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I once had somebody complain there wasn't any sex in my first novel, so it couldn't be classified as "M/M romance".
M/M and sex
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Well that's absolutely ridiculous, if ever I heard something that qualifies as such. What does sex and romance have to do with one another? Often sex is a part of romance, but it isn't required for something to be a romance. That's like someone saying it isn't slash if I write a Kirk/Spock story and I don't make them have sex. Granted K/S is fanfic, but the point is the same. Someone doesn't get to say it isn't slash because there's no sex or it fades to black, and neither do they get to say something isn't M/M romance because of a lack of sex.
People are astounding, and not in a good way either.
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Well what the hell did they think it was, then?
Why, a bromance, of course!
(To be serious, I have seen several reviews of m/m books that complain about the lack of sex in sweeter romances, while others complain of too much sex in the more explicit ones, lol.)
No matter how clear you make the blurb, there will always be someone pissed off by something you wrote. Most of the time their objections won't make any sense to you.
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I just took it as "what-TF-evarz!" and went about my business. I was confused and a little upset but it let it slide off my back and occasionally tell the anecdote in situations like this.
A few publishers are looking for 'sweet' romances. I know Riptide were in particular (possibly still are). And Dreamspinner/Torquere etc. have heat ratings on their websites so you can filter your searches.
I'm looking for a good asexual romance. That's proving quite difficult!
I'm looking for a good asexual romance. That's proving quite difficult!
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The last asexual romance I read was MCA Hogarth's Mindtouch. One characters is asexual, the other is very long-lived and deferring seeking sexual relationship, and it is certainly a romance.
I agree. It is tricky. I think I may have spidey-senses when it comes to choosing. (-: Sometimes it's just a less steamy cover that gives me hope. I actually don't want to read steamy...I'm happy with When Harry Met Harry romance...with implied sex is fine... Like I said, I'm a prude. Not into the hot and erotic stuff AT ALL. I have been burned...you can't always judge a book by its cover. I read a lot of YA...as you said, it tends to be less explicit. Also tends to be about first relationships, etc. All lovey-dovey touchy feely romance. I'm good with that. I write YA, so it doesn't hurt to read it...
There are certainly publishers who will look at sweeter m/m romances, which is fortunate for me because one of my works-occasionally-in-progress does have sex scenes, but not until 20k in. Which is probably not steamy enough for my usual publisher. I'm perfectly capable of writing stuff that's not just steamy but boundary-pushing, if that's what the story calls for. (Exhibit A, Mindscan, Exhibit B, Dolphin Dreams.) This particular novel does not have anywhere to put a sex scene earlier than 20k, and has a secondary romance which is both m/f and asexual, which is why I'm keeping a note of publishers who seem to be interested in sweeter m/m for when I finally finish the thing.
I'm perfectly capable of writing stuff that's not just steamy but boundary-pushing, if that's what the story calls for. (Exhibit A, Mindscan, Exhibit B, Dolphin Dreams.) This particular novel does not have anywhere to put a sex scene earlier than 20k, and has a secondary romance which is both m/f and asexual, which is why I'm keeping a note of publishers who seem to be interested in sweeter m/m for when I finally finish the thing.
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Sweet M/M can also of course go to publishers of the overall genre which may or may not be romance, fantasy, literary etc.
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Yeah, I know some SFF stories that have gay characters.
However, the problem with some of them is they tend to not have much of the romance aspect, focusing more on the main non-romance plot, worldbuilding and/or history, or they have too much violence for my taste. I'm the opposite of the American mentality: I'd rather have sex scenes over violent scenes, lol.ETA: One example is the series by Lynn Flewelling. I enjoyed the first book (despite the info dumps about geography and history), but the rest of the trilogy became kind of dark and a bit too violent fory taste, and the bits of romance that was there just didn't satisfy me.
But then, that's why I prefer MG/YA (of multiple genres) and romance genres over adult SFF.
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GUYS. GUYS, I FOUND IT. I WAS NOT IMAGINING THINGS.
It's Breathless Press. Same-sex material = heat level four. What do they do when someone submits m/m and f/f with no sex scenes, or few sex scenes? Do they reject it, or do they automatically categorize it as being very sexual anyway?
For other reasons, Breathless is not on my to-query list. But this bit of nonsense would be a reason in itself. Shades of old RWA prejudices, and 'Oh, we don' t allow That Kind of Smut here.'
Now I'm curious, because I think I've seen similar language from other romance publishers.
Now I'm curious, because I think I've seen similar language from other romance publishers.
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I don't know if I've seen the language, but I've definitely noted it in the ratings given. I'd say being m/m bumps books at least one level up on whatever heat scale the publisher uses.
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It depends very much on the publisher. Some do not consider pairing in the heat factor at all. Others don't even have an empirical heat rating
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