The Ripped Bodice

The Ripped Bodice, established March 4, 2016,[1] is a bookstore in Culver City, California in the United States, which sells only romance novels. It was the first romance book store opened in the Northern Hemisphere.[2][3]

About

The store was established in 2016 by Bea and Leah Koch. The sisters began a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, eventually raising the $90,000 needed to open The Ripped Bodice.[1]

Books sold in The Ripped Bodice span a variety of sub-genres within romance and erotica including historical, contemporary, paranormal, sci-fi, LGBTQ, and multilingual.[1][4] The books are arranged according to these topics, rather than organizing by title or author's last name.[5]

The Ripped Bodice hosts events in their physical store, including author signings, romantic comedy nights, book clubs and general literary events.[1][5][6][7] They also arrange online book discussions.[8] Their annual book club event, The Great Big Romance Read, has nationwide participation and has financially benefited books chosen to be discussed because of the widespread nature of the event.[8]

In September 2018, the Koch sisters signed a contract with Sony Pictures Television to develop romance television projects.[9]

Diversity in Romance

Starting the year the store opened in 2016, the Koch sisters began releasing an annual report titled The State of Racial Diversity in Romance Publishing.[10] This annual review displays the percentages of authors of color (AOCs) being published by the top romance publishing companies including Harlequin, Kensington, Avon Romance, Entangled, and Crimson Romance.[11] Repeatedly, the study has revealed a disconnect between the small percentage of AOCs published, and the percentage of The Ripped Bodice's best-selling titles written by AOCs.[10][12] Over the four years the study has been conducted, the percentage of published works by authors of color has increased by less than one percent.[11]

Romance Awards

In February 2020, the Ripped Bodice announced the first winners of their newly established awards for romance. The contest is titled The Ripped Bodice's Awards for Excellence in Romance Fiction and acknowledges the chosen best romance titles for 2019. Twelve books were honored, chosen by experts associate with the genre, and the winners each receive $1,000. The winners included Xeni by Rebekah Weatherspoon, Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure by Courtney Milan, Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert, A Prince on Paper; One Ghosted, Twice Shy; and An Unconditional Freedom by Alyssa Cole, American Love Story by Adriana Herrera, Trashed by Mia Hopkins, and The Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker. [13] The 2020 winners were Go Deep by Rilzy Adams, Harbor by Rebekah Weatherspoon, Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade, Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert, The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite, The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan, The Rakess by Scarlett Peckham, The Roommate by Rosie Danan, The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa, You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria, You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson, and Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur.[14]

References
  1. French, Agatha (May 24, 2017). "Culver City is now home to America's sole romance-only bookstore: the Ripped Bodice". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  2. Valesco, O'Leary, Paulina, Lizzie (May 11, 2018). "Everybody falls in love: diversity in the romance industry". Marketplace. Retrieved March 1, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. Vickroy, Donna (November 14, 2019). "Romancing the bookstore: Mother, daughter open Tinley shop dedicated to love stories". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  4. Morris, Regan (April 18, 2016). "Sisters hope romance-only bookshop is a best seller". BBC. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  5. Jackson, Destiny (March 4, 2016). "First Romance-Only Bookstore Opens in L.A." The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  6. "This sister-owned bookstore is a haven for fans of romance". The Washington Post. August 5, 2019. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  7. French, Agatha (September 19, 2019). "This week of star-studded book events features Salman Rushdie, Colson Whitehead and Emily Nussbaum". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  8. Boog, Jason (August 20, 2019). "Romance Book Club Drives Avon Impulse Sales". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  9. "Romance bookstore The Ripped Bodice poised to bring the genre to television". EW.com.
  10. Elzie-Tuttle, Patricia (2019-03-05). "The 2018 State of Racial Diversity in Romance Publishing from The Ripped Bodice". BOOK RIOT. Retrieved 2019-03-06.
  11. Boog, Jason (March 10, 2020). "New Survey Finds Little Improvement in Diversity in Romance Publishing". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  12. Lenker, Maureen Lee (March 1, 2018). "'Diversity in Romance' report finds decrease in books by authors of color". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  13. Doherty, Alison (February 14, 2020). "The Ripped Bodice Awards for Excellence in Romance Fiction Announced". Book Riot. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  14. Doherty, Alison (February 15, 2021). "SECOND ANNUAL RIPPED BODICE AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN ROMANTIC FICTION ANNOUNCED". Book Riot. Retrieved September 30, 2021.


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