Was it just last week that we were talking about how things that sell in the United States don’t necessarily translate to international markets? It turns out it’s true — we didn’t just make it up to fill server space. As it turns out (we suggest sitting, though leaning is acceptable), romances that do well in the United States don’t necessarily sell in Europe.
Now we’re not saying anything, but it doesn’t take a lot of marketing research to guess that cowboys wouldn’t be big in Italy. Except perhaps as a curiosity. Makes us wonder if some declines in Harlequin sales were due to their, shall we say, over-emphasis on a certain trilogy of themes? As always, we have the simple solution: variety. Appeal to urban reades, appeal to non-urban readers, try themes that reflect different lifestyles, play with the genre more, don’t assume that all women are the same. Not everything will translate (sorry, humor, you may be the victim of social mores here), but we believe appealing to international tastes will help authors.
And, on a completely unrelated note, you gotta love the government…they’re always lookign to protect you from what probably won’t hurt you:
Germans love erotic romance, though inexplicably books from Black Lace, the erotica publishing division of Virgin Books, are censored, according to Isolde Wehr, the editor of the German romance publishing company Moments.
- Women’s fiction for Europe: ‘No cowboys, no babies’
- Almost A Quote of the Week Candidate
