Writing on both sides of the pond…

In London last week I caught up with my friends at the Romantic Novelists’ Association London chapter. We had lunch and a good chat – and they asked me to share some of my experiences with the US romantic fiction scene and last month’s RWA conference.

When I arrived in New York last year, I quickly discovered how different the market here is to the UK market. I might be wrong about some of my impressions – but here they are….

The romance market is much bigger in the US – partly because of the larger population, but also because it seems to me readers and publishers alike are more willing to say – I like romantic novels! Bookshops have large and prominent romance sections. At the RWA conference last month, more than 500 authors attended the signing, and the queue of readers anxious to meet the authors and buy their books stretched out of the hotel and down the road. That says something for the enthusiasm of readers and publishers for our genre.

It should come as no surprise that I’ve spent an hour or two or … well, a lot of time in US bookshops, browsing. One of the first things that struck me was how many of my favourite UK authors just were not on those shelves. The other thing I noticed was how many popular US authors there were whose books I had never seen in the UK. I’ll admit I had never heard of many of them. I’ve since had a fabulous time discovering these fab new writers – but it does surprise me how little cross-over there is between the two countries. The big brand-name authors are found both sides of the pond. Historical romances, particularly regencies, seem to cross over very well. But then the list dwindles. I don’t know why this might be. I’m Australian – born and raised to the sound of kookaburras’ laughter – but I enjoy a good book set anywhere in the world. I image there are many others who feel the same.

E-books have gone a long way toward increasing the reach of individual authors and publishers, and that can only be a good thing. I was very impressed at the RWA conference by the way the US publishers have embraced e-books. I think they are ahead of their UK counterparts in establishing a business model that works for everyone – publishers, authors, readers and the sellers.

There are some differences in content between the UK and the US. Over here, a lot of the novels are shorter – about 90,000 words. In the UK, mainstream single title novels tend to be at least 100,000 words.

Romance novels here in the US also tend to be a lot sexier than in the UK. The physical attraction between the protagonists gets a tighter focus – and that’s across all the sub-genres. That’s not to say all the books are excessively sexy – they’re not. However, some books that would be called romance in the UK might instead be labeled women’s fiction here and women’s fiction appears to be a growing market.

As to what editors want – there’s a much higher demand in the US for paranormals and fantasy. Vampires may be dead, but people still want to read good books about them. Young adult is huge both sides of the pond, as are regency books. Where the UK likes historical sagas and Word War Two books, the US prefers its own history – with frontier women. Cowboys both historical and modern are big too – what’s not to like about a tall man in a big hat and boots? There’s a big readership too for strong men in kilts with big claymores – historicals and time shift books set in Scotland seem to have gathered a strong following in the US.

If you read or write romantic suspense – the US is where it’s at. The UK seems to have forgotten its heritage in this genre –set by the wonderful Mary Stewart and Daphne Du Maurier.  The UK however, remains the home of romantic comedy – and chic lit. While US books often include a delightful light wit, comedy seems to remain a mostly British tradition.

My most lasting impression from the RWA conference was of optimism– from authors to publishers and readers and agents and… well… just everyone. Despite the economic gloom of recent years, here was an industry with great hopes for the future. E-books may be altering the industry we know – but are a great opportunity to get our books in front of a new audience.

Historical thriller writer Steve Berry seemed to sum it all up:

He said that throughout history, whenever there was a great leap in technology – from clay tablet to papyrus to paper and then the invention of the printing press, it simply served to make the content more accessible to a wider audience, and the current technology leap will do the same. We, as the people who write that content, should embrace the technology – and use it to connect to even more people.

I think he’s got that right.