Each May, my home town welcomes visiting Australian and international authors to the Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF). It’s held Walsh Bay precinct, my favorite part of the city, where old maritime wharves have been converted into theaters, restaurants and waterside apartments. It’s also, blissfully, only a 10-minute drive from my home (at least on a good day).
Today, as I write, the sun is shining and Sydney Harbour sparkling, but on Thursday it was gray skies, rain and umbrellas-at-twenty-paces at for the first event I attended, called Fabulous Female Fiction.
For this session, best selling Australian author, Caroline Overington, interviewed three female publishers, whom I shall simply refer to as Annette, Danielle and Frederique. These women hail from leading publishing houses in Australia, the USA and France, respectively.
So what exactly is women’s fiction anyway? The answer, it seems, depends on which country you live in.
What Is Women’s Fiction, Anyway?
Danielle, from New York, described women’s fiction as a “wide ranging term,” spanning commercial fiction—romance and chick lit—right up to literary or “book club” novels. What these books have in common, according to Danielle, are strong relationships, high emotional stakes, relatable (but not necessarily likeable) heroines, and a family focus.
Frederique, on the other hand, said there was no such thing as women’s fiction in France, only “literature.” To the French a novel was a novel; that way there was no hierarchy, no “judgement”.
Perhaps that’s a good thing, because in Annette’s opinion there is a prejudice against commercial women’s fiction in Australia, with these novels and their authors largely ignored by reviewers and the organizers of literary events (a quick scan of the SWF program seems to confirm this). Yet to Annette these books frequently offer their readers “intelligence, warmth and heart”.
Each of these women stressed that prejudice against commercial fiction was in no way felt by the publishers themselves. With commercial fiction outselling its literary counterpart by a wide margin they’d be fools if they did.
The Bread and Butter of Fiction Publishing
If you write, or aspire to write, books that fit under the broad umbrella of women’s fiction you’re in luck. Each of these women estimated that women’s fiction, covering romance to literary, represented about 70-80% of their company’s fiction sales. So while thriller authors like Lee Child might dominate the best seller list, novels written for women (and largely by women) remain the bread and butter of the fiction publishing business. At the end of the day there are far more women readers (and book buyers) than men.
So, for the aspiring authors among us, how do these publishers decide what makes fabulous female fiction?
What Makes for Fabulous Female Fiction?
Annette gives a book 50 pages and it if hasn’t grabbed her by then, compelled her to “keep turning the pages,” it ends up in the reject pile. She also needs at least one likeable character, although she concedes this is a personal bias.
Danielle is less forgiving than Annette. While she might read to page 20 before abandoning a work you really need capture her on the first page—and with dozens of manuscripts thumping down on her desk every day, who can blame her? She admitted to a special fondness for books that made her cry.
A large part of Frederique’s job is reviewing foreign releases with a view to having them republished in France. For Frederique the ultimate test of a book is whether it causes her to cancel engagements and stay up all night reading; she singled out the works of two Australian writers, Kate Morton and Hannah Kent, for this honour.
For the self-published or those considering it, Danielle confirmed that the big US publishers do scour the Amazon best seller lists, searching for hidden gems. Unfortunately they too often find that the best sellers are there by virtue of price rather than literary merit!
Finally, in this era of steadily shrinking review space in newspapers, all women agreed that having an online presence can help an author. If you already have a large following through blogging and/or social media, you have, in a publisher’s eyes, a built-in market for your book. This may tip the balance in your favour if you’re hoping to secure a traditional publishing deal.
Ultimately, however, it’s all about the book. And when it comes to fabulous female fiction, all these publishers all agreed that character is king—although in this case we probably should say queen!
Do you read and/or write women’s fiction? What’s your personal definition of the genre? What are some of your favourite works of women’s fiction, and what makes them outstanding in your opinion?
What a great discussion, and it’s fascinating to see the perspective of those in other cultures. I love what women’s fiction represents, but am often disappointed by how it’s treated–as if it somehow isn’t as serious or artfully-crafted as other categories. What’s great about it to me is that it often transcends genre. Some women’s fiction novels are also humor novels, others can be classified as magical realism, romance, literary…the list goes on and on. My novel is women’s fiction, but it can also be classified as Latino literature, literary, suspense, etc. Often these labels define just a part of our novels, and my hope is that they’ll encourage readers to discover different voices and perspectives.
Yes, Natalia, I presume that is why women’s fiction dominates fiction publishing sales – it is so diverse and caters to so many tastes. I have no desire to read traditional romance, but love women’s fiction with a romantic element, just as long as to story itself is exploring wider themes.
I recently, belatedly, read ‘The Poisonwood Bible’ and was blown away by its brilliance. Is it women’s fiction – absolutely? Actually Danielle, the US publisher, mentioned Barbara Kingsolver as one of her favorite women’s fiction authors.
Thank you for a fascinating and very helpful article. I feel exactly as you do about traditional romance vs. ‘women’s fiction’.
In answer to your question women’s fiction favorites, I recently read debut novel “Rush Home Road” by Lori Lansens. I enjoyed it tremendously and would heartily recommend it.
Thank you Bea, I will look for that one next!
I read and enjoy many books by both male and female writers, and have recently tried to write the beginning of a novel. I was particularly struck by the comment that one reviewer needed to be grabbed by the first page. I find that a bit dismissive and daunting. Would everybody be grabbed by the first page of say, Wuthering Heights??
I do look for some emotional depth in my reading, and suspect I do find that more easily in books by women authors.
I don’t write, but women’s fiction/chick lit is probably my most favorite genre to read; especially in the summer. Something about having an amazing female character to submerge myself in when I get some me time, while I sit on my swing enjoying the beautiful summer days, is just so relaxing! I particularly enjoy a book that has a witty and sarcastic female lead or that pokes fun at serious topics. I just finished a fantastic book called “Secrets of a Spiritual Guru” by Tamara Lee Dorris, http://tamaradorris.net/. I think anyone who loves women’s fiction would really enjoy it! Thanks for the article!
Great topic! I hope writers, readers, and publishers keep talking about this. I especially like that you present the different perspectives. As Danielle said, “women’s fiction” can mean so many things. In my opinion, it’s not just about the heroine, the relationships, or the emotional stakes. It’s also about the perspective. In high school I got so frustrated with the women portrayed in the books we read. They were either Virgin-Mary types or fallen women, and how the female characters were portrayed depended largely on which of those categories the fell in. There’s so much more complexity than that. This is why I love Margaret Atwood. Her female characters are the most relatable and authentic that I’ve read in any book. Blind Assassin had great female roles and relationships.
Hi Benison,
It’s Inspirational Fiction of Women’s. I love to read this nice story & I came to know some interesting facts & think via help of this superb Women’s Fiction! Every Women must read this post as I understand it.
My favorite sub-genre in the women’s fiction is chick lit. I like reading cozy,light-hearted reads with empowered and quirky protagonists. That’s why I decided to write my own.
Not only is women’s fiction entertaining, it’s relate able too. Guess that’s why readers like it.