Make A Living Writing Romance

So you want to write. Actually if you already dabble in writing articles, stories and now are on to a manuscript for a book then you, my friend, are a writer. But, writing your book is only your first step.

The first thing that needs to be done, of course, is to write your romance novel. Maybe you have a favorite romance subgenre you like and want to try your hand at it. Writing the actual manuscript can take from several months to several years. It all depends on your motivation to write romance!  Of course the faster you write your books, the better.  You’ll be able to earn money faster and the more books you write and publish, the more you’ll make.  Think Nora Roberts on this one – she writes and publishes several books a year.  She has a system that works.

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It would be nice if the visions of the romance publishing world we carried in our heads were true. But, the reality is that it is a hard business that you need to be ready for. But, as a romance writer, you are up to the challenge if you ever want to see your name in print. Here are some facts and more than a few myths about the submission process.

1. New romance writers NEVER get published. That is absurd. Think about it: Everyone was a new writer at some point. Agents especially would love to be the one to discover the next big writing star. Imagine how J.K. Rowling’s agent feels now? New writers just need to know where to begin their search to open the publishing door.

2. A query letter is not necessary all the time. Wrong! A query letter is what gets you in the door. It is your time to shine. Think of it as your one shot to impress an agent and/or an editor. If you impress the editor and they like your manuscript, they will be your connection to the editors at the publishing houses.

3.  A manuscript submitted in fancy font will get chucked. Now we are hitting on some facts. Editors have guidelines. These guidelines are there to standardize the submissions and also to help them read your work easily. Fancy squiggles or heavy paper won’t make a difference to them especially if your book is no good.

4. It takes time to hear back from an editor. This is true also. If you submit your manuscript this week, don’t expect a call or a letter back next week. You are one of hundreds of manuscripts on an editor’s desk. You will want them to take their time with your query and manuscript.

5. You only have to have a few chapters of the book ready to submit to a publisher. This is true and false. A publisher interested in your work after reading your query letter may ask for a few sample chapters of your work, BUT if they like what they read, they will want to have the rest of it in hand. If the rest of your book isn’t finished, you are up a creek. Even if they only want the first two or three chapters, your entire manuscript should be ready to go before you send out any query letters.

Do you feel a bit better about publishing process? It is not an easy one to tackle but then anything worthwhile very rarely is. Know the market, know the romance publishing business, and know that your work is top notch.

Writing is the front side of the romance publishing industry. On the other side, are the editors and the agents. It is here where you meet them through follow-up, feedback and the dreaded rejection letter.

If you write romance long enough, you will encounter at least one rejection letter. Write even longer than that and you might get two or three. Some writers find rejection letters to be badges of honor and others are devastated.

Think of a rejection letter as par for the course. If you are really serious about writing this will spur you on to hone your craft and try again. At the very least, put your existing romance manuscript to the side and start a new one, revisiting the first after a few months have passed.

Once you polish your work and submit your romance manuscript query, then you wait. Hopefully, you will get a letter that asks for more information in the form of your completed or partial manuscript. Sometimes, you’ll get feedback on why they are not interested at that time.

Feedback is helpful even though you might not think so now. If an editor has taken the time to give you some bits of advice, use them. What that says is you can submit to them again when you correct what is falling short with your work. No, you won’t be published that year, but that is not to say that it won’t be the year after that.

Let’s say that you have gotten a letter back from an editor and they want to see your manuscript. After you finish jumping up and down, reread the letter so that you know when and how they want to review it. Comply as quickly as you can so that you don’t miss out on your opportunity.

But, after that, things seem to move in slow motion. Three weeks go by, then four and you still haven’t heard anything. A month is a pretty standard amount of time to wait considering that editors and their publishing houses represent large numbers of writers.

But, after about six weeks, you may want to follow-up with the editor or agent who is reviewing your manuscript to see what they think. There is a way to go about that. First, make sure that you have the correct contact information for the person you are trying to reach. It is okay to send them an email through their personal email the message goes straight to them.

Keep the follow-up short and sweet. Remind them about the manuscript you sent (insert title here) and when you sent it. Tell them that you were just inquiring and would appreciate hearing back from them.

You can also follow-up on a query letter after the appropriate amount of time (as determined by the agent or publisher) has passed. If you are submitting to multiple publishers at once and you hear back from someone, immediately follow-up with the others. Inform them of your new status and ask for their feedback on the manuscript or for them to withdraw your request.

There is a lot to know about the romance publishing business besides how to write a book. Learn how to make contact with editors and agents reviewing your work.

     Myth #1  Writing a romance book takes years.

