BookTok’s influence on modern publishing cannot be overstated, and one shining example was the rise of the romantasy genre in 2024. Despite being discounted by some critics as “fairy porn,” romantasies ushered in an era of new fans of steamy fiction this year, with primarily women writers at the helm of this industry-shifting genre.
A romance and fantasy mashup
A portmanteau of romance and fantasy, romantasy is a steamy subgenre that embodies elements of both. The love stories that drive these book’s plots are typically set against the backdrop of mystical realms populated by “creatures like dragons, fairies or werewolves, adding an element of enchantment to the romance,” said Reedsy. The genre is not new, but romantasy has gained popularity recently, driven by online reading communities like BookTok and Bookstagram.
Author Sarah J. Maas and her “A Court of Thorns and Roses” series are at the forefront of the genre’s burgeoning popularity. The first book in the series, which debuted in 2015, skyrocketed to popularity on BookTok and has since sold millions of copies. Hulu is reportedly developing the series for a television adaptation. After the series went viral, “readers grew hungry for similar books,” Reedsy added, leading to the “rise in similar romantasy titles” like Rebecca Yarros’ “widely popular novel Fourth Wing.”
The genre was “supercharged by the rise of TikTok in the pandemic,” as influencers on the social platform “started promoting these books relentlessly,” The Wall Street Journal said. The explosion changed the “mix of bestseller lists,” with “female writers of romance, fantasy and romantasy climbing the charts at others writers’ expense.” “Male thriller writers have been eclipsed,” literary agent Elyse Cheney said to the Journal.
‘Hollywood’s next Marvel’
Some see some untapped potential for the genre beyond the page. Romantasy has the “potential to be Hollywood’s next Marvel,” Jessica Karl said in a Bloomberg column. In 2024 alone, “one out of every four bestsellers on The New York Times Hardcover Fiction Bestseller List were romantasy,” and the “level of fandom is not unlike what you see with Taylor Swift or Lord of the Rings.” Still, many “literary traditionalists” are “unwilling to recognize the boom.” They may downplay it as fairy porn for Gen Zers on TikTok, but these books are “single-handedly propelling the publishing industry to greater heights.”
At the end of its fiscal year in Feb. 2024, Maas’ publisher, Bloomsbury, announced a record 30% revenue jump and a record-high 57% increase in profits from the year prior. Bloomsbury CEO Nigel Newton credited the rise of interest in fantasy — particularly romantasy — and called Maas “a publishing phenomenon.” She has sold more than “38 million copies in English worldwide,” in 38 different languages, per her website.
‘More fun than therapy’
The “escapism aspect is certainly key,” Ashley Doliber, a senior director of marketing strategy at Entangled Publishing, which is behind such series as Yarros’ “Fourth Wing,” said to USA Today. Genre fiction, like romantasies, offers the opportunity to have that “fun, joyful, thought-provoking escapism” while “tackling real-world themes” like female empowerment and agency, she said.
Many of the genre’s fans have “senior jobs, stressful workloads and significant responsibilities,” said The Guardian. Perhaps that is why they “immerse themselves in worlds of demons, swords, leather outfits and cauldrons,” she added. It is “cheaper than travel” and “more fun than therapy.” Plus, you can “read anywhere you’re able to drag a book the weight of a brick.”
One potential area for concern is “publishing’s eagerness to embrace this subgenre is going hand-in-hand with slipping on or abandoning commitments to diversity,” Ashley Hearn, a senior editor for Peachtree Teen, said to Paste Magazine. Social media is a driving force behind the genre’s rise. “But BookTok also has a racism problem baked into its algorithm.” As long as retailers prioritize titles based on TikTok popularity, “how can BIPOC authors expect to have the same explosive success as top-selling white Romantasy authors?”