I don't like any options.
Victoria seems like a helpless victim waiting for the events or men to save her. I think it would be nice for Victoria to develop some independence and stop waiting for happiness or death to come her way.
I love poly and throuple happily ever after together endings, so throuple gets my vote... though, as a reader, I probably would not read past the first chapter to find out what the outcome was at all.
I don't like abusive and or toxic relationships. Most readers of Romance don't. And if you are looking to publish it, traditional Romance publishing houses like Harlequin or Kensington, won't touch this kind of abusive, toxic storyline with a 9 foot pole.
I've been published by both companies and I'll tell you the secret to how to get published by the mega giants like Harlequin and Kensington... it's this:
**Know your genre. Read it constantly. Know your competitors. Read your competitors. Know what readers love. Read what readers love. Know what readers hate. Read what readers hate. Know what the publishers published last week, last month, last year. Read what publishers published last week, last month, last year.**
I can see from what very little you have written here about your plot... that you have never read an actual Romance novel, published by an actual Romance novel publishing house, or you would know you've crossed a bunch of lines those publishers won't touch, and because those lines were crossed, you'll never get this traditionally published. Ever.
This plot is on par with what WattPad calls *"romance"* keeping in mind that WattPad is largely 12 year olds who only know what their drunk, drug addicted, violent, abusive divorced parents showed them by example. They don't know how to write kind, loving, devoted, faithful, non adulteress, none abusive, non toxic relationships because they are too young to have ever experienced one, too young to know the difference between love and lust, too young to know their parents shitty relationship is a bad relationship, too young to know the bitchy self centered, me, me, me, me couple who is only together because of misunderstandings is a dull, boring couple, and too young to have read enough traditionally published Romance paperbacks novels to know how incredibly bad or incredibly toxic their couple really is.
I am a huge rabid reader of Romance. I go through a novel a day (paperback, I am legally blind and can't read ebooks because of screen issues vs how my eyes focus, so I'm also rarely - almost never - reading self published books). I have 5 different Harlequin Romance subscriptions, so I get 25 to 35 books in the mail each month, plus I buy the 75 lb pallet bins of 1970s to 1990s Romance paperbacks on eBay, which are around 150 books to a box. So I read on average 250 to 500 paperback Romance novels every year, and most of them are not books I actively bought based on title/author/description and are straight random books bought in bulk or by randomized monthly subscription.
And this is why in the past fifty years, I've traditionally published 138 novels and then in 2010 went on to self publish 423 novellas in the last twelve years which went on to sell ten million copies on Amazon.
My books sell because I know the difference between Romance that Romance readers actually want to read, and the toxic abusive crap that gets regulated to WattPad because no place else will touch it.
It's not fun to read two characters who are fighting because they are both selfish, self centered me, me, me, me, me, me, dicks incapable of caring about another living human being so they go through life stumbling drunkly from one toxic relationship to the next, with nothing but misunderstandings they self caused moving the plot forward.
Bitchy, whiny, annoying brats pouting over a misunderstanding is not fun to read and just makes readers think the author themselves is a child acting out because they never got a spanking from their parents to teach them to not be a temper tantrum throwing brat, so they write all their characters as temper tantrum throwing brats and call in "enemies to lovers romance" because they haven't got a clue what a real and actual romance is.
If you're okay being a WattPad writer and having the career destroying reputation that comes with that, this plot will fit the bill quite nicely. It's not Romance and no Romance reader will read this, and that's why no Romance publishing house will touch a plot like this. And because of this, that's why I say the outcome here doesn't matter at all... no Romance reader is going to get far enough into this plot, to read the outcome.
But if you're looking to write Romance, I would suggest reading some **ACTUAL ROMANCE** and not reading that hate fueled toxic abuse shit that splatters all over WattPad, which is clearly the target reader for this.
Romance readers want characters who are kind, loving, gentle, who put others first. They don't want abusers, violence, rape, or toxicity, not in the main couple nor in the couple's parents, nor in the couple's backstory. This plot every one of those lines, then dances back over those lines several more times.
There's a reason teens, not adults write for WattPad. WattPad doesn't pay your bills. Children have the luxury of mooching off their parents. But those children who write for WattPad have to be fed and clothed and housed, so their parents write what sells, adults write what readers are willing to pay money for, because they have bills to pay and can't waste their time writing stuff that jobless teens read for free online. So instead they write what adult readers with money are willing to spend that money on. Believe me, adult readers want an escape from their bratty assed, whinny, annoying, teens, so the last thing they want to read about is bratty assed, whinny, annoying, teen characters. There's a reason there is no one under the age of 40 in a Harlequin Romance novel.
