Renee Woolnough used to come home from her demanding job in corrections and curl up with a book to relax.
She used to say if she won the lotto, she would open a bookshop and cafe.
“I worked with Corrective Services. I was a senior case manager for 20 years, so I dealt with some interesting individuals, let’s say.”
Woolnough’s stories of choice are romance novels – a genre that makes up an increasing proportion of book sales, according to Nielsen BookScan Australia figures.
“Romance was my escape and then … it was getting too much and I was burning out and I’m like, ‘My life is too short’.
“I want to bring joy to my life and bring joy to other people’s lives, and romance is a very popular genre. Who doesn’t like a coffee and a book?”
Sweet Chapter Books opened on December 20 along Moggill Road at Taringa, and is the first of its kind in Brisbane.
“I know there are a couple of romance bookshops on the Sunshine Coast, and I know there’s some new independent bookshops in Wellington Point and Redcliffe, but for solely romance, I think I’m it,” Woolnough said.
Alongside a healthy offering of books, Woolnough also stocks stickers, magnets, tote bags, book covers and more.
Romance has always been the biggest genre in publishing, award-winning author and QUT lecturer in creative writing Dr Rohan Wilson said.
Romance books sales now more than double those in pre-pandemic 2019. In 2024, Australian readers bought more than 3 million romance novels worth $46.4 million.
“It’s an absolutely huge chunk of the publishing industry,” Wilson said. “It’s easily the biggest growth area in publishing at the moment, and has been for a couple of years now.
“It’s probably the only genre that could sustain its own bookshop in Brisbane.”
Wilson said the rise of authors such as Colleen Hoover and Sally Rooney have given the genre more legitimacy in the last decade or so, but the biggest development has been the surging popularity in romantasy novels – the combination of romance and fantasy – with authors such as Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros leading the charge.
“I think people just love the emotional stakes at the centre of those stories. They love the relationships, they love the feeling of watching characters grow closer,” he said.
“And when you put that into a fantasy setting with all of the extra opportunities that fantasy storytelling brings along as well, it’s just so addictive and so compelling, and I fully understand why it’s popular and why readers are into it.”
Readers of the romance genre are voracious, Wilson said, and many will read three or four novels a week.
“The demand for it is like, you know, you almost can’t satisfy it.”
The vast majority of readers prefer their books in hard copy, with digital books only making up about 15 per cent of book sales.
“Print culture is really sticking around and not going anywhere at this stage,” Wilson said.
Wilson said the community that comes out of these spaces is another reason they remain so popular, with book signings and book clubs adding value for readers.
Woolnough hopes to promote indie authors as much as possible, with plenty of local authors available.
Local authors stocked at the shop include K.E. Barden, Lynise Reid, Millie St Graves, Asha Rose, Tania Joyce, and Nicole Rowles. Mia K. Rose’s signing for her latest novel From The Cold was held at the shop.
“I want to focus on indie authors and give them the chance to spread their wings,” Woolnough said.
“I wanted space to be able to have a couch and have people sit and do their book clubs and do all the things and just come in and browse and buy a book or two or three.”
Wilson is confident there is a huge demand out there for what Woolnough is offering.
“Romance is a very broad church. There’s literally something for everybody in the genre. It doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter your background, there is something in there for everybody, which I think you can’t say about every genre.”
“I think genres are reflections of human psychology, and it’s easy to see why romance is so important. At the end of your life, when you’re laying there on your deathbed thinking about, what are my regrets or what are my happinesses from my life? It’s always about your relationships.
“It’s the genre of human relationships, and it’s the stuff that matters most deeply to us, which is why it’s the biggest and most popular genre, and the one that never goes away.”
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