Really. Really really. Unless you’ve lived in a cave for the
past 40 years, you’ve heard the phrase, “Sex sells.” That may be true, but many
writers take it one step further and add the converse: “Lack of sex doesn’t
sell.” This is simply not true.
No one would argue that Dr. Seuss books should have had
explicit scenes to be a commercial success, because they’re kids’ books.
However, just because a book’s target audience includes adults doesn’t mean it
has to include what is politely called “adult content.” There are a great number of books out there with zero sex, and they sell just
fine and are enjoyed by many.
The New Adult classification is suffering from the “sex sells”
philosophy. According to the official word on the street (or the internet), New
Adult fiction is defined by having protagonists in the 18-25 age range. Nothing
is added to this definition that requires sexual situations, and yet those who
write NA fiction are becoming frustrated by the assumption that these books
should always include sex, or a certain amount of foul language. Writers who
don’t include sex in their NA books complain that all New Adult books are
automatically categorized as a sub-genre of Romance, whether the books have
romance or not.
And let’s face it. For every twenty authors who write sex
scenes into their books, only one of them might—might—write something that
doesn’t sound stupid, awkward, unattainable, or just plain uncomfortable.
Between the stilted dialogue and odd descriptions of body parts, there’s
nothing that’s un-sexier.
