Editor Article: Is there really a downturn in Women’s Fiction?
At the moment, all we seem to hear about is how people mis-concieve chick lit, and this isn’t help by articles in the press such as Polly Courtney’s now infamous sacking of her pbulishers HarperCollins as she felt her books were being wrongly branded. However, we have a very steady and high number of visitors to this website, and there are a lot more chick lit bloggers out there too which suggest that the demand for ‘chick lit’ is still out there. However, the facts seem to show that there is sadly a decline in the sales of this type of fiction, and you have to wonder how much of it is due to the slating of the genre in the press, and even writers themselves disliking being classified under the chick lit umbrella. Yet despite this, endless chick lit novels achieve huge success, and quite a few lately have been turned into successful movies too: Emily Giffin’s ‘Something Borrowed’, Karyn Bosnak’s ‘What’s Your Number’ and Allison Pearson’s ‘I Don’t Know How She Does It’.
I found an interesting article on The Bookseller website this morning , about how women’s fiction isn’t selling as well as it used to, including big names like Marian Keyes and Jodi Picoult, with the top 20 women’s fiction authors selling on average 10% less this year than they did on their last title. However, can it just be attributed to the fact people haven’t got the spare cash to buy books? Or are women buying books on electronic reading devices such as Kindles, so they don’t have to be seen reading chick lit in public? I personally don’t understand some people’s issues with reading chick lit in public, Sophie Kinsella, Marian Keyes et al. are all hugely popular - why should I feel bad reading them because they have pretty covers? I don’t, I never have and I never will. So is the problem therefore down to the publishers and the way they have been marketed? Surely, they know their business and what sells, and it its worked well in the past, why change something if it isn’t broken?
So do you think that there is a downturn in women’s fiction, and if you do, why? Do you want your chick lit to be packaged differently, just changing what’s on the outside, and not on the insisde? I personally think that I definitely don’t want to see it being changed, and from seeing the activity we have on our website here, our Twitter feed where we are always asked for recommendations of chick lit to read and on our Facebook page, where lots of people still seem to be saying they are buying new releases when we post our photo albums of any given month’s releases, and women still seem to be excited for it. I’m always seeing on Facebook and Twitter that authors have sold rights to their books to many foreign countries, so there’s clearly still a global appeal for this type of fiction too. However, when you have women complaining to WH Smith about a problem with a ‘Women’s Fiction’ section in their stores, you have to wonder what we’re up against. We can spread the word about fantastic authors and books, but some people are so blinkered they don’t want to listen. I for one, and Leah, Danielle and all of our readers too are proud chick lit lovers, and hopefully as long as there is a demand for this fiction, it’ll continue to be written, published and loved!
Long live Chick Lit!
Article on The Bookseller mentioned in this article: http://www.thebookseller.com/news/womens-brands-hard-hit-downturn.html
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September 26th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Well said, Chloe!
What those doom-laden media reports don’t tell us is that there has been a downturn in book sales right across the genres, not just in women’s fiction. It doesn’t mean that people aren’t buying books, it’s just following the dip in the economy with everything. The only reason women’s fiction is noticeable is that it’s one of the biggest selling genres. They could say exactly the same about crime, thrillers, autobiographies…
Women’s fiction will always be popular because we all love it! I don’t see any less enthusiasm from my lovely blog, twitter and facebook followers this year - in fact, most people I chat to say they’re more likely to buy themselves a feel-good book because they need cheering up with all this doom and gloom around!
M xx
September 26th, 2011 at 1:04 pm
I think it’s more than likely due to the recession. People just don’t have the cash spare for things like books when food shopping inflation is becoming ridiculous. Especially when the likes of Jodi Picoult’s books come out in hardback first, even in at a discounted price, you’re looking at about £10 for one book- that’s two meals worth of money right there! (I base that on Jamie Oliver’s Feed your Family for a Fiver lol.)
It would be interesting if they took a look at how the library figures were doing though. I know I’ve certainly upped how much I use the library in the past year.
I’ve also never been ashamed of reading ‘chicklit’ and I get very irate when people slate it. What I can’t understand about these literary snobs is why they can’t just admire someone for reading? Shouldn’t matter what the material is, the point is in a world where it’s all about material possessions and rather watching the film than the book, people are reading!
September 26th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
I agree with you about how people basically think reading chicklit is stupid.
It makes me so mad, because Chicklit is NOT trash at all. Not most of it anyway. We have women dealing with so much, its not all about the romance and sex and shit, but real problems, solved by real, strong women protags.
I’ve never been ashamed of it either, and hopefully never will be.
September 26th, 2011 at 3:33 pm
I also think that sales have dipped because of the current economic climate. People just don’t have the spare cash to buy as many books as they used to; I’m sure it’s got nothing to do with the quality of the genre.
