Welcome to Romancing the Phone

I'll be your guide to BookTok tropes and trends, Joan Wilder in sensible shoes. Or, said another way: TLDR; I watch BookTok so you don’t have to.

Welcome to the first issue of Romancing the Phone, a newsletter where I hope to demystify BookTok trends, dissect what’s working for authors on social media, and discover what readers actually want to read.

Why am I qualified to answer these questions? I’m a writer and marketing strategist with twelve years of experience including working at Amazon, writing a column at Barnes and Noble, and managing social media accounts for brands with hundreds of thousands of followers.

I’m also an obsessive romance reader with a deep knowledge of the genre and a knack for finding your next great read. I probably read Fourth Wing before you did :)

I often find there is a disconnect between the books people are actually reading and the books people are talking about in traditional media. I want to help change that. And as a romance reader and lover, I want to do it with respect and admiration. Romance novels, indie publishing, and genre trend cycles are worth taking seriously, not just on their own merits but also as barometers of culture, current events, and politics. Even if a particular trend or sub-genre doesn’t speak to me, I want to know why it resonates and how it found an audience.

What are the BookTok girlies reading, and why does it matter? Why do we call them girlies? What books are on their towering TBR piles, and what collector’s editions with sprayed edges are proudly displayed on their home library shelves? What fanfiction are they reading and flouting copyright by buying on Etsy? Which tropes do they love, and which do they hate?

And how does what is popular today influence the books we’ll all be reading in a year or two? Are we in for a flood of Olympics romances, inspired by hot pole-vaulters and the newfound popularity of rugby?How about a horde of hunky storm chasers inspired by the box office success of Twisters? Will someone write the definitive Taylor and Travis-inspired love story?

I want this newsletter to be a community project, so please feel free to email me your burning questions about BookTok or share your favorite recent read.

In addition to a few evergreen features like imaginary celebrity book club and booktok power rankings, upcoming issues will include interviews with BookTokers, authors, and readers, trend forecasting, one-sentence reviews and social media spotlights.

BookTok 101: Ana Huang

Several months ago, I looked at the New York Times bestseller list and saw an unfamiliar to me name: Ana Huang. This prompted investigation.

What I learned is that every generation gets its own man in a suit. Just as readers of the early 2010s had Christian Grey, today’s avid romance readers have Alex Volkov from Twisted Love. Although post-pandemic, in an era of relaxed office standards and remote work, a man in a full suit somehow feels more exotic than it once did.

Huang has three series: “If Love,” “Twisted, ” and “Kings of Sin,” as well as a new series, “Gods of the Game,” with a first book to be released in October 2024. I would describe her books as steamy contemporaries that take place in an elevated version of reality, one where princesses and influencers are best friends. The male main characters tend to be arrogant alphas who lean toward the violent, usually (but not always) billionaires, usually (but not always) be-suited.

Twisted Love took off with BookTok readers in 2023, and user @elsieinthesoop describes why in a video from December 2023: “My friend said I don’t like this book because the man, he’s psychotic, he’s obsessed with her, he’s literally killing people. And I was like yeah - and? If someone touches his woman they die.”

If you’ve read Fifty Shades of Grey, some of this will sound familiar. A domineering, possessive alpha billionaire is nothing new in the fiction of the last few decades (or, honestly, centuries - does this describe Mr. Darcy?). But this new iteration has a decidedly darker bent. Very little from this book stuck with me except how much I disliked the hero, but I suppose I was warned. Per the description of the novel: “WARNING: This book contains a possessive, morally gray alphahole; explicit sexual content, and profanity. No cheating or menage, but if you're looking for a traditionally sweet, lovable hero, this is not the book for you.”

Twisted Love is on the sweeter side of dark romance, a sub genre that is hugely popular on BookTok and just beginning to cross over into traditional publishing. Books about serial killers falling in love with each other (Butcher and Blackbird), books about wards falling in coercive love with their step-uncle and cousins (Credence), books about falling in love with your stalker (Haunting Adeline). These books have hundreds of thousands of Goodreads ratings (Twisted Love has over a million) and are showing up on shelves at Target, and yet even avid romance readers might not have heard about them.

One of my projects with this newsletter is to unpack the rise in popularity of this type of romance, and over the next months I hope to discuss all of these books. A brief theory: readers who grew up on dark, dystopian YA have aged into the romance genre over the past several years. Plus, the popularity and power of BookTok was jump started in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when escapist fantasies and a desire to give up control would have been welcome.

Imaginary Celebrity Book Club

We all know Taylor Swift is the obvious answer to this question, so she leads off in our inaugural imaginary celebrity book club.

Here’s my vision: books selected not by month but by era. A sweet, small town YA romance aligned to the re-release of her debut album, something like Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter. For Reputation, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, a book about a young mother’s literal heel turn toward creating content on OnlyFans to support her son inspired by her professional wrestler father. The possibilities are endless — please email me if you’ve read something with Tortured Poets vibes because I want to read it, too.

But really what I want is for Taylor Swift to write a book based on her song “The Last Great American Dynasty.” Call me if you need a ghostwriter, Tay.

Up next week: eReaders, shelf trophies, sprayed edges, and special editions.

*Just a note to say that all links included in this newsletter are Amazon affiliate links and as an Amazon Associate, I earn commission from qualifying purchases. Since many of the books we’ll be discussing are indie-published, Amazon is often the best and only place to find them. Please purchase from your preferred independent bookstore when you can!