Romancing the tome: How romance writers surprised the publishing world

Writers of romance novels, unlike authors in every other category, saw their incomes rise with the advent of digital publishing. What was the source of their success? Christine Larson was inspired to investigate. In her book “Love in the Time of Self-Publishing: How Romance Writers Changed the Rules of Writing and Success,” she asks, “Why did romance writers, arguably the most mocked, maligned, and mistreated group of authors in history, become the most successful and innovative writers in the e-book revolution?” Dr. Larson, a journalism professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, finds the answer in the cooperative spirit of Romancelandia, the term used to describe the genre’s community of overwhelmingly female writers and readers. Romance Writers of America (RWA), founded in 1980, was Romancelandia’s most prominent organization, with membership of the networking and advocacy group topping 10,000 at its peak. But internal strife, mostly revolving around issues of diversity and inclusion, splintered RWA, which filed for bankruptcy in May. Dr. Larson spoke recently with the Monitor. The interview has been edited and condensed.

Why has romance been disrespected as a literary genre?

Because in Western society, women have traditionally been disrespected, women’s writing has traditionally been disrespected, and women’s sexuality and romantic joy and pleasure have been sidelined and discounted. We see all of these forces coming together. It’s the perfect storm of misogyny. 

Still, romance writers have been much more successful with the transition to digital publishing than other authors. Why?

They were basically the laughingstock of publishing. Some of the founders of RWA told me that they would be at writing conferences and agents would say, “Why are you at this conference? You’re not a real writer.” So they formed these networks where published writers and aspiring writers came together and developed real, authentic relationships. My research showed that bestselling authors were unusually likely to form advice relationships with aspiring authors. And it wasn’t just that the published writers were mentoring the up-and-comers. The aspiring writers knew a lot about the digital world that published writers didn’t know. That two-way flow of information was much more difficult in writing communities where those relationships didn’t exist.

What is Amazon’s role in this story?

Amazon unleashed something that’s never been true in industrialized publishing before, which is that authors had an economically viable way to bring their stories to the public and make money, through digital self-publishing. 

The problem is that Amazon’s central interest is not in bringing stories to the world – their central interest is in making money. There are elements of the ecosystem that work against authors. For instance, if I’m an author and I want you to find my books, I pretty much have to buy ads from Amazon or I have to participate in Kindle Unlimited. And if I’m on Kindle Unlimited, I can’t sell my books on other platforms. 

The RWA emphasized community and solidarity. How did it unravel?

RWA was founded by Vivian Stephens, who was one of the only Black editors in all of New York publishing at the time. It was initially diverse for its time. But the publishing industry in general, then and still today, is very white-dominated. It was much harder for authors of color or any other kind of diverse author to get published for a long time, and that’s actually still true today. The problem with RWA is that while they welcomed diversity, they didn’t recognize the challenges, barriers, and needs of all of their members. They diversified their board, and they started holding diversity summits with publishers, but it was too little, too late. They lost their membership’s trust.

Do you think the organization can recover?

I think romance writers will find different ways to organize. Greater Romancelandia is so invested in supporting each other. I think we’re going to see lots of smaller networks. I don’t think RWA will ever have the numbers that gave it power in the past.

What lessons do romance writers have for other writers or even for other freelancers or gig workers in the digital economy?

I think the big lesson is that if you’re an individual creator or worker – a writer, a musician, an influencer – and you want to be treated fairly, you absolutely need a united community. But if you want a united community, you have to make sure that everyone is treated fairly. If you don’t, that community will unravel and leave everyone more isolated and alone in a world where big companies and corporations absolutely take advantage of isolation. 

I love studying this community because when you’re studying a group this big, you’re really studying a slice of American history and culture. It’s really a book about alternative forms of labor organization, but it’s wrapped up in this fun, wonderful package about women and reading. What could be more delicious?