Wiruddy has an interesting article about what it calls the Science Fiction Ghetto and how publishers will do anything to avoid the dreaded SF label for books, even those that clearly have SF elements in them.

Cormac McCarthy’s The Road is set during a nuclear winter. Two survivors walk south, breathing toxic air, seeking out the continent’s last canned food while ducking bands of flesh-eaters.
Describe it as “post-apocalyptic,” as most critics did, or as a masterpiece of dystopian literature. Just don’t call McCarthy’s novel “science fiction.”



Even when clearly appropriate, film studios and publishers avoid the phrase “science fiction.” So do the novelists, film directors and editors in their employ. McCarthy’s book, which is about to become a blockbuster — Oprah Winfrey will tout it on an upcoming TV show as part of her book club — is just another example of how the powers that be dodge the term, especially when it applies to “serious” fiction or cinema.