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
Podcasts, Websites, and Newsletters
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!
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