Smut Killing Potential?

I’m not here to be judgmental about reading smut or not reading it, even though I have reached a point in reading where I mostly prefer clean books or just skip the smut. That said, I’ve been making an observation:

Books that are clean and authors that write clean books in certain genres and age categories have a stronger potential to become massive phenomenons than otherwise. People have been asking: is Sarah J Maas the next JK Rowlings? I was thinking about it, and with how beloved SJM’s bookverse is, she should’ve already had that level of success and her books should’ve exploded across scenes. There should be movies and her name/books should be household ones with the fame her books have acquired.

But something keeps holding her back—and I believe that is the smut her books have.

I notice that for books like Harry Potter, some Stephen King’s books, The Hunger Games, and so on: they are all stories that both parents and children can read. They are family friendly to a decent extent. So grownups eagerly welcome them into their homes for the entire family to get behind. Those are what makes books household names.

But I feel that as big as SJM’s books will get, they won’t fall in that ‘timeless classic’ category. i.e. whenever she stops writing, the books’ fame will likely go away too, rather than become staples in literature like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games that will live long even if the writers quit writing. And the smut in her novels is the drawback. Because most are YA and so many parents frown at them for the smut content. And others in the wider industry are aware of this slightly controversial nature of the books. So it limits what they can achieve.

I don’t know, maybe she never wanted her books to be great phenomenons and is content to write her fantasy sprinkled with smut for Romantasy readers, so none of these bother her. But since she’s been trying to bring her books to the big screen for years now, I think her career hopes do go beyond that a bit.

And again this isn’t a condemnation or anything, only that after seeing that question a lot and considering it, this is the barrier I think is blocking her books from completely establishing themselves in literature. She already has so many readers, that she should be the next (or current) JK Rowlings, but this is the reason she’s not. I feel like her books are the next (or current) Twilight, rather than one that’s more timeless and respected like The Hunger Games or Harry Potter.

As a fantasy writer, this is something I keep in mind as since SJM inspired me to start writing fantasy, I initially wrote smut in my first fantasy books. I just thought that was how it was done. I’m glad that over time as I’ve come into my own as a writer, I’ve realized that’s not quite me. And I’ve also seen that while it works for her with certain readers, it’s not a make-or-break requirement, and if anything it’s been keeping some achievements out of her reach. So for any upcoming writers out there, don’t latch too much on the style of authors you like/admire. (Yes, I like and admire SJM!) Take the time to find your own direction and lead your career in the way you want. As I said, she could be happy with what she’s achieved already and doesn’t want more, but while I’m not imagining I’ll be a household name, I personally do want my books to be readable by anyone of any age without a parent being aghast that their child is reading my book.

If I’d succeeded in publishing my first fantasy series with smut when I first attempted it, by now I’d be regretting it very much!