Well, it was bound to happen: I made a mistake with my first eBook. Maybe you can’t tell from looking at it, but thanks to one of my friends (who was also the very first one to read my book), I realized that The Playgirl got listed in the wrong genre. Friend texted me Wednesday to call her to discuss what’s she read so far, and, during my lunch break, she clearly told me that it’s no Romance novel. Ack! She’s liking the book so far, but she ended up reading the last couple of chapters first before starting from the beginning and made the conclusion. (She also says she’s got a long ways to go before finishing the book; she, like me, works a full-time job with long hours, so it will be a while before her review.)
As I processed her criticism while at my day job, I began thinking about if my book was truly Romance or not. “Women’s Fiction” was the genre my friend suggested to me when switching genres. When I finally got home from work, I looked up the difference between Romance and Women’s Fiction. Articles like this and this were quite informative. It’s funny; in all those days leading up to releasing my first eBook back in late (a book that I’ve worked on for seven-plus years), the one thing I didn’t really put much effort into was finding out its proper genre. For the record, I did not choose Contemporary Romance to get a shot of earning the big bucks. I felt Contemporary Romance originally fit my book because of the romantic storyline between my protagonist and her love interest. Without giving too much away here, though, I was starting to understand why my friend suggested my book to be in the “Women’s Fiction” genre.
When it comes to my writing, I strive to make everything as near-perfect as possible. Alas…My noob status as a self-pub author is sooo on full display here. Maybe you can also tell I went on this book on my own without any outside input until after I released it in July. (I have my reasons why.) I’m aware of how avid Romance book readers can be, and for those who got my book and expected a Romance in the truest sense, all my sincerest apologies. I hope readers of my book will still enjoy its story for what it is. The genre changes will be made very soon. There’s also a good chance that my cover (which I’ve changed twice now) will also undergo yet another change to reflect its appropriate genre but also the tone of the story. *sighs* I really like my current cover, but it looks more suitable for the Steamy Romance section (which my book does have) as opposed to the Women’s Fiction section. (Unless if there’s a Steamy Women’s Fiction section I’m unaware of…)
The story will stay the same, by the way.
I should also should mention: in my Twitter, I posted “Important News” coming to my book very soon. This wasn’t it, and I’ll save that other news for another time.
Gah! I can kind of hear Phyllis from The Office telling me this: