"Don't judge a book by its cover!" Yet we're all doing it, all the time. Which is why authors need to invest in their covers.
Sorry, We Judge Books by Their Covers All the Time
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What Is a “Low-Angst” Book, Really?
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I’ve seen quite a few books marketed as “low-angst” lately. And don’t get me wrong—a fluffy story can be something quite enjoyable. But … the label makes me a little anxious. Legends and Lattes is an example of low-stakes fiction. Why? Because any time I’ve read a “low-angst” book, the label masks something a little more nefarious. What Is Angst, Anyway? Angst is a loan word from German. It was...
Half-Year Update 2026
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It's July, which means we're halfway through 2026. What do I have in store for you?
Why Some People Still Don’t Accept Achillean Romances
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We've been using m/m romance to describe fiction featuring a relationship between two men for ages now. Why can't we move past it and adopt a better term?
Is All Mpreg Omegaverse?
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File this under "you have got to be kidding me": someone who really should know better implied all non-shifter mpreg is omegaverse.
The Straights Can Pry Omegaverse from My Cold, Dead Hands
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Recently, a social media site tried to entice me to buy a cishet OV romance novel. It was ... unhinged, to say the least.
Do Omegaverse Dynamics Promote Toxic Relationships?
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“Oh, here we go again …” (Liza Summer / Pexels.com) Recently, I was reminded of a screencap of a conversation that supposedly happened. When I saw it, all I could think was ah, the straights got a hold of the omegaverse. In this screencap, the texter was discussing their partner’s admission that they liked and read omegaverse fiction. The texter was sending a lengthy rumination...
Why Are Readers Demanding Less Spicy Reads?
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Or Are They? I recently saw a post that commented on trends in the publishing industry. One of them was that readers seem to be shifting away from so-called spicy reads. (Tom Swinnen / Pexels.com) The post gave some good reasons that this shift might be happening—but I think there’s likely more to the story than meets the eye. TikTok Ramped Up and Ruined “Spice” The major reason this post gave...
What Is With All These Book Retreats?
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A book shop often fulfills similar functions, including author events (Iryna Varanovich / Pexels.com) A recent trend I’ve noticed is the sudden abundance of “author” or “reader retreats”—events designed to put authors and readers in close contact. Many of these are cropping up in the romance space, where readers might be fanatical about an author’s work. Authors, certainly, are always looking for...
Writing Unapologetically Smutty Romance in a Conservative Era
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Or, Why Respectability Won’t Save You I think we can all agree we’ve entered a rather conservative era. It’s been a while coming, the first rumblings of it emerging fifteen years ago now. It gained momentum after the 2016 US election and snowballed from there. The pandemic threw fuel on the fire, and, well, here we are. Neo-fascists and alt-right parties are gaining support across the globe. We...
