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Vodcast: Buying romance books in Australia

By | 20 April 2012 | 6 Responses

Kate and Kat chat about romance fiction in Australia. Part 2 of a series of vodcasts for Aussie Author Month 2012.

So we’re hoping you enjoyed our first vodcast enough to listen to the rest of our conversation on romance fiction in Australia.

This time we chat about the publishing and marketing side of romance fiction, though still very much from a reader’s perspective. We talk about where we buy our books, reminisce about our first Mills & Boon, and whinge about discuss how we think Australian publishers are doing when it comes to romance fiction.

If you can’t see the video below, click here to view it directly on YouTube. It runs for just under ten minutes.

2011 Aussie Author Month - MapAgain, our thanks to Ben Reynolds, who recorded the session for us, and to Louise Sherwin-Stark, who showed us how to use Google Hangouts.

We’re thinking of doing more of these vodcasts if we can find enough things to talk about. (Hard to believe, I know.) So if you have any suggestions, please let me or Kate know!

Browse: *Opinions, *Vodcasts
Keywords: aussie author month, harlequin mills and boon, kate cuthbert
booktopia.com.au - Australia's #1 online bookstore

6 comments »

  1. 1
    azteclady
    21 April 2012 at 1:12 pm

    Paraphrasing: “(book stores/publishers) don’t understand that romance will sell itself” hell to the yes!
    I’m enjoying these very very much, I love seeing how different (yet the same) it is for readers Down Under. Thank you so much, ladies.

  2. 2
    shelleyrae @ Book'd Out
    21 April 2012 at 1:36 pm

    A fun conversation – thanks for sharing it
     
    Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out

  3. 3
    Jayne @ The Australian Bookshelf
    22 April 2012 at 9:23 am

    Another great vodcast, some great points raised. I completely agree that Aussie readers want to read romance novels that are set in AU and I suppose rural lit and romantic suspense has been the biggest breakthrough in recent years for Aussie romance. But in terms of contemporary romance in AU, those books can be difficult to get your hands on. I tend to buy most of my books online or at my local secondhand book store.

  4. 4
    Kat (author)
    25 April 2012 at 5:38 pm

    Thanks, guys. The next set of vodcasts will probably be more about books and authors, so prepare your TBRs. :D

    Jayne – Other than M&B category romances, I struggle to name one mainstream contemporary romance book set in Australia that fits comfortably within the genre. Even Bronwyn Parry’s books are borderline for me because the romance isn’t always the central focus throughout the stories. (Don’t get me wrong, though—I still love them!) Addition by Toni Jordan includes romantic elements but it’s in first person and very much about the heroine, and again, I don’t think it sits in the genre in a conventional way. (But again, I love it!) Which is really a long way for me to agree with you that there’s a gap in the market!

  5. 5
    Kat (author)
    25 April 2012 at 7:52 pm

    Wait, I’ve thought of one author: Kandy Shepherd. She has two single-title romances, although they’re with a US publisher. I found the second book, Home Is Where The Bark Is, quite fun and enjoyable.

  6. 6
    Sandy Curtis
    29 April 2012 at 10:30 am

    I agree that Australian publishers don’t have an imprint for romance and it’s something they should have if they want to promote a book as a romance.  They brand their other genres, e.g. Voyager imprint for spec fic, Picador for literary fiction, so why can’t they create a brand for romance?

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