You don't need a background in data to use this. You just need to know what question you're trying to answer — and this guide will show you where to look.
Most of us were never taught to use market data for our books. Traditional publishers have had research teams doing this for decades, but indie authors have had to rely on gut feel, Facebook groups, and what someone mentioned in a newsletter three months ago. Romintel exists to change that — but only if you know how to read what it's showing you.
This guide covers two things: what every metric actually means, and how to use the data for specific decisions you face as an author.
Or skip the guide and just look around.
Open the dashboard →The percentage of the top 50 books in a subgenre that are enrolled in Kindle Unlimited. A high KU% — like Dark Romance at 82% — tells you two things: readers in this subgenre expect KU access, and going wide (non-KU) puts you in direct competition with authors who are “free” to read. A lower KU% — like Romantic Suspense at 30% — means there's a larger audience buying outright, and wide distribution is more viable.
The middle price point of the top 50 books in a subgenre — not the average, the median. This matters because a few outliers (a $0.99 permafree, a $17 paperback) can skew an average wildly. The median shows you what the market is actually anchoring around. If the median in Romantasy is $12.99 and you're launching at $4.99, you're either signalling “budget option” or leaving money on the table.
How contested a trope is within your specific subgenre — not romance overall, but your corner of it. Open means readers are actively buying books with this trope but few authors dominate the top spots. There's visible demand and room to move. Competitive means the trope is popular and the market is active, but it's not closed — execution still wins. Saturated means this trope is everywhere in your subgenre right now. You can still succeed with a saturated trope, but you'll need a stronger hook, better positioning, or a fresh angle to cut through.
How a trope's average chart position has changed over the last 7 days. A rising trope means books carrying it are climbing up the charts faster than others right now — demand is outpacing supply. A falling trope is losing chart share, which doesn't mean it's dead, but it means the market has moved on from its peak. The difference between popular (lots of books) and rising (momentum building) matters enormously for timing.
The dominant visual tone of covers in the top 50, tagged as Dark/Moody, Warm/Romantic, Whimsical, or similar. Style refers to whether covers are Photographic (real model photography) or Illustrated/Hybrid (digital art or illustrated elements). These aren't aesthetic preferences — they're reader signals. Readers pattern-match on covers before they read your blurb. If 90% of Dark Romance top 50 reads dark/moody and yours is warm and bright, you're accidentally signalling “this isn't what you came for.”
The average reader rating across the top 50, and the total number of ratings (depth). Rating tells you the quality bar the subgenre holds its top books to. Depth tells you how large the reader community is — a subgenre with 700k ratings has a much larger social proof infrastructure than one with 50k, which means reviews and word-of-mouth travel further.
Every morning, Romintel's interpretation engine scans all 400 books and 196 trope signals to find the one data point that defies what the market context would predict. It then explains the behavioural economics behind why readers are doing what they're doing. This isn't just “what's happening” — it's “why it's happening and what it means for how you position your book.”
Seen every metric. Now go see them live in the dashboard.
Open the dashboard →Here's how to use Romintel for the decisions that actually come up when you're running your author career.
You're deciding what to write next — or which tropes to lead with in a book you've already planned.
You're about to launch or re-release, and you're not sure whether to price at $2.99, $3.99, $4.99, or higher.
You're commissioning a new cover and you need to give your designer something more specific than “I'll know it when I see it.”
You're thinking about committing to a trilogy or series in a subgenre and want to know if the market will still be there when book three comes out.
Your book was performing well and now it isn't. You suspect the market has shifted but you don't know where.
Create a free account to unlock subgenre-specific decision support.
Create your free account →One last thing: data is a tool for better questions, not a replacement for your instincts. Your gut on what story to tell, your voice, the specific thing you bring to the page — none of that shows up in a chart. But which trope to lead with, how to price, whether your cover is speaking the right language — those are questions the data can actually answer.
Use both. Trust both. Just know which one to use for what.
— Hanna, for Romintel
Ready to put it into practice?
Open the dashboard →