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Contemporary romance is by far the biggest and most popular romance sub-genre. And while that's great for readers—there are so many books to choose from!—and authors—there are so many potential readers to market to!—it does make discoverability difficult.
Which is why niching down when you're planning series is so important.
What do I mean by "niching down"?
I mean that, when you're figuring out what type of romance to write or publish, choose a specific type of contemporary romance defined by a trope, a steam level, and/or a angst/conflict level.
This might seem counterintuitive; surely narrowing your focus means you'll have fewer readers, right?
Wrong. Niching down might narrow your audience, but that's a good thing, because it gives you a target audience. So you're not trying to capture the attention of every single contemporary romance reader. Instead, you're specifically marketing your books to, for example, romance readers who love low-conflict, small town romance about over the top heroes loving on curvy women.
And you make that niche your author brand, which is the type of story you promise readers can find in every one of your books. Wondering what I mean?
Here are a few examples of contemporary romance author brands:
Jocelyn Soto calls her contemporary romance novels "heartwarming and chaotic"—aka, emotional rollercoasters.
Jo Brenner calls her romances "a little twisted and a lot sexy."
Mia Brody writes contemporary romances about "alphas falling in love with big, beautiful women."
See how those brands are specific enough to create a target audience, but not so specific that they pigeonhole the authors and prevent them from exploring different tropes that take their fancy?
I can also say, from personal experience as a ghostwriter and self-published author, that it's much easier to write if you have parameters. Otherwise, you might feel overwhelmed with choice!
With that in mind, I've researched 3 low-competition contemporary romance niches broad enough that you can use them for a series or to define your author brand.
And if you want one of them makes you go "yes, I want to write this!," why not buy a unique plot or series concept suited to your style and author brand, or a detailed plot outline so you're ready to start writing?
Small Town Western Contemporary Romance Popular Tropes: Alpha male, grumpy/sunshine
Average page number: 250
Steam level: Clean/wholesome/sweet and open door
Reverse Harem Contemporary Romance
Popular themes: mafia, dark, military Popular tropes: possessive hero, age gap, stepbrother, bully Average page number: 325 Steam level: steamy/spicy and smutty
College Contemporary Romance
Popular themes: dark, hockey, reverse harem Popular tropes: bully, fake dating, athlete Average page number: 375 Steam level: steamy/spicy and smutty
Until next post, happy reading and writing!