Which Do You Prefer To Read?
Sunday, January 6, 2008Posted in: Do you love male/male like a fat kid loves cake?
I was blog-hopping earlier when a comment from Emily Veinglory caught my eye:
“implicitly not seeking m/m, or haven’t thought about it much which is curious given that it tends to substantially outsell m/f.”
The post is talking about yet another new publisher who think they’re gonna set the world on fire, but to be honest, I’m not really interested in that portion of the post.
What I am interested in is whether or not male/male romances do indeed outsell books with female/male protagonists. Now I’m not talking about menages with both males and females because that doesn’t really answer the question.
So I’m gonna put it out there, if you had the choice between two stories, roughly similar, but one featuring M/M leads, and the other featuring a male/female couple, which would you choose?
For those people who are shy about these things, just post anonymously. It’s not like you guys don’t know how to do that. *g*
Cookie
January 7
1:01 pm
I’ve written M/M but in the menage catagory and I have to say it has sold well at one of my publishers. I made a four digit figure on that story alone. But more importantly, I do enjoy write the menage aspect more.
Cookie
January 7
1:23 pm
Oh and another thing, isn’t Peggy Roberts-the editor in chief formerly from Silk’s Vault Publishing? That tid bit caught my eye since Silk’s pretty much sucks ass.
Rocio R
January 7
4:14 pm
I got started reading very simple straight m/f books like most of us. Then the sex-it-up “era” started and i went from a sexier book to the sexiest of the moment, then “erotica” era started and we not only get explicit sex but also freak factor, so I went from a freaky story to the freakiest of the moment story….and them BOOM!!
I got soooo sick of it all that I am back forever to my traditional romance book and I rather have less sex than give up a good plot!
So it is not only just pure m/f for me now but also in the most conventional sex possible!!!
Lauren Dane
January 7
6:52 pm
A good story is a good story so I’ve read fabulous MM and crap, just as I’ve read fabulous MF and crap.
I will say I’m not swayed by publisher best seller lists as evidence that MM “far outsells” MF in erotic romance.
I believe MM has a solid following in epublishing erotic romance and I think there are some amazing writers (someone mentioned JL Langley above and I can’t agree more!) But I don’t believe it outsells MF erotic romance. That’s based on my own sales numbers and also whe I hear other people’s.
Still, I think the important point gets right back to a good story being a good story.
Danielle
January 7
7:37 pm
I’ve read both. It depends on the writing. Samanthan Kane at EC does some great M/M that’s hot as hell in addition to menage.
However, I do prefer Male/Female. Hot is hot, but,I love the Male/Female interaction more.
MERLIN
January 7
7:53 pm
I have to admit to being intrigued by the way that these discussions invariably involve a deabate about what “jizz” tastes like.
I wonder …… how many of you know what a woman tastes like ?
Hands up now – no need to be shy.
M.
Karen Scott
January 7
8:01 pm
I wonder …… how many of you know what a woman tastes like ?
That’s so funny! Not me for sure! Lol!
We did well at The Villa did we not? Gratified to see that Lpool have to take Luton back to Anfield. Not particularly happy with the fourth round draw though, Reading or Spurs will be hard work!
Anonymous
January 7
11:08 pm
anon said:
“I know I’m in the minority here, but I find a lot of M/M written by women to be…insulting, slightly exploitative, and often technically inaccurate. I’ve noticed that many reviews of m/m romances that are written by men complain that the characters fall into bed too quickly, that there’s not enough emotion. It’s like straight women are telling gay m/m romance writers, “Hey, y’all aren’t doing it right.”
I know Romance is a fantasy, and erotic romance, even more so. But what’s the point of reading an m/m romance when one of the m’s always acts like an “f”? Oh. Right. Two wangs are better than one. A lot of m/m seems to be less about presenting romantic relationships between men and more about presenting straight women’s idealized version of romantic relationships between men. Kind of like the way most lesbians in straight male porn have bleached hair, double-d breast implants, and a secret craving for dick.
While I prefer my romances m/f, I like and appreciate m/m or f/f that don’t read like the author has just changed one of the pronouns.”
Truth be told, that’s exactly what *most* m/m is, anon. And that’s why it sells too. It’s straight women writing what they think is hot about a gay relationship. And close to ninety percent of buyers are straight women who think that’s erotic, appealing, interesting, romantic, etc.
As to sales, as an insider, I can assure those who are skeptical that m/m does indeed outsell m/f *eighty* percent of the time. If you have m/m up against a well known m/f or menage author, the m/m generally doesn’t clobber the competition.
