Romance
novels are arguably the most economically successful of all fiction
genres. According to Romance Writers of America, romance books bring
in a whopping 1.3 billion dollars a year, more than mystery novels,
science fiction and fantasy combined. It's no wonder that more than
half of all new fiction is comprised of romance novels. (This
statistic is borne out by Amazon's top ten bestsellers – both free
and paid – half of which are romances.) Not surprisingly, 90% of
the market for romance novels is comprised of women.
If
you are thinking of becoming a romance writer, the competition will
be stiff. But by the same token, with over 30 million dedicated
readers, there is always room for more. This is one market that will
never be saturated. But, even with that uplifting thought in mind,
romances, like any other genre, need to be marketed. These are the
best sites to help you ensure your romance is a success.
1. Stephie Smith … Fiction with Humor and Heart
Host:
Stephie Smith
Stephie
Smith (who describes herself as a "Database
Administrator for a software systems and services company... oh, and,
yeah, I write") has put together this excellent general resource for romance writers.
This
site has everything you need to get your romance off the ground –
book review sites, online resources for period romances, book news,
and general writing resources.
Site
features: An incredibly well-organized spreadsheet of contests,
including sponsor, cost, eligibility, dates and genre (genres other than
romance are also listed); general writers' resources, publishing and
promoting your book, grammar, agents, epublishing, script writing,
romance writing; romance book review sites; and some wonderful
historical resource sites, including period costumes, coinage, ships
and, of course, pirates. Be sure to check out Stephie's fabulous
links.
2.
Top 50 Romance novel blogs
Blogrank
– an extremely useful site for investigating any type of blog –
ranks blogs according to the number of unique visitors, RSS feeds,
Alexa ranking, monthly visitors and various other criteria. Visitors
to some of these blogs number in the millions. A number of these
high-profile blogs review books, others allow guest bloggers. If you
want to get noticed in the romance community, this is a good venue to
pursue. Posting a guest article on one of these blogs will guarantee
traffic to your site. (Scroll down to the bottom of the link to see
the other genres ranked by Blogrank.)
3.
Romance Junkies
Site features: Reviews of romance novels, author bios and spotlight, a “cocktail hour” with featured writers, contests, free reads, a writer's corner offering information on Indie publishing, critique partners, and articles about the craft of writing. Submissions by paper or PDF attachment: lhttp://www.romancejunkies.com/contact.html
4.
Passionate
Pen
Host:
Jenna Peterson
This
is an excellent website put together by Avon author, Jenna Peterson.
Here you will find links
to publishers and agents who accept all kinds of romance,
writing tips, research and marketing links. The information on
publishing is particularly useful for writers – of any genre –
who are trying to break into the print market.
Site
features: Extensive list of agents representing romance writers with
links to their submissions pages, a complete list of romance
publishers (including electronic publishers, a large-print library
and Christian presses). Also includes a very useful submission
checklist with detailed instructions for contacting agents and
publishers as well as a great list of links covering every aspect of
the publishing industry.
5. Romance
Writers of America
General
membership is $120.00
If
you are a romance author, this is the organization for you. The RWA,
a nonprofit association, represents more than
10,250 writers and publishing industry professionals in 145 chapters
offering local or special-interest networking and education. RWA
hosts an annual national conference and contests and awards for both
published and unpublished writers. Membership includes subscription
to the monthly Romance Writers Report, and access to lists of
approved agents and publishers.
Site
features: Statistics on the romance industry, description of
sub-genres (with word counts), reader statistics, awards, chapter
contests, an honor roll and “hall of fame.”
(First published on Blogging Authors)
Excellent source for romance writers and readers. Great job.
ReplyDelete