The concern is reasonable: "Romantasy" - the genre blending romantic storylines with fantasy worldbuilding - exploded on BookTok between 2022 and 2025, driven by titles like the Sarah J. Maas series and a wave of court-and-fae narratives. If the genre's rise was purely social-media-driven, could it fade just as fast?
The evidence says no. Here is why Romantasy functions as a durable niche, not a short-lived trend.
The Genre Has Deep Roots, Not Just Social Media Momentum
Romantasy is not a new genre invented by TikTok. It is a natural fusion of two of the most enduring fiction categories in publishing history: romance (consistently the top-selling genre in the US, accounting for roughly 23% of fiction sales by unit volume) and fantasy (the genre that gave us decades of beloved series from Tolkien to Sanderson).
When a genre is rooted in two massive, self-sustaining parent categories, it has structural durability that trend-driven genres lack. BookTok amplified romantasy's visibility; it did not create the underlying reader appetite.
The Backlist Is Deep
One of the key indicators of a sustainable niche is whether it has a deep backlist - years of previously published titles that new readers will seek out. Romantasy has this in abundance.
Readers who discover Sarah J. Maas through TikTok do not just buy the current release. They go back and buy the entire existing series - often buying six to twelve books in a single season of discovery. A new romantasy bookstore benefits from this backlist demand continuously, not just during a viral moment.
What a Trend Actually Looks Like (For Contrast)
Compare romantasy to a genuinely trend-dependent genre, like the brief wave of "dark academia" novels that peaked around 2020-2022. Dark academia had a strong social media moment, a relatively thin backlist, and then plateaued quickly when readers exhausted the available titles.
Romantasy does not have that problem. The genre is actively expanding - new authors are publishing new series continuously, and the reader community is sustaining itself through series loyalty and community engagement.
Niche Risks to Manage
That said, a romantasy bookstore should be aware of:
- Series completion risk - if the bestselling series in your catalog ends, you need the next breakout series ready to feature
- Trend cycles within the genre - fae romance, dragon riders, and villain romance are all sub-trends within romantasy; diversifying your catalog across sub-genres reduces dependence on any one wave
- Competition - romantasy is popular enough that it has attracted attention from established retailers; positioning through community and curation, not just selection, matters
The Verdict
Romantasy is a sustainable niche with strong fundamentals: deep roots in durable parent genres, an enormous backlist, an active and growing community, and sustained BookTok engagement that is not showing signs of collapse. It is a reasonable long-term bet for a bookstore - especially for a merchant who genuinely loves the genre.