# The big business of romance novels Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-decibel-3326560/the-big-business-of-romance-novels Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-decibel-3326560/the-big-business-of-romance-novels.md Podcast: [The Decibel](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-decibel-3326560) Published: 2026-05-14T09:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/podcasts/the-decibel/ Audio file: https://afp-119681-injected.calisto.simplecastaudio.com/8b638145-9d42-4003-985c-054905c039a5/episodes/478be645-a890-4724-956a-6c7f464eded7/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=8b638145-9d42-4003-985c-054905c039a5&awEpisodeId=478be645-a890-4724-956a-6c7f464eded7&feed=TGclX98p Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-decibel-3326560/episodes/the-big-business-of-romance-novels Duration seconds: 1397 ## Resource Once relegated to paperback stands in grocery stores, the business of romance novels is hot right now – especially in Canada. In a moment when book sales in other genres appear to be relatively flat or declining, what is it about romance novels that’s making readers fall in love? Deborah Aarts is a freelance business journalist. She’s on the show today to discuss what’s driving this “swoon boom,” how Canada became such a hotbed for romance readers and writers, and what it is about this moment that has readers pining after romance novels. ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-decibel-3326560/episodes/the-big-business-of-romance-novels/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-decibel-3326560/the-big-business-of-romance-novels.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.