Romantic fiction has habitually suffered from a degree of literary
snobbery that sometimes stopped fans reading such books in public. Now that
e-readers allow inconspicuous consumption, sales of romance e-books are growing
and traditional publishers are getting in on the act.
Public transport has always acted as a readymade forum for
self expression. Whether you’re showing off your oversized and highly priced Dr
Dre “Beats” headphones or reading Murakami’s 1Q84 on the day it was published,
you’re telling your fellow commuters something about yourself. In particular,
the book you choose to read on your daily commute is an avatar for your cultural
centre of gravity. I have a friend who insists on leaving the dust jacket on
his precious hardbacks when commuting - even though he moans about the rips and
creases that result from it knocking around his Filson rucksack - simply because
he’s happy for other passengers to observe that he has exceptional taste in
contemporary Japanese literature.
“Why not remove the jackets?” I once asked him. “Because
then no one would know what I’m reading” he replied, grinning with a good deal
of self awareness and deprecation.
Of course, whilst books aren’t really read for show, the
vast majority of readers are at least okay with others clocking what they’re
reading in public. Such observation acts as a good barometer for literary
tipping points; witness David Nicholls’ One Day and Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series.
One genre that engenders a lot less cultural show boating, however, is
romantic fiction. It’s widely accepted that romance often suffers from a degree
of literary snobbery directed towards it from those who don’t enjoy it
themselves. And research we’ve conducted for Mills & Boon indicates that
it’s for this reason that fans of romance are reluctant to be seen reading the
books in public. However, all this is changing with the growth in ownership of digital
formats that allow readers to indulge their romantic fantasies to their
(pulsating) heart’s content without giving away what they’re reading to any
rubberneckers. The products created by Amazon and Sony in particular are
unmemorable by design, utilitarian and allow the user to recede into the
background without exposing their narrative.
And so it is readers of romantic fiction that are taking
advantage of these cloaking devices. A few years ago such readers told us they were
wary of digital formats for various reasons. But fast forward to some more
recent digital research we conducted, and fans of the genre are telling us how
e-readers allow them to sate their prodigious appetites for romance (Some 100
ebooks a month are published by Mills & Boon nowadays– which is more than
it ‘prints’) whilst hiding the fact that they are doing so. Digital media also
allows them to purchase their books behind closed doors, and store them away
from any prying eyes that may be checking out their bookshelves.
This demonstrates how quickly the publishing category and
consumer attitudes are changing in the wake of new technology, and how it seems
to be coping better than the music industry. Nearly 15% of romance readers have
purchased an ebook in the past 12 months (legally) and if the U.S is anything
to go by - where the e-reader market is more mature than that of the UK and
ebook sales have grown by over 1000% in the last 3 years – this trend is only
set to continue. And the fact that huge imprints such as Random House have introduced
a romance listing to their armoury with Rouge Romance suggests romance could be
on the verge of a mini boom. But how will we know?
This really is modern
romance, but this time readers aren’t wearing their hearts on their sleeves.