Thanks to everyone who’s helped me think this through so far. I’m forced to admit that in the back of my mind, part of my motivation for pursuing Romance (rather than, say, Robbe-Grillet-influenced experimental novels) was the idea that this genre has a large appetite for new titles, and I might have a chance of selling my second book, rather than my 13th (or my Never-th).
But I suppose sci-fi, mystery and horror (which I grew up reading) are fairly vital genres as well, and I know something about those. But while these genres sell a lot of copies, I think they do it with fewer titles, though correct me if I’m wrong.
I’m also attracted to Romance because I feel I could use the discipline (whooshCRACK!)* of the rigid conventions involved.
I like this Jennifer Crusie person. If I wrote a romance, I’d want it to read like her stuff. Thanks for the tip. Ditto for the “SB,TB” blog, which is a hoot.
I think the OP would be wasting time. Don’t bother underachieving; try for what you want to write, and keep doing it. If you fail, great! Learn from it; it’s the only way to get better. Succeeding at something you don’t care about won’t help you regarding your preferred path.
Unless you get so wildly successful at it that, rich as Creosote and pissed off at yourself for being so lame, you can afford to start publishing your preferred material yourself without regard reviews or fiscal success.
ETA: Out of curiosity, I am thinking that this is exactly what some authors have done; you see a lot of work in later years that the authors will say they couldn’t publish earlier because it wouldn’t have flown.
Can anyone think of any examples?
Ok, how about examples of work that actually WERE as good as or better than the author’s more recognized format?
One thing that’s worth bearing in mind is ‘romance’ is only the overarching genre. Harlequin - probably the biggest publisher - has a whole list of sub-genres and imprints, and they’re very specific about what they want for each:
So, if bodice-rippers aren’t your style, there are a bunch of other sub-genres and imprints that they publish.
I sometimes think that romance may actually be harder to write than some other genres: there are millions of Mills and Boons out there, so coming up with something that stands out from the pack is correspondingly more of a challenge.
Reasonable. But guess how many other people think like you (some of whom actually read series romance and thus know the conventions of their chosen niche)?
You could probably do worse than to pick a niche and read a dozen or so books in that niche published in the last year or two and then start trying to write for that niche. I emphasize last year or two because the expectations of readers change over time far more than might be obvious to a nonfan.
It’s just that if you succeed, your fans (and your editors) will be clamoring for more of the same. Not for whatever it is that you really want to write. And while the world of women who write BestSellers who first wrote series romance seems large, I’m pretty sure that the number of women who never got beyond publishing series romance is far larger.
I am trying to slog my way through Heinlein’s For Us, the Living, which is supposed to be the first novel he ever wrote. It’s NOT a novel, just a collection of sermons on how society SHOULD function. While it’s interesting to see that Heinlein had some ideas about Future History and its various customs even as he started out, it really doesn’t work as a novel, for me at least.
I know that I’ve read some books, been intrigued by them, and then read earlier novels by the same person which clearly show that s/he was still learning the craft, but I can’t think of any examples off the top of my head.
I think the OP’s mission to sell a book, no matter what the genre, is meaningless if he hasn’t already written any kind of story before. Being an experienced journalist will help, but proves little.
Write anything, then see how much pleasure or struggle you got from it, then rewrite it a few times until it’s actually good. If after that you think you’ve got what it takes, tackle something new. At this stage, genre, familiar to you or not, is irrelevant.
Write what interests you. If you do it well, your interest will shine through, and pique the readers’ interests. If you are not interested, your lack of interest will shine through, and will not pique the readers’ interests. But also think about your readers … what is the cheese that will lead them through the maze of your book? What will reward them for the effort of reading? Whatever it is, make sure you have it, and plenty of it. People read genre stories because they enjoy the conventions of that genre. The best writers in that genre generally have a way of making the conventions fresh and new, new approaches to them, or realizing them more vividly than other writers do, so they do not seem like conventions. That’s the ticket to success. So easy to spell out … so hard to do.
When Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series comes up around here people usually say it’s better NOT to start with the first two books, because they’re sort of weak compared with later entries in the series.
I wouldn’t recommend Pratchett’s first two books to new readers. However, I bought and read the first one because of a review in Analog, and I loved it. And I kept buying the books. They’re weak only in comparison to the later books, at the time they were very good. They’re still pretty good, it’s just that the later books are so much better.
If you aren’t dead set on doing a romance, I’ve read in several industry articles that the genre MOST open to new writers is Mysteries.
And what they are most looking for now is mysteries that could clearly become a series. That is, the protagonist has a profession that makes it likely for him/her to continue to be involved in cases. As in, better a police officer than a hairdresser.
Oh, and what is especially hot is series with a female lead.
The thing with romances, though, is can do crossovers at will: Historical Romances, Humorous Romances, Paranormal Romances… Just be sure to get the guy and girl together at the end, right?
Quoting this just so that, when I reread this thread in the future, I’ll read that paragraph twice. GREAT advice.
I’d try to find a genre that’s not too hard, has conventions and people publishing free advice online/in print. AND that you love. For me, that’d be the “cozy”: the quaint little mystery with quirky characters and settings (e.g. The Cat Who… series).
If I crashed and burned, oh, well, but if I wrote something I liked, then I wouldn’t mind rereading it. AND I wouldn’t mind spending months or years in the quirky setting with the quirky characters…
I just want to add that, if you don’t like explicitness, you can go with Christian romance. Those are the types my mom reads. You don’t get sex until the last page, and it’s all in metaphor.
Yes, I’ve read a few. Mom keeps insisting, and I must admit that, although I wouldn’t seek them out, once I get started reading, they hold my interest. The trick is to start about halfway through, when the conflict is in high swing, as that usually has less to do with the romance itself.
I read hundreds of romance novels between age 8 and 20 or so–haven’t read them in a long time since I matured past the genre, but I have fond memories. When I was younger, I used to sneak into my grandma’s garage and swap out books because she just kept them in dusty old boxes anyway and wouldn’t have noticed, and I wasn’t sure I was allowed to read them–lol.
I can tell you that the ones I liked the most (and the ones I actually still remember, there are SO many forgettable ones) were books that stuck to the formula, but had a noticeable break from it–like a personality quirk in a sea of strangers. They were longer. They had interesting covers. And they were never, ever under a mass-produced label like Harlequin (Harly romances are noticeably short books, I could get through one in a couple hours sometimes–not good!). So maybe these would be good books to start with:
