Why does it feel like everything self published is romance?

[Rachel Annie]

Karen wrote: "I don't think it's all porn and sex, but I do think that the 50 Shades phenomenon got a lot of women reading who had not picked up a book since they were in school."

Agreed, even erotica has a storyline and the characters evolve. Granted the sex in erotica is what moves the story along, but there's still a plot.

[Lily]

J.B. wrote: "As a writer of UF and PNR detective thrillers, I've had a similar conversation to this one with a popular author of UF romance novels. Surprisingly, despite the fact that her work sells quite well,..."

I love this :)

[G.G.]

Ok, with GR's problem and not sending me notifications, I missed a lot of new posts and if I start reading them all from the start, I'll be 100 years and still reading. So I'll go to the point.

I don't feel like all self published are romance. I only read self published for the last 1.5 years or so and barely read any romance. So where does that idea come from?

[Monica]

J.B. wrote: " I suppose the secret is to just write a good book with interesting, believable characters with enough of a mix of emotion and excitement to appeal to both sexes..."

I agree 100%. Good writing and engaging characters, whether or not they're engaged with each other's unmentionables, will connect to readers of both sexes.

I do think @Yzabel hit on something, too, when she said that so many writers think adding romance is a shortcut to engaging readers emotionally. They're demonstrating an inability to convey emotion, and it shows in those books, especially their almost robotic sex scenes. Yeesh. (Insert love scene, strike repeatedly with a hammer. Voila! Emotions!)

[Monica]

I know what you mean, J.B. It's the same reason that I don't write contemporary fiction. I'm not interested in reading or writing about life as we know it 'cause I already know it.

I do have a strong romantic relationship in my sci-fi series because I'm interested in how the relationship of these disparate characters plays out and affects their situation and society. And while my paranormal series very much revolves around love (self-love, love for others, selfless love), it doesn't include a romantic relationship. (I'm actually really excited to explore a relationship between male and female MCs who maintain a friendship, but not a romantic one. Somehow that feels rebellious in the current romance-saturated indie atmosphere. LOL!)

Returning to what @Yzabel wrote, I think we can expand on that confusion about sex/romance and emotionally connecting with the audience to propose that many writers don't *know* how to write about love beyond the tropes of chivalry, romance, and screwing.

[Monica]

J.B. wrote: "You'll have a great time writing that male-female friendship angle, trust me.

The female protagonist of my paranormal detective series had an infatuation with a fellow detective on her team since..."

Nice! Nothing better than tension well-done. :D In the case of my series, theirs is a guardian/ward relationship and she's growing up under his watchful eye. Turning that into a romance? Not likely.

[Lily]

G.G. wrote: "Ok, with GR's problem and not sending me notifications, I missed a lot of new posts and if I start reading them all from the start, I'll be 100 years and still reading. So I'll go to the point.

I..."

It could be the same phenmenon as yellow cars. Just when you think there aren't any yellow cars, all of a sudden you see nothing but yellow cars everywhere.

As a non-romance writer or reader myself, it does seem like whenever I look things up online, all I see is romance, romance, romance. What are agents looking for? Romance. Oh look, new indie publisher, what genre do they want? Romance.

I don't know, maybe it just seems that way.

[Rachel Annie]

Perception could be part of it.

I'm a romance reader and I feel everywhere I look is YA and fantasy. As far as the members of this group, the majority don't seem to write romance.

[J.]

I write Urban Fantasy, so I don't know the answer.

[Lily]

Romance as a genre, regardless how anyone feels about it, does have a built-in demographic and targeted audience. And it's always been that way, ever since genre fiction was first created.

So I can see how it's possible it seems like there's all this romance, when it might be an illusion, and it's just the Romance demographic people are seeing.

Thrillers is one of the best-selling genres in any type of publishing, yet you don't see fans of thrillers gushing over the book/characters, because that's just the nature of the genre. It's suppose to freak you out, and just about anyone could like that sort of thing, yet doesn't fit in any demographics. So that can make it harder to see, kind of faded into the background.

[K.P.]

Bruno wrote: "I guess that is what sells the most. I have had my manuscript rejected by two publishers because there is no love triangle/romance/yadda yadda.."

I feel your pain. I can't write a romance to save my life. I guess that's why I struggle to sell my books. Not mainstream enough, i suppose?