I've Been Looking for the Silver Lining and Perhaps Romance is it..
I keep reading that publishers are completely in the hole and yet, whenever I’m in the bookstore, it seems like there are practically lines out the door. Granted, there seem to be a lot of readers in the DC area, but it just seems like I see people reading almost everywhere I go. And many of them are reading mass market paperbacks! So maybe that’s where the silver lining is.
I saw that Galleycat is reporting that romance sales are actually up this year – way up, as a matter of fact. In this article, the reporter indicates that sales in romance went up 83 percent this year, with sales of mass market paperback romances going up 50 percent. That’s rather impressive news!
Given the dreary economic climate, I find myself wondering if more people are reaching for those happy endings on purpose. For myself, I know that I find a good romance to be a very hopeful thing.
– Lynn Spencer
I think there’s a lot to what everyone else has been saying here. When people have lost a job and are looking for one, or when they have a job b ut are not sure they’ll be able to keep it, a comfort read, of whatever kind, can be extremely satisfying. And yes, it is a lot cheaper to go to a bookstore or supermarket and buy a nice thick paperback, curl up and read, than to go to a movie these days. My reading patterns are exactly the same here.
Anne G
Interesting, Lynn. I’ve been doing some re-reading of comfort reads lately, which would fit with this. While I’ve cut back on many things, and am no longer buying any hardbacks (although will buy the much cheaper veresion of favorite authors in kindle version), books are still a real comfort for me.
As a writer, it gives me hope that despite the restructuring, romance publishers will still believe in the genre because of its wonderful, loyal readers.
I couldn’t agree more with Lynn. I read somewhere that paperbacks are generally recession proof. It makes sense, you can spend a nice evening having coffee and browsing the stacks at your local bookstore for less money than dinner and a movie. For me there is nothing better than going to the bookstore and pouring over the romance section trying to find a few treasures. I also find myself reading more in the last few months, especially romance. I started a suspense by a popular author a few weeks ago but it was just to dark and depressing that I had to put it away. I picked up a few romances at the bookstore and haven’t looked back.
Lynn wrote: Given the dreary economic climate, I find myself wondering if more people are reaching for those happy endings on purpose. For myself, I know that I find a good romance to be a very hopeful thing.
My response: Lynn, that makes a lot of sense. Occasionally, a good comfort read helps our little world seem just a bit better. Granted, it’s only temporary. But even a temporary reprieve can work wonders–something like what a coffee break can accomplish when we’re running on all four cylinders at times.