In June 1989, Kathryn Falk published The Romance Reader’s Handbook, a 354 page spiral bound collection of everything a romance reader would need to know. Steve Ammidown leads us on a brief tour of this artifact of romance history.

There’s a collection of over 2000 pseudonyms, plus a directory of where to contact authors, lists of bookstores that love romance, and recommended reads. And of course, advertisements from authors inviting readers to correspond with them.

This is early social media for authors and readers, and it’s a fascinating time capsule.

A PDF scan of the pages we talk about is available for downloads at SBTB.

You can find Steve Ammidown at RomanceHistory.com, and on Instagram @RomanceHistorian.

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