One of those facepalm moments. You finally pluck up the courage to tell someone, a colleague or a friend, that you write novels, and then what happens? What sort of novels, they ask. Romance, you reply. And then what happens?

The sniggers start. Romance, huh? The comments start: everything from jokes about porn, which is just great in a conservative industry like mine, or even better, comparisons to that book series, which is being made into movies.

But, you know what? Romance is one of the biggest selling genres out there. A crowded genre to be sure, but it is still much bigger than many others. The graphics I have used are from the Romance Writers of America site and a few other sources, and make for a definite eye-opener, particularly when your precious love story is mocked for being a … love story.

Yes, folks, it looks like that worthy classic literary fiction category, the ‘good’ books that everyone is reading, was the lowest selling category in 2010.

Whoops! Still think it is just a flash in the pan that romance is a worthwhile genre? Let’s have a look at 2014 then …

And, would you look at that … Not only is Romance still the biggest category, but Indie Published Romance is the largest category in there. That brings me onto another topic.

How many times as an independent author have you heard one of the following:

• You need to find an agent
• You are not a real author unless you have a publisher
• Indie? That’s just vanity publishing.
• Indie? Isn’t that where you pay someone to publish your work?

I don’t mind admitting that hearing someone tell me I am not a ‘real author’ without have a recognised publishing name behind me has one result: I want to smack them and as a qualified 1st Dan black-belt in Shotokan karate, I do know how to make that count.

Let’s straighten one thing out here. I am an indie author. I publish my own work via Amazon, CreateSpace and Smashwords. More recently, I have used KDP to produce a print-on-demand version of my latest book. Yes, I do my own editing (sharp intake of breath). Yes, I make mistakes. Yes, I have had the embarrassment of having to pull a book so that I can upload the corrected version. But, it is a learning process. And no, I don’t have an agent or a publisher.

But I digress because this piece is about romance, and why it is the largest selling category. The reason is remarkably simple. It could be argued that the same reason explains why religion exists. Life can be hard, so it is human nature to want something better. Quite simply, a well-written romance can lift the spirits.

Not always, but it is more likely to lift the spirits than a book about how hard the protagonist’s life is. If all you have before you is pain and suffering, then yes, you may feel better because at least your life is not that bad. On the other hand, read about love and you have another option. You have the possibility of hope. Yes, your last relationship may have ended badly. Yes, your ex-husband/wife may have been a demon lowlife brought to human form. But that romance, that happy-even-after or happy-ever-after-for-now has given you hope.

It is that nebulous potential of hope which, to my mind, makes romance one of the biggest genres in the fiction market. Laugh all you like at Mills & Boon, but it is big business. People want to believe in the light at the end of the tunnel. Even if you can’t have the fairy-tale, there are the small ‘loves’: a smiling child, a word of thanks. Little flashes of light which give us hope that perhaps tomorrow will be better. That is why romance sells. It is not an undying love for smut or sex. It is the hope that a good love story will bring.

I have just finished writing a story, in which the male protagonist is based on an idea I had relating to my fascination with the Egyptian Goddess, Sekhmet. It started as a way to burn off a bad day at work. It will go live on Amazon on 31st March, although courtesy of their system, the print-on-demand version is available now. It deals with prejudice, but when it comes down to it, the hero and heroine find that the bond between them is stronger than the prejudice of others.

The downside of writing romance is that it is a crowded marketplace. It could be argued that perhaps it is easier to make your name in a less crowded arena. Big fish, small pond and all that. However, another way of looking at it is that, with it being such a big marketplace, perhaps readers might be willing to take a chance on a new author. Who knows? That reader might like what you have written, might recommend it to someone else, because you brought a promise into their lives.

Hope. Hope that there is a better world out there. That’s the promise of romance. So the next time someone mocks you for writing romance, you can smile. At least you brought hope into someone’s life. That’s not a bad thing to do.

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LINKS TO THE BOOKS IN THE DIARIES OF THE CWN ANNWN and HELLFIRE PACK SERIES

“Bound”, Volume 1 of The Diaries of the Cŵn Annwn
Amazon.com $0.99: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016TQFBNY
Amazon.co.uk £0.99: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016TQFBNY
Smashwords.com £0.00 (Free): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/589130

Modesty. Yeah, we are always taught that it isn’t polite to blow one’s own trumpet. Most of my blog posts have been about how I have created my stories. This one was ‘inspired’ by research into author associations. I am a member of the RRBC (Rave Reviews Book Club), and am considering joining the Romance Writers of America (https://www.rwa.org) even though I am UK based. So, I thought, there must be UK versions of these organisations … Seems logical, right? Wrong!

