Romance fiction grosses over a billion dollars a year. Its intensely devoted readership spans six continents, and the genre is sold in 34 languages. So why aren’t people talking about this hugely profitable industry? “Love Between the Covers,” a perfectly titled new doc from Laurie Kahn, poses this crucial question, while offering visibility to a community that has remained largely ignored. The feature, filmed over a span of three years, takes viewers behind-the-scenes of romance fiction, and the lives of those who produce and consume it. An interviewee featured in the trailer’s doc summarizes, “You have nothing like this in science fiction. You have nothing like this in fantasy. You have nothing like this in mysteries. We are the shit.”

Press material for the film outlines, “‘Love Between the Covers’ follows the lives of five published romance authors and one unpublished newbie as they build their businesses, find and lose loved ones, cope with a tsunami of change in publishing, and earn a living doing what they love — while empowering others to do the same.”

“Romance readers are readers who will read a book a day,” explains one of the subjects in the preview. “They are voracious readers.” Another interviewee helps shed light on why women are hungry for this content: “This is the one place where you will consistently find women’s sexuality treated fairly and positively.”

Kahn told Women and Hollywood, “I want to bring the lives and work of compelling women to the screen because any industry dominated by women is typically dismissed as trivial and “merely domestic.” She’d like “people to realize how deeply ingrained we all are in dismissing anything that is by women, for women, and about women.”

Watch the trailer below to find out more about the self-described “sisterhood” of readers and writers. “Love Between the Covers” will be available On Demand and Digital HD on July 12. You can learn more about screenings on the film’s official site.