One of the keys to being a successful romance writer, and by successful we’re talking about making a living as a romance writer, which is more than publication it’s continuous publication and writing books that sell, is to stay on top of the industry and to always look for ways to improve.
Here are the top three romance writing resources to help you make money writing romance!
#1 Writer’s Market. This sizable book isn’t cheap, the deluxe edition runs about $50 at your local bookstore chain and it’s issued every year, which means you’ll be forking over a lot of money as time passes. However, buying the newest edition is important because it’s your single best resource for industry changes and information. You can also subscribe to Writer’s Market and have industry changes and updates emailed to you. Subscription prices are:
- Complete WritersMarket.com Monthly subscription for $5.99 a month
- Complete WritersMarket.com 1-year subscription for $39.99
- Complete WritersMarket.com 2-year subscription for $54.99
- Novel & Short Story Market One Year Subscription for $19.99
- Literary Agents One Year Subscription for $19.99
Writer’s Market organizes book publishers by a number of categories including what and how they publish. It also organizes agents by a number of categories and provides you with valuable information, like how many books they sold last year. Purchasing this book annually helps you stay on top of the romance writing industry, it puts everyone in the industry at your fingertips, and just flipping through it is inspiring – all the potential markets for your romance writing career.
#2 RWA, Romance Writers of America. Romance Writer’s of America is the single biggest writing organization around, with more than 10,000 members and 145 chapters. They are dedicated to advancing the professional interests of career-focused romance writers through networking and advocacy.
Membership is $85 annually, there is also a one time $25 processing fee, and includes monthly delivery of the RWR – a magazine style newsletter filled with industry information, chapter information, contests and workshops and articles on craft, career and more.
RWA chapters also have annual dues however they’re a great place to mingle with other romance writers, published and unpublished, learn more about craft and career and gain the opportunity to meet agents and publishers in the romance industry. Becoming a member of RWA is a motivating and profitable step to take because in this business, like any other, sometimes it pays to know people in the industry.
#3 We’ve talked about a book, an organization and now we’re talking about a romance writing course. The Writing Romance for Love and Money online course is your A-Z template for writing a successful, profitable and published romance novel. Think about authors like Nora Roberts or Amanda Quick. Both authors write several books each year and they write several more under a variety of pseudonyms, which means they’re writing six or more books a year.
That’s a book every two months or 8-10 pages a day every day and that doesn’t account for editing and revisions. These are busy romance writers! How do they accomplish so much in so little time? They have a system, a template so to speak, that works for them. Writing Romance for Love and Money is your template. You still have to come up with the ideas but that’s not hard, right? You probably already have tons of ideas waltzing around in your head. What you need, and what this wonderful romance writing resource provides is the step-by-step template to get the job done.
As a reviewer for Romantic Times Book Reviews and a published author I can tell you these three resources are the key essentials to starting your life as a profitable romance writer. If you want to make a living writing romance, start here. Annually, I renew my RWA membership, I buy the newest Writer’s Market and I have the Writing Romance for Love and Money sitting on my desk open to the point I’m working on in my current WIP, work in progress. They are great resources and they work.