Put in ‘author associations uk’ into Google, and yes, you do return some results. But then, it seems that whoever runs at least one of those groups is missing the point.

I have alluded to the perception that to be a ‘real author’, you must have an agent, a publishing contract and have sold loads of books. Otherwise, it is just vanity publishing. So, in my search, I came across one group, which did have a category of membership for ‘self-published authors’. Click on the link and I nearly spat my coffee out over my laptop. Why? In order to be considered by this group, one had to have sold £500 worth of books or over 100 copies. Yet, when I looked at the sorts of topic they covered, they were topics aimed at new authors e.g. how to build a fantasy world. So why the disparity?

I can’t say that I know the reason. But what struck me was that, if you expect an indie, self-published author to have sold £500 worth of books, you are talking anywhere from 500 copies to … well, the sky would be the limit. In effect, they are expecting an indie author to have the same sort of sales as an author with an agent actively pushing their work, and a publisher doing the same 

Why do I have an issue with this? I am an indie author. I don’t want an agent and I have my own registered company which I list as my publisher. My day job is working in sales, so I appreciate the whole issue of sales, profit margins, production costs etc. I sell my books at prices of £0.99 to £3.05, with one book on Kindle Unlimited by Amazon. I have print-on-demand versions available for those who prefer a ‘real’ book rather than an e-book.

However, the key thing is that for me, I don’t expect to make my fortune from my writing. If there are people out there willing to buy my books, then well and good. I thank them from the bottom of my heart. But, that set of criteria for joining the UK organisation could be very discouraging. It takes time to establish yourself, and if you have to work a day-job in the meantime, it decreases the amount of time you have for self-promotion.

The right kind of self-promotion is what helps to sell your books. Can you see the ‘Catch 22’ of the situation? Some will not perceive you as a ‘real author’ if you don’t have the sales. But I am a writer. I have sold books. If ever I reach the dizzying heights of selling a few hundred books, I will be rather pleased. But, dreams don’t pay the mortgage. So the day job stays, with the acknowledgement that it limits the number of hours I have for self-promotion.

So, where does blowing my own trumpet come into this? There is one thing that I would like to think I have done. I am fortunate in that, in writing my stories via ‘live’ posts on Facebook, in the style of ‘online role play’ which I export into Word for editing, I have also met some wonderful people. Many enter the world of online role-play because they want to write, but without the hassle. Does that make them any less of a writer? Some of them write some incredibly involved and detailed stories. Due to the risk of Facebook attacking their author accounts, I can’t give them to public praise that they deserve. Thus, many of them remain hidden. But one or two have been willing to work with me.

On 31 March, I will publish my latest book, “Merysekhmet”, written with the wonderfully talented Kaitlyn Bosch, a Californian-based author whom I met online. Kaitlyn had a bad day at work, so I suggested we wrote a fight scene. Previously, we had been discussing characters to whom we wanted to give ‘voice’. We decided to use two such characters: Ramses Tariq-Omari, a lion shifter and doctor, and pair him with Elizabeth DeAnglo, the assistant to one of the other characters, who was very much under-utilised. A fight scene led to a meet up for coffee, so Ramses could check Elizabeth was healing after the fight. Then Elizabeth was threatened by the Wendigo who had killed her husband. Ramses, being the conscientious doctor that he was, couldn’t leave her unattended, and she finds herself in his apartment …

If you want the rest, you have to buy the book, or download it if you have Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited.

Trumpet blown. I am happy with what I have done. I have made some fantastic friends online, not all of whom I have met in person, but it doesn’t make them any less my friends. If you don’t sell hundreds of books, it does not mean you are not a ‘real author’. I have a small group of followers who read my stories as I write them. Even if they don’t buy my books, although some have, it does not make them any less my fans.

And, going back to that UK-based organisation? In a business world, which seems to be their focus, they should perhaps remember that they are not the only organisation out there for romance writers.

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LINKS TO THE BOOKS IN THE DIARIES OF THE CWN ANNWN and HELLFIRE PACK SERIES

“Bound”, Volume 1 of The Diaries of the Cŵn Annwn
Amazon.com $0.99: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016TQFBNY
Amazon.co.uk £0.99: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016TQFBNY
Smashwords.com £0.00 (Free): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/589130