>In Sarah McCarty’s latest column at Blogs forAuthors she talks about the increased paperback market in the areas of Paranormal and Romantica.
I can certainly see why they’re taking off. More and more, people are realizing the stigma they attached to Romantica type writing is wrong. They once saw it as borderline porno, but that is far from the case, in my opinion. Lots of the erotic romance (please note that I specified erotic ROMANCE and didn’t say all erotica) that’s out there today is nothing more than a Desire or Blaze with a bit more explicit terms in it. Seriously. That’s why EC’s books are being moved to the Romance sections. I believe that’s why EC coined the word Romantica – to alert the reader that there was more there than sex. There’s a real story line, a plot, and a relationship with a HEA. Gee, sounds like a REAL book, doesn’t it? As people are discovering this, sales are going up. Agents and editors alike are clamoring for more and hotter sex in books.
Why wouldn’t the demand extend into print publishing.?
Why wouldn’t e-publishers want to get their share of the print monies, too?
I recently wrote an erotic romance (contemporary paranormal) novella tentatively titled Phantoms & Fantasies, and my CP’s were shocked to discover it read like a hot romance. A-hem. Hello. Look at Red Sage’s Secrets books. Yes, scorching hot at times, but a good plot, a growing relationship and (from what I’ve read) an HEA or promise of one in the future. Those sell like hotcakes and continue to do so for years because the stories are well written, IMO.
On yet another Yahoo group, McCarty’s column was mentioned and the question was raised as to why what’s popular in print isn’t in e-books and vice versa. Maybe it’s a question of availability. Print publishers–for all their talk of wanting something “different”–don’t want to go too far out on a limb with their investment. Even the e-book authors that have crossed over into print have had to work tremendously hard to get a following and sales large enough for the prints pubs to take notice.
Some of the e-book/print question regarding erotica could also be the stigma of walking into a brick-and-mortar store and having people see what you’re buying (if you’re so inclined to be ashamed of it). However, men have been buying the likes of Penthouse books and magazines in public for years, so maybe it’s just that more women feel this way? Not that I’m comparing pornography to erotica. Not at all. I only mentioned Penthouse to show that lots of men aren’t ashamed to be reading porno, so why should we be ashamed to be reading hot romances? After all, we’re sexual creatures, too. (But I digress.)
Paranormal books are all the rage and have been for awhile. I can’t believe that there’s a big difference in their popularity between e-books and print. With the likes of authors like Sherrilyn Kenyon, they’re readily available in print.
As more and more people discover the riches and ‘risky’ books that are e-published, I hope they continue to come into the bookstores and demand them there too. Wouldn’t it be great to some day see all books offered in whatever format the customer wished to read them?
CAROL BURNSIDE / ANNIE RAYBURN 