I don’t normally watch sitcoms, because there’s a great deal I don’t like about most of them. The primary exception to this is an old British sitcom called Are You Being Served?, which I used to watch reruns of on a regular basis when it aired in my area. But that was the only one. So, as you may imagine, when sitcoms are all the rage, I don’t watch a whole lot of television, there being little or nothing to interest me.
That’s what happens when markets begin to focus on certain things, to the exclusion of most others. Consumers who don’t like the current focus start to avoid that particular market. This has occurred in the romance genre for years, but lately, it seems to be receiving far more attention than it has in the past. Recent posts here at RTB, for example, have examined and bemoaned the narrow scope of the romance genre, wondering when today’s trends will pass and speculating on what future trends will be. In essence, they have asked you, the reader, the question “Are you being served?â€
Many of you have responded with a resounding, “No!†However, the fact that you’ve answered at all shows you’re still here, still interested in the romance genre, and still optimistically hoping your own favorite type of romance will once more come into vogue.
But what if it doesn’t? Where will you be then?
These are questions romance authors have begun increasingly to ponder.
Recently, at her own blog, author Tess Gerritsen addressed one of the reasons why people don’t read anymore: because they are listening to critics who are telling them they should be reading books that are “Brussels sprouts,†rather than “ice cream.†She advises, “You don’t have to listen to anyone. Just read what you want to.â€
That’s excellent advice, of course — except, what do you do when what you want to read is no longer on the market?
In a recent post here at RTB, Lori Devoti asked:
“What are you sick of? What makes an evening of slogging through Babbit, War and Peace (just the War parts), and Moby Dick sound entertaining? And what have you read lately, or seen on TV, or just heard tell of, that makes your heart skip a beat, and your wallet start slipping from your purse almost under its own power? What do you want to be the next hot thing?â€
Actually, when it comes to reading, I can think of several things that make “an evening of slogging through Babbit, War and Peace (just the War parts), and Moby Dick sound entertaining.â€
But in the final analysis, they all come down to the fact that as a reader, I’m finding that my desires and expectations aren’t being met by the current market — and I know I’m not alone. How many readers, I wonder, are former romance readers? How many have finally given up hoping their favorite type of romance will once more come into vogue and, instead, moved on to other genres, never to return? How many, like the woman who sparked Tess Gerritsen’s post, have stopped reading altogether?
For me, it’s never been a question of what critics have to say, for the simple reason that I’ve never listened to critics. I’ve always made my own choices about what to watch and what to read, based on my own likes and dislikes. It wouldn’t bother me to learn I was the only person in the entire world who enjoyed (or loathed) a particular movie, television show, or novel.
What does bother me is having my own choices sharply curtailed. So my own answer to Lori Devoti’s question is that, as both a writer and a reader, I’m not so much interested in the next “hot†thing as I am in a market that caters to many readers and not just those who can’t get enough of the latest fad. One of the main things I loved about the romance genre in its early days, in fact, was that there was usually something for every reader, whether one’s taste ran to contemporaries or historicals, or to sweet or spicy.
So, serve me a banquet, a buffet, a feast, a smorgasbord — not just Brussels sprouts and ice cream, but everything else in between, too, because some days, I want Brussels sprouts, and others, I want ice cream, and still others, I want something else entirely.
How about you? Are you being served? Or have you switched genres or quit reading altogether because a steady diet of anything, no matter how good, is ultimately unappetizing?
No related posts.
Not being able to find books I liked [fantasy and sci-fi romance] is what prompted me to start writing them! Of course selling them isn’t always a piece of cake, but I get the same [no probably more] satisfaction from writing a story as I do from reading one, so that’s how I get my fix.
Honestly, I have a harder time finding science fiction and fantasy I want to read than romance. I’m turning more to YA for that. In romance, I’m finding a wide variety to read right now.
What I miss the most are American set historicals. I can occasionally find a good Western, but I’d love more of them. I really miss – and may never see again – non-western American historicals – specifically north eastern set ones.
-Michelle
Bravo for such a terrific post. I could care less about trends and fads in fiction. I read any and all genres, as long as it’s a ‘good book’, and by that I mean it must have a page-turning story (a la DaVinci Code) or be extremely well-written (a la Margaret Atwood/Wallace Stegner) — preferably both, but I’ll take either. I love any romance that can make me laugh and/or cry and don’t care if it’s set in Regency England or Chicago 2176AD.
When purchasing, I rely more on advice from friends and the cashier at the used-book store than from any critic! I’m rarely disappointed!!
Off to dye my hair mauve and feed my pussy! ha ha
From fellow “AYBS” fan …
I think that’s the exciting thing about e-books and the decreasing costs of POD, it makes it more economical to publish non-mainstream material.
And the internet makes it easier to find these books.
The Long Tail theory…that niche is profitable. The future of business (and as a result, writing).
I also agree with the people who say it’s easier to find what you’re looking for these days. Years ago, you only had two choices in romance, contemporary and historical. Now you can find paranormal in all shapes and sizes, along with contemporary, historical, hot, cold, etc. I love having all these reading choices. Does that mean I never stray from romance? No. I’m actually reading more and more outside of the romance genre, but it has nothing to do with the offerings available. My personal tastes are changing. I think that’s only natural.
I hear a lot of people complain about the lack of choice in romance, and I have to admit, I can’t see it. Granted, there are some sub-genres you don’t see much of, but they do exist. (Michelle, have you read Ruth Langan’s Duchess of Fifth Avenue? It’s a recent non-Western American historical I really enjoyed.)
But then, like Jordan, I read a lot outside the romance genre as well. Maybe that’s what’s keeping me from thinking that romance has gotten stale.
All…thanks so much for your comments! It’s interesting to see the different takes on the genre.
Wylie…Mrs. Slocombe is a hoot!:smile:
I think what’s most interesting isn’t so much the variety as the specificty of the niche. E publishing has broken many barriers to ‘formula’ and at one point with the exception of love spell was the only place to find futuristic romance. So the choice is out there, down to the last detail. What has left me cold I think comes with the rush to jump on the bandwagon of the ‘next hot thing’. I believe Romantic Suspense suffers the most from this, where there is so much, and not all of it is quality. And that’s where the longing comes in: not that you don’t have enough choices, but you long for a deeper experience, and you need to either wade through to find what qualities in a book give you that ‘ahhhhh’ feeling (a personal choice), or you look to something else that perhaps isn’t as daunting a dive. Sometimes I question if there’s editorial presence past the first three chapters of a book, again, representitive of a rush to fill a percieved demand. What I miss still: Solid historical gothics that are rich reads and take their time to tell a dark, gripping love story: And: American West Cowboy historicals. I was a big reader as well of those category regencies, but, Cerridwen will fill the niche soon enough. Am I being served? In terms of choice (quantity), yes. In terms of quality? Hmm – in some subgenres of romance, I’d say sometimes it’s a five star meal followed by a good shot of espresso and a decadent desert, and other times, it’s luke warm hotel food with congealed cheese sauce and some kool-aide in a paper cup to wash it down. And that has made me more cautious to buy, and more picky with my authors. But, at least I can take my pick.
I’ve found that there’s an abundance of what I’d like to read–the problem is quality. There are a bazillion erotic vampire romances out there, but so many are sub-par, for example. But at least there ARE erotic vampire romances out there…something hard to find just a few years ago.
LOVE Are You Being Served!
I’ve been reading more contemporaries lately. I love historical romances, but they are slow and ponderous at times. As for straying from romance, I have. I’ve become addicted to YA fiction, especially fantasy and paranormal. Stephanie Meyers, Libba Bray, Holly Black. They are writing fabulous fun books.