Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Am I being a snob?

This is topic Am I being a snob? in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by MommaMuse (Member # 3622) on :

Recently, a friend suggested that before I send out my "baby" that I'm working on now, to the publishers, I should write a few romance novels to test the waters and see if people like my writing style.

I have a couple of stories that I've been playing with for years, and they would not take much to turn into romance novels, and in point of fact, would actually be able to be made into a series of novels.

(Here's the big BUT)

It's always been my impression that Romance novels are not taken seriously by most people, and "real" publishers would turn up their noses at a romance novelist turned 'serious" novelist. Understand that I love the stories I mentioned above, and fully intend to see them through to whatever end is in store, but to be perfectly honest, they're pretty close to romance novel stories. If I follow that route, will it make it harder for me to publish non-romance stories in the future?

Posted by Chaldea (Member # 4707) on :

I would say that's a big decision. Usually if you start in one genre, like you say, you should stay there and gain a following. I'm sure many authors have not, though. Many cross the line between fiction and nonfiction. But between fiction genres, I'm not sure.

I recently had a lengthy chat with the organizeer of a well-established conference. She said that the hottest genres today are romance and young adult. So maybe romance is not a bad thing if you've outgrown your writing as a hobby and really want to make money at it. Though if you really don't like romance writing, you probably shouldn't go there, if only to get bogged down a few months or years hence.

I think people should write what they're comfortable with and with what they like to write.

Edit here. P.S. Did you get the character chart I sent you?

[This message has been edited by Chaldea (edited January 22, 2007).]

Posted by MommaMuse (Member # 3622) on :

YESH! I hadn't checked my email in a while. Thanks a million!

Posted by kings_falcon (Member # 3261) on :

Write what works for you. I think it would be worse to try to force a story down a "romance" line just to make it "marketable."

It's sort of like the sterotype for criminal defense and bankruptcy lawyers. It use to be (and to some extent still is) that those branches of lawyers were sneered at. Sure there are a lot of lawyers who do criminal defense because the state appoints them and they don't want to spend the time marketing. Sure there are a lot of lawyers in all areas that are just miserable. BUT, just like everything else, there are lots of AMAZING lawyers in those areas. Many bankruptcy counsel earn in excess of $300 per hour (out of state rates (Del, NY firms, etc) are pushing $500.00 an hour.

If you are writing and writing well it should be all that matters. Anne Rice writes Vampire novels but she also writes erotica. If you have a readership, regardless of where you build it, it should follow you which makes you more marketable.

Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :

Often, in the publishing industry, you have to break into different genres individually...starting from scratch in each one. Especially if you are looking to break into scifi/fantasy, romance will do nothing for you. The best I can say is it probably won't hurt.

Write what you like. If you've got a finished manuscript, send it out and see who bites.

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

I wrote a Harlequin romance once, fifty thousand single-draft words in a week. It was rejected by several publishers, and deservedly so...

But I'm sometimes tempted to write another. In the run-up to that write-up, I read a couple hundred Harlequins and such. Out of that couple hundred, three or four really moved and impressed me. So the genre does have its attractions to me...

Posted by Chaldea (Member # 4707) on :

I just remembered another way you could write two or more different genres. Going with a nome d'plume works well. Different genre, different pen name.

Posted by MommaMuse (Member # 3622) on :

I was actually wondering about having several different names to write under. I wonder how well that really works? Stephen King didn't do so well hiding under a different name, as I recall. He was found out almost immediately.

Posted by Grandma_Jan (Member # 4788) on :

Anne Rice wrote under another name, and wasn't "outed" (publicly, at least) for quite some time. Before the Mayfair Witches and the Vampire Chronicles, she wrote an S&M trillogy, Sleeping Beauty. It'd be interesting to ask her whether, when she pitched the books we all know her for, she let the publisher know about her success under another name! Is that a selling point (my writing sells) or a point against you (I came from the wierd world of S&M novels)???

I think the main thing is, save your real name to put on the work you'd most like to be remembered for.

Good luck!

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

There is also the possibility that the style you would find yourself using in a romance novel would not be the same style you would find yourself using in a different kind of novel (different genres/marketing categories also tend to appeal to different readers by their styles as well as by their contents).

If you are writing science fiction or fantasy that is close to romance, you may want to consider the various crossovers that are doing quite well in the market today: paranormal, futuristic, and so on, which are published by romance publishers but are more or less romance combined with horror, or science fiction, or fantasy.

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

On a tangent suggested by pseudonymous discussion...lately, I've seen a fair amount of long-time "commercial" writers digging out old books in different genres, dusting them off, and publishing them under whatever name they're best known by right now. (Robert Jordan comes to mind.)

Right now, I'm pretty much an egomaniac who wants all the acknowledgment and attention for works that would go to the name on the story. Practically everything I've written I've sent out as "by Robert Nowall." Even the Internet Fan Fiction I put out is out there with my name on it. (Yes, it's my real name.)

(The only major exception I can think of is the aforementioned Harelquin Romance. It's the custom in that field to be published under a woman's name. I came up with one and stuck it on. I liked it...if the opportunity comes up I may use it again.)