Trends and the rules of romance
What we read, and what gets published
Recently (aka during the Stone Age according to Internet Time, aka about three weeks ago) a trend made its way around bookish social media in which authors would list all the manuscripts they’d written. These included both published and unpublished books, the point being that even a debut novelist or an “overnight success” often has years of work and rejection behind them.
For me this was fascinating (I love seeing the different genres and stories my favorite authors have tried their hands at) as well as slightly intimidating, since I haven’t actually written that many books. Also, I’m not sure how inspiring it is to see how large a part trends have in determining what gets published and what doesn’t. The fact that you can spend years writing a book and have it die on sub1 because publishing suddenly decides that it’s done with vampires2 can be super demoralizing!
Of course, I’m talking about traditional publishing. Self/indie publishing is a whole different world that I do not pretend to know anything about, lol. I do have some experience with fanfiction3, which is another storytelling medium that functions without gatekeepers, and the recent wave of transparency about trunked novels coincided with my picking up the first multi-chapter fic4 I’d read since becoming a published author. It had been a while since I’d been immersed in a read like that, and honestly I’m not sure I liked the compulsiveness of it! I spent a week ignoring all but the most basic responsibilities and being short with anyone who dared speak to me while I was TRYING to READ, godDAMmit. After I finished the last chapter I felt despondent and aimless—the classic book hangover—but also relieved to be free.
Manacled is a master class in creating tension and keeping the reader hooked, and it’s especially impressive when a writer can create a cohesive story with good continuity while writing and publishing serially.5 To me this says they have either an intuitive or very well trained grasp of storytelling.6 But the thing that struck me and kept striking me while I was reading is how much of what goes on in Manacled would never7 make it into a traditionally published romance. How different the rules are, so to speak, between fanfiction and most of the books in the romance section of Barnes & Noble.
I say this as someone who doesn’t really read dark romance, so maybe the things the hero does to the heroine in the first third of the work (seriously, read those content warnings) are a matter of course in that genre. Even in some of the angstier stuff I’ve read, the author will signal in various ways that 1. The hero, as prickly or grumpy or downright hostile as he might act, is a good person and 2. The two main characters are right for each other. Whereas in Manacled, both of these points are very much in doubt throughout at least half of the fic.8
So what does this have to do with shelved manuscripts? Just that readers’ idea of what is worth reading (and translating into upwards of twenty languages, and creating fanart based on) is often very different from publishers’ idea of what will sell. Writing to trends is an iffy proposition unless you write very fast, but it’s possible that trends could come around to whatever you’re writing, no matter how transgressive or niche9 you think it is. It’s also possible you’ll find your audience another way. I think there’s a reason the fic-to-published-romance-novel pipeline has become more mainstream and talked about, and for the uptick in self-published books being picked up by Big Five imprints.
I’ve never yet managed to catch a trend, and for various reasons, including the genres I’ve been writing in thus far, I haven’t seriously considered self-publishing. But I try not to look at anything I’ve written, whether or not it ever gets published, as a waste of time. Things can always be repurposed or reworked.10 Some ideas are destined to be left behind. Ultimately though, being a creator means trusting that there will be more. The well is never dry, but sometimes it needs to be refilled.
Author updates
The novel I’m writing now is a speculative thriller that has an angsty love story at its center, which is probably one reason I’ve been obsessing about the different ways romance works in stories. Can’t say much more about it at this point, but I’m lowkey doing NaNoWriMo to help me push past the drafting finish line!
Blurbs are coming in for When I’m Her! I’m floored by the generosity of fellow authors who take the time to read my book and come up with a brief but impactful phrase or two that will make other people want to read it. You can check out what Karen Dionne, Mindy Mejia, and other talented writers thought of my book and preorder it here. You can also request When I’m Her on NetGalley.
A note on the war in Israel and Gaza
This is a complicated conflict with centuries of history behind it. I don’t pretend to understand all the angles. I’m horrified at Hamas’s attack on innocent Israelis and their continued holding of Israeli hostages, and I’m horrified at the staggering loss of life in Gaza. The increase in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents and attacks in many parts of the world has been alarming. Like many of us, I feel helpless to do much. Listening to people on both sides of the conflict leads me to believe that posting on social media is of limited value, and statements that come from an understanding that lacks nuance could actually be hurtful. Nothing about this is simple.
What I am able to do is increase my usual donation to Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders and I encourage anyone who is able to donate as well. Médecins Sans Frontières offers lifesaving medical care wherever it is most needed. Their statement on the conflict in Israel and Gaza is as follows:
MSF is an independent and impartial medical humanitarian organization. We provide medical care with empathy and compassion to all patients, regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity, or politics.
MSF focuses on filling the greatest gaps in healthcare. We are not currently running medical programs in Israel, as it has strong emergency and health systems. We have offered our support to Israeli hospitals treating a high number of casualties. For over 20 years, our teams have been working in Gaza and the West Bank, providing medical care and supporting a health system that urgently lacks both medical personnel and supplies.
Reading/watching/listening
Fireborne by Rosaria Munda (first in a series and highly recommended if you have a dragons n’ romance itch that hasn’t been fully scratched!) 13yo is also “forcing” me to read the Percy Jackson books (there are so many!) and they’ve been really fun.
Slow Horses and now I’m gonna have to read the Slough House novels by Mick Herron.
If you enjoy my ramblings, you might like my books!
The Other Me, which PopSugar called a “Black Mirror-esque rabbit hole,” is an inventive page-turner about the choices we make and the ones made for us.
When I’m Her asks the question: How far would you go to get even with the woman who ruined your life? Out March 26, 2024.
If your book “dies on sub” it means that your agent has submitted it to every editor/publisher they think would be interested, and all of those people have turned it down for whatever reason. It’s possible that the book will sell at some later date, but very unlikely since there’s such a limited pool of publishers.
Or witches, or dragons, or characters between the ages of 13 and 17…
For the uninitiated, a quick primer: fanfiction usually consists of a writer using characters from an existing media property—a book, show, film, manga, whatever—in stories of their own creation. (I say “usually” because there is a subgenre of fanfic known as Real Person Fic or RPF which I personally find a bit squicky, but one of the tenets of fandom is not being judgy about other people’s turn-ons, so I'll refrain from further comment.)
Manacled by senlinyu. It gets a huge amount of love and for good reason, but definitely check the content warnings and tags before reading. Also, it’s Dramione fanfic, which I’d never been into previously, but I found that pretty much irrelevant to my enjoyment of it.
Imagine not being able to do developmental edits after you finish a draft. I have written this way before! And yet I die.
Some fanfic writers do write the entire work before posting it a chapter at a time, and of course outlines are a thing.
I mean, not never. I know Colleen Hoover exists and her novels sell a gazillion copies. But my impression is that she spends at least some time at the beginning setting up why the two MCs are attracted to each other before they jump on the toxicity merry-go-round.
So in a 370,000-word fic (!) this is like, a respectably-sized fantasy novel’s worth of wondering how we’ll even get to a place where we can root for the guy, but the author pulls it off.
Unless you’re writing, say, a novel that features a KKK member being redeemed by his having the hots for a woman of color. Maybe just quit writing if that’s your jam.
The novel I’m currently working on is an expansion/reworking of a short story I wrote the better part of a decade ago and never published.