Yesterday my friend Mike posted about an epidemic he says is sweeping the nation: Sexy Vampire Books. What is a Sexy Vampire Book? Although he claims to have never read one, Mike does offer up a pretty succinct (and I will admit sometimes accurate depending on the novel) plot synopsis:

Dark, brooding vampire. Young, strong willed woman. Both with an emptiness inside they can't explain or fill up. That is until he sucks her down for a few quarts of AB positive and a gets a quick lay for his troubles.

While this does not describe every Sexy Vampire Book (or as librarians like to refer to them -- Paranormal Romance), it gives you a pretty good idea of what you are missing out on if you haven't read one of these books. While I will not address the appeal factors of these books (you have to take my RA class to get that lecture), Mike's post did get me thinking about a troubling trend I see not only happening with Paranormal Romances but with other subgenres as well: genre glut.

As I've already mentioned this week, right now is a great time to be a reader. And depending on the subgenre you read it might be a really great time to be a reader. Paranormal Romance readers are one of several groups of readers that arebenefitingg from a publishing boom in their favorite subgenre (Cozy Mystery readers are feeling the love as well). And while I'm happy for readers of Paranormal Romances that there is so much for them to choose from, the glut of books available to them isnt' going to last. What will happen to them if/when those publishing wells dry up?

For many readers their reading tastes are cyclical. What one person enjoys reading today they may not want to read three months from now or even a year from now. What publishers are buying/publishing usually reflects the ever changing taste of their readers. Right now we are fortunate in that publishers seem to be buying a little of everything, with some publishers buying a lot of certain somethings. But as a somewhat wise reader I know that could change in a heartbeat. Publishers X,Y, and Z may decide that there is too much of a certain subgenre in the marketplace and that they are no longer going to be acquiring those types of stories. And where does that leave me as a reader? Screwed if my reading tastes don't evolve or aren't open to other subgenres.

So while Mike may be alarmed by the epidemic of Sexy Vampire Books he should take comfort in the fact that this epidemic may not last long. Although I am sure that there are readers out there who hope that there are enough of these books around to terrorize him in the years to come. I know I'm one of them. :-)

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