What would the world be like if romance authors didn’t exist?

Being a romance author is fun, challenging and downright scary for someone who has just joined this exciting adventure. The social media has exploded with the latest developments in the romance genre. The info I read is overwhelming.

I have just completed my latest novel Next Door Temptation and am focusing on promoting it. As an author, I realize how crowded this genre is. The pressure to gain the utmost visibility prompts us to market our books to the max. Not only do we battle for the top ranking, we also must be two steps ahead of those savvy marketeering authors. These authors can make marketing as easy as Sunday morning. How are they able to do that?

I’m envious and wish I could do the same. Realizing how much money they pump into their effort to be on top of the list, I can only watch. With an emaciated backlist and never enough funds, I choose to write more and publish more.

I published my first romance novel back in May of last year. And what I observed and experienced so far is this:

1. Romance authors are supportive of each other. I can see it in every group on social media and in the writing forums. We all share and promote each other’s books through group promotions and newsletter swaps. We congratulate who made five figures in book sales, we contribute our time and money to help one another—reading blurbs and buying books. We give pep talks to new writers who post their frustration over a lack of sales. We steer them to the right path with links to successful authors’ sites.

2. Romance authors band together whenever a crisis comes crashing down on the genre or when one of us is being treated unjustly. No other genre is as passionate as romance. After all, authors of romance are readers themselves. We endure tons of mockery for loving and writing this genre. Yet, the numbers of those writing romance hasn’t diminished but increased.

3. The genre is now saturated, and with so many writing romance novels, the competition has turned fierce. Competing for visibility to gain sales has prompted some of us to be selfish. This lands us in hot water because the same community who supported us at the beginning of our journey has now turned against us.

4. Selfish romance writers can’t build a long career. They heavily depend on the readers of romance. Without buyers’ support, their books wouldn’t get any attention, let alone sales.

5. Writing is a selfish job, business though, isn’t. As a writer turned business owner, we want to market our products—our books—to readers. It means we have to leave selfishness at the door when we put our business hat on and go out there to meet people—online and offline. This dual role is challenging. Most of us fail to come out from our writing shell, prompting us to make the cardinal sin in marketing—being selfish.

Imagine if all of us failed as romance authors. We’d be extinct. What would it be like if there were no romance writers? I’d assume the writing and publishing industry would be quiet and peaceful. No more controversies, no more mockeries. Everything’s going orderly. No more chaos and fierce competition. We’ll suffer in our relationships, alone and lonely without romance stories to inspire us.

And I find that to be boring and sad. Romance is one of the most entertaining genres since Pride and Prejudice, and I can’t imagine not reading a book without witty and endearing banter, hot and steamy scenes and a romantic happy ending.

When we romance writers continue being selfish, our books won’t find their way into readers’ hands. It stays on our shelves, collecting dust. If we want to be read, we need to learn to use our selfishness only in our writing, and never when we interact with others. We must be professional and treat everyone with fairness, the way we want ourselves to be treated. After all, we want to sell our products—our books.