The fate of the Australian Romance industry

 As an Aussie and a romance lover i think i am not the only one here when i say this - what the frick are Australian agents and publishers thinking when it comes to publishing romance novels?

Low-key though, i loved McClouds daughters just as much as the next redblooded female Australian, heck for a long time there i even wanted to be a cowgirl. But let's be realistic not every single romance book that gets published by agents and publishers in Australia needs to revolve around farm girl living, living on a cattle farm of even just rural living. Heck i love the new show 'doctor doctor', as much as the next person. But that doesn't mean every single romance book i read on the shelf i want to revolve around outback romances. Don't get me wrong they have their place. But seriously -come on we have more people city living than rurual living so why is this not represented in what is being published? Agents and publishers in Australia seem to view Australian romances to only be set in those areas. Why- only the holy spirit knows?

Firstly, we are a highly Americanised society, so why are you not publishing storyline’s written by Australian's focusing on different countries (Kylie Scott is fricken amazing in case you didn't notice - yet she is not on any book shelf) . Not only has she been voted best romance writer, but she has written some of the most amazing romances set in the US no less - yet her books are online.

Secondly, While it is good to read about rural romance - they have their place and their own audiences. The shelves shouldn't be cluttered with this genre, 'because we are Australian we should be drawn to that genre'. This isn't true. If you take a walk down the book section in target, Kmart or even Big W they have shelves and shelves of rural romance, but for the young reader, there isn't much opportunity to broaden your horizon within the romance genre. Isn't the whole point of reading to be able to have a variety of storylines? So why are we stifling ourselves and not even producing the same caliber of work creating Australian writers vying those overseas.

I feel like Australian publishers and agents alike have gotten the message wrong - Yes publish and celebrate Australian romance authors but dont leave this confined to a small genre because it is what they THINK people would enjoy reading. It's no wonder the publishing and book industry itself is barely treading water in Australia. There is less variety on the shelves here so people turn to online sites to purchase their books instead of buying online.