I've got a theory about why the paranormal romance market is soft right now. As a writer of vampire romance novels, I've heard this time and again at conferences and have seen it in the swift (automatic?) rejections by agents and mainstream romance publishers. Just yesterday, in fact, I received this response to a personal query to a romance imprint editor: "Sorry, but we're not actively seeking paranormal romances at this time."I have a theory about what's happened. In response to the runaway popularity of the Twilight saga, authors and publishers rushed to fill the market with vampire novels, most of them total contrived crap. Weary of reading drivel, readers turned to other paranormals: shifters, faeries, fallen angels, etc. Publishers, meanwhile, chased novelty to the point of ridiculousness. Make it fresh, make it different, make it stand out from the other books on the market!
The HBO series True Blood is a case in point. It was good in the beginning (better than the books, IMHO), then it tried too hard and got weirder and weirder until . . . viewers lost interest and HBO decided the next season will be its last.
This is just my opinion based on observation and little more. But can we please just get back to the kind of paranormal romance I enjoy reading and writing: sexy, heartfelt love stories about a relateable heroine and a sexy vampire hero? Is that too much to ask for? Perhaps I'm totally off base. Thoughts?
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Writing smexy paranormals with a Celtic twist. Blogging about good books.