Geisha Expert Going All the Way

Huntington Beach, CA—"Got sex?" asks publisher Ellora's Cave on their website. More and more romance readers are chanting this new mantra before they select their books. Erotic romance is exploding in the marketplace in an industry that commands $1.2 billion in sales each year.

“Readers are demanding sex, sex, and more sex in their books," says author and geisha expert Jina Bacarr, The Blonde Geisha, Spice Books, August 2006. "It's not the taboo it once was. HBO's Sex in the City made it okay to pop a vibrator into your shopping bag along with a pair of stilettos. Women want that same freedom in choosing the books they read."

How popular are these sexy novels?

"Erotic romances are flying off bookstore shelves, according to Lyndi Lamont, Dare All for Love, Amber Quill Press www.LyndiLamont.com. "They're also the most popular genre for e-book download…that makes for an anonymous guilty pleasure."

It's not just e-books driving the popularity of the genre. The New York publishers have taken up the chant with numerous erotic romance lines opening up, including Avon Red, Berkley Heat, Kensington's Aphrodisia, and Harlequin's Spice line, which launches in May.

"Spice books offer the reader great sex, well-written, sophisticated stories, and beautiful covers you can display anywhere," says Bacarr, "whether you're commuting on the subway or working on your tan at the beach." Check out the cover of her Spice book of a beautiful geisha with green eyes at: www.JinaBacarr.com

Major bookstores have also taken notice of this surge in interest in erotic romance. According to spokeswoman Beth Bingham, Borders has seen "double digit sales growth'' in erotic romance titles since the national book retailer began carrying novels in the sub-genre in 2004.

Readers, however, are often confused about the difference between erotic fiction and porn. To clear up the confusion, Jina Bacarr and Lyndi Lamont will lead a book discussion group at the Celebrate Romance Spring Conference at the Long Beach Marriott in Long Beach, California on April 1st at 1:15 pm, when they give readers the real scoop on getting cozy between the sheets.

Jina and Lyndi will discuss how readers can learn the ABCs of erotic romance and why it doesn't spell porn, how the genre got started and where it's going, and how readers can hop aboard for a wild ride they won't forget.

As Susan Pezzack, editor of Spice Books, told the San Jose Mercury News, "These aren't your grandma's romance novels.''

For more information on Celebrate Romance: www.crspring.com