During any given period, women who read romance novels have a tendency to have twice as many lovers as those who don’t. People who read romance have sex 70% more often than those who don't.
The Romance Reader
Romance is the leading growth category in the print book market in 2025. Sales have grown consecutively for three years, with recent annual revenue exceeding $1.44 billion.
Who is the romance reader?
·
Female: 82%
·
Male: 18%
·
Average age of the
romance reader: 35–39 years old
·
Ethnicity:
- 73% White/Caucasian
- 12%
Black/African American
- 7% Latino/Hispanic
- 4% Asian/Asian American.
·
Sexual orientation:
- 86% heterosexual or straight
- 9% bisexual, pansexual, or other bi+ identity
- 2% gay or lesbian.
Reading Habits
·
Most frequent readers
are younger, aged 34 and below.
·
92% of survey
respondents are print readers
·
64% are e-book readers
·
35% are audiobook users.
·
Tablets and smartphones
are the most-used devices to read e-books.
·
Half of romance readers
read romantic fantacy,
- followed by sports romance
- historical is still a popular genre
·
Younger readers read
more Young Adult, Erotic, and
- Paranormal Romance and less Contemporary Romance than older readers.
Further Insights
The future of romance is the younger emerging
readership.
These younger readers are:
·
diverse in sexual
orientation and in ethnicity
·
more male
·
frequent readers
·
listening to audiobooks
·
reading e-books on
smartphones
·
consuming YA, erotic,
and paranormal romance
·
shopping at a greater
number of online retailers
·
extremely engaged on
social media and willing to experiment with new authors
