About Romance Novels

Romance novels have been around for more than 100 years. They have provided an escape for housewives and others who enjoy reading about love and romance. Avon Books sparked the modern romance novel genre in the 1970s, and it has become increasingly popular ever since. Romance novels provide a fantasy world of love, lust and romance which always has a favorable ending.

History

The romance novel has been around for generations. The first documented novel was published in 1740 by Samuel Richardson. The novel was called "Pamela." Told from the heroine's perspective, "Pamela" was a tale of courtship that had a happy ending. Within the first 11 months of being released, "Pamela" had five editions printed and became one of the first best-selling novels. Though the book was wildly popular, the romance genre would not be fully developed until the nineteenth century.

Identification

In order to be classified as a romance novel, the book's plot must revolve around a couple and the development of their relationship, as well as the budding romantic love that the two will experience as their relationship progresses. The book can have subplots that may not relate to the romantic love between the main characters, however, the climax and the conflict in the book must relate directly to the theme, which is the development of the relationship. Romance novels cannot have sad endings. They must possess an optimistic ending which is also emotionally satisfying to the reader. Romance novels always reward those who do good and punish those who are evil. Couples who are persistent and fight for their relationship and are always pursuing love will most likely be rewarded with unconditional love in the story.

Types

Romance novels are divided into two categories. The categories are single title romances and series romances. Some of the authors who write romance novels only write in one of these formats, while others write in both. In addition to the two main categories, romance novels also are divided into several subcategories. These subcategories include contemporary romance, inspirational romance, romantic suspense, science fiction romance, time-travel romance, paranormal romance, historical romance, multi-cultural romance and erotic romance,

Geography

Since 1982, the romance market in North America has seen a positive reaction to its products. Readers who faithfully read these types of novels can spend up to $40 per month on these books. During the year 1982, romance novels in paperback form saw sales of $300 million and was said to have 20 million readers. In the 1990s, the romance novel genre continued to see an up tick in sales and by 1991, almost half of all the paperbacks sold in the United States were comprised of romance novels. By the 2000s, the market for romance novels had expanded even more and by 2004, $1.2 billion in sales was generated by romantic fiction purchases. More than half of all paperbacks sold in the United States during 2004 were romance novels. Harlequin, one of the biggest romance novel publishers in the world, sells about four books every second. Half of these sales are made internationally. These figures prove that other cultures are scooping up romance novels, as well.

Considerations

Though sales of romance novels continue to grow stronger, not everyone is willing to admit that they purchase or read this type of literature. There is a certain stigma attached to the romance novel that paints the reader as a bored, lonely housewife with nothing better to do than sit around and read romance novels. In addition, some critics have claimed that the books lack any sense of suspense, and that they are all predictable because the heroine and hero will eventually work out their problems and live happily ever after. Critics have also called romance novels love stories that are impossibly glamorized and contain so real substance.