Position:Home>Books & Authors> Which romance genre is the most popular?

According to the most recent reports from Romance Writers of America, sales are broken down as follows:

Category/series romance: 40 percent
Historical romance: 17 percent
Contemporary romance: 16 percent
Paranormal romance: 9 percent
Romantic suspense: 7 percent
Inspirational romance: 6 percent
Other (includes young adult, erotic romance, chick-lit, and women's fiction): 5 percent

Of course "category" romances are the Harlequin, Silhouette, and Steeple Hill books!. RWA doesn't break those down into suspense, inspirational, erotica, and so on because they are not "single title" books!. But in another report they rank the following "settings or plot elements" by reader enjoyment:

1) Mystery, Thriller, Action plots preferred by 48% of readers
2) Exotic Settings preferred by 36% of readers
3) Contemporary themes preferred by 33% of readers
4) Inspirational romances with a spiritual sub-plot preferred by 31% of readers
5) Colonial American settings preferred by 27% of readers
6) American West settings preferred by 25 % of readers
7) Historical romance set in England preferred by 24% of readers
8) Scottish-set historical romances preferred by 21% of readers
9) Medieval set romances preferred by 21% of readers
10) Paranormal romances preferred by 18% of readers
11) Futuristic romance preferred by 14% of readers

It should be noted that the preceding are not SALES statistics, but responses by readers who were asked their preferences!.

I write inspirationals for Steeple Hill (Harlequin), but my favorite reading is historical romance, especially regencies!. I like them because they're completely different from what I write!.

Weird fact: I hardly ever read in my own genre, inspirational romance, because somehow that interferes with my vision for my own stories!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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The most popular!? Um!.!.!. series romance (Harlequin)!. The fastest growing is erotic romance!. In general (not including series romance), the most popular has to be historical followed by suspense (I received a TON of these from print publishers)!. You should be able to find more specific info in the RWA website: http://www!.rwanational!.org/cs/the_romanc!.!.!.

My favorites are paranormal and historical romance!. I prefer these two because I find it easier to suspend disbelief when I know that what I am dealing with does not exist (i!.e!. vampires, ghosts, demons, werewolves and assorted mythical/fantasy creatures) and I am not too nitpicky with historical accuracy either!. I often find myself dissatisfied with contemporary romance, so I only tend to read comedies in that subgenre!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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I think historical romance will always be the most popular; at least, it's held strong statistically for years!. That being said, paranormal romance has experienced a gigantic peak in popularity in the last few years, as has romantic suspense!.

Personally, I'll read any romance that sounds interesting, but I am, like most it seems, a fan of historicals!. Medievals and Regency Era in particular!Www@QuestionHome@Com

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I think the most popular romance genre is probabaly romance thriller or roamnce comedy!!

I write romance thrillers!!They are my favourite to write!!

Hope this helped my fellow writer!!
Best wishesWww@QuestionHome@Com

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Well, my favorite is historical romance!.

It gives you more of an interesting storyline!. The lifestyles were definitely different!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Paranormal romance for sure!Www@QuestionHome@Com

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