Volume XLI: Publishing and Romance Novels
How the industry continues to undervalue the genre
Introduction
Despite the love for and continuous success of the romance genre, publishers have yet to truly invest in it. Why is that? And why does this need to change?
Romance novels seemingly are everywhere these days: on our social media feeds, in the genre-specific bookstores opening up across the U.S., and tucked under the arms of our friends who have never considered themselves “readers” before. And yet, the publishing industry—whether that be publishers themselves, review and media outlets, booksellers, etc.—continuously undervalues the genre, despite its notable and continuous success.
Publishing continues to disappoint authors and readers alike—whether that be in its lack of diversity, outdated marketing methods, or mistreatment of employees. But still, this lack of investment in romance might seem surprising. Publishers are (read: pretend to be) all about the numbers—and romance sells. They have decades of data to back that up. So why not invest more in this genre, if they know the return on it will be strong?
In this issue, we’re going to take a deeper look at the success of the romance genre, despite the industry’s disregard, and how—and why—we readers can advocate for that to change.
A Deeper Look
How much is the romance industry worth?
In 2021, romance sales totaled over $1.44 billion—accounting for more than a quarter of all adult fiction sales.
In 2022, romance sales were 52.4% greater than the previous year.
In 2023, 39 million print copies were sold.
12 of Publishers Weekly’s top 25 bestsellers of 2023 were romance novels.
Despite these huge sales and clear demand for the genre, the lack of investment across key industry players is glaringly obvious. And this disregard not only acts as a form of gatekeeping against readers and authors, but serves to reinforce stereotypes and problematic biases around the “worthiness” of the genre.
Who gets published in the first place
In the aforementioned Publishers Weekly top 25 list, while 12 of the books were romance novels, only one was written by a woman of color. In fact, in 2021, just 7.8% of romance novels were published by BIPOC authors. And despite LGBTQIA+ romance sales growing by 740% between 2016 and 2021, they only represent 4% of the print book market. (And given how infrequent disability rep is in publishing, we can imagine that number is even less.)
Advances
Romance authors tend to also receive lower advances. While a bit older, a survey run through 2015 by one author found average romance advances for a first book to be $7,250 at Grand Central Publishing (Hachette) and $9,250 at Berkeley (Penguin Random House)—and these are publishers in the Big Five, not small indie presses. (As a reminder, advances are an “advance payment” to an author that they receive split over multiple months/years. An author has to earn out that advance on book sales to make any additional revenue via royalties, which we’ll get more into in a moment. But think about it this way: Your favorite romance author might not make more than $10,000 in two years for their book.)
And one of the greatest issues in publishing is how authors of color are vastly underpaid compared to white authors—and way less likely to get book deals in the first place. This becomes cyclical; lower advances mean less marketing support, which means less sales for the author, which means a lower chance of another book deal or stronger book deal next time around.
Sales
Royalties (aka the percentage of each sale an author makes) on hardcovers tend to be larger than on paperback, and since hardcovers have a higher sale price, that means even more revenue for an author. But most romance novels go straight to paperback, meaning romance authors are losing out on income.
Marketing and publicity
Publishing notoriously takes advantage of content creators to provide free marketing for them—and this is especially visible with romance reads. BookTok is a huge reason (many would argue the reason) why romance sales are booming, yet these creators are not paid to promote their favorite books. And publishers have come to rely on this unpaid labor, determining whether or not to publish a book based on its potential for “virality,” as if it's something they can control in the first place. They also might not move forward with a book deal if the author themself doesn’t possess a significant following on social media, as it would require more funding on their end to spread the word.
There’s also the fact that many review and award outlets don’t consider books that aren’t published in hardcover (*cue eye roll*), so publishers automatically limit reach and publicity by going straight to paperback. And have you noticed how the current trend skews towards “cute” romance covers with cartoon-like characters? They play right into the age-old idea that romance novels aren’t “real” literature (we talked more about this in our recent newsletter on what constitutes a beach read).
Review outlets aren’t any better. The New York Times didn’t have a romance column until 2018, and even now, it is monthly at best. When they shared their list of best books of the 21st century so far, romance was omitted altogether. Again, it’s as if they’re trying to communicate that these books aren’t to be taken seriously.
Ways to Respond
In some ways, it does feel like publishers are starting to take note of the demand and need for further investment in romance. Some, for example, have launched new imprints to publish more romance novels, and faster. And none of this would have happened without the readers who have truly helped the industry grow even more the past few years. Romance novels have blown up on social media, giving authors—including self-published authors—the space to flourish even if their publishers aren’t helping. Still, these authors tend to be overwhelmingly white, cishet women.
We can continue advocating for the romance genre’s recognition, and especially for a broader representation of stories read and published, in a number of ways:
Diversify our media sources: Whether the content creators we follow and engage with, or the review outlets we read, champion those who are invested in romance and uplifting BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and disabled romance writers.
Champion these authors ourselves: Reading their books, preordering them, checking them out and requesting copies from our libraries, signing up to receive ARCs from publishers—all of these show demand for an author, and publishers will take notice. We can also promote their books on our social platforms, and engage with the authors on their own channels (social, email, etc.).
Invest in romance-focused spaces: Whether romance bookstores, writer workshops, conventions, or events like Bookstore Romance Day, there are more spaces emerging for readers to support romance writers.
Contact your local government, if needed: Romance bookstores might face a number of challenges depending on where they operate. Steamy Lit in Florida, for example, was prevented from opening for some time because the state wanted to categorize it as an “adult” store.
Encourage publishers to sponsor events: Mel, founder of Steamy Lit, also shared that publishers wouldn’t sponsor Steamy Lit Con, despite attending to take meetings. If you work in publishing, talk to your team about being a sponsor for these important spaces.
Amplify romance content creators: Especially by engaging with BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and disabled romance readers, we can help grow visibility and acknowledgment of the industry, and the hard work that goes into promoting these stories. And this also means hearing these creators’ concerns and advocating for change (such as with the St. Martin’s Press boycott).
Final Musings
As a genre, romance has played a huge role in turning more individuals into readers. Not only do they present readers with a happily-ever-after, but they are valuable ways to learn more about ourselves and desires. They touch on happy moments, and many also give realistic depictions of topics such as depression, racism, parenthood, and plenty more.
As always, and until Palestine is free, here are some actions we can take to advocate for liberation. Looking for romance novels by a Palestinian author? Check out Diana Quincy.
We’ll be back in a few weeks with a deep dive into a recent read. We also offer free downloads (wallpapers, templates, and more), and our exclusive downloads for newsletter subscribers (with password newsletterdownloads). If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, don’t hesitate to get in touch via email, the comments below, or Instagram DM.
Xx,
ad astra