Dear fellow romance enthusiasts,
Every day, thousands flock to All About Romance (AAR) to immerse themselves in the world of romance novels, engaging in reading reviews, checking out blogs, and having discussions with fellow romance lovers. Since 1998, AAR has been the site for this vibrant community, offering a treasure trove of reviews, blogs, author interviews, and much more.
However, the landscape has shifted. The past five years have seen a decline in revenue from book sales and from our Amazon affiliate program. As a result, your support has become indispensable to sustain our platform. Your contributions have become our lifeline, enabling us, each month, to pay our hosting fees and our tech team so that the site is always up and always runs smoothly.
Gone are the days when book sales and affiliate programs could solely sustain us. Your donations now form the backbone of our financial stability. They directly impact our ability to deliver the daily reviews and blogs we publish here each day.
Would you consider supporting us with a monthly donation of ten dollars? Of course, any amount is greatly appreciated and contributes significantly to our cause.
We are a volunteer-driven platform, and every donation is directed solely toward maintaining this site. Your generosity not only keeps our doors open but also ensures that we remain a vital resource for romance enthusiasts worldwide.
To continue providing the reviews, blogs, and interviews you love, we need your help. Your donations are not just contributions; they are investments in preserving AAR and our shared passion for romance literature. Please consider supporting us with an ongoing monthly donation to ensure that our site remains a thriving space for romance readers everywhere.
Join us in keeping the flame of romance literature alive. Your donation matters more than ever.
You can donate here using PayPal. We also take Zelle (All About Romance) and Venmo @allaboutromance. (I think these will work–if you have a problem, email me at dabneygrinnan at thepassionatereader.com/)
Thank you for your support–our readers are the reason we do what we do.
Do you have a Venmo account we can donate to?
I’ll look into it. Hang on….
Now we do–it’s more expensive, I think, for us than Paypal but we have one.
It’s @allaboutromance
We are also on Zelle as All About Romance!
Done! I’ve been reading reviews on AAR for at least 20 years. I can give something to keep you going. I hope others feel the same!
Thank you!!!
What about those of us (although maybe it’s just me) who don’t do PayPal, Zelle, or Venmo?
You can send a check if you’d like. Email me at dabneygrinnan@allaboutromance.com and I’ll send you the address.
Do you acknowledge donations? I did donate a few months ago via paypal but there was no acknowledgment on your end. I know it went through
I do. I send acknowledgements and thank you notes every few months. They go out via email. I’ll check your email and see what happened to yours.
Thanks!
Why do you get less money through affiliate programs? Has the business model changed?
Drastically.
When I began running AAR, the cost of an average book was over ten dollars. We got 10% of every book we sold. There was no Kindle Unlimited and no way to check out audio and ebooks from the library. We used to average, on a good day up to $30 a day. Now, many days, we bring in around $5. 🙁
$30/day x 365 rounds up to $12,000 per year. (Dabney noted that $30 would have been a “good” day – not what is required 365 to keep the site up and running. But it makes the math easy and hopefully puts things into perspective.)
Regular donations of $10/month ($120/year) = 100 donors per year
$5/month = 200 donors per year
It’s not that many donors – really – to keep the doors open; and the more who donate, the less everyone needs to kick in.
Either of those levels of contribution seem like very reasonable $$ for finding one or more books per month that you likely wouldn’t have found without a lot of trial and error (wading through a lot of really bad stuff to get to the gems – looking at you KU). Not to mention the opportunity to pick up titles at very reasonable prices via Steals and Deals. As a big user of my local libraries, there are lots of things I read first there and then choose to buy later if 1) it measures up and 2) I can find it at a reasonable price. That isn’t to say I never pay full retail for either paper or e-book. I do. But there are many more books I buy if I wait a little while to own them and AAR plays a big role there as well.
So, yes, I’m a regular donor and have been for at least a year, maybe two?
Thank you for your understanding and support!
Same here, I think it may be +two years by now that I just automatically make my contribution, based on the same thoughts :
What I can painlessly afford by not buying a couple of expensive coffees a month, that give me less joy than reading a very good review here, let alone a good book!
Fingers crossed that many feel the same, and thank you, fellow contributors, for keeping a joy alive that I cannot sustain alone!
That is just lovely. Your monthly support is such a gift. <3
And I believe the affiliate ‘commission’ has also been reduced, so instead of getting 10% per sale, we get less than 5% now.
Yes. We get 4%. And nothing on KU.
I just set up a monthly donation. Just like Katie C, I’ve been coming to AAR for many years (at least 15 I think). I don’t ever comment but I like reading the reviews and the comments. The reviews are always well written and I’ve found many new books and authors by coming here. Thank you all for the work you do here!
Thank you!!
I just set up a monthly donation too. I also read reviews every day, and I appreciate the thoughtful reviews and discussions!
Thank you!
Small monthly donor here. It’s definitely more than worth it to keep the lights on at AAR. I read reviews daily and enjoy interacting with the community here. I play a couple of tablet/phone games (hidden object, etc) and they are forever trying to nickle and dime the players out of money for virtual items like boosters, etc. I occasionally buy those (I have a strict budget!), and I decided if I can throw money at a virtual game that I enjoy but get nothing tangible out of, then I can easy afford to send some money to AAR, where I get very real, usable information and a community.
Thank you, Carrie!
It is my pleasure to make a monthly donation.
Monthly donations are literally the best.
Thank you so much.
Is there a way to change a donation amount? I went into PayPal to increase my monthly donation but couldn’t figure out how to make a change.
I’d just cancel the one you have an put in a new one?
I think you have to cancel it on your end. When I try to manage it, it sends me to your home page. I’ll email you. Thanks!
Please do. I’m happy to look at it!
Happy to help
Thank you. We are so grateful.
AAR helps me by making it easy to find good books and by providing a thoughtful and respectful community for discussing all things romance. I am truly grateful. Thanks to all who contribute, for all the ways you contribute.
Hear hear!
Thank you to all. Your support is just so lovely.
do you know if your Amazon affiliation allows AAR to earn from my purchases even if I buy through Amazon.it? I live in Italy …
They are supposed to, yes.
You have to start on our site, use one of our links to go to Amazon, and put things in the cart and buy them on that visit.
I am resident in the UK and when I went to donate it asked for me to do so in US$. Is there a way I can donate in Sterling.
Usually sites like this take your donation and convert it. You could also try Zelle or Venmo.
Thanks for your efforts!
It’s lovely to see so much support from AAR’s readers – thank you!