How to tell the difference between women’s fiction and romance novels

10/28/2019

Why you shouldn’t EVER try to convince me your women’s fiction novel is romance

I’ve seen lots of misclassified books on Amazon lately. LOTS. OF. THEM. I don’t know if Amazon is shifting these books around erroneously, or if the authors/publishers are making mistakes, but whatever the case may be, I’m sick of it. I want to read romance novels. If I wanted to read women’s fiction, I’d go find some women’s fiction to read. There’s nothing wrong with women’s fiction, but it’s NOT romance.

Sometimes I think maybe authors/publishers see how well romance sells and try to sneak some women’s fiction past us, marketing it as romance, so that they can get a piece of the ginormous money-maker that is romance publishing. But I can tell you readers and authors this with all sincerity: Intentionally misclassifying your book is the quickest way to get added to my “never read” list. And trust me when I say there’s no way off that list. Once banned, always banned.

So, with that in mind, here’s the difference between romance novels, and women’s fiction.

Romance novels

In a romance novel, the central theme is the romance/romantic relationship between the main characters. It doesn’t matter how many other characters you have in the book, or whatever kind of life events they’re struggling through, if the central theme is the romance between the hero and heroine (or hero and hero/heroine and heroine...whatever. Romance doesn’t discriminate), AND there’s a happily ever after (HEA) of happy for now (HFN) ending, the book is a romance. That definition applies to all categories: paranormal, romantic suspense, contemporary, new adult, historical, etc.

Women’s fiction novels

Women’s fiction is about more than a central romance. The purpose of women’s fiction is to show the female life journey. It’s all about a woman—or group of women—dealing with and overcoming whatever life throws at them. Women’s fiction might contain romantic elements—meaning, the heroine might have a love interest or two. The books might even have a HEA or HFN. But it’s not a requirement.

And by the way, sex scenes don’t determine ANYTHING

If you think a book is romance because it includes on-the-page sex scenes, you’re wrong. Women’s fiction can contain sex scenes, and romance novels might not contain any sex at all. The inclusion or exclusion of sex should not be taken into account when you’re trying to determine if a book is women’s fiction or romance.

Also, it doesn't have to be fluffy to be romance

If you’re thinking that a women’s fiction novel is more “serious” and “emotional” than a romance...well, hate to tell you, but you’re wrong again. You can have a romance novel with dark, gritty, emotional themes, where the heroine grows tremendously as a character, just as easily as you can have a women’s fiction novel that’s light, hysterically funny, and not all that emotionally deep.

So, to recap, I would ask all authors out there to do us a readers a solid and think about what you’ve actually written before you determine how to market it. Please and thanks.

And just for funsies, here are some awesome women’s fiction novels. They are NOT romance novels, even if some of them contain a few romantic themes.

Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties by Camille Pagan

Life and Other Inconveniences by Kristin Higgins

The Oysterville Sewing Circle by Susan Wiggs

Anything you’d like to say on the matter? Let’s discuss!!

2 Comments

Suzy

1/6/2021 10:29:47 am

So I wrote a novel and have been trying to find an agent the last two years. I'm marketing it as Women's Fiction which do have romantic elements. But now I'm wondering if it's considered more romance.

Here's brief synopsis: A young girl falls in love with a guy in high school. He not only rejects her but uses her feelings for him to his advantage. This goes on until she's in college. She's also battling an eating disorder, depression, and can't seem to understand why this guy doesn't want her. And unbeknownst to her, the guy's best friend, has fallen in love with her.

She goes through therapy to try to get better and to finally come to the realization this guy has been bad news from the start. By the time she graduates college and enters the real world, she is finally not afraid to open her heart again to someone else. Which she does. But on the day of her wedding, the guy she was in love with for years shows up and declares his love for her. She finally had the courage to not let him have power over her and sends him off.

So Women's Fiction or Romance?

Jennifer, Romance Rehab

1/6/2021 11:13:03 am

Hi, Suzy. I'm afraid I can't do the heavy-lifting for you on this one. I haven't read the book, so only you know if what you've written is women's fiction or romance. If you're not sure, what you'll need to do is really analyze your book unemotionally and ask yourself if the main focus of the story is your heroine's journey of self-discovery, of if it's the romance between the hero and heroine. And if "well, both are the main focus" is your answer, then you haven't looked deep enough, because it's definitely one or the other. There can only be one true, main focus of the book. If you analyze your book and you're still not sure where it fits from a marketing perspective, then read more romance and women's fiction from the bestsellers in both categories and try to determine from that where your book best fits. The only quick determining factor, though, is your ending. Is it a happily ever after with the hero? If not, then you haven't written a romance. Best of luck to you!