What's my point, exactly? Well, for one thing, I'm old. For another, I've said a lot of things about romance novels over the years and written a lot of opinion pieces. People used to like my opinion pieces, and it probably hasn't gone unnoticed that I don't write them anymore. Why? Reread that first paragraph again. I've been blogging for 22 years. I have reached the point where I feel like I've already said it and Romancelandia tends to be cyclical in it's Drama Llama. I mean how many times do I really want to wade into the "do romance novels need a happy ending?" discussion? Y'all I found it annoying as shit the first time around, let along the 4,598th time.
But it's not lost on me that my longevity in blathering about the genre means I have seen some things. I got grudges yo. I've come through the fire, and your Auntie Wendy is here to impart some hard-won wisdom to you young'uns. That is, what do we do about what feels like the final gasp of historical romance? Once the Grand Dame, the stalwart of the genre, she's now lying bleeding in the forest getting pitchforked to death by Grumpy/Sunshine (god I hate that term - we used to just call that shit Opposites Attract....) single title contemporaries with cartoon covers that think trope = conflict.
Historicals Will Only Die If We Let Them - I started reading the genre heavily before eBooks were "a thing." Mass market paperback was king and went out of print in a nanosecond. Readers missed a lot of books when they could buy them new and resorted to used bookstores and/or trading online with other readers once that became a thing. Y'all we have self-publishing now. We have books that stay "in print" digitally and in print-on-demand editions for a very, very long time. While traditional publishing has seemingly abandoned historicals, self-publishing has not. Also backlists are more readily available now than they ever were. Like, ever. All this to say that you can now easily still buy and read a historical romance published in 2005 and enjoy it without crawling on the floor at a used bookstore checking the bottom shelves.
You Need To Read Historicals and Promote Them - Yes, I know everybody is reading the new Emily Henry, Tessa Bailey or Whomever book, but if you love historicals you need to invest in them with your time. Read them and talk them up with your friends, on social media, drop the author an email and tell them how much you enjoyed their book (authors love that shit) etc.
That Said, You're Going To Read Some Shit - Look, you're going to need to take chances on authors you've never read before and you're not going to like all of it. I know you're sad that Lisa Kleypas hasn't published a historical in five years, but you're going to need to take fliers on authors you're not as familiar with. Honestly I used to hear this excuse a lot, but really in this day and age it no longer holds water. Folks, Jesus died to give you ready access to samples via online retailers, and publisher and author websites (some are better about this than others, admittedly). I realize Amazon is our Evil Overlord and generally vile, but it's a reader's best friend in being able to read samples. You can try something before you buy it. Yes, you might still hate that book once you've finished reading but you at least can get a good idea of the writing style etc. before you invest your dollars.
Get Every Library Card You're Eligible For - I'm not going to lie, library funding sucks. I don't know any library that's rolling around naked in piles of money and it's only going to get worse. That said, get a library card because while they're not going to have everything you want to read and you're going to be stuck on wait lists for the stuff they do have that you want to read, it's a great way to take a flier on an author that's new to you or an author you're debating on breaking up with (sorry, not sorry). And while you're at your local public library signing up for a library card - ask them who they have "reciprocal borrowing" agreements with. You might be eligible to get a card in a neighboring jurisdiction and not even be aware of it. This is especially handy for digital services like Libby and Hoopla because it'll expand your access to titles and in Hoopla's case, number of monthly borrows.
2 comments:
Welcome back, Little Miss Crabby Pants!
While I am sorry there's a need for your clarity and verve, I'm glad to see you all the same.
As for the post itself...
Picture me standing in a room, alternatively clapping and hollering, and holding a cigarette lighter (or some other, less environmentally damaging, source of light).
"I've seen some things. I got grudges...cartoon covers that think trope = conflict."
I remember, back in the mid-1990s, you looked at historicals and could find everything from Romans in Britain to the Norman Conquest to Vikings to all sorts of medieval-set stories set in various places in Europe, to Westerns pre and after the Civil War, and so on and so forth.
Granted, we didn't much written by people from, or set in, Australia or New Zealand, and none in Africa, Asia, most of the American continent, but at least we didn't have twelve thousand single, eligible, and ripped dukes avoiding or pursuing marriage in the same city during the same ten years, all published at the same time. There was *some* variety to be had.
Then it was Romancelandia Regency and wallpaper historicals as far as the eye could see, for a good dozen or more years. It's only recently, as more people decide to selfpublish or go with small independent presses, that we are starting to see some of that variety come back.
And we really need to throw our weight behind those authors as much as we can, because yes, they too need to eat (and heaven knows nothing is getting any cheaper).
Now, if I could only get my reading mojo of 2023 and the first nine months of 2024 back somehow....
Thank you so much for going to bat for our little corner of romancelandia. I cling to the fact that Historicals were also dying the year I sold, and have died a couple of other times since then, even though I've kept writing them.
Times are tough, and it doesn't help that my line is ebook only in the US, and selling better across the pond. It's hard to see and be seen on this side of the Atlantic.
So, people, if you liked Bridgerton, and you can't even when looking at the news in modern day America? Try living in the past. There are lots of stories there.
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