In a crowded room in Sydney, an excited crowd sifts through stacks of stickers and bookmarks, seeking out their favourite characters. Another group looks through racks of clothing, pulling out T-shirts that say “romance readers club” and “probably reading about fairies”.
A poster on the wall, adorned with pull-away strips, invites visitors to claim their preference: a love triangle, a heartfelt admission amidst mythical combat, a morally grey man or a cowboy.
Half of the tabs have already disappeared. This is a short-term event for novel-inspired items: visitors are well aware which tropes they want to go home with.
This scene situates a visitor amid an energetic and thriving fan community. The pop-up store is run by an Australian small business that makes handmade book-themed merchandise. The event was advertised to tens of thousands of followers on social media, and many showed up: the queue outside stretched down the block.
The Online Boom
It’s a single instance that have sprung from Australia’s rapidly growing online book community. Social media book communities, on the platforms TikTok and Instagram, have skyrocketed since 2020, and love stories and fantasy-romance blends are the most popular genres.
The core participants are females in their second and third decades online fan communities.
A Personal Story
One such reader is a 25-year-old secondary school teacher from Brisbane who started sharing thoughts on romance novels on her social media account in 2020.
“I grew up in what we like to refer to as the Wattpad era,” she says, mentioning a popular fan-fiction site. Much of the writing was “of low quality,” she admits, “but a lot of it was centered on relationships and I read so much of that.”
“Once I got to university I started reading more frequently of romance … and I’ve been pretty much reading it ever since,” she states.
She now reads hundreds of books a year. Her online presence has helped her link up with other romance readers around Australia and overseas – including a new housemate.
“We initially connected over social media and figured out that we were both teachers, both read the same stuff and we’ve met up in person a bunch of times and now we’re about to move in together,” she explains.
Turning Love into Livelihood
The online community is a key appeal of the genre, say the founders of an online store, Trilogy of Romance, which they started as an outlet to share their love of romance novels.
“We noticed that romance – especially darker and trope-driven romance – didn’t always have a dedicated, judgment-free space in traditional bookstores and starting online allowed us to connect directly with readers who shared that passion,” they say.
“The reception has been overwhelmingly supportive, we’ve built a faithful, participatory group that supports not just our store but each other.”
Their customers are overwhelmingly female readers aged from their 20s to 40s who are “very drawn to morally grey characters” – although hockey romance is also popular.
“Dark romance is by far our biggest seller both in books and merchandise,” they confirm.
Storefront Challenges
Despite being one of the most rapidly expanding categories along with science fiction, Australian bookstores frequently are without large displays for romantic fiction. Outside of breakthrough titles – like certain romantasy smash hits – most romance readers turn to ebooks.
If they want to browse the shelves, they make a trip to a Sydney bookstore named Romancing the Novel. The store’s owner, herself a romance author, says customers have often scheduled their trip for their visit.
Her favourite are those who are rediscovering literature.
“We’ve actually gotten men who don’t read romance but they want to dip their toes in, or they love to read fantasy and they’re like ‘Oh I’ve just read a popular romantasy book’ … what can I get into next?” she says.
*Names have been withheld for privacy