      Fact – If you have a system and are dedicated to setting writing goals and writing every day, you can have

a book written in three months.  5 pages a day for three months, or 90 days is 450 pages. That’s about 150+ more than you’ll want or need.  That’s about 1250 words a day – you can do that!

Myth #2  You must pay your dues to the romance publishing industry before you get published – years of rejections are part of the process.

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You’ve written your romance novel and are ready to start submitting it to publishers.  This is the moment you’ve been waiting for, and perhaps dreading a bit.  Where do you get started?  Whom do you send your manuscript to and how do you send it?  While each publisher has their own processes and procedures, follow these three steps to submit your romance manuscript to publishers and you’ll be one-step closer to making a living writing romance!

Step One:  Research publishers.  When you’re getting ready to submit your manuscript for publication, you’ll want to first research publishers to find out which one is right for you.  You’ll be looking for a few key things in the beginning:

• Do they publish romance?
• Do they publish your sub-genre?  For example, they may publish romance but not your sub-genre of historical romance or paranormal romance.
• Do they accept manuscripts from non-agented writers?
• Are they a print publisher, electronic or both?
• Do they accept manuscripts in your word count range?  For example some publishers only publish 80,000 word romances while others insist the romance be over 100,000 words
• Do they publish new authors (hint, if they accept unagented manuscripts the answer to this one is probably yes.)
• Where are they located?  It used to be that if an agency wasn’t in NY then forget about it, however the internet has changed the market in many ways and publishers are now all over the country/world and some digital publishers have little more than a PO Box.

After you’ve conducted this research, you’ll likely have 10-20 potential publishers to submit your romance manuscript to.  Take this list of potential publishers and prioritize them.  At the top of your list will be your ideal publishers and at the bottom will be those who you’d be happy to have publish your book but aren’t your dream publishers.

A good place to begin researching, and perhaps the most comprehensive, is the Writer’s Market annual publication of Book Publishers.  You can grab last year’s copy at your local library or pick it up at your bookstore for about $50 for the deluxe addition which also contains magazines, agents and a wealth of how to content written by industry experts.

Step #2  Read the submission requirements of the publisher at the top of your list.  Look for how many chapters they wish to receive, how they want the manuscript formatted, how long of a synopsis they want (some only want one page while others want longer) and how to submit.  Standard submissions are 1-inch margins, times new roman font 12-point double-spaced, first three chapters, and a one page synopsis.  Along with your query letter, putting together your submission package can be quite a process.

You’ll also want to read if they want to read your manuscript exclusively or if it’s okay that you send to multiple publishers.

You’ll also want to determine whom you’re supposed to send your manuscript to.  Most often, this information can be found at the publisher’s website however, you can also check romance industry news at the Romance Writer’s Association website in addition to a variety of other romance writing and industry resources.  When in doubt, call the publisher and ask who to send your submission to.  It’s important to get your manuscript into the right hands and “Dear Editor” doesn’t do it.

Finally, find out if they want a paper submission or if they accept email/digital submissions.  Digital submissions are of course preferable because you don’t have to pay for printing/mailing and you’ll generally receive a confirmation they received your submission much sooner which means you won’t do the “I don’t know if they received my package maybe I should call them and check” mind game.  Publishers hate it when you call, or email, to check on the status of your submission.

Step #3  Prepare your submission package.  This will include a well-crafted query, your manuscript chapters which are polished to perfection, and your synopsis.  Before you click send or drop your package in the mail remember, if you’re mailing your submission, to include a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) so you can receive a response.

Additionally, and this may sound tedious, but create a system to track your submissions. It can be as simple as an excel spreadsheet or a notebook but write down who you sent your manuscript to, when you sent it and what you sent.  This will come in handy in the future when you’re sending multiple manuscripts to multiple agents and publishers.

And when you’re rich and famous, and making a living writing romance, you can look back at who treated you well and who didn’t.  Editors move around from house to house so it can be immensely profitable to track your professional communications.  If you can create
a binder to organize your submission then it also gives you a great place to store the letters (ahem…rejections, yes there will be rejections.  It’s part of the process and not everyone will be able to see the money making potential of your romance novel.) from publishers and agents too.

THE FASTEST AND EASIEST WAY TO BECOME A PUBLISHED AUTHOR…

This $1.63 billion segment of the publishing industry with over 50 million readers is practically desperate for fresh voices. Editors in this market publish over 2000 titles per year. They don’t need writers with fancy degrees who only want to write the Great American Novel. They need volume… and they need to keep their readers happy. Find out how you can join this exploding genre by using an easy system for success that will have you turning out titles, even if you’ve never written a word in your life…click here