F/F?

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Jade Rothwell

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Give it to me straight (ha):

Is there any market for f/f romance? I usually hear about m/f and m/m but I never see much f/f. Am I doomed if I want to write it? :(
 

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Have you actually looked at some publishers who publish f/f romances? Less Than Three Press is just one example, but there are many, and google can probably find some for you. Certainly there are people selling and buying F/F romances. In manga or comic format it's particularly popular. If the sales numbers would actually mean anything to you, you could probably find some.

But really the question is probably, if f/f is what you want to write, would you even be able to make yourself write something else if you thought it would sell better, or would it just be no fun? Trying to write something you don't really want to is a common way to give yourself writer's block.
 

Jade Rothwell

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Have you actually looked at some publishers who publish f/f romances? Less Than Three Press is just one example, but there are many, and google can probably find some for you. Certainly there are people selling and buying F/F romances. In manga or comic format it's particularly popular. If the sales numbers would actually mean anything to you, you could probably find some.

But really the question is probably, if f/f is what you want to write, would you even be able to make yourself write something else if you thought it would sell better, or would it just be no fun? Trying to write something you don't really want to is a common way to give yourself writer's block.

I did some searching, but was having trouble finding much, to be honest. I know some comic format f/f stuff, which is basically all I've ever read. When it comes to novel or short format, I don't know much. I'm doing as much reading as I can, but I was hoping to get some perspective from you guys. I'll definitely look up Less Than Three.

Honestly, my worry is that if I'm writing a straight-up romance, I wouldn't want to write anything but f/f. When I write within a different genre (like fantasy, my usual focus) I'm fine writing other couples. But right now I have to urge to dip my feet into the pool of slice of life romance, that's just an exploration of the characters and their dynamic. For which I feel more comfortable with writing f/f, as it's my knowledge base.

I guess I'm just trying to talk myself out of even trying a new genre. But I want to explore this. (Also, sorry if my question was dumb, or one you hear a lot.)
 

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Regarding non-LGBTQ-specific outlets, I've seen a few agents adding f/f to their Manuscript Wishlists recently, Sara Megibow at KT Literary being one of them. Laura Zats at Red Sofa Literary is pretty outspoken about wanting diverse books, too, and she takes romance and erotica. Harlequin's digital-first imprint Carina Press accepts all couplings, including F/F, especially in erotic romance. As to whether or not there's a readership for it, here's an interesting article from 2014, in case you haven't stumbled upon it in your own searches.

Something you might want to think about: how important is it to you that your f/f romance outsells than anything else you might write? A lot of authors knowingly write in (sub)genres that aren't white-hot at the moment, simply because those are the stories they want to tell. If you're interested in writing romance and the only pairing you're interested in is f/f and there are agents and publishers willing (and in some cases, eager) to take it on, then what do you have to lose besides time? If f/f didn't sell at all, publishers wouldn't take it. Maybe it doesn't sell as well as m/m or m/f or menage, but if it's what you want to write, why not have fun with it? There are no guarantees in publishing; you could just as easily write an m/m or m/f romance that doesn't sell, for whatever reason. In the end, it's all practice anyway.
 

Jade Rothwell

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Thanks for the links guys!

Something you might want to think about: how important is it to you that your f/f romance outsells than anything else you might write? A lot of authors knowingly write in (sub)genres that aren't white-hot at the moment, simply because those are the stories they want to tell. If you're interested in writing romance and the only pairing you're interested in is f/f and there are agents and publishers willing (and in some cases, eager) to take it on, then what do you have to lose besides time? If f/f didn't sell at all, publishers wouldn't take it. Maybe it doesn't sell as well as m/m or m/f or menage, but if it's what you want to write, why not have fun with it? There are no guarantees in publishing; you could just as easily write an m/m or m/f romance that doesn't sell, for whatever reason. In the end, it's all practice anyway.

That's true :) It's definitely what I want to write. I was inspired by this queer romance film I saw the other day. It made me think more about the kind of stuff I wish there were more of. Namely diverse romances for queer women. So why not write some myself?
 

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I've never read LGBTQ fiction... but you got me thinking about film; and f/f seems to be under-represented there as well. Off the top of my head, I can only think of two quality f/f movies, namely Carol and Blue is the Warmest Colour (which would have been better without the gratuitously showboating sex scenes). The others I have watched tend to be tediously angsty with horribly unsubtle imagery (Lost & Delirious); involve a male character turning said lesbian straight (Chasing Amy/ Gigli- I don't know what it is about Ben Affleck and his womanly charms), or; lesbians are thrown into some trashy nonsense purely for titillation (any low-budget horror movie).

