Below is the list of the categories for the 2025 Sultry Listeners Awards. Please refer to the "Ultimate Guide to the Romance Genre" and/or "Romance and Its Subgenres Explained" articles for the definition/requirements of sub-genres and additional information.
Contemporary Romance
Cozy Mystery Romance
Dark Romance
Erotic Romance (aka Smut)
Fantasy Romance (aka Romantasy)
Historical Romance
Horror Romance
Inspirational Romance
LGBTQ+ Romance
Novella/Short Story*
Paranormal Romance
Own / Authentic Voices / BIPOC Romance**
Romantic Comedy
Romantic Suspense
Sci-fi Romance
Urban Fantasy Romance
Favorite New Narrator (must have 20 or less titles)
Favorite Up-And-Coming Narrator (must have between 21 - 50 titles)
Favorite Narrator (51 titles or more)
**Own / Authentic Voices / BIPOC Romance:
The author (nominee) AND at least one main character in the story must identify as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color (BIPOC), or as a member of another underrepresented racial, ethnic, or cultural group, and/or as a person with a disability.
This includes creators and characters from diaspora communities, multicultural backgrounds, and those living with visible or invisible disabilities, as well as individuals from historically marginalized groups whose stories are often excluded from mainstream publishing and media.
This may include:
- African American / Black / African and/or Caribbean descent
- East Asian (including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Mongolian)
- Hispanic or Latina/e/o/x
- Indigenous Peoples (including Native American / Alaskan Native)
- Middle Eastern / North African
- Pacific Islander
- South Asian (including Bangladeshi, Bhutanese, Indian, Nepali, Pakistani, and Sri Lankan)
- Southeast Asian (including Burmese, Cambodian, Filipino, Hmong, Indonesian, Laotian, Malaysian, Mien, Singaporean, Thai, and Vietnamese)
- Novels are 40,000 words (200 pages) or longer
- Novellas are between 17,500 (35 pages) and 40,000 words (200 pages)
- Short stories are between 1,500 words (3 pages) and 7,500 words (35 pages)