What's up with all the tacky western romance novels? - Page 2

ahi · 08-14-2009, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doreenjoy

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I'm seeing a bunch of tacky western romance novels being purchased for public libraries. So what's up with it all? Romance is bad enough, but to add in a western setting, this just goes beyond normal tacky.

Sanctimonious much?

Yeah, JSWolf. Ruggedly handsome cowboys need loving too!

- Ahi

JSWolf · 08-14-2009, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnnaM

"Ya know what bugs me most about romance books?

They often beat the PANTS off my book in download/sale numbers! Like, how RUDE!"

Ha. The flip side is that the romance market space is very competitive. EVERYBODY is a romance writer! Unbroken is 99 cents on Kindle, to get noticed in the crowd. I can say that low pricing works, as the book is consistently in the top 10 westerns (hourly chart), and now hits the top 100 historical romance list occasionally.

But it's not available for people who do not own a Kindle. So you really want to alienate a lot of people who do not own a Kindle? This is one of the major issues we have with Amazon. Exclusive Kindle eBooks does more harm than good. It prevents people without a Kindle from reading them and it gets them pissed enough to not want to read anything else that author may have that they could read. So all you do is piss off potential customers and a bad word of mouth can go a long way.

nomesque · 08-14-2009, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnnaM

Ha. The flip side is that the romance market space is very competitive. EVERYBODY is a romance writer! Unbroken is 99 cents on Kindle, to get noticed in the crowd. I can say that low pricing works, as the book is consistently in the top 10 westerns (hourly chart), and now hits the top 100 historical romance list occasionally.

Yeah, it must be difficult to feel as though you're getting somewhere when it's so fast-moving. :-/

doreenjoy · 08-14-2009, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nomesque

Yeah, it must be difficult to feel as though you're getting somewhere when it's so fast-moving. :-/

Romance is a big tent with a lot of competition. The RWA has over 9,500 author members. Hard to distinguish yourself in a crowd that large.

A friend of mine just won a major, major award for her most recent novel -- a novel which the publisher had remaindered after it was in print for less than 6 months. (And no, I'm not going to share her name, since the information about the book being remaindered was shared in confidence). I'm just using it to illustrate how tough it is to get ahead in the romance market.

doreenjoy · 08-14-2009, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But it's not available for people who do not own a Kindle. So you really want to alienate a lot of people who do not own a Kindle? This is one of the major issues we have with Amazon. Exclusive Kindle eBooks does more harm than good. It prevents people without a Kindle from reading them and it gets them pissed enough to not want to read anything else that author may have that they could read. So all you do is piss off potential customers and a bad word of mouth can go a long way.

It's usually not the authors decision where her books are sold. It's the publisher's.

ETA: I see this book is self-published, so my comments aren't applicable to this particular author.

lilac_jive · 08-14-2009, 07:50 PM

I've been trying to type a respone to this thread for a few minutes. I can't do it without saying something mean.

Can anyone help??

doreenjoy · 08-14-2009, 08:02 PM

Well, the old saying is "if you can't say anything nice..."

I think the tenor of the thread has been pretty nice, all things considered. Or maybe there are just too many other threads setting the bar low, so this one looks like Junior League meeting by comparison.

lilac_jive · 08-14-2009, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doreenjoy

Well, the old saying is "if you can't say anything nice..."

I think the tenor of the thread has been pretty nice, all things considered. Or maybe there are just too many other threads setting the bar low, so this one looks like Junior League meeting by comparison.

I agree. I just wish people wouldn't knock down things they don't understand, especially if things they enjoy might not be that much different.

doreenjoy · 08-14-2009, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

I agree. I just wish people wouldn't knock down things they don't understand, especially if things they enjoy might not be that much different.

Yeah, that would be nice. I think I gave up on that notion long ago.

Anything "by and for women" is going to be denigrated by huge portions of the population. That's been true pretty much since the dawn of time. :-\

lilac_jive · 08-14-2009, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doreenjoy

Yeah, that would be nice. I think I gave up on that notion long ago.

Anything "by and for women" is going to be denigrated by huge portions of the population. That's been true pretty much since the dawn of time. :-\

Ahh, so true.

FizzyWater · 08-14-2009, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doreenjoy

Well, the old saying is "if you can't say anything nice..."

And would the converse of that be: "If you can only say nice things, nothing ever changes"?

Now, I don't see the initial post as criticism (which has at least a potential for being constructive), just belittling.

