Privacy, Convenience and Cost are Driving Romance Readers to eBooks in Record Numbers

(PRWEB) January 7, 2005

There are presently 51.1 million romance readers in North America; a sharp rise from 41.1 in 1998*. This growth has spawned many online publications, bulletin boards, and review sites geared towards romance readers and are now fueling ebook sales. "More than one-half of all paperback fiction books sold are romance novels. We've seen this translate with the popularity of our website. Obviously this also affects the world of digital content." commented Laurie Gold, columnist and Publisher of the webzine All about Romance. Witness the grand opening in November of Diesel eBooks (http://www.diesel-ebooks.com), a new ebook seller keen on courting the romantic genre. In romantic fiction, a love story is the main focus of the plot, which has an emotionally satisfying or happy ending as a result.

L. Scott Redford, President of the new Diesel eBooks, states, “Romance is divided by sub-genres like Gothic, Regency, and Contemporary and we’re trying to make it easier for the buyer by structuring our inventory and site architecture along those lines. We knew going in Romance was a robust market, but we’ve been surprised at the strong demand. They’re running about half our sales”. Motivation for purchasing romance ebooks vary from convenience to privacy to cost.

Falene Masso, a Diesel eBook customer from Stillwater, Oklahoma comments, “Time is a factor with ebooks. You see it, you like it, you buy it all without leaving home. And they’re less expensive than paperbacks, which is a consideration for a voracious reader like me. Also, you get privacy when choosing to read a romantic ebook. The book title does not display on the back of a computer or palm reader.” Considering the growing prevalence of handheld devices and the expected surge of tablet PC’s, Redford is betting that interest in Romance ebooks will only grow going forward.

*Sourced from a 2002 study by the Romance Writers of America (RWA, a trade organization of 9000 authors). http://www.rwanational.org

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