Category: Internet Marketing

Romance books have always been a popular genre – but ‘spicy’ books have a new and massive readership thanks to several high-profile books lately (Sarah J Maas, we’re looking at you). If you’ve always wanted to make money writing books, and you have a creative imagination, this could be a great way to make money. Here’s your total guide to writing erotica, PG romance, and everything in-between!

 

What is Romance as a Genre?

Romance writing spans a very broad spectrum of types of books. There is one obvious common theme: people fall in love. But other than that, almost anything goes!

A recent boom in ‘romantasy’ blends romance with fantasy books, and this has introduced a whole new generation to romance writing (and reading). But there are lots of different types. You can either self publish or traditionally publish, depending on how quickly you want to make money and how much control you want over the publishing process.

How Spicy Do I Need to Be?

‘Spicy’ is a term used for erotic writing that is graphic and/or explicit, while more ‘traditional’ romance is often called ‘closed door’. It means you get hints of what happens, but most is left up to the reader’s imagination as it happens ‘behind closed doors’. Spicy books are often very explicit, so you need to be comfortable with writing R-rated things!

The good news is there are audiences for all levels of ‘spice’. So, if you’re not comfortable writing explicit sex scenes, you can still make money writing romance books.

How Do I Write a Romance Book?

While it is now easier than ever to publish your writing thanks to eBooks and platforms like Amazon and Apple Books, you still need to put in the work if you want to make consistent money from your romance writing!

Here are a few important things to consider.

Read, Read, Read!

First of all, before you even set pen to paper or fingers to typewriter, make sure you know your genre. Get your hands on a library card, or sign up to a free trial of Kindle Unlimited, and read as much romance fiction you can get your hands on. This is the best masterclass you can take when you’re learning how to write romance novels.

Pay attention to common themes and tropes, what you like to read and what turns you off (pun intended), and this will help you shape an idea of what kind of romance writer you want to be. It will also show you what is a bit too commonly seen, the bad kinds of tropes you want to avoid, and hopefully spark ideas about how you can tackle them in a fresh new way.

Romance Book Length

Romance is usually between 50,000 words for commercial (‘chick lit’) up to 80,000 for historical romance. Romantasy books that blend romance and fantasy genres are generally longer, up to around 100,000 words, but it doesn’t have to be that long.

You can also try your hand at short reads. Amazon Kindle determines the length of a read by the page numbers – you can’t set this in your upload metadata, but generally if you stick within certain page limits you’ll come up in the right search filters.

The rough page count for short reads would be:

• 15 minutes – 1 to 11 pages
• 30 minutes – 12 to 21 pages
• 45 minutes – 22 to 32 pages
• One hour – 33 to 43 pages
• 90 minutes – 44 to 64 pages
• Two hours or more – 65 to 100 pages

This is book pages, rather than number of pages in word. A book page is around 280 words. So, a 30-minute read at 15 pages long would be around 4,200 words. These short stories do particularly well when enrolled in Kindle Unlimited, which is ideal for new writers to build their brand – the returns are smaller, but more people are likely to read your book.

You Need a Plot

Romance isn’t just about people falling in love and doing rude things to each other! Readers of romance love the story of why people fall in love, out of love, and even when they’re torn between loving two people. Plot is very important in romance books, but there are some key moments most will have, including:

• A meet cute of the couple-to-be
• A honeymoon phase
• The problem turning point (do they have a spouse or partner already? Does someone else come into their lives? etc)
• An argument between the lovers
• Either an ending where they get back together for good (known as a happy ever after) or at least in the short-term (called ‘happy for now’)

Think about what it is that makes people fall in and out of love. Spicy books are great at focusing on the physical elements of relationships, but romance readers are a smart audience and they’ll want more than surface lust to keep them reading. Working out who your characters are, what their aim is and the obstacles they face to get to it, and why they end up in love are all important plot points you need to include.

Think About Your Audience

It helps to have a clear audience in mind before you start writing. This will impact the tone of your writing, how explicit you are with intimate scenes, and the type of plot you will write. For example, some older readers prefer classic Mills and Boon ‘gentle closed door romance’ while there is a growing trend for women in their 20s and 30s to enjoy particularly ‘spicy’ novels. Having a couple of ‘ideal readers’ in mind when you’re writing will help you stay on track and focus the ‘brand’ of your book.

Pick Your Protagonist Well

Your main character needs to be someone who is a go-getter, even if they are naturally timid. They need to have a reason to change across the book – this could be because they have moved from a village to a city (or vice versa), have a new job, go on holiday or similar. A change in circumstance and/or location is usually what makes characters seek out new things – and that’s what drives the plot of a romance book.

While your character can be anyone, generally your protagonist will be female, as the majority of romance readers are women. You can have male or non-binary perspectives, but there is a smaller niche for them. Many romance authors like to do ‘dual POV’ or dual point of view, which means you write one chapter in your protagonist’s voice and another in the antagonist (or second protagonist) voice and alternate through the book to give different perspectives. This is particularly useful for telling the story in a broader way, rather than sticking in one character’s head – but it can be tricky to do, so takes some practice.

If you decide on dual POV, be very careful not to ‘head hop’. This is when you change internal thoughts from one character to another in the same scene. It is confusing for the reader! So stick to one scene, one person’s inner thoughts – then you can always change the character in the next scene.

Find a Proofreader

Before you publish or send your book to an agent to get published, you need to have someone else read your book. There are different types of editors, costing different amounts. A developmental editor is very deep-dive and will work on the structure and story of your romance novel. A copy editor or line editor will improve how your sentences flow and fact-check things to make sure you don’t make any glaring mistakes. The cheapest option is a proofreader, who reads the book and highlights your spelling and grammar errors.

It might feel hard to pay before you get any income from your book, but if you’re the only person reading it you can easily miss errors because you’ve been staring at the same pages for weeks! A good proofreader will help you bring your book up to standard. It’s important for whether you are self publishing or sending to an agent.

First, with self publishing, it is important to avoid spelling and grammatical errors which can put off your readers – and with platforms like Kindle Unlimited, you’re paid by the number of pages that are read. So you want people to keep reading!

Secondly, if you want to be noticed by a publisher or agent, you need your manuscript to be in the best shape possible to get their attention. Mistakes can stop them reading and reject the book, which means you’ll have to start the long query process all over again.

Do I Need an Agent to Publish My Romance Novel?

Yes or no! There are two reasons both answers are true.

Self publishers don’t need an agent – they can publish whatever they want, whenever they want. But as we talked about earlier, they also have to do all the marketing and business side of selling romance novels, too.

Some traditional publishers, like Mills and Boon (read more below) will accept book submissions from someone who doesn’t have an agent. There aren’t many places that do this, and they’re very competitive, but it is a way in to the industry if you can get it.

Most traditional publishers will only take submissions from an agent. This means you need to get literary representation before you can think about publishing. This tends to be more for commercial women’s fiction or high-profile genres like romantasy.

Where Can I Publish My Romance Book?

You can choose to self publish your book on platforms like Amazon, or traditionally publish to get your book into shops. There are pros and cons to both.

Self publishing gives you total control over what you write, when it is published, and you receive a higher percentage of sale revenue. However, you also need to design your book cover, run your PR, and continue to market the book once it is published, all of which can cost money and take a lot of time to learn and carry out. You don’t get an advance payment with self publishing, so you need some funds to get started.

Traditional publishing is historically more ‘prestigious’, but that matters less these days. However, you will have an editor and marketing team behind the book if you manage to sell it to a publisher, so you don’t have to do everything as you do with self publishing. You will also be paid an advance if you sell the book, but make a smaller percentage on royalties.

Publishing on Amazon

It is very easy for anybody to self publish on Amazon and similar platforms. You need to have a finished book that is in a book format – software like Vellum can help you with this, or there are Word templates online you can use. Many authors enjoy using Scrivener, which has some helpful preset templates and can be exported into various formats. If you’re a member of the Society of Authors, you can get a 20% discount on the software – plus they do a free 30-day trial for everyone.

You need a few things before you can hit publish:

• A book cover
• A back blurb (the short description on the back of the book to entice readers)
• The manuscript
• An ISBN number (two if you plan to allow for physical copies to be purchased)
• Social media art for promotion
• Short descriptions for meta data
• A list of keywords that relate to your book to help people find it in searches

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing is the most common platform for new writers to start on. There is a helpful tutorial on the website, and lots of YouTube videos for more in-depth lessons about the nuances of promoting your romance book.

Publishing Mills and Boon Books

If self publishing sounds too complicated, or you want the prestige of being a traditionally published author, Mills and Boon are the most famous name in romance. The brilliant news is that you don’t need to have an agent to submit to them – which is very unusual in the world of traditional publishing!

