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Romance Novels - A Publishing Phenomenon

"Bodice rippers are more popular than ever."
Time, February 3, 2002


Never read a romance novel? You're among the few who haven't.

Over 50 million Americans read at least one in 2001 - up from 41 million in 1998. And they spent over $1.5 billion dollars purchasing those mostly paperbacks you see on the racks at grocery stores, airports and local bookstores.

Indeed, the romance genre now represents over half of all popular fiction and almost one-quarter of all books sold today - according to the national organization, Romance Writers of America, based on statistics compiled from Book Industry Study Group, American Bookseller Association reports, and tallies in Ingram's catalogue of all book releases.

Following is an overview of the study's conclusions. For more details, please visit www.rwanational.org.

(All figures are for 2001)

Total sales generated by romance fiction: $1.52 billion
Number of romance titles released: 2,143
Number of Americans who read romance novels: 51.1 million
Romance fiction's share of all books sold: 18%
Romance fiction's share of all popular fiction in North America: 54.5%
In contrast…
General fiction comprised only 17% of popular fiction sales
Science fiction/fantasy comprised 6.6%
Mystery/detective/suspense was 26.6%
Religious, occult, westerns, male adventure, general history, adult
and movie tie-ins were 14%
Where romance readers live:
32% in the Midwest
26% in the West
20% in the South
16% in the Northeast
Percentage of readers who are women: 93%
Marital status of readers:
49.5% married
33.3% single
10.7% divorced
6% widowed
Education of readers:
32% High school graduates
22% Have attended vocational school or some college
21% College graduates
10% Have attended post-graduate programs
10% Have Associate degrees
Race of readers:
75% White
11% African-American
11% Hispanic
Where readers buy romance novels:
33% Mall bookstores
20% Mass merchandisers (such as Target and Wal-Mart)
18% Grocery stores
9% Book clubs
7% Stand-alone bookstores (such as Barnes & Noble)
4% Internet sites
Quantity of novels read by romance readers yearly:
57% 1-5 books
17% 6-10 books
12% 21-50 books
8% 11-20 books
4% 51-100 books
2% More than 100
Top three character traits romance readers like to see in heroines:
1) Intelligence
2) Strength of character
3) Attractiveness
Top three character traits romance readers like to see in heroes:
1) Muscle bound
2) Handsomeness
3) Intelligence

* * *

For more information or photos, please contact;

Sally Schoeneweiss
Talk Ink, Inc.
Literary Marketing & Promotion
(813) 677-9790
sally@talkink.com

 

 

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