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!!

11 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!

Terry Robinson link

5/14/2022 10:58:21 pm

Just came across your site while browsing. On the subject of romance or women's romance novel, I would think your story falls in the category of romance because the young girl actually got married so there is your HEA ending. I am pretty new to this writing business so I maybe wrong. Now I have a question for you. I am getting ready to publish my second book and it is a a love and deceit triangle (1 man, 2 women) and in the end the man dies. I assume this would be a women's romance novel, but I a not sure. What are your thoughts?

Jennifer, Romance Rehab

5/15/2022 07:29:19 am

Hi, Terry

Unless the 2 women fall in love and live happily ever after, your book isn't a romance novel. The happy ending is not negotiable in a romance novel. So, if the man who dies is the main love interest in your book, I would advise against marketing it as a romance. In women's fiction, however, happy endings aren't required. Tragedy and literary fiction are also available. Good luck on your new release!

Terry Robinson link

5/16/2022 12:31:50 pm

Thanks for your advice and kind words, Jennifer. The thing is that the man was married and was unfaithful to his wife, so the story is one of love and betrayal. In the end, both women went their separate ways, but was able to form some kind of fragile bond between them.

Jennifer, Romance Rehab

5/16/2022 12:35:16 pm

Terry: Based on your additional comment, that's definitely NOT a romance novel that you're writing. If the end result is a journey of self-discovery for both women, I'd consider marketing your book as women's fiction. But if you try to market it to romance readers, I'm afraid they'll be furious with you--and they'll let you know in the reviews. :0

Terry Robinson link

5/16/2022 01:02:58 pm

Okay, I understand. Thanks, Jennifer.

Terry link

6/15/2022 11:01:13 am

I used the services of a ghostwriter to edit and publish my completed self-written manuscript (because the price of their publishing service was reasonable). Should I put in my book that it was published by said ghostwriter company or should I not mention this? I am just not sure if it would help my book to mention the ghostwriter although the company did not write my book. Please advise what I should do. Thanks.

Jennifer, Romance Rehab

6/15/2022 03:04:06 pm

I'm not an expert on ghost writing, so I'm afraid I can't advise you on your situation. Generally speaking, ghost writers remain anonymous. But I would say you need to review whatever contract you entered into with the ghost writer/publishing service and make sure you don't break any of their terms.

Alex link

6/30/2022 02:12:09 pm

Jennifer, thanks for this article. I'm curious to know if POV plays heavily into the distinction between romance and women's fiction. I write romance and switch POV back and forth between the MFC (Main Female Character) and MMC (Main Male Character). Would women's fiction typically be written from just the MFC's POV (or multiple females if more than MFC)? Or could it include the MMC's POV? My sense is that it would only be written in the MFC's POV, but I'm curious to know your thoughts on this.

Jennifer, Romance Rehab

6/30/2022 02:50:21 pm

POV isn't as important in the classification of a book as the main focus of the story (and the ending, in the case of romance). But typically, what I usually see in women's fiction is the main female character's POV having the most page time. That's not a hard-and-fast rule, though. I have seen some women's fiction that included multiple POVs, including male POVs.