There are some guidelines to follow before you submit. Read their submission guidelines on the website – and make sure you know which imprint you want to submit to, too. Different imprints are like different brands underneath the Mills and Boon umbrella, and they each have a distinctive voice, audience, and types of story.

Mills and Boon Modern – has a hero willing to take charge, but the heroine has a feisty side to her. Think international glitz and glamour for this series.

Mills and Boon True Love – this series is about relatable women and deeply desirable men, without graphic scenes but intense emotion and tension.

Mills and Boon Medical – the clue is in the name here, with medical settings taking the foreground, and dedicated medical professionals with hearts of gold who work together.

Mills and Boon Historical – every time period up to the 1950s and every level of spice is accepted, with dynamic characters who have relatable conflicts

Harlequin Books

Mills and Boon also have Harlequin books, which is another type of novel. They are more cross-genre than the above imprints. The Intrigue submission guidelines state that books with thriller storylines around 55,000 words are welcomed. The Suspense submission guidelines state that imprint is for more complex, sustained suspense romance stories around 70,000 words long.

Getting Started Resources

The internet is your friend! There are so many amazing YouTube channels and podcasts and Substacks, it’s too many to list, but these ones are great for beginner writers – some are romance-specific, while others help you learn more about the craft of writing and also self-publishing.

YouTube Channels

• Alexa Donne
• Abbie Emmons
• SPA Girls Podcast (romance self publishing focus)
• Reedsy
• The Creative Penn
• Leslye Penelope

Podcasts, Websites, and Newsletters

• The Sh*t No One Tells You About Writing (language content warning)
• Chapter Break
• How to Write a Book (Elizabeth Day)
• BBC Maestro – JoJo Moyes Romance Masterclass (this is a paid class, keep an eye out on the site for discounts a few times a year)
• How to Write a Romance Novel (Penguin Books Website)
• How to Write Exciting Romantic Fiction
• How to Write a Romance Novel (The Novelry Blog)
• The Romance Novelists’ Association

Keep an eye out for the next in this series, which will be all about how to create an author brand to sell more books!

The post Can I get paid to write Saucy Books? Make Money with Spicy Romance Books appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Original source: https://www.moneymagpie.com/make-money/make-money-with-spicy-romance-books

News publishers have been working harder than ever to squeeze search traffic out of Google.

Just when editors start to feel confident that they’ve perfected a winning SEO formula, the game changes. From supposedly “helpful” algorithm updates to site reputation policies enforced by manual actions to the lurking threat of AI Overviews, the pressure is constant. 

And now, a new challenge has landed in our laps: the unprecedented surge in competition from international publishers in Google’s Top stories carousel.    

Top stories: Have the rules changed?

The dramatic shift in news brands gaining visibility in Google’s Top stories was impossible to ignore during the British General Election.

On the big day, a search for “general election updates” in London revealed that The Hindu, an Indian English-language newspaper and The Washington Post, a U.S. daily, were outranking every single British publisher – including the BBC.

When searching for other competitive terms like “Keir Starmer,” the top search result was an article by The Times of Israel, an Israeli multi-language online newspaper. 

SEOs debated what might be causing this shift. Was Google trying to provide UK-based readers with a broader range of opinions with less political bias? Possibly. 

However, this theory didn’t hold up when, just a few days later, a Google search for “Prince William” returned only international publishers in the Top stories carousel, including the Hindustan Times, an Indian English-language daily, People, an American weekly magazine and Mint, an Indian business and financial daily.

The issue took a bizarre turn a few weeks later when riots erupted across the UK in one of the biggest and most shocking news stories of the year.

This time, international publishers not only dominated the Top stories carousel but also led Local news, with NDTV, an Indian news media company and The New York Times, an American daily newspaper, ranking highest in a carousel literally labeled “near England” by Google. 

Dig deeper: How to master Google News optimization to boost content visibility and traffic

‘Publishers can’t afford for Google to get this wrong’

It turns out this issue isn’t limited to British news publishers. Lily Ray, VP of SEO strategy and research at Amsive, has been tracking similar problems in the U.S. for the past year and sharing her findings on X.

• “This problem seems to be getting worse over time,” Ray told me. 
• “When I post about confusing international results, I get messages from people seeing the same thing all over the world. People in Brazil are seeing Portuguese websites. People in Mexico are seeing websites from Argentina.” 
• “It’s not just an English-language site issue and the content often doesn’t make sense for local readers. I know this has been a problem for a while, but it seems to be getting worse recently.” 

Rewarding international publishers with visibility for local news searches impacts news brands and creates a poorer user experience. 

• “It’s a zero-sum game when non-U.S. news publishers get to appear in the Top stories news carousel for the British or U.S. election for searchers in those respective regions,” Ray explains. 
• “You have to remember, there are only around ten or fewer slots available – and things like elections are one of the most significant events in the news calendar. Giving one or two of those slots away is devastating. Many news publishers cannot afford for Google to get this wrong.”

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Bringing the data to the table

Data from NewzDash supports the theory that international publishers have seen a significant increase in visibility in the Top stories carousel, both in the U.S. and the UK. 

The tool, founded by John Shehata, the former global VP of audience development at Condé Nast, calculates search visibility for SERP features like Top stories by analyzing factors such as ranking position, estimated CTR, ranking duration and the number of ranked URLs. 

According to NewzDash:

• The Times of India’s visibility in the Top stories carousel in the U.S. increased fourfold since the end of November 2023. This means they are now receiving four times the traffic they previously did in Top stories for major trending news keywords.
• The Times of India doubled its visibility year-on-year in the Top stories carousel in the UK. 

• The New York Times’ visibility in the UK’s Top stories carousel increased 121.74% year-on-year.
• The Washington Post and NDTV both more than doubled their visibility year-on-year in the British Top stories carousel.

Commenting on the unprecedented surge in visibility for international publishers, combined with the myriad other challenges news publishers are currently facing, Ray tells me: 

• “This has been the hardest year of my career. Normally when people ask me for advice, I say, ‘These are Google’s guidelines, this is how Google works and if you do a better job of following these guidelines, you’re more likely to succeed.’ But for the last eight months, I haven’t been able to confidently do that.”
• “I just hope that eventually, Google figures this stuff out. They always do. We just have to understand that things are a bit broken right now.”

Google confirms the issue – however, there’s a ‘but’

Here’s the good news: Google tells me there is an issue on their end that they are addressing. A spokesperson wrote in a statement:

• “We are aware of an issue that’s leading to the display of non-local news sources in the Local News block on Search for a small number of users. We’re working on an update to address it.”

The not-so-good news? The spokesperson quite clearly only addresses the issues with Local news carousels – not Top stories. 

Although Google’s guidelines state that its search algorithms consider a user’s location to deliver the most relevant information, international publications that cover global topics may still get visibility in a Top stories carousel if Google’s systems deem the content original, helpful and high-quality.

Commenting on Google’s response, NewzDash founder Shehata says the increasing presence of international publishers in Top stories carousels signals a deeper problem. He explains: 

• “Google’s recognition of the Local News issue is positive, but the effect on Top stories is equally troubling. When publishers are already grappling with financial challenges, each ranking lost to a non-local/national site directly impacts their revenue.” 
• “While we must acknowledge the global reach of news consumption, local context and relevance must remain a top priority in Top stories ranking algorithms.” 
• “Google needs to improve its algorithms to strike a better balance, one solution is to provide international sites as a secondary Top stories carousel like what they do on Local Top stories.”
• “Another area where we see a rise in international sites is Translated Results, where Google might translate search results that are not in the same language as the search query, if available. However, this also raises questions about how effectively Google’s algorithms are weighing the relevance and authority of these translated results against local sources.”

‘Publishers can’t be hypocritical’

Although this may be a bitter pill for some media outlets to swallow, Barry Adams, award-winning SEO consultant and founder of Polemic Digital, suggests that U.S. and UK publishers may have themselves to blame. 

• “Let’s face it, this setup is benefitting British and American publishers too,” he explains. 
• “The Daily Mail is the tenth largest news website in the U.S. But all of a sudden, this is happening in our own backyard and it’s a problem? We need to make sure we’re not being hypocritical.”

Adams points out that many U.S. and UK publishers have made a conscious decision to target international audiences by making their content less U.S. and UK-centric. In doing so, these news outlets have opened the doors for other global publishers to come into the U.S. and UK market.  

