It seems that the romance market is changing on both sides of the Atlantic.
The UK market for romance means, to most readers, Mills and Boon. After M & B (part of Harlequin)’s fabulous exhibition last year to celebrate 100 years of existence, it seems that UK agents and publishers are finally realising that romance is more than category, and can be very lucrative. In these days of squeezed margins, lucrative is what they want.
I started writing romance for the US market 8 years ago and it was almost by accident. Someone commented to me that my style might go down better there, and when I explored the market, it seemed they were right. I’m still writing the historical romances that got me into the market, but I also ventured into paranormal romance about four years ago. I love writing them both, and I’ve had a great reception for my books.
However, it might be time that I looked back home again. The UK market is so different, even these days when Borders brought the wider vision of romance to the High Street, and e-books have made books more globally accessible. That’s despite the Kindle being a purely American phenomenon. But we have the Sony and the Cybook over here and both are on lists of Christmas gifts this year. Reader awareness of the US romance market is still low, but it is growing and is significantly higher than it was when I first started out.
It’s still a bit odd to be greeted in the States as an author, and to get blank faces here. But I rather like it. My friends don’t quite believe it. It’s not real to them. My family still think of it as my little hobby. It always used to be, but almost without my realizing it, it’s grown into a proper job (as they say in Cornwall!)
In an industry magazine (“Romance Matters”), it was indicated that publishers in the UK were beginning to look for home grown writers of paranormal romance. Well about time, was my first response, and then I wondered if it wasn’t ripe for it. A few weeks ago, Sherrilyn Kenyon visited Murder One, the bookstore in Charing Cross Road that carries the most extensive collection of US authored romance. They were queuing around the corner to see her. And with the success of JK Rowling in the YA market, and the continued sales for CS Lewis and JRR Tolkein (what is it with initials?) it does seem that there is probably a healthy market just waiting to be tapped.
Without going into details, I’ve started to look around at home as well as abroad and there’s definitely been some interest. Here, I’m an unusual commodity, a seasoned writer of erotic paranormal romance, whereas in the US, I’m one of many.
Although I’ll never leave the ebook market unless forced into it (I honestly believe that’s where future sales and profits will come from), I wouldn’t be averse to seeing my books in a real, honest-to-goodness branch of WH Smith (those initials again!) or Waterstone’s.
The main contender for romance, the saga, is on the decline, and authors of these previous guaranteed sellers are beginning to write other genres, mis-lit and back to historicals, for example. So maybe the UK will be producing a few homegrown writers of paranormal romance. I’d love to be among them, but I’m in the happy position of having learned a huge amount from my American friends, and loving playing in the market there. So I guess I’m saying I’m open to offers!
