The Market

Who buys romance, and what do they want?

Before you spend a cent on marketing, you need to know who you're marketing to.

Start here — your audience

Who reads what, and where they are.

Age, platform, and reading habit for each sub-genre — so you know where to point your marketing.

Dark Romance
Age18–34
Finds booksTikTok + Amazon KU
Binge?Yes — series-heavy
Highest BookTok avg views of any sub-genre (1M+ per video). Binge-reads intensively.
Romantasy
Age13–34
Finds booksGoodreads + BookBub
Binge?Yes — trilogy+
66% of buyers aged 13–34 (UK 2024). Fastest growing print category per Circana.
Contemporary Romance
Age25–45
Finds booksAmazon + newsletters
Binge?Mixed
Most searched sub-genre on Google Trends. Broad, consistent demand year-round.
✦
5 more sub-genre reader profiles — try free for 7 days

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The romance reader

Who they are, by the numbers.

78%
Female readers
22% male — growing fast
18–54
Core age range
Romantasy skews 13–34
50%+
College educated
Above US average
29
Books/year average
Heavy readers: 100+

Source: Circana BookScan 2024, Penguin Random House reader research, NPR Books.

How your readers like to buy

KU or wide? Where readers prefer to buy.

The bar shows the share of each sub-genre's Amazon top 50 that's in Kindle Unlimited. High = readers are subscribers who binge. Low = they buy outright.

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Where they discover books

The platforms that actually drive sales.

This is where readers actually find their next book — ranked by how many indie authors say it drives real sales. You don't need to be on all of them. Pick the top one or two for your sub-genre and go deep.

01
Amazon browse & also-boughts
83% of indie revenue comes through Amazon
83%
02
BookTok (#BookTok)
Influenced 59M US print sales in 2024
71%
03
Goodreads & reader lists
Key for backlist discovery and word of mouth
58%
✦
3 more discovery channels — try free for 7 days

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Source: Written Word Media 2025 Indie Author Survey + Circana BookScan data.