Who says people no longer are passionate about books?

That's certainly not the case for the more than 1,300 people, most of them women and some 300 of them writers, who have taken the Hilton Pittsburgh, Downtown, for the 25th Booklovers Convention.

"Women are reading books. Some of them read 20 to 40 a month," said Kathryn Falk, founder and chief executive of Romantic Times BookReview , sponsor of the convention, which began Wednesday and continues through Sunday.

And they aren't just reading romance novels, though it is by far the most popular genre. Among the dozens of convention workshops open to writers, would-be writers and fans alike are panels on thrillers, mystery/suspense, science fiction and fantasy.

And fans of romance novels aren't just library-borrowers or book-traders, either.

"Romance readers buy books," said Kathy Sweeney, a staffer at Mystery Lovers Book Shop in Oakmont, who was at the convention to attend a booksellers' workshop. "They'll read just about anything. If it's good, they'll read it. They're voracious readers and they buy books."

Ms. Sweeney knows of what she speaks. The Mystery Lovers Book Shop draws 300 to 400 people to its own Festival of Mystery every spring. This year's is scheduled for April 28.

National figures on net revenue in the book industry reported by the Business of Consumer Publication & Romance Writers of America from 2006 back up Ms. Sweeney's observations:

• \u2002Romance novel sales accounted for $1.37 billion dollars and 26.4 percent of overall book sales while sci-fi/fantasy sales totaled $495 million; mainstream book sales, $448 million; and mystery sales, $422 million.

• \u2002Harlequin was the top selling publisher of romance books with sales of $418 million.

In the meantime, e-publishing has become the hottest growth area. Writers at the conference proudly included books published electronically on their curricula vitae.

"My first book and short story were e-published," said Will Belegon, a bank operations manager from Santee, Calif., who writes romance, erotic romance and erotica. "E-publishing is the biggest growing portion of the business. Even big publishers like Harlequin and Random House are getting involved."

Ms. Falk has watched the growth up-close, founding her magazine after writing and publishing "How to Write a Romance and Get It Published."

"It evolved into the magazine," she said. "It started in 1981 as a newspaper." She founded the first Booklovers convention the following year.

"I started in a carriage house in Brooklyn Heights," she said. "My office was a walk-in dress closet.

"For the first two years I did it all myself. Now I have 70 people working for me."

Ms. Falk's description of that little closet office made it sound like a colorful and romantic place in which to work. Those two adjectives work well to describe the atmosphere of the convention as well.

Yesterday morning was a welcome mixer sponsored by the magazine. Fans mingled with writers, and both intertwined in lines in a vendors' area where conventioneers could buy anything from hand-embroidered (and romantic) clothes and jewelry to Mary Kay cosmetics.

A few people wandered the ballroom and lobby levels of the Hilton in costumes suitable to the sub-genre of books they had written or were helping to distribute. There were pirates and wenches; cowboys in chaps and 10-gallon hats; and two women dressed for bed in their flannel p.j.'s, robes and slippers.

Costumes parades and balls are a nightly tradition at the convention. For example, the Under the Sea Faery Ball and Costume Competition was set for last night. Tonight is the Blood and Steel Vampire Ball.

Tomorrow night , the attendees choose the winner of the Mr. Romance Pageant from a group of extremely handsome, well-built men, the kind the press release and the conventioneers refer to as "hunks." The grand prize winner gets a New York City cover shoot for a Dorchester Publishing romance novel and a $1,250 cash prize.

The press release describes the pageant this way: "Drooling, cheering, and fainting are allowed."