• “We can blame Google a little bit because something weird is going on,” says Adams. 
• “Google needs to work harder at understanding what country a website belongs to – not necessarily to limit that publisher, but to make sure that a locally focused publisher is given preference over a website from a foreign country.”
• “Publishers like The Times of India do have every right to be in our Top stories carousels. I don’t think people realize how long these brands have been around for and how much readership they have – we’re talking about a 1.3 billion reader market.”
• “Think of the sheer volume of links and citations they would have accumulated over the years. So we can’t be surprised when they appear in Top stories – but this should be some of the time and they shouldn’t be the primary news source in London for the UK General Election.”

Putting journalism first

Although Google has historically been considered a more stable traffic source for publishers, it can be as unpredictable as social. 

Given this volatility, it’s not surprising that traditional web search now accounts for just 36% of publishers’ Google traffic, down from 46.5% last year, according to new research from NewzDash. 

Meanwhile, the share of traffic from Google Discover jumped from 41.6% to 55.6% of publishers’ total Google traffic – a 14% increase.

With these statistics in mind, how can news publishers future-proof their companies in an increasingly competitive search environment? 

• “The worst mistake a publisher can make is chasing after Google clicks,” concludes Adams. “It might work in the short-term, but in the long run, you need to build a unique news brand.” 
• “The best approach for news publishers is to focus on the quality of your journalism, strengthen your brand’s identity and prioritize building a secure audience.”

Dig deeper: An SEO guide to optimizing your Google Publisher Center account

Original source: https://searchengineland.com/google-top-stories-looks-broken-445320

Romance books have always been a popular genre – but ‘spicy’ books have a new and massive readership thanks to several high-profile books lately (Sarah J Maas, we’re looking at you). If you’ve always wanted to make money writing books, and you have a creative imagination, this could be a great way to make money. Here’s your total guide to writing erotica, PG romance, and everything in-between!

 

What is Romance as a Genre?

Romance writing spans a very broad spectrum of types of books. There is one obvious common theme: people fall in love. But other than that, almost anything goes!

A recent boom in ‘romantasy’ blends romance with fantasy books, and this has introduced a whole new generation to romance writing (and reading). But there are lots of different types. You can either self publish or traditionally publish, depending on how quickly you want to make money and how much control you want over the publishing process.

How Spicy Do I Need to Be?

‘Spicy’ is a term used for erotic writing that is graphic and/or explicit, while more ‘traditional’ romance is often called ‘closed door’. It means you get hints of what happens, but most is left up to the reader’s imagination as it happens ‘behind closed doors’. Spicy books are often very explicit, so you need to be comfortable with writing R-rated things!

The good news is there are audiences for all levels of ‘spice’. So, if you’re not comfortable writing explicit sex scenes, you can still make money writing romance books.

How Do I Write a Romance Book?

While it is now easier than ever to publish your writing thanks to eBooks and platforms like Amazon and Apple Books, you still need to put in the work if you want to make consistent money from your romance writing!

Here are a few important things to consider.

Read, Read, Read!

First of all, before you even set pen to paper or fingers to typewriter, make sure you know your genre. Get your hands on a library card, or sign up to a free trial of Kindle Unlimited, and read as much romance fiction you can get your hands on. This is the best masterclass you can take when you’re learning how to write romance novels.

Pay attention to common themes and tropes, what you like to read and what turns you off (pun intended), and this will help you shape an idea of what kind of romance writer you want to be. It will also show you what is a bit too commonly seen, the bad kinds of tropes you want to avoid, and hopefully spark ideas about how you can tackle them in a fresh new way.

Romance Book Length

Romance is usually between 50,000 words for commercial (‘chick lit’) up to 80,000 for historical romance. Romantasy books that blend romance and fantasy genres are generally longer, up to around 100,000 words, but it doesn’t have to be that long.

You can also try your hand at short reads. Amazon Kindle determines the length of a read by the page numbers – you can’t set this in your upload metadata, but generally if you stick within certain page limits you’ll come up in the right search filters.

The rough page count for short reads would be:

• 15 minutes – 1 to 11 pages
• 30 minutes – 12 to 21 pages
• 45 minutes – 22 to 32 pages
• One hour – 33 to 43 pages
• 90 minutes – 44 to 64 pages
• Two hours or more – 65 to 100 pages

This is book pages, rather than number of pages in word. A book page is around 280 words. So, a 30-minute read at 15 pages long would be around 4,200 words. These short stories do particularly well when enrolled in Kindle Unlimited, which is ideal for new writers to build their brand – the returns are smaller, but more people are likely to read your book.

You Need a Plot

Romance isn’t just about people falling in love and doing rude things to each other! Readers of romance love the story of why people fall in love, out of love, and even when they’re torn between loving two people. Plot is very important in romance books, but there are some key moments most will have, including:

• A meet cute of the couple-to-be
• A honeymoon phase
• The problem turning point (do they have a spouse or partner already? Does someone else come into their lives? etc)
• An argument between the lovers
• Either an ending where they get back together for good (known as a happy ever after) or at least in the short-term (called ‘happy for now’)

Think about what it is that makes people fall in and out of love. Spicy books are great at focusing on the physical elements of relationships, but romance readers are a smart audience and they’ll want more than surface lust to keep them reading. Working out who your characters are, what their aim is and the obstacles they face to get to it, and why they end up in love are all important plot points you need to include.

Think About Your Audience

It helps to have a clear audience in mind before you start writing. This will impact the tone of your writing, how explicit you are with intimate scenes, and the type of plot you will write. For example, some older readers prefer classic Mills and Boon ‘gentle closed door romance’ while there is a growing trend for women in their 20s and 30s to enjoy particularly ‘spicy’ novels. Having a couple of ‘ideal readers’ in mind when you’re writing will help you stay on track and focus the ‘brand’ of your book.

Pick Your Protagonist Well

Your main character needs to be someone who is a go-getter, even if they are naturally timid. They need to have a reason to change across the book – this could be because they have moved from a village to a city (or vice versa), have a new job, go on holiday or similar. A change in circumstance and/or location is usually what makes characters seek out new things – and that’s what drives the plot of a romance book.

While your character can be anyone, generally your protagonist will be female, as the majority of romance readers are women. You can have male or non-binary perspectives, but there is a smaller niche for them. Many romance authors like to do ‘dual POV’ or dual point of view, which means you write one chapter in your protagonist’s voice and another in the antagonist (or second protagonist) voice and alternate through the book to give different perspectives. This is particularly useful for telling the story in a broader way, rather than sticking in one character’s head – but it can be tricky to do, so takes some practice.

If you decide on dual POV, be very careful not to ‘head hop’. This is when you change internal thoughts from one character to another in the same scene. It is confusing for the reader! So stick to one scene, one person’s inner thoughts – then you can always change the character in the next scene.

Find a Proofreader

Before you publish or send your book to an agent to get published, you need to have someone else read your book. There are different types of editors, costing different amounts. A developmental editor is very deep-dive and will work on the structure and story of your romance novel. A copy editor or line editor will improve how your sentences flow and fact-check things to make sure you don’t make any glaring mistakes. The cheapest option is a proofreader, who reads the book and highlights your spelling and grammar errors.

It might feel hard to pay before you get any income from your book, but if you’re the only person reading it you can easily miss errors because you’ve been staring at the same pages for weeks! A good proofreader will help you bring your book up to standard. It’s important for whether you are self publishing or sending to an agent.

First, with self publishing, it is important to avoid spelling and grammatical errors which can put off your readers – and with platforms like Kindle Unlimited, you’re paid by the number of pages that are read. So you want people to keep reading!

Secondly, if you want to be noticed by a publisher or agent, you need your manuscript to be in the best shape possible to get their attention. Mistakes can stop them reading and reject the book, which means you’ll have to start the long query process all over again.

Do I Need an Agent to Publish My Romance Novel?

Yes or no! There are two reasons both answers are true.

Self publishers don’t need an agent – they can publish whatever they want, whenever they want. But as we talked about earlier, they also have to do all the marketing and business side of selling romance novels, too.

Some traditional publishers, like Mills and Boon (read more below) will accept book submissions from someone who doesn’t have an agent. There aren’t many places that do this, and they’re very competitive, but it is a way in to the industry if you can get it.

Most traditional publishers will only take submissions from an agent. This means you need to get literary representation before you can think about publishing. This tends to be more for commercial women’s fiction or high-profile genres like romantasy.

Where Can I Publish My Romance Book?

You can choose to self publish your book on platforms like Amazon, or traditionally publish to get your book into shops. There are pros and cons to both.

Self publishing gives you total control over what you write, when it is published, and you receive a higher percentage of sale revenue. However, you also need to design your book cover, run your PR, and continue to market the book once it is published, all of which can cost money and take a lot of time to learn and carry out. You don’t get an advance payment with self publishing, so you need some funds to get started.

