E-Books Tell of Readers' Naughty Little Love Secrets

Romance-novel fans who are embarrassed to tote around books with half-dressed hunks and scantily clad heroines on the cover are finding a way to indulge on the sly: e-books.

Among the publishers rushing to get in on the action are smaller companies like Sourcebooks, an independent publisher in Naperville, Illinois, and All Romance, which sells digital books exclusively, according to a story in the New York Times.

There's big bucks in what the industry calls bodice-rippers. According to data cited by Romance Writers of America, the genre generated $1.36 billion in sales in 2009, with 9,089 new titles released last year alone. That figure is estimated to rise to about $1.36 billion for 2010, according to RWA, whose reader survey shows that at least 74.8 million people read at least one romance novel in 2008.

Of course the nation’s biggest booksellers are into the business too. Barnes & Noble says it is aggressively going after the business of romance e-books, and that it is expected to exceed print sales sometime next year. Borders notes that romance-obsessed readers who like a particular author are able to go into the book company’s website to download favorites on electronic readers.

“It’s easier to check out some naughty little title online than in a brick-and-mortar store where your pastor could step up in line behind you,” Barb Perfetti, the chief financial officer of All Romance, told the Times. “We’ve had lots of customers write to us and say, ‘Now I don’t always have to show my husband what I’m reading.’”

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