The Steamy, Billion-Dollar World of Romantasy

SPEAKER_1 (0:02)

Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news.

Hannah Miller (0:08)

A band of shadow wraps around my waist a second before my hair is swept to the side, and Zayden sets his lips to the juncture of my neck and shoulder in an open-mouth kiss.

David Gura (0:18)

Don't touch that dial. You are still listening to the Big Take podcast. But today, we're bringing you into the world of romantasy.

Hannah Miller (0:25)

Oh, yes. I gasp as an immediate flare of heat races down my spine at the lash of his tongue, the scrape of his teeth, and my head falls back against his shoulder.

Madison Muller (0:35)

They should employ you to read these audio books, Hannah.

Hannah Miller (0:38)

That is one of the less explicit parts in the book.

David Gura (0:43)

Hannah Miller and Madison Muller are reporters at Bloomberg. Hannah was just reading from Onyx Storm, a novel by Rebecca Yarros. It sold 2.7 million copies in its first week last year, and it became the fastest-selling adult novel in 20 years.

It's just one title in a rapidly growing genre that has readers hooked.

Hannah Miller (1:08)

It's a combination of romance and fantasy.

Madison Muller (1:11)

Werewolf shifters, dragons, fairies with some romance element. I mean, you can just pick and choose what you want, and there's probably a romantic book that you can find.

David Gura (1:21)

As the genre has taken off, so has the near billion-dollar industry around it, which includes merchandise and bespoke bookstores, podcasts and film adaptations, all centered around the work of authors who transport readers to misty kingdoms and dangerous war academies.

Madison Muller (1:38)

If you love reading, smart and romantasy, you need to go to the new romance bookstore in London.

Rachel Gillig (1:41)

Just found out that Indigo is selling an ACOTAR merch collection.

Madison Muller (1:44)

I'm not going to lie.

David Gura (1:45)

I'm going to be picking up a couple of things.

Hannah Miller (1:46)

Day three of RomantasyCon and most of the convention and the signing is done, but we're now getting ready for the masquerade ball.

David Gura (1:53)

So how is the rapid growth of this genre reshaping our mortal world, and how could its reign take the business of books to new heights?

I'm David Gura and this is the Big Take from Bloomberg News. Today on the show, how romantasy became the next big thing in publishing, and how warlords, dragons, and shadow daddies are driving a new and booming economy. Madison Muller's day job is covering healthcare for Bloomberg.

Madison Muller (2:29)

I am also a massive romantasy fan and reader myself, so I begged them to let me do this story with Hannah.

David Gura (2:35)

Hannah Miller covers media.

Hannah Miller (2:37)

I was a huge fantasy nerd growing up. I loved Harry Potter. I loved Hunger Games, all these books.

Madison Muller (2:43)

People who loved Twilight, who liked things like that, it is the same sort of romance, high stakes fantasy elements. A lot of readers say that it feels familiar and it feels like they are falling in love with reading again.

David Gura (2:57)

What you both set out to do here is dig into this romantasy economy. How does that translate to business?

Hannah Miller (3:05)

This is just for US book sales for 2025

Close to a billion dollars worth of romantasy books were sold in the US last year. Those are huge numbers. I got to go to a big event called BookCon for this story. It's a book convention. And you have people coming in costume wearing leathery black wings, furry tails, ball gowns. They're all coming to see their favorite authors, get their books signed and buy a merch. They also get free books and giveaways and those get brutal. People shove each other and push each other trying to be the first to grab a free copy. So it gets a little intense at times, but it's really fun and it was described to me as Comic Con for Women. One of the authors there was talking about how a guy came up to her and was degrading her for writing porn. She just said, I'll go cry into my piles of money, thanks.

David Gura (3:58)

That's amazing. That Book Con Hannah went to was back in April, and it's the first one that's been held since the pandemic.

In those intervening years, Romantasy has grown into a behemoth genre in the publishing world. It dominated Book Con with panels like, I'm in Love with a Monster and Are We Still Single Because of Fictional Characters? Hot takes on the most iconic book boyfriends of our time.

Madison Muller (4:22)