Over the weekend a controversial blog was posted on a popular website that reviews m/m fiction. The argument presented was that the quality of m/m publishing is on the decline due specifically to a lack of originality and poor editing. Reviewers feel they have reached a point of burnout and are losing interest in the genre, and frankly they are sick and tired of the substandard quality of material that continues to be released by the majority of m/m fiction publishers.

Several authors, reviewers and readers responded to the post, some of them numerous times. Almost all who expressed an opinion were in agreement with the premise of the original post, and the consensus seemed to be that the burden of correcting this problem lies at the feet of the publishers. They need to spend more time and money on editing, and it is their sole responsibility to “have the authors’ backs” by ensuring that quality become the focus rather than quantity.

Some respondents used this forum as an opportunity to highlight and promote their own publishing companies, making boastful claims that their material was superior to the vast majority. Some mentioned specific publishers and authors, using them as examples of poor quality. Some grumbled about the price of books, and some just bemoaned the fact that the whole situation was a sad state of affairs.

What I found strikingly ironic was the fact that even in the original post it was stated that sales of m/m fiction has skyrocketed. It continues to be an ever-growing genre. Although reviewers, authors, editors, and publishers all seem to agree that there are serious issues in terms of editorial quality, the readers continue to buy and read these books, and they do so with increasing frequency.

So it got me to wondering, wherein lies the problem? How can it be that the overwhelming consensus among those “in-the-know” is that m/m fiction is of lesser quality than mainstream books and at the same time the demand for these sort of books is skyrocketing?

Like everyone else, all I can do is speculate. I do not have any scientific polls to support my opinions. They are simply that—opinions. This being said, my theory, based upon what I’ve heard about the increase in site traffic on the m/m fiction review sites, is that the vast majority of readers are not as concerned about these quality issues as are the reviewers and the individuals who are likely to be passionate enough about m/m literature to leave comments.  What I’m saying is that perhaps hundreds of readers visit these review sites simply to see which new books are available. Perhaps many of them do not even pay much attention to the reviews. They buy what they like—what piques their interest.

Authors, editors, and reviewers are used to looking at manuscripts with a critical eye. They tend to read stories word-by-word, but the average reader is not so careful. If the objective of the reader is to simply enjoy a good story, they may not even notice what most of us would consider to be a serious editorial error.  Even if they do notice, they may have no problem overlooking it. What they care about is how the story makes them feel. They care about whether or not the story is boring. They want something that is entertaining and relatable.

Well, what publishers care most about is not the opinion of reviewers or the educated few who have a vast array of knowledge about what constitutes good literature. They care about SALES. It is simply a matter of supply and demand. Publishers are going to release as many books as possible as quickly as they possibly can, and as long as readers continue to buy them, they have no incentive to change.

We all know that getting a bad review is painful.  Not only is it embarrassing, but it’s scary. We worry about getting published again. We worry about whether or not readers will buy our books. We worry about our image. The truth of the matter, though, is that bad reviews do not necessarily equal poor sales.  When someone criticizes my writing, it bruises my ego and hurts my feelings, but as long as the book continues to sell, the publisher doesn’t care. Why should they?

I am not suggesting that the concerns expressed about quality are illegitimate. I agree fully that it is extremely important for the genre as a whole that we continue to strive to improve the quality of our material. I’m thrilled that many of the newer publishers are focusing primarily upon this important issue. Being diligent about quality is something that is going to benefit everyone—readers, authors, reviewers, and publishers.

I’m not sure that the quality issue is really something that we can solely blame upon the publishers. The publishers are simply doing what publishers do. They are business people, and their job is to meet the demands of their customer base. It is just like any other business. I don’t think that the dollar store which is making billions in profits every year really gives one iota that the little boutique down the road claims to have a better quality of merchandise.

The real issue here is that when it comes to publishing, the industry is a merger of business and art. The artists are focused upon the material itself. The business people are focused upon profit. Big, mainstream publishers have realized that they can combine both of these factors. In most cases, it is imperative that they do so. A poorly edited book is going to hurt their image and affect their sales. Smaller companies are more concerned with their niche customer base. If they can sell a couple thousand copies of a quickly-produced novel, it doesn’t really matter what the critics say about them.

While I sympathize with those who have concerns with the overall quality of m/m fiction, I don’t think that the answer is to attack the publishers. M/M fiction authors are in a rather unique sub genre of literature. Writers who have no literary credentials or formal literary education can easily be published as m/m authors. Many are just readers who decided that they loved the genre so much that they wanted to take a stab at it themselves. Of course this is true of all genres to a degree, but the odds of getting a manuscript published for the first time are much greater within this smaller market.

The only way that this will change is if the readers themselves decide that they will only purchase books of a certain quality. In the meantime, it is up to us as authors to take some responsibility for those works which bear our name. As for reviewers, they need to use the power of their own pens to give honest reviews, and probably more importantly, they need to simply be selective about what books they review. Remember, even when you give a bad review, you’re still promoting that book.

That’s just my opinion.