The Business of Romance

Sari Robins
Wendy Wax
The Business of
Romance
Writing
Stephanie Bonds
By Annabelle Robertson
S
Dianna Love Snell
48 | Atlanta Woman
eventy years ago, an Atlanta woman watched in amazement as her first
novel was published, snagged the Pulitzer Prize and was transformed into an
Oscar-winning movie. Although Margaret Mitchell was hardly the first person
to pen a romance, she was one of the first to understand that readers liked strong,
independent heroines who not only found love, but themselves as well. Of course,
Mitchell was a businesswoman – just like her heroine – which may have had
something to do with her literary vision.
Given Mitchell’s thinking, it’s not surprising that Scarlett O’Hara became one of
the most memorable characters of all time, or that “Gone With The Wind” became
the most popular book of all time, after the Bible. What is surprising is that it’s taken
seven decades for the romance genre to catch up to Margaret Mitchell.
Atlanta Woman | 49
“In the 1970s, romance was about domination,” explains Pamela
Jaffee-Spengler, director of publicity for Morrow and Avon,
imprints of Harper Collins Publishers. “Today, it’s about women
finding a new identity. Romances still have relationships and happy
endings, but now there’s a journey that directs the plot. Women do
find Mr. Right, but they also find themselves.”
Laura Cifelli, senior editor with New American Library, a division
of Penguin Group (USA), wrote her master’s degree thesis on the
changing face of romance. Although she agrees wholeheartedly with
Jaffee-Spengler, Cifelli also believes that bestselling ‘70s romance
authors like Rosemary Rogers and Kathleen E. Woodiwiss were
pioneers in the genre. “At the time, they wrote groundbreaking
novels,” she says about open portrayals of lust and sex. “No one had
ever published books like those before.”
Cifelli places the first big shift in romance writing during the
early 1990s. “The [heroine] wasn’t a victim anymore where she
was captured, raped and in love with her captor,” she says. “These
characters were bold and sassy and stronger, and no one was getting
raped. Or fewer, anyway.”
By 2000, romance had received a complete overhaul and
with it came a rapid expansion of the genre. Instead of only
contemporary or historical romances, readers could also buy
humorous, suspenseful, inspirational, erotic, science fiction or
paranormal romances. They could read romance stories set in the
suburbs or rural areas, or regional Western and Southern romances.
Even historical romances, which traditionally encompassed just the
Colonial, Civil War, Regency and Medieval periods, branched out
to a wide variety of other timeframes.
The reason for this sweeping change is clear. As women became
more independent by broadening their roles in the workforce and
climbing the corporate ladder, they insisted on savvy, successful
heroines they could admire. Many of those romance fans decided
to try their hand at the genre as well. And just like they did in the
business world, these women have turned romance into yet another
personal achievement.
One such author is Stephanie Bond, a Fortune 50 executive
who accepted her MBA diploma, then tackled her first romance.
A prolific novelist who has written 35 books, all of which are
humorous and contemporary, Bond creates characters that are
stubborn, tough and drawn toward trouble. Her latest heroine,
who stars in “Body Movers,” had the silver spoon yanked from her
mouth as a teen. She now works for Neiman Marcus by day and
moves bodies – dead ones – by night.
While the shift from boardroom to bedroom may seem
incongruent, it’s actually not, Bond says.
“I know it sounds like a big change, but I’ve used my MBA more
in my writing career than in my corporate career,” she explains.
“I’m president, janitor, PR, technical advisor. I do my own Web
site. Basically, you make a product and then you figure out how to
promote yourself.”
Sari Robbins, author of “What to Wear to a Seduction,” is a
former tax attorney who credits her first book contract to her
legal training. “I was willing to edit, re-edit and re-edit again until
50 | Atlanta Woman
it was publishable,” she says. “The ability to understand corporate
America helped too, because I understand that though this is my
baby, it needs to fit certain parameters to fit on a shelf.” Robbins
has published five historical romances that take place during the
Regency Period.
One Atlanta businesswoman insists she’ll stay in business no
matter how successful she becomes as a romance writer. Dianna
Love Snell is a commercial artist whose first contemporary
romance, “Worth Every Risk,” was published last year. Snell has
created dozens of marketing projects for high-profile clients that
light the skies from Boston to Dallas. She has designed billboards
and projects for Coca-Cola (including its retro, 50-foot sign
overlooking Woodruff Park); the 3-D “bullhorn” billboards for
Longhorn Steakhouse Restaurants and murals outside Manuel’s
Tavern and Mary Mac’s Tearoom, to name just a few.
“At the end of the day, I want something with a sense of hope,”
Snell says about her decision to write love stories. “And I believe in
romance. I’m married to my hero.”
If Stacey Abrams, who goes by the pen name of Selena
Montgomery, is elected to the Georgia General Assembly in July, she
may be the first romance author to hold political office. A graduate
of Spelman College and Yale Law School, Abrams served as a Georgia
delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention and is the
youngest deputy attorney ever in the city of Atlanta. Somehow, she’s
also found time to write five romantic suspense novels, including her
latest, “Hidden Sins.”
“For me, there isn’t a disconnect,” she says. “It’s an opportunity to
take really fascinating subjects that seem too dense for fiction and
bring them to a new audience.”
Wendy Wax, author of the popular contemporary comedies
“Leave It to Cleavage” and “Single in Suburbia,” worked in
television and film and hosted a live, call-in radio talk show. She
turned to writing after a stint at home with her kids. “My brain was
mushy,” she says. “I needed something that I could create.”
Author Mae Nunn (“Amazing Love”) works as vice president of
customer relations for DHL. Berta Platas (“Cinderella Lopez”) is a
director of marketing. Patti Callahan Henry (“When Light Breaks”)
was a clinical nurse specialist. And Haywood Smith, before hitting
the New York Times bestseller list with “The Red Hat Club” and “The
Red Hat Club Rides Again,” ran a thriving real estate company.
Business, it seems, is excellent preparation for romance. In fact,
today’s writers have turned romance into a booming business.
According to Romance Writers of America, romance books are
currently a $1.6 billion industry that account for more than 39
percent of all fiction sold, and almost 55 percent of all popular,
mass-market fiction. “Without romance, where would paperback
publishing be?” asks Carrie Feron, vice president and executive
editor of HarperCollins. “It’s impossible to deny the power of
romance: it sells... and sells... and sells.”
Atlanta romance authors understand this, and as good
businesswomen, they’re capitalizing on readers’ voracious, ongoing demand for modern storytelling. Margaret Mitchell would
be proud.