Genre Bouncing within Romance

The reader side of me feels different than the writer side.

The writer sides likes the idea of multiple genres (I write in both contemporary and paranormal romance, so not quite as many genres as you!). My paranormals are generally darker and grittier, but both have HEAs and fun sexy-times.

The reader side of me likes for author to pick one genre and stick to it, dammit! I want to know exactly what to expect when I pick up an author's books. And it's really frustrating for me when I find a book I love, but when I look at the author's backlist, I discover that none of their other books are in the same genre.

If you're looking to build a strong reader base, I think focusing on one (maybe two) genres would be a good choice. But I completely empathize with being interested in writing in multiple genres.

From the reader pov (AND from the business-hat-wearing authorial POV), stick to one subgenre per name.

I've heard readers say they like Jayne Ann Krentz's historicals, but not her contemporaries or paranormal. (Or change them around, but they like ONE of the subgenres, maybe two, but virtually never all three.) Readers have complained to RT magazine about authors who switched genres, and those readers have emphatically NOT followed the author to the new genre. (Sure, new readers did come along, but it's a bit like starting from scratch, finding new readers, without being able to count on the prior readers.)

I remember one author (quite a while ago, hasn't published anything in ten years, at least) who made a point of writing across all the then existing subgenres of romance (this was before erotic romance was its own subgenre, before m/m). I think there were five or six subgenres at the time, and she did publish books in all of those genres. But, sure enough, readers would say they liked the books in subgenre A and not B through F, or some variation on that.

If you want to build your audience, it consists of two basic things: your unique authorial vision/voice/viewpoint (whatever you want to call it; the thing that makes your stories YOURS and no one else's) AND the subgenre.

It's not what you want to hear, but I think you know it's true, and that's why you're asking. My best advice, which I've seen given to people who want the benefits of writing category romance without the restrictions of writing category romance, is to find what interests you as an author WITHIN the restrictions of your subgenre/category. Push the limits, if you want, introduce a little of the boundary-pushing stuff in your stories, but find a way to do it within the basic structure of one subgenre per pen name.

Or, of course, just say "screw it, I don't care about money, and I'm just going to write for myself, and if anyone wants to come along for the ride, I'll be thrilled, but I won't be expecting to make a career out of it."

Depends on what you want. A career? Then find a focus. Writing purely for your own amusement? Then do whatever you want.

BTW, I don't think you're all that far scattered that you couldn't have two basic genres, possibly three with a third name, if you pursue them intentionally. You've got contemporary, paranormal and time-travel, with various degrees of sexuality and grit. So, pair them up, and be consistent going forward (aiming for most lucrative subgenres here): 1. contemporary erotic; 2. dark paranormal erotic; 3. time-travel (either erotic or not; make that decision and stick to it going forward).

I wouldn't draw a line between steamy and erotic; those are pretty much the same market. That just leaves out the lighter paranormal non-erotic. Could you bring those story ideas in as sub-plots in the darker paranormal erotic? Say, a secondary romance within the darker story?

I write about everything under the sun that ends with an HEA. From my experience and talking to my readers, they simply pick what genres I write that they like and buy them. None are put off that OMG I wrote a historical western romance and a erotic sci-fi. I've never had anyone say 'I'm not going to buy your M/M romance because you wrote a M/F/F romance'.

With the way today's social platforms are evolving the old school way of thinking that 'one name per genre' is the way to go just doesn't work anymore. If someone googles my name, I want all my books that I've written to show up. Why? Because most of my readers are cross genre readers and if they like my voice, they'll read pretty much anything in the genre that I write.

For me it boils down to the very foundation of my writing. If I'm not enjoying writing a story it's either not going to get done or turn out like crap. I plan on doing this fifteen years from now, so longevity is more of a concern to me than the current stance on author branding. If I'm not writing books, it doesn't matter what the fuck I brand myself with. Know what I mean?

So far my brand is this "Ann Mayburn- she writes good steamy stories no matter what genre".

This is as a reader. I like authors to write across genres. But then I like most genres from westerns to no sex sci-fi. Tell me a good story filled with characters I like. If I want menage, I know where to look and what to look for in the blurb. Just like I know where to look if I want high fantasy. I am not a stupid reader. Several of my favorite authors write across genres. The thing is, they bring their style to all the genres. And sometimes I WANT steamy historicals and sometimes I want steamy contemporaries. But if you are a good writer, I just want to read what you write. Period.

P.S. I have to add the caveat that I am a voracious reader. In the hundreds of books a year. Across genres. I run out of things to read I read so much.

articshark said:

But if you are a good writer, I just want to read what you write. Period.