Traditional publishing is historically more ‘prestigious’, but that matters less these days. However, you will have an editor and marketing team behind the book if you manage to sell it to a publisher, so you don’t have to do everything as you do with self publishing. You will also be paid an advance if you sell the book, but make a smaller percentage on royalties.

Publishing on Amazon

It is very easy for anybody to self publish on Amazon and similar platforms. You need to have a finished book that is in a book format – software like Vellum can help you with this, or there are Word templates online you can use. Many authors enjoy using Scrivener, which has some helpful preset templates and can be exported into various formats. If you’re a member of the Society of Authors, you can get a 20% discount on the software – plus they do a free 30-day trial for everyone.

You need a few things before you can hit publish:

• A book cover
• A back blurb (the short description on the back of the book to entice readers)
• The manuscript
• An ISBN number (two if you plan to allow for physical copies to be purchased)
• Social media art for promotion
• Short descriptions for meta data
• A list of keywords that relate to your book to help people find it in searches

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing is the most common platform for new writers to start on. There is a helpful tutorial on the website, and lots of YouTube videos for more in-depth lessons about the nuances of promoting your romance book.

Publishing Mills and Boon Books

If self publishing sounds too complicated, or you want the prestige of being a traditionally published author, Mills and Boon are the most famous name in romance. The brilliant news is that you don’t need to have an agent to submit to them – which is very unusual in the world of traditional publishing!

There are some guidelines to follow before you submit. Read their submission guidelines on the website – and make sure you know which imprint you want to submit to, too. Different imprints are like different brands underneath the Mills and Boon umbrella, and they each have a distinctive voice, audience, and types of story.

Mills and Boon Modern – has a hero willing to take charge, but the heroine has a feisty side to her. Think international glitz and glamour for this series.

Mills and Boon True Love – this series is about relatable women and deeply desirable men, without graphic scenes but intense emotion and tension.

Mills and Boon Medical – the clue is in the name here, with medical settings taking the foreground, and dedicated medical professionals with hearts of gold who work together.

Mills and Boon Historical – every time period up to the 1950s and every level of spice is accepted, with dynamic characters who have relatable conflicts

Harlequin Books

Mills and Boon also have Harlequin books, which is another type of novel. They are more cross-genre than the above imprints. The Intrigue submission guidelines state that books with thriller storylines around 55,000 words are welcomed. The Suspense submission guidelines state that imprint is for more complex, sustained suspense romance stories around 70,000 words long.

Getting Started Resources

The internet is your friend! There are so many amazing YouTube channels and podcasts and Substacks, it’s too many to list, but these ones are great for beginner writers – some are romance-specific, while others help you learn more about the craft of writing and also self-publishing.

YouTube Channels

• Alexa Donne
• Abbie Emmons
• SPA Girls Podcast (romance self publishing focus)
• Reedsy
• The Creative Penn
• Leslye Penelope

Podcasts, Websites, and Newsletters

• The Sh*t No One Tells You About Writing (language content warning)
• Chapter Break
• How to Write a Book (Elizabeth Day)
• BBC Maestro – JoJo Moyes Romance Masterclass (this is a paid class, keep an eye out on the site for discounts a few times a year)
• How to Write a Romance Novel (Penguin Books Website)
• How to Write Exciting Romantic Fiction
• How to Write a Romance Novel (The Novelry Blog)
• The Romance Novelists’ Association

Keep an eye out for the next in this series, which will be all about how to create an author brand to sell more books!

The post Can I get paid to write Saucy Books? Make Money with Spicy Romance Books appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Original source: https://www.moneymagpie.com/make-money/make-money-with-spicy-romance-books

Google Ads experienced a significant system glitch affecting its Shopping product serving late last month.

• This error resulted in advertisers’ products being displayed in other merchants’ ad accounts, potentially exposing sensitive business data to competitors.
• The incident has left many advertisers frustrated not only by the technical failure but also by Google’s inadequate communication in its aftermath.

Google comms. Google reached out to advertisers today about the issue and what they have done about the issue. Hana Kobzová shared the email she received:

Several advertisers aren’t happy with Google’s response.

Lack of transparency and timeliness. Many industry professionals have criticized Google for its delayed and opaque response to the issue.

Mike Ryan, Head of Ecommerce and a prominent voice in the digital advertising space, pointed out the use of euphemistic language in Google’s communications, such as referring to the incident as a “system issue.”

• Ryan argues that this vague terminology lacks accountability and fails to provide advertisers with a clear explanation of what transpired.

He is also displeased with the language used:

• “I also find the phrase ‘we apologize for the inconvenience this might have caused”‘ trite and insincere.”

Melissa Mackey, Director of Paid Search, a veteran with 22 years of experience in paid search, described the glitch as “one of the craziest things” she’s ever encountered in her career, emphasizing the bizarreness of the situation and the insufficient explanation provided.

Brett Bodofsky highlighted the initial lack of formal communication when the issue first arose, noting that while Ginny Marvin (Google’s Ads Liaison) provided updates via social media, more immediate and official communications would have been beneficial.

• Bodofsky stressed that “clients want and deserve answers in an expedited fashion when issues like this arise.”

Inconsistent messaging on compensation. The handling of compensation for affected advertisers has also been a point of contention.

Chris Ridley, Head of Paid Media, pointed out the lack of a clear timeline for issuing credits, with Google repeatedly stating they would be provided in “coming weeks” for over two weeks.

Adding to the confusion, Hana Kobzová, PPC Specialist, noted inconsistencies in the emails sent to different advertisers. While some received notifications about forthcoming credits, others impacted by the issue did not receive any mention of compensation, leading to further uncertainty and frustration.

• Kobzová noted – I am confused because there was supposed to be credit issued to impacted accounts. The subject of the email I received is “Your Shopping products serving and reporting were impacted,” but it doesn’t mention anything about credit.

Dids Reeve

Calls for detailed impact reports. Several advertisers have expressed a desire for more comprehensive information about the incident’s impact on their accounts.

McKenzie Davis, Senior SEM specialist, emphasized the need for “timely and transparent communication,” suggesting that Google should provide detailed reports outlining the percentage of spend, clicks, and impressions that went toward products from other Google Merchant Center accounts. Davis also noted:

• “The vague messaging that referenced ‘a small amount of ads traffic in your Google Ads Account [that was] showing products form other Google Merchant Center accounts’ came nearly three weeks after the incident, and effectively told us nothing.”
• “In the context of recent headlines regarding shady practices by the platform, there is not enough trust in the advertiser/Google relationship for this incident to be managed as it was”

James Foster Senior Paid Media Manager, echoed this sentiment, calling for “more information about the impact this had to my ad account, the data that other advertisers were able to see, and how much ad spend went through my account that was for other businesses/my competitors.”

Security and trust concerns. Odi Caspi, Founder and Digital Marketing specialist, raised concerns about the potential breach of confidentiality, noting that the glitch exposed data that should have been protected behind passwords and two-factor authentication.

• Caspi suggested that some form of compensation should be considered, not just for financial reasons, but as an acknowledgment of Google’s responsibility in the matter.

Moving forward. As the dust settles on this unprecedented glitch, the advertising community is calling for Google to:

• Provide a clearer, more detailed explanation of what caused the issue.
• Offer transparent reports on the impact to individual advertiser accounts.
• Communicate a definitive timeline for issuing credits to affected accounts.
• Outline measures being implemented to prevent similar incidents in the future.

This incident has underscored the critical importance of clear, timely and transparent communication from ad platforms, especially in crisis situations. As Google continue to be in the limelight for all the wrong reasons, maintaining trust between platforms and advertisers will be crucial for the industry’s continued growth and success.

Original source: https://searchengineland.com/google-major-shopping-ads-glitch-sorry-445302

Google Ads experienced a significant system glitch affecting its Shopping product serving late last month.

• This error resulted in advertisers’ products being displayed in other merchants’ ad accounts, potentially exposing sensitive business data to competitors.
• The incident has left many advertisers frustrated not only by the technical failure but also by Google’s inadequate communication in its aftermath.

Google comms. Google reached out to advertisers today about the issue and what they have done about the issue. Hana Kobzová shared the email she received:

Several advertisers aren’t happy with Google’s response.

Lack of transparency and timeliness. Many industry professionals have criticized Google for its delayed and opaque response to the issue.

Mike Ryan, Head of Ecommerce and a prominent voice in the digital advertising space, pointed out the use of euphemistic language in Google’s communications, such as referring to the incident as a “system issue.”

• Ryan argues that this vague terminology lacks accountability and fails to provide advertisers with a clear explanation of what transpired.

