A few years ago I visited a favorite gourmet market to pick up some things for a cookout. One of the items on my list was mustard. Regular mustard. The plain yellow stuff.
I couldn’t find any. I spotted some raspberry mustard, and there was a nice assortment of brown mustards and honey mustards. I saw champagne mustards and bourbon mustards, old-style and new-style mustards that were imported from all over the world. But there wasn’t a single jar of the plain yellow mustard kids like to slather on hot dogs. When I asked a clerk if perhaps it was on some other aisle, he looked at me like I was nuts. “We don’t carry ordinary mustard,” he sniffed.
I recalled that experience this past weekend when I stood in front of a huge selection of category romance novels at a bookstore. As I viewed row upon row of books, all grouped according to their kind and sub-kind, my eyes glazed over. I’d planned to take home three or four paperbacks, but I ended up purchasing only one because all of those colorful covers screaming for my attention took the fun out of browsing. Having so many choices wasn’t exciting, it was confusing.
These days we have subgenres for our subgenres, and there’s a line of books to suit every taste. And I mean every taste. If you want to read about divorced, thirtysomething, kickboxing redheaded DEA agents hooking up with NASCAR drivers, somebody somewhere is bound to have an imprint just for you. But here’s my question: Is that necessarily a good thing?
If you’re a romance writer, please take that hat off for a moment. You may be very excited about the publication opportunities afforded by the opening of all these niche markets, but this post is addressed to readers.
Should we select the elements in our romance novels as carefully as we do our pizza toppings, ensuring that we’ll always know exactly what our romance-reading experiences are going to “taste” like? Or are you beginning to think–as I am–that there is too much focus on subgenres in today’s romance market? Please note that I am not suggesting there are too many books being published. I’m just admitting to feeling a bit jaded by all these breathless announcements of hot new lines.
I used to think “niche” was a wonderful concept in the world of romance, but it’s fast becoming my new swear word. Doesn’t anybody want to surprise me anymore? I’m tired of picking up books from lines with such a narrow focus that I know half the story before I even begin reading. Can’t I just get a “regular” romance novel once in a while?
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I have to agree with you. I want a good story with characters I care about. The rest? Surprise me.
Me, too. In fact, I usually don’t even read the back-of-the-book blurbs because I don’t want to go into a book with preconceptions. (If I’m buying a book cold, I’ll read the blurb, but then I’ll let the book sit in my TBR pile a while, and I’ll forget what it said.)
But I know people who are just the opposite, who want to know exactly what they’re getting, who get upset if there’s a plot element they didn’t expect, or even if the characters don’t look the way they were expecting them.
For them, reading a book isn’t a journey into the unknown–it’s a journey along a well-loved trail.
I’m with you. I’m getting tired of picking up books, reading the cover blurb and thinking “Oh, another ‘vampire Navy Seal meets 20 something disaffected career girl who doesn’t get along with her mother’ novel.”
I just want to read a good book and pretend I have someone else’s life for awhile.
Granted – all these niches afford more opportunities for writers – but that presents another problem. Don’t they get tired of writing virutally the same book? Okay – so there are only so many plots. But there’s endless variety in the way a good writer can present them. But when the niches are so focused – doesn’t that limit the possibillities enormously? And doesn’t that add to the problems published writers have jumping the fence and getting published in areas outside their niche?
I want variety and I guess there are those like Darla mentioned that really want to read the same story again and again because it comforts them or validates them or whatever but doesn’t challenge them. I like a good challenge.
Mo
For me, I’m one of those people that like knowing what to expect from a line.
Category romances aren’t my favorite books to read, usually because most are so short that I leave the book feeling frustrated that the author didn’t have enough ‘room’ to flash out the characters and stories, so when I buy category I do so because I know pretty much what will be between the covers. Also, if I’m not up for a serious alpha kick-butt kind of girl at that moment, I know not to bother looking at the Bombshells that day or if I’m looking for something a little spicy and reckless I go straight for Blaze.
I am like Darla when it comes to shopping for mainstream romances. I like being surprised and when I shop in the romance section I hardly ever worry about whether Mira, St. Martins, Downtown Press etc, etc are the ones putting out the book. I’m just trolling for a great sounding book that when I pick it up off my TBR pile I know it grabbed me in the store. But in the categories, I want to know what I’m buying beforehand.
[Mo wrote] I want variety and I guess there are those like Darla mentioned that really want to read the same story again and again because it comforts them….
I know there are a lot of people like that. But I also know that readers who glom on to lines that way tend to get sick of them after a while. It’s sort of like discovering a delicious new sandwich and then eating it for lunch every single day. Good for a while, but….
I mean no offense to the glommers. In fact, I’ll confess to having been on a (single-title) Regency kick for the past several months. I don’t expect it to last because there are no surprises anymore. I know “everything” about the ton and the assemblies and I can tell you whether it’s better to marry an earl or a marquis–if both are equally handsome and rich, of course.
I guess I am weird (though that has never been denied
) I *never* read the backcover other than to get the H/H names – it stinks when you starte reading a book and meet him and her only to find out one or the other has nothing to do with the romance – I vary my reading. A catergory, the historical, then inspy, then mainstream. I have different mood so some days I want to “comfort” book and other I want the “no clue what to expect book” 
I think there are many sides to this issue (as always).
There are the publishers who only look for certain types of stories to fill their lines. (This is changing slowly thank goodness, but it still occurs.) There are the readers who’ve waited years to have a variety of books. Not so long ago the reading choices were far fewer. (I used to latch onto anything that sounded remotely paranormal because there were so few authors writing in the genre.) Today there’s an over saturation of ALL the romance genres.
As a reader, I go back and forth with the issue. I have my favorite authors who I count on to write stories similar to their previous releases. I take comfort in reading their books. I also have new authors I try. From the new authors, I expect to be surprised. If I’m not, then I don’t tend to purchase their books in the future.
I apologize if I’m off topic.:oops:
Really specific sub-genres also contribute to the belief that romance books are all based on a formula – because if all the books in a sub-genre have, say, a hapless heroine who shops for shoes too much and can’t hold a job, and a hero who … blah, blah, blah – then the books kind of are formulaic, no?
I love category romance. I love the shorter length because I’m really too impatient a person in general, and I like knowing to expect a sweeping alpha male from the Harlequin Presents line, or a sweet story from Harlequin Romance or Silhouette Romance, or a sweet and spiritual story from Love Inspired.
I really like that aspect of expectation. It might make me a little boring, but I figure, it’s my money.
Camy
Ya know, I write for a niche market (erotic paranormal) but I have to agree with you to a certain extent–it’s been a long time since I’ve picked up a romance and been pleasantly surprised by the content. I know what to expect from my favorite authors and I always enjoy reading what they write, but to go into a store cold and just hope for a pleasant surprise is a rare and special treat. Not to say it doesn’t happen, but it’s definitely special. The only thing I WANT to be sure of is the HEA…