Karen Harbaugh is a Regency author who follows market trends and has been incredibly accurate in predicting where the next "turn" in the market will be, and why things are operating (or not) as they are. With a lovely re-issue of "The Marriage Scheme" available at Regency Reads, I thought it would be a good time to ask her about the State of the Market, and how that relates to my last blog post regarding the difficulty of selling American-set historical romances.
So here, without further ado, is Karen Harbaugh:
Well, IMHO, what's curtailing the move into American-set romances is the fear of traditional publishers to take risks. That's always been the case, and it's even more so now. Even though they're moving into the "risky" ebook market (at last), this does not mean they're going to take risks with subject matter. They're going to take baby steps, because they have assets to protect and right now, their assets are under a tremendous amount of threat.
Indie authors, on the other hand, have very little to lose. You have a few hundred bucks for a really nice cover and copyright registration, you do your own scanning and coding, and you're good. If you're really short on money, you can try creating the cover yourself and you're out maybe $50-$75.
When I look at what should sell if there weren't these constraints, I'd say American Revolution, Civil War, and WWII eras. Why is this?
1. We are at the same point in the approximately 80-year cycle that gave rise to the American Revolution, Civil War, and WWII. There is and has been rising interest in these eras.
2. We have already seen interest in these eras in the bestseller lists (McCullough's books comes to mind: 1776 and John Adams, the latter of which not only was on the best seller lists, but won the Pulitzer Prize AND was made into a mini-series. The media doesn't plunk that kind of recognition and money down on something like that without knowing it's worth the risk. Interest in the Civil War is suppressed at this time because of continuing racial tensions concerning slavery--it's very difficult to walk the line between historical accuracy and offending someone.
World War II gets special mention. In the 1980's the U.S. released 17 WWII-themed movies. In the 1990's, the same number. From 2000 to 2009, it released twice that many--34. That is a significant jump in not only audience interest, but business investment. In other words, it's considered a relative "sure thing."
3. Controversy sells. In addition, we live in one of the most divisive of times, and when we do, we ALWAYS hearken back to periods of history that might possibly give us the answers we need to get us through. Controversy + desire for answers = big sales.
Mainstream publishing hasn't jumped on these romance trends. I think this is typical--they tend to lag about 5 to 10 years. Case in point: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which developed a cult following from 1997 to 2003. The ratings were modest, but the significance here is in "cult following." That represents extremely loyal viewers who "evangelize" the show and get others to watch it, far beyond the lifetime of the series. This is the epitome of word-of-mouth. You get that kind of loyal readership for books, and you can guarantee bestsellerdom. But, as many of us know, in the mid to late 1990's, the publishers were saying that paranormal romances and vampires were dead (if you will excuse the expression) :-D
The consumer demand for paranormal romances was very heavy even back in 1995. I went to a Romantic Times convention around about that time, and it was significant to me that when the readers (and this was a reader--rather than writer--convention) that when readers were asked what kind of romances they wanted, there was a loud cry for paranormal romances, and a great deal of frustration that they couldn't find them. Keep in mind that these readers--like the Buffy fans--were readers so dedicated that they would not only go to a convention for romance novels, but they were the romance novel evangelists. The kind you want to spread word of mouth.
Yet, publishers at that time kept insisting that such romances were not popular. However, we all know how that subgenre has been doing since that time.
If I were to go on historical circumstances and similarity to our own era, I'd say that the order of relevance would be American Revolution, WWII, and then the Civil War.
However, our memories are short, and what we are currently told about the American Revolution is highly politicized. So the most accurate accounts we have of an era that is similar to ours is for WWII, because we still have some eyewitnesses.
If we were to write stories in older eras, we REALLY have to do our research. We can't go on the stereotypes of those eras. We have to look at those eras with fresh eyes and present a fresh, and very accurate perspective. So far, I don't think that's been done. The research may be good, but the fresh perspective may not be there.
If you want some historical parallells or have other questions, feel free to ask.
And since she's asked for questions. . . . ask away!!
13 comments:
I have been a paranormal romance reader before the genre had a name, andd firmly believe it will be arou d forever. Good storeies never go out of style.
I don't write historical, but hold those who do in the highest esteem. There's a high amount of era accuracy required. This was an interesting blog, Karen. Thanks for giving me something to think about. And hi to both you and Carol!
I used to be a Civil War reenactor and have several CW romances out with an e-publisher, The Wild Rose Press.
But I decided to set my new romance five years after the war to see if readers would show more interest in that time period. It's still set in the Victorian period, so I'm selling it as post Civil War, or American Victorian romance. And the characters are Northerners, so I didn't have to touch on the slavery issue.
I'd really hoped the 150th anniversary of the Civil War would change opinions on this historical genre, but I can understand why you say some publishers just don't want to touch it.
Maybe post Civil War/Victorian romance will catch on.
Hmm. Looks like my comment disappeared. I'll try again:
Susan, I'd say keep writing those Civil War romances. I don't think those romances are going to do well if everyone abandons them. In fact, I think that what would work best is to be bold and explore the issues with your characters.
For example, the popular notion about the Civil War is that it was all about slavery. Well, actually, no. It was about the South's wish to be preserve the notion of state's rights and self-determination (states were pretty close to self-contained nations back then, with their own currency, etc.) versus the North's wish to eradicate slavery, and oh by the way, gain economic dominance. No, the North was not pure in its motives, especially when you realize they were running their manufacturing companies on the backs of sweatshop workers in impoverished, crippling conditions.
