‘Such a surge’: 30-year-old Aussie opens romance book store because of demand

A wraparound line outside a store in South Australia confirms that the “stigma” around a spicy pandemic trend is very much over.

In the middle of the pandemic, the online bookstore Fiction and Friction opened in South Australia because women began to crave romance as the world became more uncertain.

That might sound like a bizarre conclusion, but Brittany Schulz, 30, reached it after she noticed that romance books were becoming one of the most talked-about topics on the internet.

People were jumping on TikTok to share their book recommendations and from there, women started talking about romance books, especially the spicy ones.

Romance tropes like ‘enemies to lovers’ and ‘single dad romance’ became discussed online, with women ranking the spiciness of the books. (Five chilli emojis means the spice is extra graphic, one means moderate).

“It used to be romance books were something you read at home but you didn’t talk about it. It was just something you put on your bookshelf,” she told news.com.au.

Ms Schulz has always been a romance reader. She favours romances by independent authors who write love stories with steamy sex scenes and clever storylines.

She formed her business idea after hearing during the pandemic that an Australian printing press that had previously struggled to stay open was now expanding because of the increased demand for romance novels.

“There was such a surge,” she said.

She started the business because she wanted to celebrate Indie Authors. Picture: Supplied

Once the business opened, she found a loyal following instantly. Picture: Supplied

When she decided to open an online romance bookstore that exclusively stocked independent authors, the 30-year-old didn’t see it as a foolproof plan for success, but she knew there was something in it.

Ms Schulz has a background in hospitality, but as a single mum, she’d never really had a “proper job” because everything was about raising her daughter and managing her chronic pain brought on by endometriosis, but the romance idea was too alluring to resist.

“I said to my author friends, ‘I have this crazy idea,’” she recalled.

Ms Schulz said people in the romance community believed in it from the start; it was outsiders who didn’t.

At one point, she was even convinced her accountant “didn’t believe” in her or the business. His expectations for the bookstore were so low that she ended up in some GST strife.

When you start a new business, you have to register it for GST if you turnover $75,000 in the first year, and Ms Schulz reached that goal far sooner than her financial advice projected.

She's poured everything she's had into the business. Picture: TikTok/FictionandFriction

The bookstore has over 14,000 followers on Instagram. Picture: Supplied

The young mum poured over $8000 into developing the business.

The entire time she had the backing and support of the romance community and from the first night the store launched it has been self-sufficient and has never run at a loss.

“I didn’t expect it to blow up. I did a pre-order for a book and I sold 2000 books in a week,” she said.

“I was definitely surprised by how quickly it took off. I wanted to give indie books a chance, and I knew the books were good, but there is a stigma.”

Ms Schulz said she wanted to create a space where independent books didn’t have to “compete” with traditionally published books.

She was amazed how quickly the business found a community. Picture: Supplied

She’s learning to back herself because her bookstore idea has been such a win. Picture: TikTok/FictionandFriction

The store’s success has meant Ms Schulz has spent the last few years navigating rapid growth because she went from running the store from her home to running it from a storage container, then opening a physical bookstore and later moving to a different location because she needed more space.

Ms Schulz said she’s not paying herself a “proper wage” because she’s putting every cent back into her business but the romance store is thriving.

“Both my opening days were big, but my second there, there was a line wrapping around the entire building,” she said.

The 30-year-old was shocked by the turnout but said none of her friends were that surprised because they didn’t underestimate women’s love of sexy romance books.

“I don’t believe in myself as much as I should. I always think 10 people are going to turn up and then there’s hundreds,” she said.

“My friends think I’m hopeless because I don’t believe in myself.”

Even though she’s more than proven that there’s a demand for indie romance books, there are still people that are shocked.

“I get older men who come into my shop and are like, ‘romance sells?” She said.

Her response now? “Of course it sells”.

Originally published as ‘Such a surge’: 30-year-old Aussie opens romance book store because of demand