Th Romance Genre Fandom in the Digital Age

Welcome to Romance Genre 101

HEA & HFN
The Study

The Why

Romance novels comprise a billion-dollar-a-year industry and appeal to readers of all backgrounds and ages

Keep Reading

There is a substantial interest in these novels that continually attract new people and has long-term dedicated fans who keep returning for more stories.

The Study

. I examine romance readers’ demographics and their motivations for their investment in the romance genre.

         Where Happily Ever Afters & Happy For Now Endings Live.

Happiness & Love For All.
Welcome

Here there!

Romance novels comprise a billion-dollar-a-year industry making it one of, it not the most, profitable genres. I specifically use this phrasing because the Romance Genre has been the best-selling genre in the past and currently (in 2019) ranks as the second most profitable genre. In her book, How to Write Wildly Popular Romances, writer Adrienne deWolfe states that Harlequin Romance “sells four books per second, half of them internationally.” Four books per one second is an incredible statistic. Due to the monetary success of the Romance Genre it is clear that there is a substantial interest in these novels from readers. The question then becomes who is purchasing these books and why? What motivates readers to spend such a frequent amount of time and money?

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The

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RWA's Definition of Romance Genre | A Central Love Story: The main plot centers around individuals falling in love and struggling to make the relationship work. A writer can include as many subplots as he/she wants as long as the love story is the main focus of the novel & An Emotionally Satisfying and Optimistic Ending: In a romance, the lovers who risk and struggle for each other and their relationship are rewarded with emotional justice and unconditional love.

A Central Love Story: The main plot centers around individuals falling in love and struggling to make the relationship work. A writer can include as many subplots as he/she wants as long as the love story is the main focus of the novel.
Visit RWA's Website for Additional Information

Pamela Regis defines romance novels as “a work of prose fiction that tells the story of a courtship and betrothal of one or more heroines." Romance is the most commercially successful genre."

Janice A. Radway’s ethnographic study of Midwestern romance readers from Smithton was conducted in the 1980s. In Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture, Henry Jenkins classifies Radway’s study as a “first generation” fan study.

Romance is the most commercially successful genre. In her book, How to Write Wildly Popular Romances, writer Adrienne deWolfe stated that Harlequin Romance “sells four books per second, half of them internationally."

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The ongoing joke according to Beverly Jenkins is that “the romance genre keeps the lights on.

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Romance readers are voracious and want access to multiple titles at reasonable prices.

Romance novels have always been priced low. Historically, romance novels were referred to as dime novels. There was a point in time when romance novels were given away with sanitary products. In the Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini, he notes that when something is expensive it creates a mentality (or understanding) among buyers that the item in question is good. Cialdini wrote, “price alone had become a trigger feature for quality." I firmly believe that this plays into the stigmatization of the romance genre. - Angela Maria Hart

The necessity of including a satisfactory ending reinforces the nature of reading a romance novel. Readers want to escape into a world where they can be taken on a journey, yet no matter how dire the situation is along the way, they do not need to worry too much because everything will be fine at the end. In Reading the Romance, Radway found that romance readers enjoyed taking time out of their day, away from their families and work, to relax with their selected book; “what reading takes them away from, they believe is the psychologically demanding and emotionally draining task of attending…the emotional requirements of others." Jayne Ann Krentz went so far as to claim that authors were successful in the publishing industry due to their ability to craft fantasies, not necessarily due to their writing abilities and or talents. Crafting a world that readers can become invested in becomes crucial to the romance genre.

In There’s No Shame in Reading Romance Novels, Megan Rubiner Zinn wrote, “I read romances for the same reason anyone reads genre fiction: they’re fun. They’ve got strong, funny, smart characters, great banter, fun plot twists, great sexual tension and great sex.” She went on to say, “Decades of reading romances afftected the way I see my own desires: I never expected a gorgeous aristocrat to carry me away on a white horse, but I did learn that, in spite of what the culture tries to tell me, desire isn’t shameful and good sex is one’s right.”

Former Harlequin CEO, Donna Hayes said, “They (readers) buy really often and they love the convenience…so that's worked out very well for us.” In an ever-changing industry, romance has remained profitable. Hayes went on to say, “One of the things we (Harlequin) really focused on is providing books to women wherever and whenever they want to shop.” Readers can purchase romance novels at grocery stores, drug stores, bookstores, and, now, via numerous online platforms.

In a Women.com article, The Many Reasons Why Women Read Romance Novels, the author, Sophie Matthews, wrote: So why do we read romance novels in the first place? Well, reading is a form of escapism and romance novels fuel fantasies and desires. I might not want to date the cowboy bad boy, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to read about him swooning the girl next door. By reading romance novels, women get to live vicariously through these characters, reliving fantasies and hypothetical relationships over and over again. While this sentiment is true, it is oversimplifying the allure of romance novels. Reading in any format is living “vicariously.” People read the Harry Potter series over and over again, imagining themselves at Hogwarts. The idea of living via a story is not limited to the romance genre. Similarly, one could make the same argument that fantasy and mystery novels are a form of escapism. Wanting a break from one’s daily life is not exclusive to romance readers. The motivations run much deeper than this. - Angela Maria Hart

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The latest from the blog

Appendix of Events

Appendix of Events

Mar 24, 2019 | ,

Politics and Prose Romance Panel | 1270 5th St NE, Washington, DC 20002 Passion and Prose: A Romance Panel with Lisa Kleypas - Hello Stranger, Beverly Jenkins - Tempest, Eloisa James - Wilde In Love, and Mia Sosa - Acting On Impulse February 27, 2018: Washington, D.C....

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