He is also displeased with the language used:

• “I also find the phrase ‘we apologize for the inconvenience this might have caused”‘ trite and insincere.”

Melissa Mackey, Director of Paid Search, a veteran with 22 years of experience in paid search, described the glitch as “one of the craziest things” she’s ever encountered in her career, emphasizing the bizarreness of the situation and the insufficient explanation provided.

Brett Bodofsky highlighted the initial lack of formal communication when the issue first arose, noting that while Ginny Marvin (Google’s Ads Liaison) provided updates via social media, more immediate and official communications would have been beneficial.

• Bodofsky stressed that “clients want and deserve answers in an expedited fashion when issues like this arise.”

Inconsistent messaging on compensation. The handling of compensation for affected advertisers has also been a point of contention.

Chris Ridley, Head of Paid Media, pointed out the lack of a clear timeline for issuing credits, with Google repeatedly stating they would be provided in “coming weeks” for over two weeks.

Adding to the confusion, Hana Kobzová, PPC Specialist, noted inconsistencies in the emails sent to different advertisers. While some received notifications about forthcoming credits, others impacted by the issue did not receive any mention of compensation, leading to further uncertainty and frustration.

• Kobzová noted – I am confused because there was supposed to be credit issued to impacted accounts. The subject of the email I received is “Your Shopping products serving and reporting were impacted,” but it doesn’t mention anything about credit.

Dids Reeve

Calls for detailed impact reports. Several advertisers have expressed a desire for more comprehensive information about the incident’s impact on their accounts.

McKenzie Davis, Senior SEM specialist, emphasized the need for “timely and transparent communication,” suggesting that Google should provide detailed reports outlining the percentage of spend, clicks, and impressions that went toward products from other Google Merchant Center accounts. Davis also noted:

• “The vague messaging that referenced ‘a small amount of ads traffic in your Google Ads Account [that was] showing products form other Google Merchant Center accounts’ came nearly three weeks after the incident, and effectively told us nothing.”
• “In the context of recent headlines regarding shady practices by the platform, there is not enough trust in the advertiser/Google relationship for this incident to be managed as it was”

James Foster Senior Paid Media Manager, echoed this sentiment, calling for “more information about the impact this had to my ad account, the data that other advertisers were able to see, and how much ad spend went through my account that was for other businesses/my competitors.”

Security and trust concerns. Odi Caspi, Founder and Digital Marketing specialist, raised concerns about the potential breach of confidentiality, noting that the glitch exposed data that should have been protected behind passwords and two-factor authentication.

• Caspi suggested that some form of compensation should be considered, not just for financial reasons, but as an acknowledgment of Google’s responsibility in the matter.

Moving forward. As the dust settles on this unprecedented glitch, the advertising community is calling for Google to:

• Provide a clearer, more detailed explanation of what caused the issue.
• Offer transparent reports on the impact to individual advertiser accounts.
• Communicate a definitive timeline for issuing credits to affected accounts.
• Outline measures being implemented to prevent similar incidents in the future.

This incident has underscored the critical importance of clear, timely and transparent communication from ad platforms, especially in crisis situations. As Google continue to be in the limelight for all the wrong reasons, maintaining trust between platforms and advertisers will be crucial for the industry’s continued growth and success.

Original source: https://searchengineland.com/google-major-shopping-ads-glitch-sorry-445302

Romance books have always been a popular genre – but ‘spicy’ books have a new and massive readership thanks to several high-profile books lately (Sarah J Maas, we’re looking at you). If you’ve always wanted to make money writing books, and you have a creative imagination, this could be a great way to make money. Here’s your total guide to writing erotica, PG romance, and everything in-between!

 

What is Romance as a Genre?

Romance writing spans a very broad spectrum of types of books. There is one obvious common theme: people fall in love. But other than that, almost anything goes!

A recent boom in ‘romantasy’ blends romance with fantasy books, and this has introduced a whole new generation to romance writing (and reading). But there are lots of different types. You can either self publish or traditionally publish, depending on how quickly you want to make money and how much control you want over the publishing process.

How Spicy Do I Need to Be?

‘Spicy’ is a term used for erotic writing that is graphic and/or explicit, while more ‘traditional’ romance is often called ‘closed door’. It means you get hints of what happens, but most is left up to the reader’s imagination as it happens ‘behind closed doors’. Spicy books are often very explicit, so you need to be comfortable with writing R-rated things!

The good news is there are audiences for all levels of ‘spice’. So, if you’re not comfortable writing explicit sex scenes, you can still make money writing romance books.

How Do I Write a Romance Book?

While it is now easier than ever to publish your writing thanks to eBooks and platforms like Amazon and Apple Books, you still need to put in the work if you want to make consistent money from your romance writing!

Here are a few important things to consider.

Read, Read, Read!

First of all, before you even set pen to paper or fingers to typewriter, make sure you know your genre. Get your hands on a library card, or sign up to a free trial of Kindle Unlimited, and read as much romance fiction you can get your hands on. This is the best masterclass you can take when you’re learning how to write romance novels.

Pay attention to common themes and tropes, what you like to read and what turns you off (pun intended), and this will help you shape an idea of what kind of romance writer you want to be. It will also show you what is a bit too commonly seen, the bad kinds of tropes you want to avoid, and hopefully spark ideas about how you can tackle them in a fresh new way.

Romance Book Length

Romance is usually between 50,000 words for commercial (‘chick lit’) up to 80,000 for historical romance. Romantasy books that blend romance and fantasy genres are generally longer, up to around 100,000 words, but it doesn’t have to be that long.

You can also try your hand at short reads. Amazon Kindle determines the length of a read by the page numbers – you can’t set this in your upload metadata, but generally if you stick within certain page limits you’ll come up in the right search filters.

The rough page count for short reads would be:

• 15 minutes – 1 to 11 pages
• 30 minutes – 12 to 21 pages
• 45 minutes – 22 to 32 pages
• One hour – 33 to 43 pages
• 90 minutes – 44 to 64 pages
• Two hours or more – 65 to 100 pages

This is book pages, rather than number of pages in word. A book page is around 280 words. So, a 30-minute read at 15 pages long would be around 4,200 words. These short stories do particularly well when enrolled in Kindle Unlimited, which is ideal for new writers to build their brand – the returns are smaller, but more people are likely to read your book.

You Need a Plot

Romance isn’t just about people falling in love and doing rude things to each other! Readers of romance love the story of why people fall in love, out of love, and even when they’re torn between loving two people. Plot is very important in romance books, but there are some key moments most will have, including:

• A meet cute of the couple-to-be
• A honeymoon phase
• The problem turning point (do they have a spouse or partner already? Does someone else come into their lives? etc)
• An argument between the lovers
• Either an ending where they get back together for good (known as a happy ever after) or at least in the short-term (called ‘happy for now’)

Think about what it is that makes people fall in and out of love. Spicy books are great at focusing on the physical elements of relationships, but romance readers are a smart audience and they’ll want more than surface lust to keep them reading. Working out who your characters are, what their aim is and the obstacles they face to get to it, and why they end up in love are all important plot points you need to include.

Think About Your Audience

It helps to have a clear audience in mind before you start writing. This will impact the tone of your writing, how explicit you are with intimate scenes, and the type of plot you will write. For example, some older readers prefer classic Mills and Boon ‘gentle closed door romance’ while there is a growing trend for women in their 20s and 30s to enjoy particularly ‘spicy’ novels. Having a couple of ‘ideal readers’ in mind when you’re writing will help you stay on track and focus the ‘brand’ of your book.

Pick Your Protagonist Well

Your main character needs to be someone who is a go-getter, even if they are naturally timid. They need to have a reason to change across the book – this could be because they have moved from a village to a city (or vice versa), have a new job, go on holiday or similar. A change in circumstance and/or location is usually what makes characters seek out new things – and that’s what drives the plot of a romance book.

While your character can be anyone, generally your protagonist will be female, as the majority of romance readers are women. You can have male or non-binary perspectives, but there is a smaller niche for them. Many romance authors like to do ‘dual POV’ or dual point of view, which means you write one chapter in your protagonist’s voice and another in the antagonist (or second protagonist) voice and alternate through the book to give different perspectives. This is particularly useful for telling the story in a broader way, rather than sticking in one character’s head – but it can be tricky to do, so takes some practice.

If you decide on dual POV, be very careful not to ‘head hop’. This is when you change internal thoughts from one character to another in the same scene. It is confusing for the reader! So stick to one scene, one person’s inner thoughts – then you can always change the character in the next scene.