One of the most gripping novels I've read set in that time and place was Anne Perry's Slaves of Obsession. She really dug into the ideological issues by using her English characters traveling to the U.S. to solve a mystery. One of her protagonists, Hester, was one of Florence Nightingale's nurses, and she ended up volunteering in a field hospital. As a result, I was able to see not only the real, urgent ideological issues, but the cost in human lives when those ideologies refused to come to consensus. Perry took those ideals and made them human. Brilliant book, in my opinion.
So if you're going to write a Civil War book, write it boldly. Don't pull your punches.
Tried that already, Karen. The probem with small e-presses is books don't get noticed so well, amid all the other releases out there.
My first Civil War romance was a time travel; the heroine a modern day woman who was thrown back to a Confederate army camp, the hero a Southern officer.
The other book was straight historical romance. The heroine was an Irish immigrant who disguised herself as a man to fight for the Confederacy, the hero a Southerner who spied for the Yankees.
Both books got great reviews, the second even won two contests, but sales just aren't what I'd hoped they would be.
I thought post Civil War might draw more romance readers, so that's where my newest release is set.
Interesting, Susan. I'm currently working on a post-CW historical romance, although little other than the time period has to do with the war. There are mentions of it, of course, but it's not a focus of the book. I find this such a fascinating period of our history, and I'm surprised that more people don't want to read about it, at least in the romance market. Like Karen pointed out, other straight-fiction books have sold well. Is it that people don't see that there were love stories during that period, too?
Well, I suspect you've hit against the stereotypic picture of the Civil War era. That is a problem. It may take a while before people decide to look at that era again and with luck, it'll be during a less politicized outlook.
I do think that the American Revolution has a good chance, though, especially if the economic concerns were brought forward (mortgage meltdown, bailout by government of multi-national corporation, deep recession/depression, protest against higher taxes and joblessness, etc.).
Still, it pays to pay attention to what the movie and TV industry is doing with regard to stories and period pieces. If you see an uptick in the type of stories and eras in entertainment media, or a burgeoning interest on the internet in same, then it usually indicates buyer interest and word-of-mouth. Buffy wasn't the only show that had a kick-ass heroine/paranormal/futuristic slant: There was Dark Angel and Alias, for example that followed concurrently/soon after.
Hmm. I need to scan the TV listings to see what pops up vis a vis movie and TV types.
I suppose you could set something admidst the Whiskey Rebellion, and that might just resonate with a lot of today's readers. Not so much for the whiskey, but for the small government/big government argument that brought the whole thing on.
I have decided to investigate and write with the history of my state, Oklahoma, in mind. My very first published novel, A Run For Love starts at the 1889 Oklahoma Land Run. The other four books in the series (the second in the series, A Wife By Christmas was released a week after A Run For Love) will take place in and around the first one, incorporating Oklahoma history. As much as you may think 'who else would be interested except Oklahomans?', my niece in NJ was fascinated by my book, and after finding out it really happened assigned her students to do a paper on the Land Runs.
A good love story is a good love story, and I firmly believe as long as we keep publishing high quality stories, we may resurrect American Historicals.
Oh, I just love, love, love this blog! And, might I add, that this blog has some very savvy and brilliant commenters too!
Anyway, I'm so glad to read about indie publishers. I'm thinking this is the way to go. By the way, I just read how CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL could not sell . . . at first. It was rejected by more than 140 publishers. Now, the series is one of the biggest sellers of all time. One of the inventors of the book--forget which one righ now--said that he just had too much faith that he HAD to get his book out to the public. So, in the end the book sold to a very small house that couldn't keep up with the demand. The publishing world is changing, and as authors we have more choices, thanks to indie publishers, e-publishers, and self-publishing. Maybe big houses are scared of the risks, but many were kicking themselves for not taking the risk of publishing the SOUP series. Let's just make those publishers kick themselves a little harder by writing amazing American Historicals!
-Lani
Lani, not to mention the Harry Potter books, which were rejected by everyone, and only grudgingly accepted by Scholastic. And bless J.K. Rowling for sticking with Scholastic when the series took off, rather than jumping ship. It turned out to be a win-win for both. We just need a Civil War or some other American-set historical romance to take off, and then the time period will be "hot" again.
So, here are my 2-cents worth on this. I do believe we will be seeing more of a shift in the historical market, but for many, some of the issues we see in American History is still hitting too close to home. This is one of the biggest reasons why we shy away from the Civil War. There will be a shift but it is simply going to have to come slowly.
I would also have to add, in terms of the arugment of why digital publishers are putting the stories out there but traditional publishers aren't, the answer is money. To put a book on a server isn't going to cost the same amount as the investment in printing 100,000 copies of a book, shipping it out to book sellers and then paying for the shipping when the books don't sell.
Don't give up on those stories though. I have an author right now who has a great Civil War story. We are just holding out for the right momement.
Scott
Thanks, Scott! Thanks for talking to the chapter the other night, and for your insight on the American-set romance issue. A range of opinions is great to get. If Civil War is still too "fresh" in peoples' minds, what things do you see that ARE selling, as far as American-set historical romances?
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