Dear Author » age http://dearauthor.com Romance, Historical, Contemporary, Paranormal, Young Adult, Book reviews, industry news, and commentary from a reader's point of view Tue, 22 May 2012 22:53:05 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Poll: Are older heroines under-represented in the romance genre? http://dearauthor.com/features/poll-misc/poll-are-older-heroines-were-under-represented-in-the-romance-genre/ http://dearauthor.com/features/poll-misc/poll-are-older-heroines-were-under-represented-in-the-romance-genre/#comments Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:47:21 +0000 Jaili http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/?p=13623
  • Genre Labels Poll
  • 2008 Romance Reader Stats
  • Discourteous Discourse & Why Erotica Is Killing the Romance Genre
    • ]]>     At the Popular Romance Studies: International Conference, organised by  the International Association for the Study of Popular Romance  (IASPR), there was a brief discussion to explore this question: Are  older under-represented in the romance genre? If so,  why? Good questions.

    The average age of heroine in U.S. romance novels is between 24-26 (and possibly younger in historical romance). And yet according to the Romance Writers of America RWA), the biggest slice of romance reader demographics is “women aged 31-49 who are currently in a romantic relationship.”   (http://www.rwanational.org/cs/readership_stats#Readers**).

    Could it be the same reason why the majority of readers prefer their heroines to be virgins or virginal: reclaim the innocence?

    **The Age of Romance Readers

    The mean and median age of romance novel readers is very close to that of the general population.

    • Mean: 44.6 years
    • Median: 44.9 years

    Those aged 31 to 49 are more likely to read romance and comprise 44 percent of the readership.

    Related posts:

    1. Genre Labels Poll
    2. 2008 Romance Reader Stats
    3. Discourteous Discourse & Why Erotica Is Killing the Romance Genre
    ]]>     http://dearauthor.com/features/poll-misc/poll-are-older-heroines-were-under-represented-in-the-romance-genre/feed/ 55