‘The Written Life’ Chapter 5: Romance – How is it so successful?
Good day!
How do you do?
Well enough, I’d say!
I know my blogging has not been as CONSISTENT as it should be, but I decided to break you off a piece of that podcast plug! That’s right, a new chapter for “The Written Life” podcast is live and roaring through your speakers. Sort of. Unless you’re not listening to it, then what are you doing with your life?
In chapter 5 for “The Written Life” I took a look at the world of Romance.
Ah, yes. The roses, the sensuality, the sex that’s rarely called just that! And guess what? It’s a BILLION DOLLAR genre. It is the literal golden goose of all written genres in the world of books, and we have all of the lovely ladies who lunch and their friends to thank for that! But then again, what’s wrong with a little romance???
I know for a fact that women are the leading consumer when it comes to the success of the romance genre. I know this because I’ve seen it firsthand, thanks to my mother who then passed it on down to my little sister. Who hasn’t heard of Harlequin? If you haven’t, you’ve been hiding out under a rock or something because they are a juggernaut!
Yet Harlequin can’t take all of the credit.
There are plenty of other romance publishing conglomerates out there that do really well also, I just used them as an example because they are mainstream. However, as amazing as their revenues are, they still seem to lack a certain thing: diversity!
Like most things in the world today, diversity is lacking when it comes to writers for the romance genres. There’s barely any PoC romance writers, and that’s a crying shame because non-PoC aren’t the only ones who want to read about people falling madly in love with a ruffian. Or a pirate. Or a sailor. Or a cowboy. You name it, they’re falling right into them.
I digress. I may seem to be making light of the fact that the romance world could use a lot-a bit more color, but they know that as well. They’ve addressed it, but it’s time for them to put up or shut up!
I could spend a little more time making a big blog post about them, but then what would that leave for the podcast chapter that’s dedicated to this very subject?
To hear more about the romance genre, its huge following and success, and also it’s seemingly troublesome lack of color, check out Chapter 5: Romance for The Written Life podcast, available everywhere podcasts can be streamed.
Also, “The Written Life” podcast is now live on Apple Podcasts so catch me there as well for all of my Apple product users.
