Romance Novels: Genre & Sub-genre
Understand Categories of Romance Fiction to Market Your Manuscript
Simplifying, for the writer, the bewildering categories of genre and sub-genre in romance fiction.
Categorizing Romance Fiction
When you decide to write romance fiction, you may have a very clear idea of what you want to write immediately. If you read Harlequin Intrigue titles, and want to write something like that, then you already know that beyond simply writing a romance novel, you want to write one with elements of suspense or mystery, as in Romantic Suspense, or Romantic Mystery.
But it’s equally likely that you have a great idea for a romance novel, but haven’t really thought about where it will fit in the market once you’ve finished it. While a writer should never be solely guided by market considerations, if you plan to sell a manuscript, keep your target market in mind while you're writing. The Romance Writers of America website has some useful information on sub-genres of romance fiction.
Sub-Genres According to RWA (Romance Writers of America):
- Contemporary Series Romance - Series romance novels that focus primarily on the romantic relationship and typically set after 1945.
- Contemporary Single Title Romance - Romance novels which focus primarily on the romantic relationship, released as individual titles, not as part of a series and set after 1945.
- Historical Romance - Romance novels set in any time period prior to 1945, and taking place in any location.
- Inspirational Romance - Romance novels in which religious or spiritual beliefs (in the context of any religion or spiritual belief system) are a major part of the romantic relationship.
- *Novels with Strong Romantic Elements - A work of fiction in which a romance plays a significant part in the story, but other themes or elements take the plot beyond the traditional romance boundaries. (*An example of a publisher that handles this would be Harlequin’s Luna line; elsewhere such fiction is sometimes labeled 'Womens' Fiction')
- Paranormal Romance - Romance novels in which the future, a fantasy world or paranormal happenings are an integral part of the plot.
- *Regency Romance - Romance novels in which the majority of the story is set against the Regency period of the British Empire. (*What was once considered the ‘Traditional Regency’ romance, of the kind Mary Balogh and Carla Kelly once wrote – with a shorter word count than longer format historical romances - is considered if not dead, then on life support, and published mostly by smaller presses or as reprints of classics. Therefore, in most cases ‘Regency Romance’ simply refers to romances set in the Regency period.)
- Romantic Suspense - Romance novels in which suspense, mystery, or thriller elements constitute an integral part of the plot.
- Young Adult Romance - Novels with a strong romantic theme geared toward young adult readers.
Two More to Consider:
- Category Romance - Mostly Harlequin romances, books in a numbered series identified by ‘line’. Eg: Harlequin Presents, Silhouette Desire.
- Erotica - Romance novels with a powerful erotic element, but still following the guidelines of an HEA - Happily Ever After ending.
Blended Sub-Genres:
But it isn’t quite so simple, nor so cut and dried. Many romance novels commingle aspects of more than one category. In other words, you can set a paranormal romance in a known historical period and it becomes a Paranormal Historical Romance. Most categories can be set in the past and have the ‘historical’ designation, i.e. Historical Inspirational, Historical Romantic Suspense.
Sending a Proposal to the Right Editor
These designations are not meant to stifle creativity, so writers should regard them as guidelines. The main purpose of the designations is that once the author has written the novel and wishes to advance to the submission process, most publishing houses or imprints have editors who specialize in different areas. Deciding what the manuscript is – say a Historical Paranormal Romance – will help to identify which editor at which publisher will be most appropriate to read the proposal, and that increases the chance that the novel will find a publisher.
For more about romance writing and sub-genres, go to:
RWA – Romance Writers of America: http://www.rwanational.org/
