Reading Women
New Hampshire Library Association
Spring Conference
May 5, 2011
Presenter, Nanci Milone Hill
nhill@mvlc.org
Today’s Agenda
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What Is Women’s Fiction?
What Is Chick Lit?
What Is Romance Fiction?
Statistics
Discussing Women’s Fiction
Title Suggestions
Questions/Answers
What Is Women’s Fiction?
• Hard to define.
• Tends to be used to describe novels marketed to
women, including mainstream novels, romance and
chick lit.
• Centers around the key relationships in women’s lives,
including friends, family, co-workers, lovers, etc.
• Mainstream women’s fiction generally features middleaged women.
• Appeals to women on an emotional level.
• Most often written by, for, and about women.
What Is Chick Lit?
• The setting is usually urban (NYC, London).
• Features single, career-minded women in
their 20s and 30s.
• Sometimes contains romantic elements.
• Often features women’s friendships.
• Often shorter, easy reads.
• Humorous.
• New trend in “Mommy Lit.”
What Is Romance Fiction?
• Features a central love story where two
people fall in love. May have several sub-plot,
but the relationship between the two main
characters is the most important element.
• Has an emotionally satisfying ending.
• Series (category) or stand-alone titles.
• Many different sub-genres.
Market Share by Genre
462 million
1.36 billion
Romance
554 million
Inspirational
Mystery
SciFic/Fantasy
Literary
674 million
770 million
Source: 2009 Simba
Information Estimates
Accessed at RWA
website
http://www.rwa.org/cs/the_romance_genre/romance_literature_statistics
Sale Statistics from Baker & Taylor
$310,632.48 total sales.
0.77% of all titles published.
$2,822,437.48
total sales.
4.59% of all titles
published.
$1,016264.52 total
sales. 1.81% of
all titles
$2,503,710.96
total sales.
5.51 % of all titles
published.
Romance
$5,079,326.33
total sales.
8.77% of all titles
published.
Cntmp. Women's Fiction
Science Fiction
Fantasy
Horror
Many thanks to Lisa Parker at Baker & Taylor and to Dan
Kervick at Pub Alley for providing me with these
statistics.
Reader Statistics
• Women lead men in overall purchases,
contributing 64% of sales. Even among detective
and thriller genres, women top 60% of the sales.
Where do men catch up? Fantasy titles are
purchased evenly by men and women.
http://www.bowker.com/index.php/press-releases-2010/621-bowker-updates-groundbreaking-consumer-focused-researchreport-for-book-industry-
Discussing Women’s Fiction
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How did you feel about the book? Did you love it? Hate it?
What are the main themes of the book?
Were the characters convincing/believable?
Which character did you most relate to and why?
How do the characters evolve over the course of the novel?
What did you think about the choices the characters made?
What emotions did the novel evoke for you?
Was there anything about the story that made you feel
uncomfortable? Why?
• Was there anything unique about the setting?
• How does the novel compare to other books by this
author?
Titles for Discussion
Elizabeth Adler
It All Began in Monte Carlo
New York : St. Martin’s Press, c2010
Sarah Addison Allen
The Peach Keeper
New York : Bantam Books, c2011
Stacey Ballis
Good Enough to Eat
New York : Berkley Books, c2010
Elizabeth Berg
Once Upon a Time, There Was You
New York : Random House, c2011
Juliette Fay
Deep Down True
New York : Penguin Books, c2011
Fannie Flagg
I Still Dream About You
New York : Random House, c2010
Dorothea Benton Frank
Lowcountry Summer
New York : William Morrow, c2010
Roberta Gately
Lipstick in Afghanistan
New York : Gallery Books, c2010
Emily Giffin
Heart of the Matter
New York : St. Martin’s Press, c2010
Lisa Verge Higgins
The Proper Care and Maintenance
of Friendship
New York : 5 Spot, c2011
Elin Hilderbrand
A Summer Affair
New York : Little Brown, c2010
Cathy Lamb
Such a Pretty Face
New York : Kensington Books, c2010
Lorraine López
The Realm of Hungry Spirits
New York : Grand Central Pub, c2011
Sarah-Kate Lynch
Dolci di Love
New York : Plume, c2011
Debbie Macomber
A Turn in the Road
Don Mills, Ont. : Mira , c2011
Belva Plain
Heartwood
New York : Delecorte Press , c2011
Jane Porter
She’s Gone Country
New York : 5 Spot, c2010
Ruth Pennebaker
Women on the Verge of a
Nervous Breakthrough
New York : Berkley Books, c2011
Resources
• Craig, Lisa. “Women’s Fiction vs. Romance: a Tale of Two Genres.” WritingWorld.com. http://www.writing-world.com/romance/craig.shtml
Last accessed on 4/20/11 at 5:08 pm.
• Romance Writers of America
http://www.rwa.org/cs/the_romance_genre/romance_literature_statistic
s/industry_statistics. Last accessed on 4/26/11 at 4:00 pm.
• Vnuk, Rebecca. Read On – Women’s Fiction: Reading Lists for Every Taste.
Santa Barbara, Calif. : Libraries Unlimited/ABC-CLIO, c2009.
Shameless Self-Promotion
Reading Women:
A Book Club Guide for Women's Fiction
by Nanci Milone Hill
ABC-Clio. 2011. ISBN # 978-1-59158-802-3
More Shameless Self-Promotion
The Book Hussy
Reading Anything… Any Time… Anywhere
http://thebookhussy.wordpress.com/