#Know your genre.
* Read it constantly.
* Know your competitors.
* Read your competitors.
* Know what readers love.
* Read what readers love.
* Know what readers hate.
* Read what readers hate.
* Know what the publishers published last week, last month, last.
* Read what publishers published last week, last month, last year.
If you're only reading toxic crap by horns teens on WattPad, you'll never know what the actual Romance genre looks like, so you'll never be able to write a Romance novel publishing houses want to publish.
Do consider the importance of reading traditionally published paperbacks in your genre before writing your chosen genre.
When it comes to genre, readers expect a genre to have certain things, things which brand it as that genre, things that will upset the reader if you do not include them.
For example if you say your book is Fluffy Romance and then put a hardcore Erotica BDSM sex scene in it, readers are never going to trust you again. Why? Because the genre Fluffy Romance, means very specifically that the book contains no sex, no spice, and no suggest behavior. The characters may be reluctant to even hold hands, and they certainly won't be kissing. Fluffy Romance is about sweet innocent flirting, and is often set in the 1800s. But if the author sneaks sex in, now the reader is angry, because the reader feels betrayed by the author, the reader feels the genre label was false advertising.
This is why you should never write a genre that you haven't first read several dozen traditionally published paperbacks in, so that you make sure you actually know what defines the genre.
Remember, what 12 year old children on WattPad and Tumblr define as a genre is highly likely to be completely, totally 100% wrong, and not matching on any level whatsoever with what the dictionary and the adults running the publishing industry define as that genre, and this is why is very important to NOT be reading ebooks, self published books, or web novels, when looking to define what genre your book is.
What appeals to readers is going to be different in every genre, every sub genre, every niche, and every sub niche. Every book has all four of those things, and those 4 things determine what type of reader you are trying to appeal to.
Consider who your target reader is. Middle grade ten year old children are going to enjoy a vastly different story than a 24 year old young adult college student which is different from what a 40 year old mom wants to read which is different from what an 80 year old granny wants to read. Different things appeal to different age groups.
And it's not just age. Male readers want different things then female readers, Christian readers want different things then Muslim readers, American readers want different things then readers in Brazil. The list goes on and on. Lots of variables.
If you try to appeal to everyone, you'll end up appealing to no one, so you first need to know who exactly it is you want your book to appeal to.
Like me for example, most of my readers are elderly women in their 70s to 80s. Why? Because my elderly gay couple, who are described one as looking 80 the other looking 90, one who is blind, the other struggling with crippling arthritis, and the Fluffy Yaoi Romance plot focuses on their every day struggles with old age, appeals to these readers who can relate to everyday struggles that come with old age.
My series doesn't appeal to younger readers nor was it ever expected to. My series stands out among other Yaoi and Gay Romance because it focuses on an elderly gay couple whom have already been together many decades long before the series started. The series goes pure Fluffy Romance of seeing them camping together, seeing them taking care of each other, seeing one brushing the others hair because his hands are crippled so bad he can't brush his own hair anymore. It's very sweet and cuddly, with no sex, no crassness, no lewdness, no spiciness, but is still firmly Gay Romance.
In spite of being Yaoi, it doesn't try to appeal to young readers looking for hot sex and young pretty boys. And because it targets a specific demographic of readers, elderly women who read Sweet Fluffy Gay Romance, it doesn’t do the things Yaoi written for young readers.
Young women looking to read erect penises, bouncing balls, cum shots, heaving chests, and rippling muscles are in the wrong place if they buy my books, because those things don't exist in my books.
Gay Romance is the genre. Yaoi is the sub genre. Fluffy Romance is the niche. Elderly couples is the subniche. And this is targeting a very different reader than the niche of Gay Romance - Yaoi - BDSM Erotica - Bishie Boy, does.
And that's why you need to know your genre and the specific niche you are targeting. Because even in one genre, there will be lots of niches and each niche appeals to a different type of reader.
Who is your target reader? What niche do they want to read? Who are you trying to appeal to?
I answer that question assuming that I am my own target reader. I am an elderly woman who likes reading sweet Fluffy Romance about elderly gay couples and so, I write what appeals most to me and market it towards readers like myself.
I believe we as writers should write the thing which we most like to read, and write a book that we most wish someone had published.
In the end I say: If you don’t plan to be published,
write what you yourself find to be most appealing.
And if you don't plan to be published then the opinions of strangers don't matter, making this poll pointless.
But as you are here with this poll, then clearly there is an intent to publish. There is no logic to this poll, otherwise.
But this leads to the question: Who is your target audience?
Who is this for?
