Feature: Catherine's Adventures in Romance-Land, by Catherine Robertson

Author image credit: Florence Charvin First up, I need to stress that I am the least qualified person to be writing a piece about being a New Zealand romance author. Our romance authors have been slaying it on the world stage for decades, from Essie Summers who started in the 1950s and wrote right up to her death in 1998, to today’s international bestsellers, including (but absolutely not limited to) Natalie Anderson, Jackie Ashenden, Jax Calder, Bronwen Evans, Steffanie Holmes, Trudy Jaye, Yvonne Lindsay, Leanna Morgan, Kate O’Keeffe, Bronwyn Sell, Nalini Singh, Wendy Vella, and Serenity Woods. That’s a long list but not nearly long enough to capture everyone who’s notable in New Zealand romance writing. I hope you get the picture. And then there’s me, waving from the back. I’ve been lurking on the fringes of this world since 2008, when I attended my first Romance Writers of NZ conference. But ten years passed before I drafted my first romance and a further six years before it was published. That’s sixteen years during which I could have been writing many more romances and getting to grips with the pros and cons of all the publishing platforms, the wide world of tropes, and the myriad options for marketing and promotions. I could have been connecting with readers, building a solid following on social media and a sizable database for my regularly sent newsletter. By now, I could have a thriving Facebook group, and a popular Substack or podcast. I could be killing it in Europe with my translations and winning a whole new set of fans with my audiobook versions. I could even be trending on TikTok. But like Mrs. McCave in Dr Suess’s Too Many Daves, I didn’t do it and now it’s too late. OK, no, it isn’t. That’s my Protestant pessimism kicking in. The one that also insists I will imminently be made redundant by AI, or that Amazon’s glitchy tech and frankly enraging customer service will finally do me in. I have made progress. I have three romances out in the world with One More Chapter, a division of Harper Collins UK. I am earning royalties from those romances. I will not be buying a castle in Scotland or even a souvenir teaspoon from the gift shop of a castle in Scotland, but a bit of money is better than none. And my first self-published romance is about to launch. It’s a series I’m collaborating on with fellow newbie, Sue Copsey aka Olivia Hayfield. Her book came out in March. We’re doing all the things you’re supposed to: putting them on pre-order, sending out advance reader copies (ARCs) to get early reviews, organising launch-day promotions, posting on social media, and crossing our fingers that the books won’t sink like a stone. They might sink because it is tough out there. On the plus side, there’s been a spectacular rise in the popularity of romance. Over the last five years, worldwide online searches for “romance books” doubled, and during 2024 alone increased by a further 21%. Of the millions of Kindle books sold last year, a whopping 55% were romances – and most of those authors were self-published.

Of course, the downside for late-starters like me is that there is vastly more competition. Successful authors I know whose books always used to hit the Amazon top 100 or higher on launch day are now finding that much harder to achieve. The new readers of romance are young, and so are the new writers. They’re digital natives who can use words like ‘cringe’ without sounding cringe. They can make TikTok videos with one hand, bless their youthful eyesight and dextrous thumbs. I love this new guard for being unashamed about reading and writing romance, and for boosting sales across the world. I wish they didn’t all want to read romantasy, but I also know that romance genres have their time in the sun. I’ll hang in there with my mid-spice romantic comedies, mainly because I don’t know how to write anything else. It took me a long time to put ‘Writer’ as my occupation on official forms, and it will take a while longer to think of myself as a proper writer of romance. As I said at the start, there are so many New Zealand authors who are streets ahead of me, and who deserve way more recognition and accolades in this country. The romance genre itself deserves more recognition. It is hugely popular for good reason. For one, it is the most eclectic genre out there. Whatever your taste, there is a romance niche to fulfil it. Female/male, male/male, sapphic, reverse harem aka ‘why choose”. Dinosaurs, angels, shapeshifters. Cinnamon rolls, alpha billionaires. Happy ever after, happy for now. Full smut to no sex please, we’re Midwestern. (Not a complete list, your search terms may vary.) Romance is popular because it is fun, moving, exciting and satisfying. It is written and read by intelligent, well-educated people. It sells in the tens of millions each year. I’m likely not waving but drowning in a vast ocean of competition, but I’ve never enjoyed writing more. Now if I could only make a living out of it. For more information, go to: www.romancewriters.co.nz. Kiss My Glass (One More Chapter), book three in the Flora Valley series, is out now.