A convention built around romance readers
At RomCon, romance was a subject for the morning, the microphone and the room. At 10:15 a.m. on October 24, model Lauren Chan reacted from the stage: “It’s so early for bottom talk!” The audience was game. Later conversations touched on knotting and sex-scene language, with attendees groaning at the word “impalement.”
The sold-out gathering at Brooklyn’s Industry City was the first RomCon, organized by 831 Stories. Some 300 ticket holders came for panels, book signings and snacks, but the defining feature was the chance to spend a day with others who cared deeply about romance fiction.
Chan moderated the opening panel, “Romance in Real Life: How the Genre Shapes Us,” with authors Upasna Barath, Hannah Brown and Nikki Payne. Casey McQuiston signed a well-used copy of Red, White, & Royal Blue; debut author Tyler McCall practiced her signature in advance copies of People Like You.
831 Stories takes its books into the room
RomCon gave 831 Stories a live audience for a publishing identity it has spent just over two years building. The company, which avoids defining itself only as a publishing imprint, began with Alexandra Romanoff’s Big Fan. Its 15 slim books now form a distinctive shelf of color-blocked covers.
Big Fan has traveled beyond bookstores: Hulu is developing a TV adaptation of the 162-page novella and its two sequels. The book has also reached airport retailer Hudson News, with Target availability planned for later this year. Fans wore shirts bearing “I Am a Fan of Mischief,” a reference to the fictional boy band in the book.
That enthusiasm had a visible, social-media-ready edge. Bookshop totes and hats were everywhere, the Ripped Bodice ran a busy pop-up shop, and attendees posed in front of a giant 831 Stories cover made for the event. Selfie sticks and tiny pink microphones appeared among the custom banners, pendants and art. People traded the mystery advance copies given to each guest, took photos for one another and connected online.
“Everyone here is bought in,” cookbook author Julia Turshen said between panels. Her fiction debut, Down to Earth, came out through 831 earlier this year.
For cofounder Claire Mazur, seeing readers gather made the purpose behind the event tangible. “I don't know that I realized until I was sitting there in the room how much of a sort of tangible manifestation this would be of the many reasons that we started 831, and it felt so nice to get to realize that,” she told PW.
Mazur and cofounder Erica Cerulo had long wanted to put on a large-scale event. After organizing book swaps, panels and parties around the country, they decided in the spring to make it happen this year. Mazur said the response to the room’s warmth stood out: “We got a lot of feedback yesterday about just how kind and congenial and community oriented the room felt,” she said. “I wish I could take any credit for it, but this is actually just what romance readers are like.”
Publishing plans reflect the company’s taste
The day’s sessions—on queer joy, romance in real life, sex, politics and tropes—tracked with the subjects 831 says guide its books. Mazur described them as “the core ideas that drove us to start 831, and that we do try to prioritize through the books that we publish and the stories that we tell.” They’re themes the founders return to, she said.
That mix can be explicit in the fiction. In Big Fan, the central character campaigns for universal basic income, and her love interest is drawn to her commitment to the cause. During a panel, Romanoff praised what she sees as the publisher’s openness: “Not to glaze my publisher too much, but one of the things I like about 831 is, I feel, a lack of that cynicism.”
831 also used the convention to preview a modest cover redesign for 2027. Some covers will trade subtle textural photography for images of places. Rather than make a formal announcement, the organizers left full-size mockups on seats after lunch, revealing the updated look alongside upcoming authors Edith Zimmerman and Mickey Rapkin. Mazur called the lineup “a murderer's row.”
Rapkin’s book will be 831’s first male/male romance. In December, the publisher will release its first title by a male-identifying author: Frankie Caracciolo’s baseball romance, Off Season. Mazur said widening the list is part of a longer-running ambition: “We've always had the dream of getting more men to read romance,” she said, adding that these books might help open the door.
There are limits to the expansion. Asked about romantasy, Mazur’s answer was firm: “No wings in 2027.”
Another RomCon is on the way
The day ended with a surprise appearance by the cast of Magic Mike Live, who scattered pink play money before the room was cleaned up and the books went home with attendees. Mazur and Cerulo are already turning toward Valentine’s Day, which Mazur calls “our Super Bowl.”
RomCon will return, Mazur said. Planning starts “the minute we all get some sleep.” The first event suggests the draw is clear: readers want a place where the books, their creators and the community around them can share the same room.
