The romance genre is one of the biggest moneymakers in the publishing game, generating more than a billion dollars each year.

For centuries (literally, centuries) people have dropped major cash on novels best known for their elaborate and creative descriptions of genitals.

There’s also a love story in there somewhere, alongside words like ‘engorged’ , ‘nubile’, ‘pert’, and ‘ravishing’ – much like the Daily Mail.

Now the industry is in trouble, which is bad news for anyone who needs their fix of muscled men and corseted women.

If you’ve never cracked open a romance novel, please enjoy this dramatic reading of Sandra Hill’s Rough and Ready to get you in the mood before we break down the drama:

Right, on to the scandal, per CNN:

The scandal started when prominent author Courtney Milan was punished by the RWA [Romance Writers Association] after she called out another author’s alleged use of racist stereotypes and questioned a publisher about a staff member who had allegedly exercised offensive and problematic views.

Since then, in classic romance novel style, the situation has devolved into a massive controversy that is shaking the very foundations of the industry.

Courtney Milan is an author of Chinese descent whose romances that span diverse races, sexual orientations, and ages.

Kathryn Lynn Davis wrote a novel called Somewhere Lies the Moon, which Milan described as a “f****** racist mess.”

She highlighted a series of excerpts focusing on the novel’s heroine, who, like Milan, is half Chinese. It’s a very long thread, but there are lots of mentions of “almond eyes,” “yellow skin” and contrasts between stereotypically Western and Eastern cultures.

Milan went on to call out a host of other people, including author Suzan Tisdale and editor Sue Grimshaw. Davis and Grimshaw then filed complaints against Milan through the Romance Writers Association (RWA). The RWA decided to censure Milan.

On January 6th, the RWA cancelled its annual RITA awards, which honors the best in romance writing.

“Due to recent events in RWA, many in the romance community have lost faith in RWA’s ability to administer the 2020 RITA contest fairly, causing numerous judges and entrants to cancel their participation,” a statement from the RWA read.

The RITAs are the Oscars of romance writing, FYI, so when they were cancelled, it wasn’t long before publishing houses started weighing in.

“As a leading global publisher of romance fiction that is committed to diversity and inclusion, we at Harlequin believe it is important that all authors feel included, respected and heard,” reads a statement from Harlequin and HarperCollins Canada. “Recently reported actions by RWA leadership have therefore led us to decide not to sponsor or attend the RWA2020 national conference.”

Top dogs at the RWA then tendered their resignations, and now nobody knows where the industry stands.

On the upside, it could come out of all of this with a little more sensitivity and inclusion, and that’s never a bad thing.

For now, the RWA is in an undisputed state of crisis.

Every romance novel ends the same way: happily ever after.

Let’s see if the same can be said for the industry when the smoke clears.

[source:cnn]