It seems, according to articles in just about every major newspaper, that romance novels are on the cusp of a new fad – Amish romance novels.

Yep, you read it here. No more vampires, werewolves, faeries, angels and demons. Paranormal is out.

Amish is in.

So does that mean all the paranormal authors and writers are out of luck?

Put down your dagger and pick up your quill?

Not sure.  We’re definitely a society that runs on fads. However, I’d like to think that there’s a market for every genre.  A few years back Chick Lit was all the craze. It’s not anymore yet publishers still produce Chick Lit and those authors are still doing quite well.

Some people like to read those books. Just like the vampire loving crowd isn’t going to just change their taste and never buy a vampire book again.

What’s An Aspiring Author to Do?

Any agent or editor worth their salt will tell an aspiring author to write what they know and what they write best. If that’s Amish, then great. If it’s vampire or cowboy or suspense it doesn’t matter.  Write what you can do best.  You cannot predict the next fad – I mean could you really have predicted Amish?

But what about chasing trends?

Should you try to write what seems to be a burgeoning trend? Luck does play a bit of a role in publication there’s no doubt about that. But persistence is more important. And there’s just not much of a future in chasing trends particularly if you’re unpublished.

That being said, if you are an inspirational romance author or a contemporary romance author with a common theme of community it might be easy to make the transition or to weave an Amish theme into your story. Just don’t force it.  It needs to be a natural transition for you and your writing. If not, readers and editors will know and your work will suffer.

Best advice….stick to your favorite genre. Tell your story and tell it well. There is an audience for you and an agent or editor who will recognize it.

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On a side note – I am reviewing my first Amish romance this month for Romantic Times and I’m awfully curious. It looks to be a suspense/Amish Romance.  (The author is a well published inspirational romance author and I suspect weaving an Amish theme into her career wasn’t much more than a small adjustment.)