It’s such a shame that people seem to be knocking down women’s fiction and chick lit. I’m sure that the genre’s harshest detractors are people who’ve probably never read the books.
September 26th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
I am in 100% agreement with you Chloe, and with all the comments thus far. People are just not spending as much on books period. The entire publishing industry is suffering, not just women’s fiction. But I think chick lit and women’s fiction gets highlighted because it is often at the center of some controversy. I am actually so tired of defending chick lit. I’ve been doing it for over a decade! No other genre gets so much flack. It’s ridiculous. And I happen to like the beautiful covers - and I think they serve a purpose. They indicate the “tone” of the book. When you read Marian Keyes, for instance, you are going to read a book that deals with a serious issue such as alcoholism, sexual abuse, depression and so on. But it’s her tone, her voice, her writing style and the fact that she can make you laugh while her characters suffer miserable experiences that makes it chick lit. And that tone deserves a cover that accurately represents it. All books do. So, keep those pink, pastel, glossy, sparkly covers coming!
September 26th, 2011 at 5:15 pm
I love chick lit and women fiction so I’m not ashamed to say it. A lot of people will be buying online as well (ebay, amazon) and bet they don’t count that.
September 26th, 2011 at 5:19 pm
I know for me personally I’ve not bought as many books recently but it’s nothing to do with the genres purely financial reasons. Fortunately I’ve managed to get a few of the books I’ve really wanted to read by winning them in the many book competitions you find online
September 26th, 2011 at 5:58 pm
Personally, I tend to wait until the books are released in paperback before i buy them. If they’re in the library before then I’ll just borrow them from there. Or if they’re in charity shops. But also, I find many becoming very repititive, so more often than not I just won’t buy them because I’ve read so many books with similar story-lines. I love chick-lit and I don’t care what people think of me reading it, but I’m reluctant to fork out for a new book that’s similar to one I’ve already read
September 26th, 2011 at 6:52 pm
I imagine the soaring increase of Kindle and Nook products (both hardware and books) HAS to have an impact on traditional print sales. I mean, in this economy, who can justify the high price of a hard cover (or paperback) versus the price of a digital download? (Ha, having said that, I personally still CANNOT read anything but a paperback). As for the demise of chick lit, well…sadly, here in the U.S., don’t even MENTION the term-especially when speaking to anyone in the publishing field (editor, agent, etc.). Unfortunately, it’s my feeling that the chick lit “brand” somehow got attached to the stories about single women in Manhattan obsessed with chic shoes-and we all know that’s not all they’re about!! I was on vacation in Mexico last week and happily picked up a book someone left behind-Sophie Kinsella’s Mini-shopoholic. Squee!
September 27th, 2011 at 1:45 pm
I think there is a bit of confusion between the terms ‘women’s fiction’ and ‘chick lit’, because chick lit used to be Bridget Jones-modern romance/comedy, and now the term covers much more complex and wide-ranging books. So it’s difficult to talk about the subject without knowing exactly how everyone is defining it. As Dorothy Koomson points out, she’d like to see how they’re picking, defining and measuring the authors and books that have seen these ‘declines’. You can make statistics say almost anything, if you’ve decided what you want to say, so possibly this is a whipped-up story given a pre-determined slant, which is really about recession buying. Totally agree with person who mentioned increased library borrowing. I’m sorry that particular authors have been singled out, especially as Dorothy Koomson, Marian Keyes and Veronica Henry are such good writers.
September 28th, 2011 at 5:27 pm
I totally agree with you Chloe. I also think that chick lit used to be a certain type of book but as others have said it is about so much more these days with stories that cover so many different issues. Recently I have been searching through books in charity shops to find some good reads as I don’t always have the money to buy brand new but always have books on my shelf ready to read! I have never enjoyed reading so much as I do now and this is because of the great authors at the moment producing brilliant reads. I am proud to read chick lit!!!
September 29th, 2011 at 11:44 am
I’ve heard a lot about women who don’t wish to read chick-lit in public (some of my friends included). Honestly, I think it’s pathetic. Even if chick-lit WAS trash (which is isn’t) who cares what some random stranger on the Metro thinks about your literacy choices? If something like that bothers you then, really you have far too much time on your hands.
Chick-lit has always been trashed by the press so I don’t think the downturn in sales has anything to do with that. I think as people have already said that it’s to do with the recession and people can’t afford to be buying books every week… Which if you’re a massive chick-lit fan who reads a lot you would be doing.
I wouldn’t be surprised if illegal downloading had anything to do with it too with the popularity of eReaders. I have one and though I always buy books it really isn’t that hard to find books - particularly by huge American authors like Jodi Picoult - to download for free. My cousin only buys what she can’t download and that is probably about 1 book in 10.