Not sure that helps, but they were my thoughts on the subject. Maybe you've found an under-represented market?
 
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SylviaFrost

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If you're interesting in self-publishing I think f/f is a hungry market and one ripe for new voices! Money to be made there. Maybe not as quickly as in m/f or even m/m, but I think it's a good niche.
 

Jade Rothwell

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Thanks for the encouragement guys :) and I'll check out Riptide. I'm definitely open to self-publishing. Possibly e-books. But at this point it's mostly hypothetical. I just wanted to know I wasn't totlaly barking up the wrong tree, you know?
 

thethinker42

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If you're interesting in self-publishing I think f/f is a hungry market and one ripe for new voices! Money to be made there. Maybe not as quickly as in m/f or even m/m, but I think it's a good niche.

FWIW, both of my F/F novels have sold on par with my comparable M/M novels, which are basically my bestsellers. (My M/M/F and M/F don't sell anywhere near as well) Definitely hungry readers and money to be made.
 

amergina

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Also an F/F book is a finalist for a RITA award this year: Far from Home by Lorelie Brown is a finalist in the Contemporary Romance Short Novel category.
 

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Yes, for some reason, F/F romance stories seems to be underused. Generally if you look into popular books and shows and how they are received on social media, it are usually about the M/F or M/M pairings that the majority of fans love and discuss. Maybe there are not many strong relationships written between two female characters that are more than just platonic, but there is also a lot of fetishizing as well of M/M romances. Is there some reason that a romantic relationship between two women does not appeal to people much?

But either way, I think you should just write a F/F romance if you want to. There are definitely a lot of people who would want to read such romance stories (like me)!
 

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I'm not well-acquainted with the Romance scene; however, I definitely think you should write it.

A lot of reasons not to write a F/F story verge on paradox. If writers don't write these stories because either there isn't a market or they don't think there's a market for F/F stories then there can't be a market for them, so they aren't written. But of course there is a market. If self-published dino-erotica has found a market, there's certainly a market for just about everything.

While I don't write Romance, I do often write F/F romances into my stories. LGBTQ characters, stories and representation are important and there is an audience waiting for stories and characters in which they see their lives and their struggles accurately portrayed.

Everyone should have stories. Everyone should be able to find themselves and find things they like in the stories of their society. If you have the desire to write F/F then it's an opportunity for you to contribute to this effort of providing stories for everyone.
 

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There is absolutely a market for F/F. I have yet to attend a Pride event without hearing, at least a hundred times, "Why aren't there more lesbian books?"

Bold Strokes, Bella Books, and Riptide are actively looking for F/F, and there are readers who want it. I said above that my F/F books have sold comparably to my M/M -- to be more specific, they've both sold in the neighborhood of 5,000 copies (they came out in December 2014 and 2015). And that's under my definitely-not-as-well-known pseudonym (hetero and bisexual books under that same name don't sell for crap).

So...yes, y'all. Write F/F and publish it. There are readers, and they are hungry!
 

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Give it to me straight (ha):

Is there any market for f/f romance? I usually hear about m/f and m/m but I never see much f/f. Am I doomed if I want to write it? :(

Yes, for some reason, F/F romance stories seems to be underused. Generally if you look into popular books and shows and how they are received on social media, it are usually about the M/F or M/M pairings that the majority of fans love and discuss. Maybe there are not many strong relationships written between two female characters that are more than just platonic, but there is also a lot of fetishizing as well of M/M romances.
But either way, I think you should just write a F/F romance if you want to. There are definitely a lot of people who would want to read such romance stories (like me)!

Hi Jade A. I'd say go for it. There's some market even if it's smaller than for M/M.

I don't read romance and haven't looked into it, but yeah, on agent/publisher sites, goodreads, amazon and all it's M/M or M/F.

"Is there some reason that a romantic relationship between two women does not appeal to people much?" The question is really - "Is there some reason that a romantic relationship between two women does not appeal to romance readers much?" And the answer is yes, because the readership is almost all women who are mostly hetero. By definition, hetero women aren't into other women, so they're not interested in F/F relationships in a genre read for romantic reasons (different from other genres read for other reasons).

But Jade A you don't have to write what will appeal to the majority of romance readers. You can find a readership and you might get more readers serving a minority group than you would trying to serve the majority. Good luck!
 

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...the readership is almost all women who are mostly hetero. By definition, hetero women aren't into other women, so they're not interested in F/F relationships in a genre read for romantic reasons...

Not to derail ... but that logic doesn't really hold up. By definition, hetero women likely aren't into gay men for romantic reasons either, so how do you account for higher M/M sales if hetero women are the majority of romance readership?

