiction doesn't fit into a mold, and therefore isn't marketable. Hence, publishers and agents tend to discourage writing it, and prefer that you write sparkly vampires instead.
(ノ_<、)ヾ(´▽｀)
