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Joined: 5/4/2012
Posts: 5
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My question is specific to a project I'm writing, and it may just be my ignorance talking, but I'm curious as to what other writers and publishers consider falls within the 'romance' category. I know there are a lot of subdivisions - contemporary, 'hot', african american, thriller, classic or regency, probably chick lit. But, if anyone is interested, take a look at these criteria.
You have a couple who fell in love in college, have been married for 18 years, have children and separate careers. The husband has become obsessed with his career, his wife is emotionally involved with a younger man. They split in a bitter divorce. There's Explicit sex surrounding the divorce and each partner's relationships with new people. There is no real sex and no real loving relationship between the two primary characters throughout most of the story, but that relationship hangs over the entire novel(s). Everybody in the story knows the two people still love each other. Everybody except the two main characters.
There is - at least in the first two novels - no happy ending. No reconciliation. No new loves that can have a happy ending. There is a lot of pain on both sides. And at least half the novel isn't about the two main characters but instead about the world of crime and the courthouse. There's murder and child abuse and mercy killing and drug cartels and crooked cops and a really hard core explicit sexual assault that plays a major role in the novel.
That doesn't sound to me like any romance i've ever read. I've jokingly referred to it in advertisement as 'the Gone With The Wind' of courthouse novels because it's a courthouse novel that revolves around an epic romance - or some kind of romance. And I believe most people would categorize GWTW as some kind of romance as well as a historical novel.
Anyway, what do you have to have in a story to call it a romance, and does anybody else see the story I've outlined as an adult romance?
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Joined: 4/22/2012
Posts: 175
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From what I've read (looking into publishers' guidelines and other discussion board posts), a romance needs to have a relationship as its centerpiece, with some type of conflict keeping the two MCs from being together (though it's usually, and I think should be, clear that one or both of them wants to make the relationship work), and with either a happily-ever-after (HEA) or happily-for-now (HFN) ending where the characters work through the conflict/beat the bad guy and are finally together for real. A romance doesn't necessarily need to have explicit sexual content (that would fall under the subcategory of (maybe) "spicy" or (definitely) "erotic" romance), but its core needs to be the developing relationship between the two MCs.
From what you've described of your story so far, I wouldn't categorize it as romance. But it does sound like something I'd want to read! 
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Joined: 5/4/2012
Posts: 5
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Ms. Hill:
writers have no shame, as i'm sure you're aware, so let me invite you to check out 'when we were married - volume one - the long fall'posted under my name. i just put a second chapter up. if you like tortured souls, i doubt you;ll find any two more tortured souls than you will there. And I would like a female perspective on the story.
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Joined: 2/9/2012
Posts: 427
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Hi Daniel,
First off, welcome to Book Country!
I really can't tell with certainty whether your novel is a Romance or not, but GONE WITH THE WIND would definitely not be considered a Romance by contemporary publishing standards. It's possible that your novel is women's fiction.
Here are some of the main characteristics of Romances:
1) emotional, evocative tone that draws people in
2) story that centers on a misunderstanding between the protagonists and ends in the happy resolution of their romantic relationship
3) easily recognizable language specific to the genre (for example, Regency Romance novels almost always refer to the ton, the high society in Regency England)
You can check out Danielle Poiesz's really helpful post on the subject entitled "What Romance Readers (and Editors Want)":
http://bookcountry.com/Industry/Article.aspx?articleId=121547
I hope this helps!
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Joined: 5/4/2012
Posts: 5
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Nuvena:
First off, thanks for the insightful response to my question and in particular the post you included. It answered a lot of questions. Unfortunately, none of the answers were what I wanted to hear!
I'm calling it an adult romance because its two central characters are definitely in love with each other, even while they're divorcing, fighting, hurting each other and having sex with other people. The spine of the entire novel is their divorce, life outside divorce, and the over-arching question of whether they can or ever will get back together.
However, while that's the dramatic spine of the novel, the plot or action equally is centered on the courthouse and the male protagonists' professional life as a prosecutor. It may be unmarketable simply because it can't be sold as a romance or as a legal thriller. Thinking out loud, the only category I can see where it might fit would be contemporary drama, modern marriage - in other words a mainstream novel of marriage and the law.
My dilemma which I guess I'll have to live with while I'm trying to drum up some attention is that while I can't get my head around any marketing scheme that would work, I know it will sell. Readers have been following it in serialized form for two years, and are now paying $10 a copy for two volumes of fiction, one of which they could get mostly for free if they wanted to.And I keep getting new readers in dribs and drabs as they encounter the story online or talk to people who have read it.
So, right now I'm flailing, but getting it to some readers even if it's an odd-duck book was worth it and I can only hope as time grows word of mouth from people who have actually read it might grow into something worthwhile.
Regardless, I do want to thank you for your input and taking the time to respond.
Daniel Quentin Steele
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Joined: 4/22/2012
Posts: 175
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Daniel, I think it's great that your work is getting some (monetary) attention out in "the real world!" From the little I've heard, publishers look kindly on publishing authors who already have an established following, so hopefully that will work in your favor regardless of what genre your books fall into.
I'm going to start giving it a read through to see what's going on with the plot; maybe that will change my stance. For now, I'd have to continue to agree with Nevena that what you're writing doesn't sound like traditional romance in any subgenre (though most romances - all quality ones, for sure - generally have some plot external to the two MCs' relationship with one another that affects or is affected by the relationship, and that could be classified in another genre like mystery, thriller, fantasy, sci-fi, etc - so it could very well be that your main thread IS a romance).
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Joined: 1/26/2012
Posts: 28
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Having just read and reviewed what you have, I said it would classify as "erotic romance," mostly due to the explicit language and situations, but really, I think it's more "erotic literary fiction," if such a thing exists. I don't think I would call it women's fiction, because I feel like it is more geared for a male audience, but also romance doesn't feel right either, because of the points mentioned previously. Maybe a modern epic? Whatever it is, it's a really ambitious project, and I wish you all the best!
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Joined: 1/26/2012
Posts: 28
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Okay, and now I just read the discussion on erotica, and want to revise some of my former statement , now having a better
understanding of the genre...
I feel there are strong sexual themes, again with explicit language and situations. I'm not sure if that is the intended focus, though, so although there IS a category for literary erotica, I'm not sure that's how the author views this work. I face a similar dilemma with categorizing one of my works, which I also placed in the thriller genre, although it's more historical literary fiction. Stupid genre rules. 
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Joined: 2/9/2012
Posts: 427
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Ella, genre rules are tricky, I know! Perhaps the best way to learn to write in a certain genre is to read the kind of books you want to write.
Daniel, you shouldn't be discouraged by the fact that your book doesn't fit the romance genre. It doesn't mean it won't find a home!
Book Country was specifically designed for the niche adult genre fiction community—romance, mystery, thriller, science fiction, and fantasy, so it might not be the best site for you, I'm afraid. You are of course welcome to workshop it here, but keep in mind that the feedback that people give you will be informed by their knowledge of genre tropes and the assumption you are trying to get published in a specific genre.
Best of luck to you!
Nevena from BC
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