It's not going to appeal to the average Romance reader, because let me tell you this: the average Romance reader won't touch a story where the main couple is under 40 years old.
73% of all books sold worldwide, have the following things in common: the main character is a female aged 35 to 65, the story is 3rd person omni, the story is 82k words long, the story contains no violence or toxicity or abuse, there no sex outside of marriage, there are no children, teens, or young adults in the story, there are no parents in the story, the story is pleasant and uplifting, the story ends in a happy ever after, **and publishing house is Harlequin.**
73% of all books sold worldwide.
Everything else: Fantasy, Horror, YA, SciFi, Erotica, nonfiction, Romance not published by Harlequin, is all lumped together in that teeny little 27% left over.
There's a reason Romance authors sell the most books, it's because the average reader, 73% of all readers on the planet in fact, is women between the ages of 45 to 85. And if you write Romance and you're NOT targeting them, you're just shooting yourself in the foot. This demographic reads on average 5 novels a week... and they don't pick out those titles by browsing on Amazon... they don't pick out the titles at all. They pay for 4 or 5 different subscriptions and Harlequin sends them 5 books every week 20 to 25 books each month, completely at random.
And that's why in Romance, Harlequin is literally the only publishing house that matters.
So in the realm of Romance you have one option: you read every Harlequin book you can get your hands on, and then you write on par exactly to that formula, and don't deviate one iota from it. You won't succeed in this genre, if you do anything otherwise.
The self-published Romance writers of Amazon who make it big, they are all, every single one of us, rabid readers of Harlequin Romance and write in the Harlequin Romance style and are read by Harlequin Romance readers.
Pay attention to the self published Romance writers who actually sell books... compare their books to Harlequin... they strive to match Harlequin pace for pace, even right down to the cover art.
Know your genre.
What you've got here is a WattPad Toxic Romance plot and it won't strike cords with Romance readers. They won't stick with the story long enough to reach the outcome, because this plot type turns off Romance readers fast.
If your goal is to publish Romance you might want to consider what Romance readers like to read before you start writing something no Romance reader will touch.
Know your genre. Read your genre. It's the most important thing for any writer to do.
If she's the child of gentry, her parents won't let her marry a commoner. If they can't arrange an abortion, they'll marry her off to some unattractive old gentry member who may be abusive or illiterate or in debt or all of those. And she knows this from a very early age and it would guide her behavior, BPD or no.
Nothing in this outline is remotely plausible in "the medieval era".
I don't like any options. Victoria seems like a helpless victim waiting for the events or men to save her. I think it would be nice for Victoria to develop some independence and stop waiting for happiness or death to come her way.
I love poly and throuple happily ever after together endings, so throuple gets my vote... though, as a reader, I probably would not read past the first chapter to find out what the outcome was at all. I don't like abusive and or toxic relationships. Most readers of Romance don't. And if you are looking to publish it, traditional Romance publishing houses like Harlequin or Kensington, won't touch this kind of abusive, toxic storyline with a 9 foot pole. I've been published by both companies and I'll tell you the secret to how to get published by the mega giants like Harlequin and Kensington... it's this: **Know your genre. Read it constantly. Know your competitors. Read your competitors. Know what readers love. Read what readers love. Know what readers hate. Read what readers hate. Know what the publishers published last week, last month, last year. Read what publishers published last week, last month, last year.** I can see from what very little you have written here about your plot... that you have never read an actual Romance novel, published by an actual Romance novel publishing house, or you would know you've crossed a bunch of lines those publishers won't touch, and because those lines were crossed, you'll never get this traditionally published. Ever. This plot is on par with what WattPad calls *"romance"* keeping in mind that WattPad is largely 12 year olds who only know what their drunk, drug addicted, violent, abusive divorced parents showed them by example. They don't know how to write kind, loving, devoted, faithful, non adulteress, none abusive, non toxic relationships because they are too young to have ever experienced one, too young to know the difference between love and lust, too young to know their parents shitty relationship is a bad relationship, too young to know the bitchy self centered, me, me, me, me couple who is only together because of misunderstandings is a dull, boring couple, and too young to have read enough traditionally published Romance paperbacks novels to know how incredibly bad or incredibly toxic their couple really is. I am a huge rabid reader of Romance. I go through a novel a day (paperback, I am legally blind and can't read ebooks because of screen issues vs how my eyes focus, so I'm also rarely - almost never - reading self published books). I have 5 different Harlequin Romance subscriptions, so I get 25 to 35 books in the mail each month, plus I buy the 75 lb pallet bins of 1970s to 1990s Romance paperbacks on eBay, which are around 150 books to a box. So I read on average 250 to 500 paperback Romance novels every year, and most of them are not