In erotic romance, the sex is the major plot point. Think FSOG. Distinguished from erotica however because it is a love story, not just a sex story.  Contemporary romance can be any steam level and have any amount of sex, but the sex is just part of the romance.

ETA: Can’t speak to how authors are categorizing their stories as I don’t pay much attention.

 

Thanks, Usedtoposthere,
That kind of reinforces my thoughts.
When I wrote the series, I categorized it as an erotic romance, because I thought the steam level was too high to categorize it as anything else. However...having not looked at the manuscript for 6 years, I realize it's actually more of a contemporary romance. ETA: I'm basing this on the ConRoms and EroRoms I've read these past few weeks.
Hmm, interesting. Thanks again.

 

Basically, yes. People put erotica and erom in romance intentionally.

But there aren't clear cut lines between CR and erom and new adult (NA) either.

Sylvia Day has the go to romance/erotica breakdown on her website.

https://www.sylviaday.com/extras/erotic-romance/

Erotic Romance: stories written about the development of a romantic relationship through sexual interaction. The sex is an inherent part of the story, character growth, and relationship development, and couldn't be removed without damaging the storyline. Happily Ever After is a REQUIREMENT to be an erotic romance.

Most of what people sell as erotica on Amazon is actually porn, so there isn't really a place for literary erotica or erom. Erom authors don't have a good categorization option.

 

Can anyone explain what the difference is, please?
I've read plenty of books recently which are categorized as Contemporary Romance but which, to me, read like Erotic Romance.
Do you think some authors are categorizing their books as ConRom rather than EroRom so they get more exposure?

My guess is that the answer is yes. Romance always has more exposure. There are even some erotica writers switching to romance for similar reasons. They want more readers. I haven't read all their works, obviously, but I would wager those books have a considerable amount of sex in them, even if they actually are genuine romances. They're just shifting the genre a notch or two... So I can see why some erom writers might do the same thing.

In cases like this, where there are so many grey areas between the genres, I think the blurb becomes even more important than it normally is.

 

Awesome advice, Crystal_ and JB1111 - thank you! 

That helps a lot.

 

I think it's getting messy in the romance genre as a whole. The short reads romance chart has been taken over by erotica authors. Titles and subjects that were straight erotica are now in romance.

Some erotica authors are just trying their luck and putting their very erotic or porn stories in romance to see if they can get more visibility and readers.

I can no longer search on Amazon for romance books. The romantic comedy chart has books with naked male covers that are clearly not traditional rom coms. So I have to use goodreads or book bloggers to find books I want to read now.

I have slowed down on buying books and so has my bestfriend. She struggles to find clean romance books that are not Amish, mail order or preachy christian stories. If she searches for contemporary romance, she gets hit by naked covers and steamy stories.

Some books that are in contemporary romance with the animated chick lit type covers are just steamy romance books too.

I see that there are a few people who were writing erotica, who are moving over to romance but don't understand what a romance book is. I see them asking these questions on reddit and other sites. Some think a bunch of sex scenes and a HEA at the end is a romance.

 

Thanks, BellaJames.

I agree. There seems to be a total mishmash of sub-genres being categorized as contemporary romance and I'm pretty sure they're not. Not in my opinion, anyways.

When I wrote my book all those years ago, my editor (a romance writer herself) suggested I put it in the erotica category. But by today's standards, at least, there's no way it's erotica. I'm not sure it was back then, either, but I took the advice of someone who knew better. And I believe she did, at the time. I was a new writer and I wasn't confident enough to follow my own instinct.

It's a steamy romance, for sure, but it definitely isn't erotica.

Thanks for your reply -- good stuff.

quote author=BellaJames link=topic=325697.msg3915427#msg3915427 date=1599452771]
I think it's getting messy in the romance genre as a whole. The short reads romance chart has been taken over by erotica authors. Titles and subjects that were straight erotica are now in romance.

Some erotica authors are just trying their luck and putting their very erotic or porn stories in romance to see if they can get more visibility and readers.

I can no longer search on Amazon for romance books. The romantic comedy chart has books with naked male covers that are clearly not traditional rom coms. So I have to use goodreads or book bloggers to find books I want to read now.

I have slowed down on buying books and so has my bestfriend. She struggles to find clean romance books that are not Amish, mail order or preachy christian stories. If she searches for contemporary romance, she gets hit by naked covers and steamy stories.

Some books that are in contemporary romance with the animated chick lit type covers are just steamy romance books too.

I see that there are a few people who were writing erotica, who are moving over to romance but don't understand what a romance book is. I see them asking these questions on reddit and other sites. Some think a bunch of sex scenes and a HEA at the end is a romance.
[/quote]