Find a Proofreader

Before you publish or send your book to an agent to get published, you need to have someone else read your book. There are different types of editors, costing different amounts. A developmental editor is very deep-dive and will work on the structure and story of your romance novel. A copy editor or line editor will improve how your sentences flow and fact-check things to make sure you don’t make any glaring mistakes. The cheapest option is a proofreader, who reads the book and highlights your spelling and grammar errors.

It might feel hard to pay before you get any income from your book, but if you’re the only person reading it you can easily miss errors because you’ve been staring at the same pages for weeks! A good proofreader will help you bring your book up to standard. It’s important for whether you are self publishing or sending to an agent.

First, with self publishing, it is important to avoid spelling and grammatical errors which can put off your readers – and with platforms like Kindle Unlimited, you’re paid by the number of pages that are read. So you want people to keep reading!

Secondly, if you want to be noticed by a publisher or agent, you need your manuscript to be in the best shape possible to get their attention. Mistakes can stop them reading and reject the book, which means you’ll have to start the long query process all over again.

Do I Need an Agent to Publish My Romance Novel?

Yes or no! There are two reasons both answers are true.

Self publishers don’t need an agent – they can publish whatever they want, whenever they want. But as we talked about earlier, they also have to do all the marketing and business side of selling romance novels, too.

Some traditional publishers, like Mills and Boon (read more below) will accept book submissions from someone who doesn’t have an agent. There aren’t many places that do this, and they’re very competitive, but it is a way in to the industry if you can get it.

Most traditional publishers will only take submissions from an agent. This means you need to get literary representation before you can think about publishing. This tends to be more for commercial women’s fiction or high-profile genres like romantasy.

Where Can I Publish My Romance Book?

You can choose to self publish your book on platforms like Amazon, or traditionally publish to get your book into shops. There are pros and cons to both.

Self publishing gives you total control over what you write, when it is published, and you receive a higher percentage of sale revenue. However, you also need to design your book cover, run your PR, and continue to market the book once it is published, all of which can cost money and take a lot of time to learn and carry out. You don’t get an advance payment with self publishing, so you need some funds to get started.

Traditional publishing is historically more ‘prestigious’, but that matters less these days. However, you will have an editor and marketing team behind the book if you manage to sell it to a publisher, so you don’t have to do everything as you do with self publishing. You will also be paid an advance if you sell the book, but make a smaller percentage on royalties.

Publishing on Amazon

It is very easy for anybody to self publish on Amazon and similar platforms. You need to have a finished book that is in a book format – software like Vellum can help you with this, or there are Word templates online you can use. Many authors enjoy using Scrivener, which has some helpful preset templates and can be exported into various formats. If you’re a member of the Society of Authors, you can get a 20% discount on the software – plus they do a free 30-day trial for everyone.

You need a few things before you can hit publish:

• A book cover
• A back blurb (the short description on the back of the book to entice readers)
• The manuscript
• An ISBN number (two if you plan to allow for physical copies to be purchased)
• Social media art for promotion
• Short descriptions for meta data
• A list of keywords that relate to your book to help people find it in searches

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing is the most common platform for new writers to start on. There is a helpful tutorial on the website, and lots of YouTube videos for more in-depth lessons about the nuances of promoting your romance book.

Publishing Mills and Boon Books

If self publishing sounds too complicated, or you want the prestige of being a traditionally published author, Mills and Boon are the most famous name in romance. The brilliant news is that you don’t need to have an agent to submit to them – which is very unusual in the world of traditional publishing!

There are some guidelines to follow before you submit. Read their submission guidelines on the website – and make sure you know which imprint you want to submit to, too. Different imprints are like different brands underneath the Mills and Boon umbrella, and they each have a distinctive voice, audience, and types of story.

Mills and Boon Modern – has a hero willing to take charge, but the heroine has a feisty side to her. Think international glitz and glamour for this series.

Mills and Boon True Love – this series is about relatable women and deeply desirable men, without graphic scenes but intense emotion and tension.

Mills and Boon Medical – the clue is in the name here, with medical settings taking the foreground, and dedicated medical professionals with hearts of gold who work together.

Mills and Boon Historical – every time period up to the 1950s and every level of spice is accepted, with dynamic characters who have relatable conflicts

Harlequin Books

Mills and Boon also have Harlequin books, which is another type of novel. They are more cross-genre than the above imprints. The Intrigue submission guidelines state that books with thriller storylines around 55,000 words are welcomed. The Suspense submission guidelines state that imprint is for more complex, sustained suspense romance stories around 70,000 words long.

Getting Started Resources

The internet is your friend! There are so many amazing YouTube channels and podcasts and Substacks, it’s too many to list, but these ones are great for beginner writers – some are romance-specific, while others help you learn more about the craft of writing and also self-publishing.

YouTube Channels

• Alexa Donne
• Abbie Emmons
• SPA Girls Podcast (romance self publishing focus)
• Reedsy
• The Creative Penn
• Leslye Penelope

Podcasts, Websites, and Newsletters

• The Sh*t No One Tells You About Writing (language content warning)
• Chapter Break
• How to Write a Book (Elizabeth Day)
• BBC Maestro – JoJo Moyes Romance Masterclass (this is a paid class, keep an eye out on the site for discounts a few times a year)
• How to Write a Romance Novel (Penguin Books Website)
• How to Write Exciting Romantic Fiction
• How to Write a Romance Novel (The Novelry Blog)
• The Romance Novelists’ Association

Keep an eye out for the next in this series, which will be all about how to create an author brand to sell more books!

The post Can I get paid to write Saucy Books? Make Money with Spicy Romance Books appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Original source: https://www.moneymagpie.com/make-money/make-money-with-spicy-romance-books

Google Ads officially eliminated the audience recommendations feature from the Insights tab, a move that removes automated suggestions for targeting specific audiences.

Why we care. The removal of audience recommendations from Google Ads’ Insights tab forces advertisers to take a more hands-on approach to audience targeting.

Impact on advertisers. Advertisers will need to manually identify and select audience segments, potentially increasing the time and effort required to optimize campaigns.

Reason for change. Google has not provided a specific reason for the removal, but the shift suggests a move towards more user-driven strategies and customization in audience targeting.

What it means:

• Increased Manual Effort: Advertisers will need to leverage other tools and data sources to identify and reach their target audiences effectively.
• Potential Learning Curve: Advertisers accustomed to automated recommendations may face a learning curve as they adjust to more manual processes.

What they are saying.

Search Engine Land contributor Melissa Mackey, director of paid search at Compound Growth Marketing, noted the significant disadvantage of this update on X:

Google hasn’t yet commented on this update.

Original source: https://searchengineland.com/google-ads-removes-audience-recommendations-445291

Home Business Magazine Online

Phishing attacks are very common and equally very dangerous. It happens when criminals try to trick you into giving them your personal information. They try to get people to release their passwords, credit card numbers, or even social security numbers.

The hacker will pose as someone you know or trust to get your information. Many times, they can come in like a bank official or a popular website. They usually send their phishing attacks through email, text messages, or even phone calls. So, it is very important to know how to identify them so they don’t steal your data.

How to Identify Phishing Attacks

Before you can prevent a phishing attack, you need to know how to identify it. Here, we will explain how you can recognize them:

Look for Unusual Email Addresses

One of the first signs that shows it is a phishing attack is if the email address is unusual. If it is an email from your bank, check the email address to see if it looks strange. If it does, then it might be a phishing attempt. It is important that you check the sender’s email address before clicking on any links.

Urgent or Threatening Language

Another thing about these attacks is that they always sound urgent. Sometimes, they even try to use threatening language to scare you into acting quickly. You will see something like, “Your account will be locked if you do not update your information immediately” or “You have a limited time to claim your prize.” They create a sense of urgency to make you more likely to fall for the scam. So, if an email is trying to rush you, take a moment to think and verify the information.

Check for Grammar and Spelling Mistakes

Most of the time, these criminals are not even fluent in English or the language they are communicating with. So, you will notice a lot of grammar and spelling mistakes. If you get an email that looks very unprofessional or has a lot of errors, it could be a phishing attack. Mostly, official emails from trusted organizations will usually be well-written and free of mistakes.

Look for Suspicious Links

Also, look for emails that tell you to click on links. A phishing email will most likely contain links that lead to fake websites. So, if you click on them, they are designed to steal your information. Don’t just click on them; instead, hover over the link with your mouse, and you will see the actual web address. If you notice the address looks strange or does not match the official website, then don’t click on it.

Be Wary of Unexpected Attachments

Just as they send suspicious links, they may add some attachments as well. So, if you use them, they will most likely install malware on your computer. The malware can steal your information or even take control of your computer. So, if you receive an email with an unexpected attachment, do not open it. Even if the email looks like it is from someone you know, it is better to confirm who the sender is first.

