well, the 'this is crap' attitude doesn't necessarily always mean it's coming from a failed entertainer or some elitist swine. i think modern country music is crap. i'm neither a failed musician or elitist. the difference is i can back my opinion up. not that does or should change anyone's opinion, lol.
popular genres invite stagnation by sheer volume of works *and* artists. and there tends to be a repetitious nature of mystery and romance, in particular. i think fantasy had widened up a bit, but mostly due to perhaps the market demanding new avenues as opposed to the schlocky trilogy. i haven't read sci-fi in a long time, so i can't say what's going on there, but that tended to always be a more plot-driven story that had more avenues it could explore than just about any other genre, and the one you could combine elements of other genres in more easily, in theory, than any other.
romance seems to be the most formula driven genre, i'd say. one heroine doesn't seem to typically be especially different than the next. young and beautiful are the requisites, at least for the bodice-rippers, and generally it seems that any of them handle situations in pretty much the same way.
when i think of the term 'literature,' i think of books who have something to say. naturally, someone who thinks they have something to say is going to be elitist over pure escapist entertainment. there are simply not a lot of romance writers who aspire to 'literature.' the difference is romance writers understand that and are pretty cool with it, while some people think everything written has to be on parr with 'moby dick' or 'paradise lost.'
how can nora roberts bang out so many books? good question. she apparently sells enough to keep getting that check in the mail. though i've never read her, i know there are a few of her books on my wife's part of the big built-in bookshelf. you'd be right to question whether she writes to a formula. personally, i don't see how it's possible to write good novels that fast without help.
still, there can be as more if not more research involved in a romance than, say, a modern mystery.
the ability to write a novel never did impress me. someone writes a novel... big deal? who cares? all i care about is if it's any good or not. you know, i've known dozens of guitarists that could play anything you wanted to hear note for note. then ask them to play something original and they'd be like, 'huh?' same thing. so you write a novel because you like the genre, or worse, because it's your favourite type of movie and you think you can do that because you can 'see' the formula repeated endlessly. the 'i can do that' mentality sets in, but that doesn't mean you can compose a readable book. why would i be impressed that someone wasted a lot of their time writing a crappy book anymore than if someone rebuilt a space shuttle engine that doesn't run?
i'm just hard to please, lol. but, after you see the same thing over and over again, and being one for plots and such to begin with i pay attention to those things, why be impressed with yet another version of it? i'm impressed with quality, not in someone who's able to do the same thing i can do and recognize elements which seem to be continually bought. i think this is why romance has branched out in the last decade, offering more 'bridget jones' diaries'-type books and niche market fare. like fantasy, it has to.