Sexy books are saving the publishing industry
Independent bookstores are on the move, thanks to romantic women
Hi there,
We’ve still got a few more weeks of rain and crisp winds until warm weather and sunshine returns, depending on where you are. And what better way to spend a gray day than curled up with a good book? I’ve got some rare good news to share for book lovers: the number of independent bookstores is growing rapidly across the United States, with 200 more independent sellers registered in 2024 with the American Booksellers Association than there were back in 2022.
Writers may complain that no one reads anymore, yet that couldn’t be further from the truth. Fewer readers engage with longform journalism than in decades past. However, women, in particular romance readers, are some of the most ferocious consumers driving up book sales at new venues like Lovestruck Books in Massachusetts, Spicy Librarian in Colorado, Plot Twist Book Bar in Texas, and The Last Chapter in Chicago.
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The market trends analyst firm Circana estimated the ‘romantasy’ genre alone brought in $610 million in sales in 2024. More broadly speaking, Money reported that romance book sales have reached $1.4 billion annually. Across all genres, several of the (English-speaking) world’s top selling books included the dragon riders romance “Fourth Wing” and the sexy fae series “A Court of Thorns and Roses” (abbreviated as ACOTAR) originally published in 2015. More than a decade later, the entire series continues to attract a cult following comparable only to franchises like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, or Star Trek. Thousands of fans now buy Etsy products with ACOTAR and Fourth Wing quotes or go to themed costume balls that cost from $250 to $8,000 per ticket, depending on the fantasy bookish experience fans desire.
One of the trends that I love is the rise of bookmobiles. People who live outside of coastal metropolitan book hubs like New York or Los Angeles are converting cars into bookshops-on-the-go that cater to romance readers. They are considered bookstores, with business licenses and all the tax paperwork that implies. The concept of book distribution pop ups isn’t new. During the Great Depression, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt established a funding system for women librarians traveling to rural areas, sometimes with donkeys or on horseback if the terrain wasn’t suited to cars. These days, it’s entrepreneurs catering to women who want literary smut boosting the numbers for independent bookstores in an era of rising inflation and high rent costs.
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Some of these bookmobiles are so profitable that their owners are able to expand to brick-and-mortar stores with wider selections, like Itinerant Literate in Charleston and Trope Bookshop, which is opening a new location in Charlotte, North Carolina, this month. As a writer who believes publishing can be sustainable without strictly relying on advertisers or nonprofit fundraising, I reached out to Trope founder Katie Mitchell to learn more about her success.
Mitchell said it cost her around $35,000 to launch her business in October 2023, from the cost of a business license to the bus she converted into a bookmobile. Everything. It took her four months to break even and more than a year to garner enough customers to support a brick-and-mortar business. She said dark romances are the most profitable type of book, with sales substantial enough for her to now focus on books full time. Keep in mind, some of these romantasy books are quite explicit in their eroticism.
“Think taboo, kink and heavier topics,” Mitchell said, elaborating on what defines dark romance. “I do three to four [mobile] pop ups per week, with the store it will [now] be more like three to four per month. I am looking forward to hosting more in-store author signing, events, book releases etc. That was a huge reason why I wanted to move into a permanent location.”
She added that there aren’t many other bookstores in Charlotte, so her business was able to fill that gap.
(Images courtesy of the founders themselves)
The biggest challenge writers and booksellers face today (most authors I know agree) is Amazon, which saturates the market with cheap books via a system that gives writers only a small fraction of the royalties. As a writer myself who craves niche books that local sellers may not carry, I recommend fellow bookworms buy paper books from independent bookstores when possible and keep Amazon shopping for the rare stuff (ancient poetry translations are my vice). Good Girl Books founder Rayanne Streeter in Knoxville, Tennessee agrees that the biggest challenge for her business is potential customers that use her bookmobile for window shopping, taking pictures and buying the books cheaper on Amazon after asking for recommendations IRL. Streeter invested roughly $15,000 into her business over the past year and hasn’t broken even yet, focusing on this side hustle just one day a week, although she’s getting close.
Looking for audiobooks or e-books? You can still support bookish entrepreneurs, including over a hundred members of the American Booksellers Association, shopping via libro.fm and bookshop.org. Streeter said independent sellers can get 10-20% of the profits from each digital sale via those partnerships. She’s sold more than 1,000 paper books in Tennessee and dozens of digital copies nationwide over the past year. As a sociology and women’s studies professor by day, selling books on the weekends, Streeter thinks the romance boom represents a broader cultural shift in destigmatizing women’s sexuality.
“This is a trend of women creating space for themselves and deciding not to be ashamed of what they like anymore,” Streeter told me over the phone, adding that dark romances with dangerous love interests are the most popular, hinting at a widespread interest in exploring kink without safety risks and without access to diverse urban clubs. “I was also surprised by how many people want to read local authors as well, like Holly Renee and the Veiled Kingdom series. That’s been a number one seller for me. I didn’t expect that. I’m constantly restocking that book.”
Both bookmobile founders shared that communities drive these businesses. They’ve discovered demand among dozens of book clubs, small groups of friends that want to find local authors, and small business owners looking to attract foot traffic with a unique pop up experience at their cafes, stores and salons. As spaces for community-building dwindle in a digital-first world, both Streeter and Mitchell said they are motivated to create safe, accessible spaces for women to connect while exploring desire, entrepreneurship, and friendship for themselves as well.
If you’re looking to buy a romantic gift for a lady in your life, or wanting to dabble in the genre yourself, I recommend starting with any of the above-mentioned titles or the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning, perfect for ‘shadow daddy’ aficionados who adore horny masculine creatures. A few more weeks of reading indoors until the heat of spring turning into summer will be here before you know it.
While I’m not personally focused on writing romantic fiction, I definitely believe there’s sustainable value in creating such spaces and widening those tangible experiences through publishing. For this year my income will come from editing work, not event planning nor selling media directly to consumers. Yet it’s something I’ll continue to think about when checking to see if the Des Femmes community might be interested in another IRL event in 2025.
(Not in the mood for romance? Here are a few books I’ve been reading lately.)
What are you reading these days, books of any genre? Please feel free to reply via the comments or email me. I’m always open to book recommendations of all types. Over the next few months I’ll probably answer any subscriber questions (feel free to email me on any topic!), and offer tips for using bitcoin while traveling. I look forward to sharing more details about my travels with you this summer.
Until next time, take care everybody!
Always insightful and cutting edge. Thanks.