YA Sci-Fi Author Asks Whether Readers Want Smut And If His Clean Niche Is A "Nonexistent" Market
With so much of the mainstream fantasy and science fiction markets being dominated by romantic smut books, sci-fi author John McBrine researched whether readers wanted pornography in their fiction, and his answers surprised him.
John McBrine is a YA Sci-Fi author of the book, Unsecret Identity, of which he did all the graphic design and book cover himself as a talented creator and artist. He writes clean fiction, unlike much of the market these days, and so he was interested in discovering what readers truly wanted out of a fiction reading experience.
The purveyance of smut in fantasy and sci-fi is a real problem, but shockingly, it is even in the young adult categories that are aimed at teens in general, which leads many to wonder why books are categorized and such and border on pornography.
McBrine posted to X, “Readers, do you like clean fiction? More than mild romance, but YA sci-fi that’s big on action but short on swears and, ahem, intimate encounters?”
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And then he continues in a thread, “Romance is always going to be a big seller across all demos, and romantasy is right up there with it. Supernatural, Fae, Fantasy - but not many mechs or superheroes. Starting to think this niche of mine is nonexistent.”
“This Reddit thread offers some classics but ultimately comes up a bit short on suggestions,” he said.
The thread on Reddit was asking for clean YA reads. Most fans recommended older books at least before 2015 since the market shift seemed to have occurred since then.
McBrine noted one commentator who recommended Neil Gaiman for the youth, saying, “This post was particularly interesting and didn’t age well.” In this, he references the recent sexual assault scandals from the Sandman author.
The problem of smut dominating fiction sections in bookstores and on Amazon categories is one that’s been around for a long time, but as it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find books that are suitable for young readers, especially male ones in the market, more people are getting concerned and trying to do something about it.
So far, it seems no one’s found a real solution.
What do you think of romantasy smut dominating YA book markets? Leave a comment and let us know.
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