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02-14-2022, 02:23 AM | #16 | |||||||||
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For self-published authors, I've read about the challenges of finding stock photos that fit the book if the protagonists aren't white and slender. Milan has written about this too: Can we talk about black women in stock photos? (Although that was in 2014, things may be better now?) Quote:
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02-14-2022, 07:40 AM | #17 |
o saeclum infacetum
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I think my difficulty with this thread is that in part it's difficult for me to think of books I love, in part that I don’t care if people disparage a book I’ve liked and in part that this ultimately seems to be about a genre in general and not titles in particular. Bingo! Because I think the last is the crux of the issue.
It boils down to the romance genre being met with mockery, even sneering, in a way that other genre fiction isn’t. Why are cheesy romance covers, signaled by bare-chested men, objectively more absurd than cheesy sci-fi covers or cheesy thriller covers? Especially when the last frequently figure the objectification, even abuse of women? And yet somehow, they’re considered art of a sort and at worst fun kitsch, and not trash. Humph, I say. I admit I have issues with romance, mostly because it’s constantly marketed to me even by entities that have tons of data showing I have no interest at all. But that I’m inundated with these promotions on various feeds shows the problem; I obviously fit the demographic and somehow that trumps solid information about my tastes. There’s a double whammy there, also, in that the writers (obviously mostly women) who are paying to be promoted are being cheated in a way that I suspect sci-fi writers are not, where promotions are more effectively targeted. This last is guesswork on my part, as I never see promos for sci-fi. I don’t think the OP in this thread was defensive in tone, but I get why romance fans can feel defensive and perhaps are secretive about their preference. Romance is viewed differently and it’s not about quality, it’s about who reads it. |
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02-14-2022, 09:05 AM | #18 | ||
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02-14-2022, 09:43 AM | #19 | |
o saeclum infacetum
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I think you’re right about romances being formulaic, up to a point. I think the insistence on what is called HEA, or at least HFN, does them a disservice. Why limit outcomes and in a manner which the reader expects? I assume sci-fi doesn’t do that. But then, it’s not dissimilar to mysteries in that respect; readers have every confidence that Peter Wimsey or Hercule Poirot will figure out the culprit and that someone will find Nancy Drew bound and gagged in that closet. |
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02-14-2022, 11:30 AM | #20 |
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An author not writing that is the reason I read the end of the book before purchasing (when it is a paper book) it so it doesn't happen to me. I'm very glad people want realistic books, I don't. Discussion about formulaic stories, awful covers, more realistic characters, in my country, stories placed here instead of USA or UK, are common (or were, I haven't gone in a lot of time) at romance convention. I'm a traditionalist and I like my romance with a happy end and as minimum reality as it's possible (mistoric are a bit more difficult to accept but....). I will be happy for an author if she or he want to broaden their limits and write another things, but I'll be out of there.
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02-14-2022, 02:14 PM | #21 | ||||
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That said, I get uneasy these days when romance is described as "for women, by women". That slogan is being used to make men and nonbinary people feel unwelcome in the genre, and that's (obviously) not good. And there's a huge issue with straight women dominating gay romance to an extent where they push out gay men, and that's also problematic. Quote:
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Authors are, of course, free to write as many love stories with unhappy endings as they like. But they shouldn't slap a label saying "this is a hopeful, uplifting love story" on their tragedies. Just like authors are free to write stories which take place completely in the present day, but then they shouldn't call those books historical novels. And so on. Quote:
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02-14-2022, 02:43 PM | #22 |
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02-14-2022, 03:38 PM | #23 |
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Knowing that I'm a part of that 800 pound gorilla that is straight women reading romance, I try to alleviate this by seeking out, and reviewing, romances written by queer people. (I'm not great at reviewing, but working on it.) In contemporary romance I like Nathan Burgoine, Alexis Hall, and Jack Harbon. In SFF romance, TJ Klune and Tasha Suri. Historical romance: Hm, only E.E. Ottoman springs to mind.
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02-14-2022, 05:42 PM | #24 | |
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02-14-2022, 06:29 PM | #25 | |
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02-14-2022, 07:17 PM | #26 |
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Okay I'm gonna unmask myself here... I just came to collect names for new books to read... yeah, I've been in the mood of reading these for a long while but never truly got the courage to just go and get one... I mean, jeez is the 21st century and I am that stupid, but it's true.
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02-14-2022, 07:43 PM | #27 | |
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02-14-2022, 07:45 PM | #28 | |
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02-14-2022, 07:48 PM | #29 |
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I love a well-done cover, but since I now read so many self-published and small press books in Urban Fantasy, romance, or horror, I've found the cheaply bought covers can sometimes be part of it unfortunately. I've read some great books that had truly awful covers, so I don't let it deter me from trying the book for the most part. Will admit a well done cover draws me in quicker to read the blurb, though.
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02-14-2022, 11:06 PM | #30 | ||
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A 'new' book by a self-published author where they use some photo they took with their phone camera... maybe Jon has a point. |
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