In my experience, the m/m buying community are very loyal. Meaning that while the books may not be in the top whatever of sellers (usually because they haven’t been out as long) they do indeed see large repeat readers on the whole. Unlike m/f, which can often have a great debut – for a series as an example – but then the sophomore slump hits, blah, blah, blah. M/m doesn’t usually succumb to this.
ML
vanessa jaye
January 8
1:52 am
It’s not my preference, so m/m is not something I seek out. But I don’t avoid it either. If the story/characters sound interesting, I’ll read it.
linda
January 8
2:07 am
Just call me a fat kid, Karen. I love m/m, started back in the 90’s when I read Emma Holly’s Menage, then Idol books all m/m. At the moment I am addicted to Torquere books especially Chris Owen, Sean Michael and Willa Okati’s stories. Some of the authors seem to be cashing in and it shows in their writing (I have noticed this with some EC authors especially).
I still enjoy m/f stories, but for the total escapism, the thought of two (or more), hot, hard bodies going at it….mmmmm
MERLIN
January 8
8:22 am
We did well at Villa but it wasn’t much of a game for a long time.
Liverpool are starting to look silly.
More worried about Reading than Spurs I think.
Still – it’s not really about the FA Cup any more is it ?
M.
Angelia Sparrow
January 8
12:10 pm
I do, Merlin. Naturally.
And I know it depends on the woman.
So far the only sex experience I haven’t had is the one on the ownership side of the penis.
Ignore me. I’m doing laps in the Perv Pool as always.
MERLIN
January 8
2:04 pm
Ah – “ownership of a penis”.
They’re more trouble than they’re worth you know ?
I can’t ever seem to get my penis and my brain to agree on anything ; it’s a real problem.
M.
QB
January 8
3:15 pm
Depends on the genre.
Contemporary stories? Westerns? Hands-down it’s M/M because of the completely different dynamics in the central relationship. I rarely even consider straight contemps or westerns.
Paranormal? Historical? Depends on the story, but I AM more inclined to take notice of an M/M.
ShelbyReed
January 8
6:22 pm
In a world where there’s such a dearth of love, I’m all for f/m, m/m, whatever you throw my way where the heart prevails. As long as the sex isn’t gratuitous and the brunt of the story is focused on the development of the relationship, I’ll read it all. I just finished Jyey Hill’s Rough Canvas. It’s BDSM *and* m/m, but despite my conservative upbringing–lol–I didn’t even blink. The story was so finely rendered, the love between the two men so profound, I count it as one of the most beautiful stories I’ve read in a long time.
Misa
January 9
5:37 am
Wow this has been quite the discussion. I’ll weigh in as a reviewer and say that the trend as far as the review sites I review for (5), most of us avoid m/m (myself included) except in a menage situation. I guess for me, it’s hard to relate to a m/m romance (technically speaking) so when I’ve had occasion to read yaoi, for instance, I can understand the feelings but not the physicality. I have wanted to read a good f/f romance but have come across any that peaked my interest.
Karen Scott
January 9
8:11 am
Well, these very random, if unscientific results seem pretty conclusive to me. MFs will probably rule the way for a time yet.
I have noticed that the majority of authors who say that their MMs outsell their MFs seem to prefer writing MMs and anyway, and thus this may be where their passions lie, which probably equates to a better book in the first place.
Carol Lynne’s books sell like hotcakes, and although I think her writing sucks arseholes, she seems to have a passion for writing MM (not sure why she continues to stick women in her stories when it’s obvious they’re just there as table decoration), and so the readers who are into MMs love her books, plot notwithstanding.
Dawn
January 9
2:34 pm
I mostly read m/f, but I’ve noticed recently that most of my buys have been m/m. It’s the idea of two guys going at it that turns me on.
That said, I have read crap m/m and m/f that doesn’t do a thing for me and I’ve read one f/f and that didn’t work for me either…
celticgirl25
January 10
2:31 am
M/M for me, definitely. I just find it so much more engaging than m/f for some reason, and more often than not it seems to feed my addiction for crazy drama more realistically than m/f stories do. There’s already the stigma’s and troubles to work through just by it being a m/m relationship, where with m/f you need to bring in stalkers and foreclosure and secret babies, and it just got too insane for me after a while.
M/M all the way.
Cookie
January 10
1:21 pm
It always amazes me how other readers can buy books just for the sex in it. Yes, I love M/M books too, BUT I’ll be damned if I ever buy a Carol Lynne book again. No matter if the sex she writes is what I want to read at the time. That woman knows absolutely nothing about plot, suspense, character development, the list can go on. Buying a book for me just cause the sex is “good” is a complete waste of time for me.