How to Prevent Phishing Attacks

Now that you know what to look for in a phishing attack, how do you prevent it? There are several ways you can do this, including:

Using a Hedge Fund Cybersecurity Solution

With a hedge fund cybersecurity solution, you get advanced protection against phishing attacks and other cyber threats. Also, these solutions are meant to protect sensitive information and hedge fund assets.

It can also be used by individuals and businesses. It has features like advanced threat detection, email filtering, and real-time monitoring. This way, you can keep your information safe.

Educating Yourself and Others

Many people fall for phishing scams because they do not know what to look for. So don’t just keep this knowledge to yourself but also share it with others. You can yourself, friends, and family. Also, you should share this information with your coworkers or employees so they know how to prevent phishing attacks.

Use Strong, Unique Passwords

Learn to use strong and unique passwords for all your accounts. It will protect you if you accidentally fall victim to a phishing scam. For instance, if one of your accounts is compromised, hackers won’t gain access to your other accounts if you have a strong password. Consider using a password manager to keep track of your passwords and to help you generate strong ones.

Enable Two-Factor Authentication

Make sure you use two-factor authentication (2FA) to add an extra layer of security to your accounts. With 2FA enabled, you need to provide two pieces of information to log in. You will need your password and a code sent to your phone or email. So, even if a phishing attacker gets your password, they will not be able to access your account.

Keep Your Software Up to Date

Software updates often include security patches so they will fix vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit. It is important that you update your operating system, web browser, and antivirus software. Better yet, make sure you set your devices to install updates automatically.

Final thoughts 

Phishing attacks are a serious threat, but it is something you can identify and prevent. If you’re running a business, you may not have the time to monitor these threats. So, it is better to use a middle office outsourcing service to assess these risks. They can manage various types of financial risks, including phishing attacks. Remember to take precautions to keep your data safe. Phishing attacks can affect anyone, whether you are an individual or a business entity.

The post How to Identify and Prevent Phishing Attacks? appeared first on Home Business Magazine.

Original source: https://homebusinessmag.com/management/technology-management/identify-prevent-phishing-attacks/

Home Business Magazine Online

Phishing attacks are very common and equally very dangerous. It happens when criminals try to trick you into giving them your personal information. They try to get people to release their passwords, credit card numbers, or even social security numbers.

The hacker will pose as someone you know or trust to get your information. Many times, they can come in like a bank official or a popular website. They usually send their phishing attacks through email, text messages, or even phone calls. So, it is very important to know how to identify them so they don’t steal your data.

How to Identify Phishing Attacks

Before you can prevent a phishing attack, you need to know how to identify it. Here, we will explain how you can recognize them:

Look for Unusual Email Addresses

One of the first signs that shows it is a phishing attack is if the email address is unusual. If it is an email from your bank, check the email address to see if it looks strange. If it does, then it might be a phishing attempt. It is important that you check the sender’s email address before clicking on any links.

Urgent or Threatening Language

Another thing about these attacks is that they always sound urgent. Sometimes, they even try to use threatening language to scare you into acting quickly. You will see something like, “Your account will be locked if you do not update your information immediately” or “You have a limited time to claim your prize.” They create a sense of urgency to make you more likely to fall for the scam. So, if an email is trying to rush you, take a moment to think and verify the information.

Check for Grammar and Spelling Mistakes

Most of the time, these criminals are not even fluent in English or the language they are communicating with. So, you will notice a lot of grammar and spelling mistakes. If you get an email that looks very unprofessional or has a lot of errors, it could be a phishing attack. Mostly, official emails from trusted organizations will usually be well-written and free of mistakes.

Look for Suspicious Links

Also, look for emails that tell you to click on links. A phishing email will most likely contain links that lead to fake websites. So, if you click on them, they are designed to steal your information. Don’t just click on them; instead, hover over the link with your mouse, and you will see the actual web address. If you notice the address looks strange or does not match the official website, then don’t click on it.

Be Wary of Unexpected Attachments

Just as they send suspicious links, they may add some attachments as well. So, if you use them, they will most likely install malware on your computer. The malware can steal your information or even take control of your computer. So, if you receive an email with an unexpected attachment, do not open it. Even if the email looks like it is from someone you know, it is better to confirm who the sender is first.

How to Prevent Phishing Attacks

Now that you know what to look for in a phishing attack, how do you prevent it? There are several ways you can do this, including:

Using a Hedge Fund Cybersecurity Solution

With a hedge fund cybersecurity solution, you get advanced protection against phishing attacks and other cyber threats. Also, these solutions are meant to protect sensitive information and hedge fund assets.

It can also be used by individuals and businesses. It has features like advanced threat detection, email filtering, and real-time monitoring. This way, you can keep your information safe.

Educating Yourself and Others

Many people fall for phishing scams because they do not know what to look for. So don’t just keep this knowledge to yourself but also share it with others. You can yourself, friends, and family. Also, you should share this information with your coworkers or employees so they know how to prevent phishing attacks.

Use Strong, Unique Passwords

Learn to use strong and unique passwords for all your accounts. It will protect you if you accidentally fall victim to a phishing scam. For instance, if one of your accounts is compromised, hackers won’t gain access to your other accounts if you have a strong password. Consider using a password manager to keep track of your passwords and to help you generate strong ones.

Enable Two-Factor Authentication

Make sure you use two-factor authentication (2FA) to add an extra layer of security to your accounts. With 2FA enabled, you need to provide two pieces of information to log in. You will need your password and a code sent to your phone or email. So, even if a phishing attacker gets your password, they will not be able to access your account.

Keep Your Software Up to Date

Software updates often include security patches so they will fix vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit. It is important that you update your operating system, web browser, and antivirus software. Better yet, make sure you set your devices to install updates automatically.

Final thoughts 

Phishing attacks are a serious threat, but it is something you can identify and prevent. If you’re running a business, you may not have the time to monitor these threats. So, it is better to use a middle office outsourcing service to assess these risks. They can manage various types of financial risks, including phishing attacks. Remember to take precautions to keep your data safe. Phishing attacks can affect anyone, whether you are an individual or a business entity.

The post How to Identify and Prevent Phishing Attacks? appeared first on Home Business Magazine.

Original source: https://homebusinessmag.com/management/technology-management/identify-prevent-phishing-attacks/

Romance books have always been a popular genre – but ‘spicy’ books have a new and massive readership thanks to several high-profile books lately (Sarah J Maas, we’re looking at you). If you’ve always wanted to make money writing books, and you have a creative imagination, this could be a great way to make money. Here’s your total guide to writing erotica, PG romance, and everything in-between!

 

What is Romance as a Genre?

Romance writing spans a very broad spectrum of types of books. There is one obvious common theme: people fall in love. But other than that, almost anything goes!

A recent boom in ‘romantasy’ blends romance with fantasy books, and this has introduced a whole new generation to romance writing (and reading). But there are lots of different types. You can either self publish or traditionally publish, depending on how quickly you want to make money and how much control you want over the publishing process.

How Spicy Do I Need to Be?

‘Spicy’ is a term used for erotic writing that is graphic and/or explicit, while more ‘traditional’ romance is often called ‘closed door’. It means you get hints of what happens, but most is left up to the reader’s imagination as it happens ‘behind closed doors’. Spicy books are often very explicit, so you need to be comfortable with writing R-rated things!

The good news is there are audiences for all levels of ‘spice’. So, if you’re not comfortable writing explicit sex scenes, you can still make money writing romance books.

How Do I Write a Romance Book?

While it is now easier than ever to publish your writing thanks to eBooks and platforms like Amazon and Apple Books, you still need to put in the work if you want to make consistent money from your romance writing!

Here are a few important things to consider.

Read, Read, Read!

First of all, before you even set pen to paper or fingers to typewriter, make sure you know your genre. Get your hands on a library card, or sign up to a free trial of Kindle Unlimited, and read as much romance fiction you can get your hands on. This is the best masterclass you can take when you’re learning how to write romance novels.

Pay attention to common themes and tropes, what you like to read and what turns you off (pun intended), and this will help you shape an idea of what kind of romance writer you want to be. It will also show you what is a bit too commonly seen, the bad kinds of tropes you want to avoid, and hopefully spark ideas about how you can tackle them in a fresh new way.

Romance Book Length

Romance is usually between 50,000 words for commercial (‘chick lit’) up to 80,000 for historical romance. Romantasy books that blend romance and fantasy genres are generally longer, up to around 100,000 words, but it doesn’t have to be that long.

