Audible knows that no one’s reading romance novels for the plot — they’re reading it for the sex stuff. Their new feature, literally called “Take Me To The Good Part,” lets users… get right to it.
Audible uses machine learning to target key phrases in the notoriously formulaic plotlines and distinguish between the types of “good parts,” from “flirty banter” to “hot, hot, hot” (AKA, the full monty).
For $14.95/month, Audible Romance subscribers are invited to “find [their] next crush” via one of their thousands of romance titles categorized by particular “interests” and “steaminess,” on a scale ranked from “sweet” to “o-o-omg” (*sweats nervously while typing at desk*).
Because apparently, romance novels aren’t dead…
Contrary to the belief that erotic novels are purchased exclusively by middle-aged women in grocery store checkouts, “romance” is one of Audible’s most popular genres — with nearly 60k new titles published every year (3x the next most prolific genre).
As of 2013, according to the Romance Writers of America, the romance fiction industry was worth over $1B (case in point: 50 Shades Of Grey sold 10m copies in 6 weeks). In other words, sex still sells — in paperback and Kindle.