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An Emerging Genre:
Why Women Love Chick Lit By Teri Brown
A new genre has taken the publishing industry by storm, one that seems to have escaped the overall fiction slump that is affecting most of the major houses. Chick Literature, called "Chick Lit" for short, is growing at an incredible rate.
Why are women buying the brightly colored novels by the millions? Women cite many reasons for loving chick lit: The books are fun. They are realistic. The characters are recognizable.
"I love chick lit almost as much as I love my husband," jokes Sublett. "Seriously, I enjoy reading chick lit a lot. Why? Because it's fun. They're light reads, and most chick lit I've read has a good amount of humor in the stories."
Heather Truett, a student from Tallassee, Ala., was reluctant to like chick lit at first because it seemed too trendy, but before too long she was hooked.
"I avoided it, but eventually those pink covers and sassy shopping gals lured me in," says Truett. "Being in school, I have to read a lot, so I don't get much time for pleasure reading. When I do, I try to choose fun stories that allow me to relax and laugh as I am reading them."
"Chick lit is a sub-genre of women's fiction that usually focuses on the heroine's journey, and the tone is usually younger and more modern than mainstream women's fiction," says Marbury. "Many chick lit stories would be classified as coming-of-age stories; others might be termed social satires, yet others are relationship stories. Most chick lit stories are told in the first person, while most women's fiction is told in the third person."
Marbury feels that chick lit is popular because women want to read about characters and situations to which they can relate.
"Chick lit is not only entertaining and current, but most of the titles deal with women's issues, great or small, without trivializing them," says Marbury. "Women in their 20s, 30s and 40s have unique and varied concerns. Every day they face weighty topics – ambiguous futures, even more ambiguous relationships, family politics and the myriad highs and lows of everyday life. They are independent and strong, and like all of us, occasionally confused and frustrated."
Red Dress Ink was created to address the reading appetites of a huge crop of readers who may enjoy traditional romances but wanted something sassier and more modern.
"Red Dress is women's fiction with attitude," says Marbury.
Marbury adds that chick lit readers tend to be very open to new authors and ideas. Even titles with older heroines are embraced.
