# Is "BBW" always a label to indicate a steamy/sexy book?



## AjSha (Oct 27, 2014)

I've seen lots of books labelled "BBW erotica" or "BBW billionaire romance" in the titles - but the covers invariably indicate that these are steamy reads.

Is that the general understanding among readers - that "BBW" signals a "sexy" type of book? So if your book doesn't have lots of graphic sex, you shouldn't label it that way otherwise you'll attract the wrong type of readers?

I always thought that that acronym just indicated a plus-sized heroine... but could you have a book labelled (in the title) as "BBW chicklit" for example, or even "BBW sweet romance" - or is that like a contradiction in terms? Would it be misleading?

Thanks!


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## Lillian_Graves (Sep 22, 2014)

BBW indicates the story has a "big, beautiful woman," meaning the protagonist or the woman counterpart is curvy and thick. It has nothing to do with the raunchiness of the story.


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## Moist_Tissue (Dec 6, 2013)

Lillian_Graves said:


> BBW indicates the story has a "big, beautiful woman," meaning the protagonist or the woman counterpart is curvy and thick. It has nothing to do with the raunchiness of the story.


I disagree with Lillian. The use of BBW is most common in erotica titles. It's the physical description of the woman involved; almost like a fetish type. For non-erotic, I see softer descriptions like plus-sized, plump, or overweight. In those stories, the weight of the heroine typically seems more like a personal struggle than a sexual kink.


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## Lillian_Graves (Sep 22, 2014)

Moist_Tissue said:


> I disagree with Lillian. The use of BBW is most common in erotica titles. It's the physical description of the woman involved; almost like afetish type. For non-erotic, I see softer descriptions like plus-sized, plump, or overweight. In those stories, the weight of the heroine typically seems more like a personal struggle than a sexual kink.


Also correct but the examples she gave used both erotic and romance, meaning the BBW indicator wasn't used for raunchiness, it was used to signify the body type. The category term or genre is what determines (or should determine, I should say) the level of heat.


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## zoe tate (Dec 18, 2013)

AjSha said:


> Would it be misleading?


I think it very easily could be, to some people, and there's no point in risking 1* reviews from having attracted the wrong readers, when it's easy enough to use other expressions instead? I'd want to err on the safe side, myself.


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## zoe tate (Dec 18, 2013)

1001nightspress said:


> I'd check the cover image and blurb.


So would I. But I think the point, here, is that there'll also be some people who don't, and "better safe than sorry", if you want to avoid 1* reviews from people who feel that they've been misled, however unreasonable their perspective might be?


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

Whether BBW always indicates a higher heat level or not, its prevalence in erotica and hotter romance might pose a marketing problem if you're writing sweeter stuff. Why not title your series in a way that makes the body type of the heroine known, but doesn't use BBW? "Curvy Girls Book 1" or "Plus Size Hearts" or something like that would be a great way to brand for a sweeter audience without using the BBW label.


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## rosclarke (Jul 12, 2013)

Yeah, I wouldn't use BBW for non-erotica/erotic romance. Plus-size heroine is much more common in other romance genres. So while BBW doesn't technically label your book as erotica/erom, it does send that signal to a lot of readers because that's where it's usually used.  You could simply say she's big and beautiful, or use whatever other terms you like to indicate her size.


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## AjSha (Oct 27, 2014)

Thanks so much, everybody, for your thoughts - they're really helpful!  

OK, I agree - I think it'll be safer to steer away from "BBW". I understand that you have to indicate the heat level too but if that acronym has connotations of "sexy" or erotica, I don't want to give off the wrong impression or have the wrong associations that could mislead readers, if the book isn't sexy at all. 

I don't have a problem describing the heroine in the story or blurb - I was only thinking of it in terms of something to add in the title - to help with discoverability. The heroine in my story is a curvy girl and so I thought maybe if I added "BBW romance" in the sub-title (the way I've seen lots of books on Amazon do), then it's another way for readers to find it (sort of like a keyword?)
But not if it's going to give the wrong impression of type of book! 

Libbie - I love your suggestions for a sweet romance, as a way to indicate a plus-sized heroine   Although I don't know if I can put those words in the subtitle - they seem more like a series name than a type indicator ("XXX romance"). And anyway, I don't know if people would be searching for books using words like that? Although I suppose if they're searching using "BBW", they're probably looking for a sexy read so that wouldn't work anyway!

Thanks again!


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## ConnerKressley (Feb 23, 2014)

Is it just wolves? I see BBW having a bit of fun with all different sorts of shifters


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