Think Outside the Box to Find Readers Romance Authors!

For an author, figuring out where to find readers outside a library or bookstore can be intimidating. This can be especially difficult in the highly competitive, guilty pleasure genre of romance. But if you think outside the box, you WILL be successful.

We all know that historically, romance has enjoyed a rather underrated and negative reputation. I've lost count of the times I've heard this genre referred to as mommy-porn, guilty-pleasure reading, and smut, but then it's a predominantly female written and read genre, so the reason why isn't so hard to figure out.

When you ask people what genre they read, many won't admit to reading romance. They'll say they read suspense, contemporary, fantasy, sci-fi, etc, even if those books are actually romantic suspense, contemporary romance, fantasy romance, and sci-fi romance. So figuring out how to find your readers face-to-face or online can be difficult.

This is where creative thinking comes to play.

First, let's take away the romance part of your genre. What is your romance sub-genre? Chances are, many of the fans of that genre DO actually read the romance versions as often or more often than the non-romance forms of that genre. So we need to find them.

If you're a fantasy/paranormal romance author like me, you want to think about where fans of the fantasy and sci-fi genre hang out. Fan Conventions occur all over the world for these folks to celebrate books, movies, TV shows, comics, video games, and art. There are also comic book, gamer, toy, and art stores who attract these people to shop and hangout.

Still struggling to think of where to find your readers? How about some examples?

Say you write super-hero fantasy romance like an author friend of mine. Rather than do a signing at your local book store or coffee shop like most authors, why not do one in a comic book, gamer,  or toy store?

Do you write medieval fantasy romance? Why not purchase booth space at your local medieval fair or pop-culture convention?

Do you write sci-fi romance? Then the next Alien Con or paranormal expo might be an amazing fit for you.

Readers are out there. They want to find books in the genres they love. Many of them are also hopeless romantics who can't resist a good love story. So next time you find yourself floundering about where to find them, remember to...

Keep Calm and Think Outside the Box!

Sabrina A. Fish is an award-winning fantasy romance author from Oklahoma. She loves hearing from readers and other writers. If you'd like to read more of her thoughts, check out her books, or see her upcoming events, then visit her website: www.SabrinaAFish.com