Romance Writers of America® (RWA), a nonprofit association for romance writers with over 10,000 members worldwide, announced today the release of Novel Engagement™, the first iOS and Android compatible app that will be a comprehensive database and interactive information hub for readers and authors of romance novels. With romance fiction garnering over $1.35 billion in sales in 2013 (Business of Consumer Book Publishing 2013), Novel Engagement’s potential user base is extraordinary.
Launching with over 1,000 authors and more than 5,000 books, Novel Engagement has the functionality to search specific titles, authors, events, publication dates, tags and subgenres on a multi-‐platform mobile application. Users of Novel Engagement will be able to personally curate information in one simple, but powerful, free app. The user has the ability to “follow” an author to keep up-‐to-‐date on new releases, participate in contests and events, and share author and book information via Facebook, Twitter, Google +, or Pinterest with one click. Romance authors on Novel Engagement will be able to provide quick links to purchase their books, showcase their current and backlisted books, promote local and online special events, and offer push notifications for their readers. Booksellers and librarians will have an efficient search tool to monitor trends, enhance collections, and introduce new romance authors and novels to their customers and patrons. RWA projects the app will host more than 2,000 authors and 10,000 books by year’s end.
Novel Engagement displays bios, awards received, photos, cover art, video and audio excerpts, complete lists of titles, websites and more. The app is quick and easy-‐to-‐use—featuring a “Reader Zone,” a place to keep track of books users have added to their “favorites,” “to be read” or “read,” lists or to test their romance knowledge by answering trivia questions and entering contests. Just a few of the major romance authors already active on the app are Sylvia Day, Susan Mallery, Sandra Brown, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Sabrina Jeffries, Laurelin Paige and Susan Wiggs.
“Romance authors and readers have been interacting in huge numbers for years online and in social media, and RWA is committed to advancing the romance genre and helping authors and readers connect in new ways with Novel Engagement,” said Allison Kelley, Executive Director of RWA. “For readers, Novel Engagement delivers results across the romance genre with speed. Readers will discover new authors, find new releases and backlist books, all while exploring the full range of romance subgenres. Authors benefit from Novel Engagement by enhancing discoverability with lists of current and backlist novels, providing readers with purchase links, and having search terms that reach across subgenres, keywords, and tropes. The ability of readers to follow writers within Novel Engagement enables writers to promote new releases, highlight special events, and provide links to their social media pages.”
About The Romance Writers of America:
Romance Writers of America (RWA) is a nonprofit trade association, with a membership of more than 10,000 romance writers and related industry professionals, whose mission is to advance the professional interests of career-‐focused romance writers through networking and advocacy.
