K-lytics Archives | The Hot Sheet

Amazon Trend Report: Second-Chance Romance

Trends and takeaways in a popular romance subcategory.

To break into the rich romance market, look for a subgenre with high sales and lower competition.

The popular genre of urban fantasy is competitive, but with a lot of sub-category crossover.

This subgenre has high sales but low title growth, making it attractive for authors wanting to break in.

Sales of this category have grown over the years, attracting writers from multiple genres and blurring the lines with women’s fiction.

Female authors, protagonists, and readers contribute to gains in historical fiction as well as mystery, thriller, and suspense.

The category invented by indie authors focuses on women in midlife.

It is challenging for self-published authors to crack the Self-Help bestseller list, and Kindle sales in the category are trending down.

Epic fantasy—marked by a grand scale of events and complex story structures—has seen a resurgence in growth since the pandemic.

Consistent with themes in other genres, the SFF category performs best in series and with elements of romance.