Riverdale book publisher keeps romance alive for readers

When Lori Perkins first started editing books, she scoffed at the idea of romance novels.

“Who wants to read a book where you know the ending at the beginning?” she recalls saying.

But once Perkins started editing the romance genre, everything changed.

“I found it so amazingly creative, because if you know what the ending is, you just got to fill it with completely different things,” Perkins said. “You can just be so creative because the end can’t change, and because you have to have a happy ending.”

Romance novels began filling the corners of Perkins’ life while running a literary agency as well as Riverdale Avenue Books. In July, she launched Romance Daily News, a website not only devoted to romance novel news, but romance news and trends in everything from entertainment to politics. The site even offers readers a $10 yearly subscription, allowing them to download a free e-book each day.

Inspiration to start the website came after the Romantic Times, a major monthly romance magazine, shut down last January.

Perkins reached out to her friends in both journalism and romance writing to see if they’d be interested in helping her keep romance news alive. Now, she works with a core team of five as well as about 10 to 15 online contributors to produce four stories a day.

One of Perkins’ major goals is to “connect the feminist movement to the pop culture of romance” because she believes this specific genre is all about uplifting women.

“I believe that romance readers and writers don’t realize how feminist they are, and I’m really hoping to tie this all together and tie into this whole female political empowerment that’s going on nationally and internationally,” she said.

Perkins already has taken steps toward this goal. In November, she profiled Stacey Abrams, the former Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Georgia. Before hitting the campaign trail this year, Abrams was known to people as Selena Montgomery, a pseudonym she used to write eight romantic thriller novels.

“It was really wonderful basically showing the romance world she’s one of us,” Perkins said. “You really know who she is because … she’s writing these books that you’re reading, which is cool.”

While many think romance novels are still what they were in the 1980s, Perkins argues that it’s the complete opposite — especially as she sees many future romance novels covering the “Me Too” movement in powerful ways.

“The female characters in romance are really smart and snarky and educated, and the men must be deserving of them,” Perkins said. “The only thing that limits romance is that there has to be a happy ending, but it could also be ‘happy for now.’”

The biggest takeaway for Perkins through this experience of running a romance news website has been the creation of a female-centric space she’s excited to be part of, especially at a time where publications like USA Today and MacMillan have shuttered their spaces for romance coverage.

“It’s just a more positive slice of our world,” Perkins said, “and that’s a really nice place to be at this time.”

While Perkins oversees Romance Daily News’ day-to-day operations, she’s still running Riverdale Avenue Books and her literary agency. While she admits to being exhausted, Perkins also reveals her secret to juggling multiple responsibilities is having had the strength and endurance as a mom.

“Nothing else in your life increases exponentially until you have to take care of someone 24 hours a day who can’t take care of themselves,” Perkins said.

“And once you learn that skill, you can rule the world.”