Is the “romance” genre dead?

I ask this because what I’m seeing in the industry is more and more erotica and less and less romance. I don’t write erotica. Shoot, I can’t write erotica. I know plenty of talented writers who can — Emma Wildes being an excellent example. She is a friend and has established a fantastic career writing erotica in historicals and suspense. She is one of the leading authors for several e-pubs. I admire her greatly.

What I am concerned about are the romance authors who are in a holding pattern. Their submissions and proposals are met with a solid wall of “maybe.” Mine included. What are editors concerned about? Are they going after the quick money with erotica authors? I can’t fault them there. Sales are sales, and sales drive the market.

On the other hand, romance still sells. It’s just that there aren’t a lot of traditional romances out there. When a romance comes out by an author who knows what she’s doing, they sell. Case in point — Julie Garwood’s latest historical romance. Heavens, how I wish I had a readership with as much love and loyalty as Ms. Garwood. Shadow Music was her first historical romance in years. I clutched the book with loving anticipation as I walked to the cash register, thinking how much I would appreciate having another Garwood romance — a “keeper.” It didn’t work out as I’d hoped. The book was… mediocre. (Sorry, Ms. Garwood. I still adore you! ) Yet it remained on the bestseller list because there are readers out there STARVED for romance. Not erotica, ROMANCE. Good stories with a relationship based on love.

My paranormal series is romance. I build a world, and I build a relationship. But because of this, I wonder how it will be greeted by editors. The story is well accepted by contest judges with comments like “brilliant” (which made me cry) and “original.” My heroine and hero do not fall into bed at their first meeting, so I wonder about the story’s marketability. Murphy’s Law is a story where the much-in-need-of-reform hero doesn’t even like the heroine in the beginning. The sparks fly from the first moment, but they have to learn to know, respect, and love each other before they act on that attraction.

As a reader, I miss reading a good old-fashioned romance. As a writer, I hate knowing a good old-fashioned romance becomes clutter gathering dust in an editor’s office because it’s too good to throw away and too light on erotica to publish. While saying this might offend some writers, I think romance has lost its way.

I’d like my stories to put it back on track.