People may be continuing to struggle in the bad economy, but Sookie is doing just fine. According to Publishers Weekly, books like Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire series are even more popular during these hard times.
It’s an interesting psychological observation, but it makes sense–people turn to comfort reading as a way of dealing with life. It costs less to buy a mass market paperback like one of the Sookie novels or some romance book, than to go to see a movie at the theater, and you get hours of enjoyment out of it with a guaranteed happy ending. According to an editor at a publishing company,
“For people worried about finances and job security, delving into a romance can be a great way to escape that stress for a little while.”
Paranormal stories have been especially successful. Variety reported that about 12.4 million people were watching each episode of True Blood during its second season. Twilight was breaking box office records before it even opened this weekend.
Fantasy authors are gaining new fans all the time, whether they are established like Charlaine Harris with the Sookie Stackhouse and Harper Connelly books, and Sherrilyn Kenyon of the Dark Hunter series, or newcomers to the genre. In addition to vampires and werewolves, tales of other supernatural creatures like angels, demons, zombies, and succubi are starting to enchant readers.
We may be in the midst of a financial crisis, but imagination will never go bankrupt or lose its job. Thankfully, we have a lot of creativity and good writing to escape to when we need to get away from reality for a little while.
SOURCE: publishersweekly.com
(Photo credit: amazon.com)
Chris Warren
Agree, comfort reading is like comfort eating – but not so hard on the diet!
I believe that in times of difficulty people do try to escape into a fantasy world for a while. There are some great new books out and, at the risk of boasting, my recent publication, Randolph’s Challenge Book One – The Pendulum Swings is an ideal way of shifting your head into a different, but very acceptable and recognisable, world of adventure fantasy.
Chris Warren
Author and Freelance Writer
Randolph’s Challenge Book One – The pendulum Swings