Lusty Tales and Sizzling Sales - Romance Thrives in Ebook Form
The New York Times reports that romance is now the fastest-growing segment of the e-reading market, ahead of general fiction, mystery and science fiction. That’s according to Bowker, a research organization for the publishing industry.
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| Cover too racy? Get the ebook! |
The front-page article by Julie Bosman suggests romance readers are partly attracted to the fact that e-books provide an escape from embarrassing racy covers.
I must admit I’m kind of liking that aspect of e-books. I am one of those readers who gets a little red-faced when someone spots the cover of the latest romance I’m devouring on the train or bus.
The good news for readers is that publishing houses are rushing to respond to e-book demand by making backlists more available in electronic form. Since receiving my Kindle in November, I’ve purchased a number of older books by my favorite authors, titles that I have not seen in the stores. I’ve noticed the older titles also tend to be cheaper, which is another bonus.
Here’s the complete NYT article: Lusty Tales and Hot Sales: Romance Novels Thrive as E-books
The funny thing is a racy custom cover for my Regency Romance novel, A Very Merry Chase, was a bit too extravagant for me. So I, with the help of a graphic artist friend, made one from a customized portrait in the public domain. It actually worried me quite a bit because the end result came out looking very prim and proper sugary sweet–which is not at all an accurate depiction of either my heroine or the comedy of errors nature of my book; but given the research you’ve presented here maybe that’s OK after all.
Thanks for the heads up,
Teresa
Teresa,
I agree covers can be tricky. On one hand, you hope it’s interesting enough for a reader to want to pick it up…on the other, you don’t want it to be uncomfortably racy! Still, editors must know what they are doing…certain covers immediately communicate to the reader what kind of book they are picking up. Too tame a cover might not draw the target audience you’re looking for.
Good luck with “A Very Merry Chase.” I love the title!
Best,
Diana