I think there are too many posts on this site lately that are meant to demean and belittle, to poke fun or appear superior, rather than to share a critical difference of opinion. This is just one of them.

While I really enjoy the benefits of this site - the incredible knowledge-base of the members, the sharing of that knowledge with newbies, the insider insights and announcements of products I've never seen advertised in mainstream electronic sites...

...but the tone is making it a place that's less comfortable to visit with almost every day that passes. And I've pretty much stopped recommending it to newbies to ebooks for the time being (I keep hoping the current mood will pass soon!)

lilac_jive · 08-14-2009, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

And would the converse of that be: "If you can only say nice things, nothing ever changes"?

Now, I don't see the initial post as criticism (which has at least a potential for being constructive), just belittling.

I think there are too many posts on this site lately that are meant to demean and belittle, to poke fun or appear superior, rather than to share a critical difference of opinion. This is just one of them.

While I really enjoy the benefits of this site - the incredible knowledge-base of the members, the sharing of that knowledge with newbies, the insider insights and announcements of products I've never seen advertised in mainstream electronic sites...

...but the tone is making it a place that's less comfortable to visit with almost every day that passes. And I've pretty much stopped recommending it to newbies to ebooks for the time being (I keep hoping the current mood will pass soon!)

She was saying it to me, not to the original poster

FizzyWater · 08-14-2009, 10:44 PM

Yep, got that. But if no one mentions that this kind of post is somewhat offensive, do we tacitly agree with it? Or agree with the tone? My post was more encouragement for you to say what you're thinking!

Of course, it doesn't have to be said in a mean or offensive way back (and I'm not batting all that well at that this week - in cyberspace or IRL, I'm afraid), but I think there's a place for saying something like "was this post (or this tone) really necessary?"

lilac_jive · 08-14-2009, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Yep, got that. But if no one mentions that this kind of post is somewhat offensive, do we tacitly agree with it? Or agree with the tone? My post was more encouragement for you to say what you're thinking!

Of course, it doesn't have to be said in a mean or offensive way back (and I'm not batting all that well at that this week - in cyberspace or IRL, I'm afraid), but I think there's a place for saying something like "was this post (or this tone) really necessary?"

Oh, oops! My problem is once I get going, I can get mean, and since I like the overall tone of MR and don't want it to change, I steer away from it. Plus i'm having a really rotten day, and am a little more cranky than usual.

I wish I could be like Patricia. Always polite but gets her point across

Patricia · 08-14-2009, 11:29 PM

Ha, I do get very cross sometimes, Lilac. But it's mostly with things rather than people.

I think that its unwise to stereotype whole genres. There are good romances and bad ones. And peoples' preferences differ.
Pride and Prejudice is a romance. So is Jane Eyre. But a lot of anti-romance critics re-label them as classics. I think that they are both.

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08-14-2009, 07:50 PM	#21
lilac_jive Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,870 Karma: 27376 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Device: PRS-505	I've been trying to type a respone to this thread for a few minutes. I can't do it without saying something mean. Can anyone help??

08-14-2009, 08:02 PM	#22
doreenjoy 01000100 01001010 Posts: 1,889 Karma: 2400000 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Polyamorous	Well, the old saying is "if you can't say anything nice..." I think the tenor of the thread has been pretty nice, all things considered. Or maybe there are just too many other threads setting the bar low, so this one looks like Junior League meeting by comparison.

08-14-2009, 10:44 PM	#28
FizzyWater You kids get off my lawn! Posts: 4,220 Karma: 73492664 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Columbus, Ohio Device: Oasis 2 and Libra H2O and half a dozen older models I can't let go of	Yep, got that. But if no one mentions that this kind of post is somewhat offensive, do we tacitly agree with it? Or agree with the tone? My post was more encouragement for you to say what you're thinking! Of course, it doesn't have to be said in a mean or offensive way back (and I'm not batting all that well at that this week - in cyberspace or IRL, I'm afraid), but I think there's a place for saying something like "was this post (or this tone) really necessary?"

08-14-2009, 11:29 PM	#30
Patricia Reader Posts: 11,504 Karma: 8720163 Join Date: May 2007 Location: South Wales, UK Device: Sony PRS-500, PRS-505, Asus EEEpc 4G	Ha, I do get very cross sometimes, Lilac. But it's mostly with things rather than people. I think that its unwise to stereotype whole genres. There are good romances and bad ones. And peoples' preferences differ. Pride and Prejudice is a romance. So is Jane Eyre. But a lot of anti-romance critics re-label them as classics. I think that they are both.

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