You can also try your hand at short reads. Amazon Kindle determines the length of a read by the page numbers – you can’t set this in your upload metadata, but generally if you stick within certain page limits you’ll come up in the right search filters.

The rough page count for short reads would be:

• 15 minutes – 1 to 11 pages
• 30 minutes – 12 to 21 pages
• 45 minutes – 22 to 32 pages
• One hour – 33 to 43 pages
• 90 minutes – 44 to 64 pages
• Two hours or more – 65 to 100 pages

This is book pages, rather than number of pages in word. A book page is around 280 words. So, a 30-minute read at 15 pages long would be around 4,200 words. These short stories do particularly well when enrolled in Kindle Unlimited, which is ideal for new writers to build their brand – the returns are smaller, but more people are likely to read your book.

You Need a Plot

Romance isn’t just about people falling in love and doing rude things to each other! Readers of romance love the story of why people fall in love, out of love, and even when they’re torn between loving two people. Plot is very important in romance books, but there are some key moments most will have, including:

• A meet cute of the couple-to-be
• A honeymoon phase
• The problem turning point (do they have a spouse or partner already? Does someone else come into their lives? etc)
• An argument between the lovers
• Either an ending where they get back together for good (known as a happy ever after) or at least in the short-term (called ‘happy for now’)

Think about what it is that makes people fall in and out of love. Spicy books are great at focusing on the physical elements of relationships, but romance readers are a smart audience and they’ll want more than surface lust to keep them reading. Working out who your characters are, what their aim is and the obstacles they face to get to it, and why they end up in love are all important plot points you need to include.

Think About Your Audience

It helps to have a clear audience in mind before you start writing. This will impact the tone of your writing, how explicit you are with intimate scenes, and the type of plot you will write. For example, some older readers prefer classic Mills and Boon ‘gentle closed door romance’ while there is a growing trend for women in their 20s and 30s to enjoy particularly ‘spicy’ novels. Having a couple of ‘ideal readers’ in mind when you’re writing will help you stay on track and focus the ‘brand’ of your book.

Pick Your Protagonist Well

Your main character needs to be someone who is a go-getter, even if they are naturally timid. They need to have a reason to change across the book – this could be because they have moved from a village to a city (or vice versa), have a new job, go on holiday or similar. A change in circumstance and/or location is usually what makes characters seek out new things – and that’s what drives the plot of a romance book.

While your character can be anyone, generally your protagonist will be female, as the majority of romance readers are women. You can have male or non-binary perspectives, but there is a smaller niche for them. Many romance authors like to do ‘dual POV’ or dual point of view, which means you write one chapter in your protagonist’s voice and another in the antagonist (or second protagonist) voice and alternate through the book to give different perspectives. This is particularly useful for telling the story in a broader way, rather than sticking in one character’s head – but it can be tricky to do, so takes some practice.

If you decide on dual POV, be very careful not to ‘head hop’. This is when you change internal thoughts from one character to another in the same scene. It is confusing for the reader! So stick to one scene, one person’s inner thoughts – then you can always change the character in the next scene.

Find a Proofreader

Before you publish or send your book to an agent to get published, you need to have someone else read your book. There are different types of editors, costing different amounts. A developmental editor is very deep-dive and will work on the structure and story of your romance novel. A copy editor or line editor will improve how your sentences flow and fact-check things to make sure you don’t make any glaring mistakes. The cheapest option is a proofreader, who reads the book and highlights your spelling and grammar errors.

It might feel hard to pay before you get any income from your book, but if you’re the only person reading it you can easily miss errors because you’ve been staring at the same pages for weeks! A good proofreader will help you bring your book up to standard. It’s important for whether you are self publishing or sending to an agent.

First, with self publishing, it is important to avoid spelling and grammatical errors which can put off your readers – and with platforms like Kindle Unlimited, you’re paid by the number of pages that are read. So you want people to keep reading!

Secondly, if you want to be noticed by a publisher or agent, you need your manuscript to be in the best shape possible to get their attention. Mistakes can stop them reading and reject the book, which means you’ll have to start the long query process all over again.

Do I Need an Agent to Publish My Romance Novel?

Yes or no! There are two reasons both answers are true.

Self publishers don’t need an agent – they can publish whatever they want, whenever they want. But as we talked about earlier, they also have to do all the marketing and business side of selling romance novels, too.

Some traditional publishers, like Mills and Boon (read more below) will accept book submissions from someone who doesn’t have an agent. There aren’t many places that do this, and they’re very competitive, but it is a way in to the industry if you can get it.

Most traditional publishers will only take submissions from an agent. This means you need to get literary representation before you can think about publishing. This tends to be more for commercial women’s fiction or high-profile genres like romantasy.

Where Can I Publish My Romance Book?

You can choose to self publish your book on platforms like Amazon, or traditionally publish to get your book into shops. There are pros and cons to both.

Self publishing gives you total control over what you write, when it is published, and you receive a higher percentage of sale revenue. However, you also need to design your book cover, run your PR, and continue to market the book once it is published, all of which can cost money and take a lot of time to learn and carry out. You don’t get an advance payment with self publishing, so you need some funds to get started.

Traditional publishing is historically more ‘prestigious’, but that matters less these days. However, you will have an editor and marketing team behind the book if you manage to sell it to a publisher, so you don’t have to do everything as you do with self publishing. You will also be paid an advance if you sell the book, but make a smaller percentage on royalties.

Publishing on Amazon

It is very easy for anybody to self publish on Amazon and similar platforms. You need to have a finished book that is in a book format – software like Vellum can help you with this, or there are Word templates online you can use. Many authors enjoy using Scrivener, which has some helpful preset templates and can be exported into various formats. If you’re a member of the Society of Authors, you can get a 20% discount on the software – plus they do a free 30-day trial for everyone.

You need a few things before you can hit publish:

• A book cover
• A back blurb (the short description on the back of the book to entice readers)
• The manuscript
• An ISBN number (two if you plan to allow for physical copies to be purchased)
• Social media art for promotion
• Short descriptions for meta data
• A list of keywords that relate to your book to help people find it in searches

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing is the most common platform for new writers to start on. There is a helpful tutorial on the website, and lots of YouTube videos for more in-depth lessons about the nuances of promoting your romance book.

Publishing Mills and Boon Books

If self publishing sounds too complicated, or you want the prestige of being a traditionally published author, Mills and Boon are the most famous name in romance. The brilliant news is that you don’t need to have an agent to submit to them – which is very unusual in the world of traditional publishing!

There are some guidelines to follow before you submit. Read their submission guidelines on the website – and make sure you know which imprint you want to submit to, too. Different imprints are like different brands underneath the Mills and Boon umbrella, and they each have a distinctive voice, audience, and types of story.

Mills and Boon Modern – has a hero willing to take charge, but the heroine has a feisty side to her. Think international glitz and glamour for this series.

Mills and Boon True Love – this series is about relatable women and deeply desirable men, without graphic scenes but intense emotion and tension.

Mills and Boon Medical – the clue is in the name here, with medical settings taking the foreground, and dedicated medical professionals with hearts of gold who work together.

Mills and Boon Historical – every time period up to the 1950s and every level of spice is accepted, with dynamic characters who have relatable conflicts

Harlequin Books

Mills and Boon also have Harlequin books, which is another type of novel. They are more cross-genre than the above imprints. The Intrigue submission guidelines state that books with thriller storylines around 55,000 words are welcomed. The Suspense submission guidelines state that imprint is for more complex, sustained suspense romance stories around 70,000 words long.

Getting Started Resources

The internet is your friend! There are so many amazing YouTube channels and podcasts and Substacks, it’s too many to list, but these ones are great for beginner writers – some are romance-specific, while others help you learn more about the craft of writing and also self-publishing.

YouTube Channels

• Alexa Donne
• Abbie Emmons
• SPA Girls Podcast (romance self publishing focus)
• Reedsy
• The Creative Penn
• Leslye Penelope

Podcasts, Websites, and Newsletters

• The Sh*t No One Tells You About Writing (language content warning)
• Chapter Break
• How to Write a Book (Elizabeth Day)
• BBC Maestro – JoJo Moyes Romance Masterclass (this is a paid class, keep an eye out on the site for discounts a few times a year)
• How to Write a Romance Novel (Penguin Books Website)
• How to Write Exciting Romantic Fiction
• How to Write a Romance Novel (The Novelry Blog)
• The Romance Novelists’ Association

Keep an eye out for the next in this series, which will be all about how to create an author brand to sell more books!

The post Make Money with Spicy Romance Books appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Original source: https://www.moneymagpie.com/make-money/make-money-with-spicy-romance-books