With the rise of BookTok and mainstream book influencers, the romance genre has taken bestsellers by storm. While the genre has always been popular, romance has become the fastest-growing major fiction category in publishing with U.S. print sales volume more than doubling since 2021, according to Writers Digest.
With the growth of the billion-dollar industry, there have been opportunities for more indie publishing companies to innovate within the genre, particularly 831 Stories.
So, Who Is 831 Stories?
This independent publishing house was founded in the fall of 2024 by Clair Mazur and Erica Cerulo. Originally, the company was created to cure a “book hangover” that was still unfulfilled following online discussions and fan fiction.
Essentially, their mission is to create bite-size romance novellas, all with uniform, discreet covers, while simultaneously creating products that are mentioned in the books, such as merch for fictional book bands or a jersey that a character wears.
Their sleek and uniform designs are part of the “if you know, you know” aesthetic within the romance community, where you can recognize books just by their blocking and coloring even from a distance. 831 Stories’ branding and marketing are done by C47, a marketing company that works with high-end brands such as Valentino, Prada, and A24.
I think that in order to appreciate this publishing company, you have to know exactly what you’re going to get. Consistent with their romances are self-actualized protagonists around 25 years or older, deeply embedded in the roughly 200-page books. They are highly curated reading experiences with tangible realities being sold online (just in case you fall in love with them), aiming to cultivate worlds around the books that they’re publishing.
How Do They Get Their Writers?
Their method of recruiting writers is also unconventional, having cold-emailed authors they admired before 831 Stories even launched.
Take Erika Veurink, the author of Exit Lane, released in 2024 (my personal favorite 831 Stories book). Veurink is a brand consultant and Substack writer who received an email from 831 Stories asking for an outline of each chapter rather than a full manuscript. Now that the publishing house has gained more traction, the task of finding writers has greatly shifted as authors have begun reaching out to them.Â
When discussing their success in her New York Times interview, Columbia University researcher and BookTok influencer Sanjana Basker says that the romances written by writers who don’t typically dabble in the genre connect “the traditional romance community and the broader world.”
But What Do People Think?
Now, this isn’t to say that 831 Stories is completely reinventing the wheel. Critics note that the length of their novels limits depth and that many of their branding practices mirror existing indie publishing trends, as seen on platforms like Patreon.
Additionally, while they are recognized by their classic, clean, and uniform covers, many readers find that their discretion promotes rhetoric that readers should be ashamed of their “guilty pleasures,” hiding the cliché pictures or cartoon drawings.
The book community is quite split on the covers; some people see the branding as a fresh way to elevate romance, while others see it as repackaging things the indie publishing world has already been doing.
Personally, I love 831 Stories. I love getting to the bookstore knowing what to expect from a book just by its cover design.Â
If you liked People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry and One Day by David Nicholls, I would totally recommend Exit Lane by Erika Veurink. Alternatively, if you find yourself drawn to something like Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner meets The Whole Truth by Haley Cass, I would definitely read Rooting Interest by Cat Disabato. These novels are short, fun, and flirtatious.Â
Sometimes, all I want is a short weekend romance, diving headfirst into a book knowing you can totally come out unscathed at the end of the weekend.
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