The Next Big Thing in Romance

I'm please to have Lizzy Ford with me today. Help in giving her a warm Decadent Decisions welcome.

I was preparing my publishing schedule for 2012, and I started wondering: what’s the next big thing in romance?  We’ve seen a flood of paranormal, urban fantasy and dystopian romances lately.  We’ve been through vampires, vampire hunters, time-traveling Highlanders, werewolves, and zombies.  What’s next?

I posed the question to several people, to include writers, an editor, and a few bloggers.  The answer: no one really knows.  One of the bloggers said she’s seeing an emergence of angels and demons as heroes in novels. Another said she thinks the science fiction romance subgenre is severely underserved and feels its time is coming.  Still another said contemporary is the answer, and because thrillers and horrors are en vogue in fiction right now, horror or suspense romance.  Someone else says dragons. Finally, one of my good indie friends said witches.

So … I need to write a novel about a witch from outer space hunting a time-traveling serial killer when she falls in love with an angel riding a dragon?

This is the danger in trying to predict what the next big thing will be: it’s really anyone’s call right now.  Paranormal is still hot, though I suspect contemporary romantic suspense will be on the rise with the rise in popularity of horror on television and books.  I also suspect that – in the young adult corner – paranormal isn’t about to die anytime soon, and witches might be a safe call but vampires are going to fade away soon.  

Most people will say to write what makes you happy, and I agree.  However, as someone who just lost her job, I gotta make this writing thing work for me, too, which means it’s in my best interest to be on the train going the right way.

My own approach this year has been to experiment in several different subgenres - fantasy, science fiction, paranormal, and contemporary romances - and to use the results in my plan for next year.  The results: paranormal is still primary, but I was surprised to see a market for a science fiction romance, too. My contemporary book died on the grapevine, and I think people buy it just to leave one and two star reviews.  My fantasy fell off a cliff before it got to the grapevine.  Trilogies and series are still super popular, whereas my single-titles didn’t fare so well (with the exception of the sci-fi romance.)

I’m not sure what’ll be IT next year, but I think I know what I want to do: launch a YA witch trilogy and release at least two sci-fi romances. I’ve yet to test the futuristic or contemporary suspense romance markets, so I’ll give those a go, too.  I’m wrapping up two paranormal series during the first half of 2012 but probably won’t launch another one, instead focusing on the above.

What are your thoughts?

~Damian’s Oracle Book One~

Caught in the war between the White and Black Gods, Sofia and her rare gift bring victory to he who grabs her first. Her difficult transition from human to oracle forces her into a new world, where she struggles in her role as Damian’s mate and to help a mysterious man who’s supposed to be dead.

~Damian’s Assassin Book Two~

After thousands of years as the White God’s right hand man and chief assassin, Dustin no longer believes in the human capacity for good, until he meets sweet, sunny Bianca, a Natural whose gift of healing will change not only his fate, but destroy the Black God and bring about a new one.

           

~Damian’s Immortal Book Three~

 The White God’s most trusted friend, Jule, has his powers stripped by the Watchers, who seek to punish him for crimes committed thousands of years ago in the immortal realm.  His only hope to rejoin the battle against the Black God is to find the mysterious Magician, a woman afraid of her own powers but who has the ability to save both him and the war.

Lizzy Ford is the hyper-prolific author of the "Rhyn Trilogy" and "War of Gods" series, both launched in 2011, as well as multiple single title young adult fantasy and paranormal romances. Lizzy's books have reached into the bestseller lists on both Amazon US and Amazon UK in multiple categories. Through her unconventional online marketing strategies, Lizzy has gone from selling 20 books in January 2011 to around 5000 books in September 2011 and from over 7,000 free downloads of her work in January 2011 to over 40,000 downloads in September 2011.

The Lizzy Ford team consists of: Matt, IT and search engine optimization expert; Christine LePorte, freelance book editor; Dafeenah, graphics artist; and Toni, English-Spanish translator.

Lizzy is considered by most to be the ultimate writing freak of nature for her ability to write and epublish a new book every 30-45 days. She is also a regular contributor for the Curiosity Quills website and is an active member of a small guild of nine passionate, talented writers, the Indie Eclective.  Lizzy's books are available from Amazon, BN, Smashwords, iBooks/iTunes, and all other eReader libraries.

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