In just three months, Natasha Meyer brought together a community of people who love reading romance novels.
Last November, she held the first event for The Well Red Damsel – her pop-up bookstore selling romance books, including those by local authors – at Ray’s Wine & Spirits in Wauwatosa.
By the 5:30 p.m. start time, the bar was already packed. “Over three hours, I had 300 sales,” Meyer says. “There was a line (to buy books) for two hours, and my friends started to download the software on their phones so they could check people out. I never thought in my wildest dreams that night would have gone the way it did.”
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
One reason for Meyer’s success is that romance is a growing literary genre – and beyond the Harlequin paperbacks it used to be. According to the New York Times, sales of print copies of romance books spiked from 18 million copies in 2020 to 39 million copies in 2023.
“It helped that publishers created covers that were not Fabio with the long hair,” Meyer says. “They made them more mass appealing. Some of my bestselling books are queer romance books and books by Indigenous and people of color, either the characters or the author. You laugh, you cry, you just get sucked into these worlds.”
Eventually, Meyer wants to open a brick-and-mortar bookstore focused on selling romance titles.
“There are bookstores like The Ripped Bodice in New York City and LA that inspired me,” she says. “I started the pop-up because it felt like something I could take action and do now. With a brick-and-mortar store, it would take several years to get it to fruition.”
At every event, Meyer learns more about how to grow her pop-up’s brand, through meeting people and learning what authors and books they like to read.
“Selfishly, I also wanted to connect with more people about romance books. I meet so many amazing people. I get to talk about what books I like to read, what books they like to read,” she says.
This was true on Feb. 5, when she hosted a book-launch event at Pilot Project Brewing (on the grounds of the former historic Pabst Brewery) for Ellie K. Drake, the author of Ice Contact, hockey-themed romance novel set in Milwaukee. It was a dream event for lovers of romance books, particularly those who are local, and a chance to meet others equally enchanted with the genre. “There’s a lot of Milwaukee ties, like little dive bars and going to the lake,” Meyer says.
The Well Red Damsel’s upcoming events include Freak Flea, hosted at Super Maple in Bay View on Feb. 14 (Valentine’s Day), highlighting queer and BIPOC vendors. Meyer will sell books where either the author or the book’s characters fit those parameters.
Then, on Feb. 28, “Hockey Romance Night” brings together romance fans at a Milwaukee Admirals game.
“The Admirals has been nice enough to block off a section for us. It went from 20 tickets on the first day to 140. A lot of people are coming solo,” says Meyer, adding that this is true for all her events. “You (might) leave with a new book, but you’re also leaving with new friends. It takes a lot of courage to go to any event solo.”
