The romance genre thrives in bad economic times

Everybody seems to be suffering during these tough economic times. Everyone except the romance publishing industry. Giants of the romance publishing industry like Harlequin and Silhouette - Torstar is the parent company of both with - are doing very well.

For more information on the company go to:

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Harlequin-Enterprises-Limited-Company-History.html

Publishers Weekly has routinely covered the romance publishing world including Harlequin’s 60th year celebration:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6644217.html?q=harlequin

There’s even a national organization that represents the romance writing industry - Romance Writers of America (RWA) of which I am a member. This organization tracks statistics to include sales, number of titles, market share compared to other genres and more. One statistic is “Of those who read books in 2007, one in five read romance novels. (AP-Ipsos Poll).”

For more information on RWA and the market research conducted go to:

www.rwanational.org

So, what does this really tell us? The romance genre of publishing has always enjoyed strong sells. Oh, sure, there have been the subgenres that have boomed then struggled such as Chick lit, and the action/adventure romances, but even those have not completely gone away. They still have enough of an audience to keep them around. But it’s the more traditional romance that has endured. Whether you weave it into a paranormal, a historical, a futuristic/fantasy, or anything else, we all seem to crave that traditional romance where one man and one woman find each other and just know that being together will make their lives richer.

We like to escape, especially when times are tough. Romance offers an emotionally rewarding way to escape and there’s something for everyone. From inspirational to paranormal to erotic the many flavors of romance can delight any reader; and despite its critics, romance opens doors to more than escapism. Readers often comment on the richness of the writing when the story is set in another place and/or time.

So, forget the bad times - grab a romance and enjoy.