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This is how I feel. I'm happy to follow certain authors into different genres because I like their style. With others, I stick to just their X or Y series, because I like the characters/plot. I don't think there's any accounting for taste.

I've always felt a little bit sorry for actors who get pigeonholed into specific roles (villain! comic sidekick! etc). I'd just make sure your books are clearly labeled as one genre or another and let the reader have free rein.

I write paranormal historical, time travel and steampunk with no plans to write under different pen names. Mind you, I'm only actually published in that first category, so I'm no sage or anything

I think 1 name/sub-genre was a more common approach in the past. But now, there seem to be a lot of authors who write a variety of sub-genres under one name. eg. Maya Banks and Lauren Dane. Many of these authors are quite prolific, so if, say, you only like their contemporaries, you've still got a lot to read.

LJD said:

I think 1 name/sub-genre was a more common approach in the past. But now, there seem to be a lot of authors who write a variety of sub-genres under one name. eg. Maya Banks and Lauren Dane. Many of these authors are quite prolific, so if, say, you only like their contemporaries, you've still got a lot to read.

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That's a good point, I think being prolific helps if you're writing in multiple genres. I have a favorite author who only puts out a book a year, and she just announced she's switching from paranormal romance to YA for her next series. I read YA, but I'm irked because I like her sexy adult PNR writing, and now it'll be years before she gets back to that (if she ever does). If she wrote a few books a year and was still writing her adult PNR alongside the new YA series, I'd feel better about it.

Wow - I sound like a demanding reader, don't I?! *blush*

DruidKitt said:

Hi AWers,



A little background:
I'm published under two different names. Both names write romance. One writes primarily erotic romance.

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I don't see any problem with sticking to that basic division - mainstream romance under one name, erotic romance under the other.

I'm one of those people that reads cross-genre and doesn't mind a single author writing in several, but some readers are picky. You *could* keep spinning off pen-names, but I don't think it is really necessary. Erotic is the one I would pick to keep separate because it is the one most likely to have people that just don't want to go there. (Ok, some people are offended. There. I said it.)

If you wanted to split again, I would say maybe the paranormal elements - but is that 1 more name or 2 more (mainstream/erotic)? Pen names can be annoying to keep up with - especially with all the social media we do these days. I'm schizophrenic enough with two names.

Do what makes you happy, but my vote would be to stick to one mainstream and one erotic name.

I like authors who make it easy for me to find everything they write but also make it clear what genre each book is. That way, if I love the voice, I can seek it out across genres, but if I only want to read the contemporary romance I can easily avoid the time-travelling erotica.

So, whether you decide on one or more pen names, I would strongly recommend linking them. A single website, for instance, listing the books by genre. Maybe even pointing it out on the blurb (you might need to negotiate this with publishers).

I don't think what you are doing is all that uncommon among prolific authors. But Ithink changing heat levels is more potentially problematic than subgenres of romance.

As a reader the Jayne Castle/Amanda Quick doesn't matter at all to me. I just like to know what series the book is in.

That said, the above author maintains the same heat level pretty consistently. I know I won't find a menage or BDSM in her books.

I would suggest to divide pen names by heat level if your books vary quite a bit. But I would think a couple pen names--one for spicier, one for sweeter-- would work. I think it is harder to explain to readers that series XYZ is sweet, while series ABC is erotic when they are by the same pen name. But different pen names could do that.

I see authors using the initial thing --Mary Ann Author, MA Author, so they can use the same website, twitter account etc.

I love this topic, as its been one I've been thinking about a lot lately. I'm about to buy the cover for my contemporary romance (I intend to self publish) and I needed to make the decision whether to use the same name for it that I put on my paranormal novel.

The idea of managing two facebook pages, two twitter accounts, two websites, two... you get the idea... made me cringe.

Instead, I'm working with two different cover artists (and will likely either work with a third if I ever get the fantasy series I want to do ready, but that's a long way off.) and I'm making sure the look for my books in each genre is distinct and defined. When someone reads my contemporary, and I have another come out, I want them to immediately know "Ooo, another *contemporary* by Kathy Coleman." Y'know what I'm saying? I don't want them asking where Kess and Sara are. (The hero & heroine of my paranormal novel.)

I do agree about the heat issue. That could be a little harder to brand and while I think slight variations could be okay, if I were ever to write something erotic I'd probably want a different name to make sure there was absolutely no confusion.

Anyway, take this or leave it, as it's all honestly theory. Couldn't resist throwing in my two cents, though. Good luck sorting it all out.