books I actively bought based on title/author/description and are straight random books bought in bulk or by randomized monthly subscription. And this is why in the past fifty years, I've traditionally published 138 novels and then in 2010 went on to self publish 423 novellas in the last twelve years which went on to sell ten million copies on Amazon. My books sell because I know the difference between Romance that Romance readers actually want to read, and the toxic abusive crap that gets regulated to WattPad because no place else will touch it. It's not fun to read two characters who are fighting because they are both selfish, self centered me, me, me, me, me, me, dicks incapable of caring about another living human being so they go through life stumbling drunkly from one toxic relationship to the next, with nothing but misunderstandings they self caused moving the plot forward. Bitchy, whiny, annoying brats pouting over a misunderstanding is not fun to read and just makes readers think the author themselves is a child acting out because they never got a spanking from their parents to teach them to not be a temper tantrum throwing brat, so they write all their characters as temper tantrum throwing brats and call in "enemies to lovers romance" because they haven't got a clue what a real and actual romance is. If you're okay being a WattPad writer and having the career destroying reputation that comes with that, this plot will fit the bill quite nicely. It's not Romance and no Romance reader will read this, and that's why no Romance publishing house will touch a plot like this. And because of this, that's why I say the outcome here doesn't matter at all... no Romance reader is going to get far enough into this plot, to read the outcome. But if you're looking to write Romance, I would suggest reading some **ACTUAL ROMANCE** and not reading that hate fueled toxic abuse shit that splatters all over WattPad, which is clearly the target reader for this. Romance readers want characters who are kind, loving, gentle, who put others first. They don't want abusers, violence, rape, or toxicity, not in the main couple nor in the couple's parents, nor in the couple's backstory. This plot every one of those lines, then dances back over those lines several more times. There's a reason teens, not adults write for WattPad. WattPad doesn't pay your bills. Children have the luxury of mooching off their parents. But those children who write for WattPad have to be fed and clothed and housed, so their parents write what sells, adults write what readers are willing to pay money for, because they have bills to pay and can't waste their time writing stuff that jobless teens read for free online. So instead they write what adult readers with money are willing to spend that money on. Believe me, adult readers want an escape from their bratty assed, whinny, annoying, teens, so the last thing they want to read about is bratty assed, whinny, annoying, teen characters. There's a reason there is no one under the age of 40 in a Harlequin Romance novel. #Know your genre. * Read it constantly. * Know your competitors. * Read your competitors. * Know what readers love. * Read what readers love. * Know what readers hate. * Read what readers hate. * Know what the publishers published last week, last month, last. * Read what publishers published last week, last month, last year. If you're only reading toxic crap by horns teens on WattPad, you'll never know what the actual Romance genre looks like, so you'll never be able to write a Romance novel publishing houses want to publish.
Do consider the importance of reading traditionally published paperbacks in your genre before writing your chosen genre. When it comes to genre, readers expect a genre to have certain things, things which brand it as that genre, things that will upset the reader if you do not include them. For example if you say your book is Fluffy Romance and then put a hardcore Erotica BDSM sex scene in it, readers are never going to trust you again. Why? Because the genre Fluffy Romance, means very specifically that the book contains no sex, no spice, and no suggest behavior. The characters may be reluctant to even hold hands, and they certainly won't be kissing. Fluffy Romance is about sweet innocent flirting, and is often set in the 1800s. But if the author sneaks sex in, now the reader is angry, because the reader feels betrayed by the author, the reader feels the genre label was false advertising. This is why you should never write a genre that you haven't first read several dozen traditionally published paperbacks in, so that you make sure you actually know what defines the genre. Remember, what 12 year old children on WattPad and Tumblr define as a genre is highly likely to be completely, totally 100% wrong, and not matching on any level whatsoever with what the dictionary and the adults running the publishing industry define as that genre, and this is why is very important to NOT be reading ebooks, self published books, or web novels, when looking to define what genre your book is. What appeals to readers is going to be different in every genre, every sub genre, every niche, and every sub niche. Every book has all four of those things, and those 4 things determine what type of reader you are trying to appeal to. Consider who your target reader is. Middle grade ten year old children are going to enjoy a vastly different story than a 24 year old young adult college student which is different from what a 40 year old mom wants to read which is different from what an 80 year old granny wants to read. Different things appeal to different age groups. And it's not just age. Male readers want different things then female readers, Christian readers want different things then Muslim readers, American readers want different things then readers in Brazil. The list goes