In a recent profile of romance writing superstar Nora Roberts, the New Yorker painted the publishing industry in some broad stroke statistics.

The long essay casually drops the fact that Roberts sells 27 books every minute, no easy feat in this publishing recession. In 2004, Forbes estimated that she earns more than John Grisham or Stephen King. To top it all off, the story's lead gave a shout out to the book blog, Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, a site with a permanent spot on this GalleyCat editor's RSS Feed.

Here's the best figure of all, the article's look the publishing industry at large: "According to the R.W.A., romance generated nearly $1.4 billion in sales in 2007, more than science fiction and fantasy combined (seven hundred million dollars), mystery (six hundred and fifty million) or literary fiction (four hundred and sixty-six million). Of people who read books, one in five read romance."