Romance Genre Statistics

Despite reports of declining book sales overall, romance remains the largest-selling genre. Did you know…

• While book sales in general are shrinking, romance is still a growing genre. Romance generated $1.2 billion in sales in 2005 and $1.37 billion in 2006!
• There are 64.6 million romance readers in North America (and 22% of them are men!). This is up from 41 million readers in 1998 and 51.1 million readers in 2002.
• Of all those who read books last year, one in five read romance novels. (AP-Ipsos Poll)
• 26.4% of all books sold last year were romance.
• Compared to romance's $1.37 billion in sales last year, science fiction/fantasy sold a mere $495 million, classic literary fiction sold $448 million, and mystery sold $442 million.
• If this hasn't convinced you to stock more romance in your store, visit RWA's Romance Statistics page for more information.

Source: Romance Writers of America 2006 Romance Statistics Report

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