FWIW, studies have found that women's sexuality is far more fluid than men's. I know plenty of straight women who will happily read and enjoy F/F romances. Some readers just want a good story. :)

/derail

Basically, go for it, OP.
 
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Sweet Escape

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Hi Jade A. I'd say go for it. There's some market even if it's smaller than for M/M.

I don't read romance and haven't looked into it, but yeah, on agent/publisher sites, goodreads, amazon and all it's M/M or M/F.

"Is there some reason that a romantic relationship between two women does not appeal to people much?" The question is really - "Is there some reason that a romantic relationship between two women does not appeal to romance readers much?" And the answer is yes, because the readership is almost all women who are mostly hetero. By definition, hetero women aren't into other women, so they're not interested in F/F relationships in a genre read for romantic reasons (different from other genres read for other reasons).

Maybe, but there are a lot of straight women who are into M/M romances. Look at tv shows and how much M/M romances get fetishized even when the relationship is not even happening. If yoy look at different fandoms and go on Ao3 (Archive Of Our Own), the most fanfics written are often M/M relationships. Often written by people who identify as a woman, and not all of them may be straight but there are plenty of straight women as well.

Straight women can like an M/M romance because they genuinely think the characters are suited for each other, of course. But there also have been a lot of cases of fetishizing, so there is that.

M/F and M/M relationships do get more representation. However, that does not mean M/M relationship always get good representation. Though with M/F pairings there can be a bunch of unhealthy ones too.
 
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Layla Nahar

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Adding to the voice that says 'go ahead and write it'. I'm not romance reader, and I prefer my fiction w/ less hanky panky biz than more BUT - heck I've even seen avowed lesbians writing M/M. Would be nice to see an under-represented genre get more 'air' time. :)
 

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I say go for it too. Like others, I think it would be great to see such an underrated market get more attention.

All the best!
 

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Not to derail ... but that logic doesn't really hold up. By definition, hetero women likely aren't into gay men for romantic reasons either, so how do you account for higher M/M sales if hetero women are the majority of romance readership?

FWIW, studies have found that women's sexuality is far more fluid than men's. I know plenty of straight women who will happily read and enjoy F/F romances. Some readers just want a good story. :)

/derail

Basically, go for it, OP.

Maybe, but there are a lot of straight women who are into M/M romances. Look at tv shows and how much M/M romances get fetishized even when the relationship is not even happening. If yoy look at different fandoms and go on Ao3 (Archive Of Our Own), the most fanfics written are often M/M relationships. Often written by people who identify as a woman, and not all of them may be straight but there are plenty of straight women as well.

Straight women can like an M/M romance because they genuinely think the characters are suited for each other, of course. But there also have been a lot of cases of fetishizing, so there is that.

M/F and M/M relationships do get more representation. However, that does not mean M/M relationship always get good representation. Though with M/F pairings there can be a bunch of unhealthy ones too.

It might be surprising, but a lot of hetero women are into M/M in the same way a lot of hetero guys are into F/F. They've only just recently discovered this for women, and publishers were slow to catch on but now have (it started with fanfics and then agents/publishers went with it because of its popularity). It's mostly women (not gay men) who buy M/M romance.

Women's sexuality may or may not be more fluid than men's. They thought so based on some studies where women responded sexually to women, but then studying further found that women respond "sexually" to any sexual images / stimuli (including animals) and it's likely a physical response for protection of the body rather than a psychological sexual arousal. Other non-vaginal, clitoral responses show the more expected results (sorry if too graphic) and are more comparable with men' sexuality. I know it's all been controversial and some have tried to say based on these studies that only women are bi and men aren't bi, but I'm 100% sure men can be bi. Most studies are suspect to me (too many limitations, faulty methods, biased reporting, etc.).

But that said, even if it's a smaller audience for F/F romance than the audience for M/M and F/M romance, I think we can sometimes get our biggest readership from a smaller group who need more options. So I think the OP should definitely go for it.
 

Layla Nahar

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Women's sexuality may or may not be more fluid than men's.
^
Yeh - (& apols for riding the wee derail) but I think men's sexuality and women's sexuality are a lot less different than we have liked to think.
 

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There's a nomenclature thing here that's tricky.

F/F and M/M are identifiers that grew out of erotica markets that were marketed for heterosexual readers.

They are not necessarily the same thing as lesbian or gay fiction and romance; in terms of Venn diagrams, they are overlapping circles.

There is definitely a market for romance and fiction featuring believable queer characters of every stripe; that market includes both queer-identifying readers and straight-identifying readers.

Write your book. Make it the best book you can. Don't market before you've written. Good books will find readers.
 
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