These statistics were compiled by RWA from Book Industry Study Group and American Bookseller Association reports, and from tallies in Ingram's catalogue of all book releases.
- Romance generated $1.52 billion in sales in 2001.
- There were 2,143 romance titles released in 2001.
- Romance fiction comprises 18% of all books sold (not including children's books).
- Romance fiction comprises 54.5% of all popular paperback fiction sold in North America.
- Romance fiction comprises 35.8% of all popular fiction sold. (Different from above, this figure includes not just paperbacks, but hardcovers and trade-sized paperbacks as well as well.)
To compare:
- Mystery/Detective/Suspense is 28.1% of popular fiction sales
- General Fiction is 12.9% of popular fiction sales
- Science Fiction/Fantasy is 7.2% of popular fiction sales
- Religious, occult, westerns, male adventure, general history, adult and movie tie-ins was 14.6% of popular fiction sales
Most Prominent Romance Publishers
--listed in alphabetical order:
|
Publisher |
2001 | 2000 |
| Avalon | 33 | 36 |
| *Avon/HarperCollins | 100 | 108 |
|
Bertlesmann (Ballantine, Bantam, Dell, Delacorte, Doubleday, Fawcett, Ivy, Waterbrook) |
107 | 139 |
| BET | 60 | 59 |
| Bethany | 21 | 10 |
|
Dorchester |
111 | 116 |
|
Kensington (Kensington, Pinnacle, Bouquet, Precious Gems, Zebra) |
204 | 274 |
| 56 | 57 | |
| Questar Multnomah | 13 | NA |
|
St. Martin's |
54 | 30 |
|
Torstar (Harlequin, Mills & Boon, MIRA, Silhouette, Steeple Hill) |
1,067 | 982 |
| Warner | 25 | 15 |
Other houses published one-to-nine romance titles, such as GenesisPress/Indigo, Tor/Forge, FiveStar.
*Avon Books and Harper Publishing merged in 2000
II.
Writer Statistics
--compiled from RWA member information
- Romance Writers of America has 8,400 members from around the world --primarily the United States and Canada.
- 1,200 RWA members are published in book-length romance. Almost every author in the United States who is writing romance fiction is a member of our association.
- On average, a published romance author writes 1 1/2 romance manuscripts per year. On average, one romance per author is released per year.
Payment:
- In general, romance fiction is bought from an author by a publisher (sometimes through an agent) via a contract. The contract almost always involves a cash advance, and then a royalty pay-out.
- Romance authors have worked as attorneys, teachers, scientists, accountants and any number of other professions before resigning to write romance fiction. Many authors still maintain a "day job" in another field while writing romance.
Number of romance readers:
- 41.4 million people (aged ten and older) have read a romance in the past year--this is 18% of the reading-age public.
- 3.5 million men read romance fiction, leaving 37.9 million female readers
- 9% of romance readers are men
- One in every third woman has read a romance in the past year, one in every 30 men has read a romanced in the past year
Location of romance readers:
- 36.7% of romance readers are in the South
- 25.5% in the Midwest
- 20.3% in the West
- 17.8% in the Northwest
Family situation of romance readers:
- 57% of romance readers are married
- 23% are single
- 13% are widowed
- 7% are divorced
- 1% are separated
- 40% of romance readers have children living with them in their household
Age demographics of romance readers:
- 19% of romance readers are between the ages of 35-44
- 14% are 25-35
- 15% are 45-64
- 13% are 65-74
- 12% are 55-64
- 7% are 75+
- 6% are 17-19
- 5% are 14-16
- 3% are under 14
Education level of romance readers:
- 32% of romance readers are high school graduates
- 28% of romance readers are college graduates
- 25% are vocational/trade school graduates
- 9% have post-graduate degrees
- 7% have some high school or less
Household income of romance readers:
- 23% of romance readers make between $50,000 - $75,000
- 21% between $10K - $25K
- 18% between $35K - $50K
- 15% between $25K - $35K
- 12% less than $10K
- 7% between $75K - $100K
- 4% more than $100K
Urban vs. Rural:
- 60% of romance readers live in towns of 50,000 people or less
Employment status of romance readers:
- 41% of romance readers are not in the labor force
- 39% are employed full time
- 16% are employed part time
- 5% are currently unemployed
- 32% of working romance readers are employed in white-collar jobs
- 24% are in retail/sales/service industries
- 22% are in adminstrative support or clerical jobs
- 10% are business owners/managerial
- 8% are in production/craft/repair/operator or transportation
- 4% are in technical/engineering design and technical support
Ethnicity:
- 77% of romance readers are white
- 11% are African-American
- 9% Hispanic
- 2% Asian or Native American
First Romance:
- 71% of romance readers read their first romance at age 16 or younger
