Supporting the Romance Bookstore Directory
Introducing a new Supporter designation for romance bookstores that financially support the Romance Bookstore Directory.
It’s hard to believe that it’s already been a year since I launched the Romance Bookstore Directory. It started with 161 bookstores last April and now there are 445 stores in the directory—a 176% increase! Thank you to everyone who has visited, supported, and shared the directory. 💜
The goal of the directory has always been to provide a free and useful resource to romance readers.
The directory is also an excellent research and marketing tool for romance bookstores. I regularly hear anecdotes from bookstore owners about customers finding them through the directory. I know many bookstores have also used my directory and other data as part of the business planning process for their stores (for example, using my Best Romance Book lists to plan which titles to stock).
I provide this service to bookstores for free, but there are costs (like web hosting) and a lot of labour (research, data collection, web updates, etc.) involved in proactively maintaining the directory.
I’m hoping that more bookstores will see the value of the Romance Bookstore Directory and choose to support it financially by becoming a paid subscriber of Romancing the Data.
Ways to Support the Directory
Tell your customers about the Romance Bookstore Directory.
If media approach you about a romance bookstore story, refer them to the Romance Bookstore Directory for the latest data.
If you’re able to support the directory financially, become a paid subscriber (US$5/month or US$50/year).
New Supporter Designation
To recognize my romance bookstore supporters, I’m introducing a new Supporter designation to indicate which bookstores are financially supporting the directory, either through an active paid subscription to Romancing the Data or other contributions.
I will also be featuring the Supporter bookstores in the top spot of the directory on a rotating basis, as well as occasionally featuring them in blog and social media posts.
My goal is to give these bookstores a bit of extra love because they are helping keep the directory running!
Here’s an example of what the Supporter badge and the feature spot looks like:
Current Romance Bookstore Supporters
There are currently 18 romance bookstore supporters (21 individual stores):
Thank you so much to my current romance bookstore supporters! I look forward to giving you a bit of extra love in the coming months.
If you’re a paid subscriber whose bookstore is missing from the list above, please comment below or email me.
Happy reading!