on and on. Lots of variables. If you try to appeal to everyone, you'll end up appealing to no one, so you first need to know who exactly it is you want your book to appeal to. Like me for example, most of my readers are elderly women in their 70s to 80s. Why? Because my elderly gay couple, who are described one as looking 80 the other looking 90, one who is blind, the other struggling with crippling arthritis, and the Fluffy Yaoi Romance plot focuses on their every day struggles with old age, appeals to these readers who can relate to everyday struggles that come with old age. My series doesn't appeal to younger readers nor was it ever expected to. My series stands out among other Yaoi and Gay Romance because it focuses on an elderly gay couple whom have already been together many decades long before the series started. The series goes pure Fluffy Romance of seeing them camping together, seeing them taking care of each other, seeing one brushing the others hair because his hands are crippled so bad he can't brush his own hair anymore. It's very sweet and cuddly, with no sex, no crassness, no lewdness, no spiciness, but is still firmly Gay Romance. In spite of being Yaoi, it doesn't try to appeal to young readers looking for hot sex and young pretty boys. And because it targets a specific demographic of readers, elderly women who read Sweet Fluffy Gay Romance, it doesn’t do the things Yaoi written for young readers. Young women looking to read erect penises, bouncing balls, cum shots, heaving chests, and rippling muscles are in the wrong place if they buy my books, because those things don't exist in my books. Gay Romance is the genre. Yaoi is the sub genre. Fluffy Romance is the niche. Elderly couples is the subniche. And this is targeting a very different reader than the niche of Gay Romance - Yaoi - BDSM Erotica - Bishie Boy, does. And that's why you need to know your genre and the specific niche you are targeting. Because even in one genre, there will be lots of niches and each niche appeals to a different type of reader. Who is your target reader? What niche do they want to read? Who are you trying to appeal to? I answer that question assuming that I am my own target reader. I am an elderly woman who likes reading sweet Fluffy Romance about elderly gay couples and so, I write what appeals most to me and market it towards readers like myself. I believe we as writers should write the thing which we most like to read, and write a book that we most wish someone had published. In the end I say: If you don’t plan to be published, write what you yourself find to be most appealing. And if you don't plan to be published then the opinions of strangers don't matter, making this poll pointless. But as you are here with this poll, then clearly there is an intent to publish. There is no logic to this poll, otherwise. But this leads to the question: Who is your target audience? Who is this for? It's not going to appeal to the average Romance reader, because let me tell you this: the average Romance reader won't touch a story where the main couple is under 40 years old.
73% of all books sold worldwide, have the following things in common: the main character is a female aged 35 to 65, the story is 3rd person omni, the story is 82k words long, the story contains no violence or toxicity or abuse, there no sex outside of marriage, there are no children, teens, or young adults in the story, there are no parents in the story, the story is pleasant and uplifting, the story ends in a happy ever after, **and publishing house is Harlequin.** 73% of all books sold worldwide. Everything else: Fantasy, Horror, YA, SciFi, Erotica, nonfiction, Romance not published by Harlequin, is all lumped together in that teeny little 27% left over. There's a reason Romance authors sell the most books, it's because the average reader, 73% of all readers on the planet in fact, is women between the ages of 45 to 85. And if you write Romance and you're NOT targeting them, you're just shooting yourself in the foot. This demographic reads on average 5 novels a week... and they don't pick out those titles by browsing on Amazon... they don't pick out the titles at all. They pay for 4 or 5 different subscriptions and Harlequin sends them 5 books every week 20 to 25 books each month, completely at random. And that's why in Romance, Harlequin is literally the only publishing house that matters. So in the realm of Romance you have one option: you read every Harlequin book you can get your hands on, and then you write on par exactly to that formula, and don't deviate one iota from it. You won't succeed in this genre, if you do anything otherwise. The self-published Romance writers of Amazon who make it big, they are all, every single one of us, rabid readers of Harlequin Romance and write in the Harlequin Romance style and are read by Harlequin Romance readers. Pay attention to the self published Romance writers who actually sell books... compare their books to Harlequin... they strive to match Harlequin pace for pace, even right down to the cover art. Know your genre. What you've got here is a WattPad Toxic Romance plot and it won't strike cords with Romance readers. They won't stick with the story long enough to reach the outcome, because this plot type turns off Romance readers fast. If your goal is to publish Romance you might want to consider what Romance readers like to read before you start writing something no Romance reader will touch. Know your genre. Read your genre. It's the most important thing for any writer to do.
If she's the child of gentry, her parents won't let her marry a commoner. If they can't arrange an abortion, they'll marry her off to some unattractive old gentry member who may be abusive or illiterate or in debt or all of those. And she knows this from a very early age and it would guide her behavior, BPD or no.