How To Write a Romance Novel: A Beginner's Guide to Getting It Written and Getting It Published

by Susan Palmquist

Do you have an idea for a romance story but don't know where to start? How To Write a Romance Novel will show you how to get ideas, shape them into a story that's unique and how to create memorable characters. It also covers two crucial aspects of the genre, emotion and sexual tension. Whether you want to write for Mills and Boon/Harlequin or pen more erotic stories like Fifty Shades of Grey, How to Write a Romance will get you started and help you get published.

Susan Palmquist was born in London, England but now resides in the US. She’s been writing since the late 80s and is now a freelance writer, short story writer, blogger, and author. Her first romance novel, A Sterling Affair was published by The Wild Rose Press. Her work has also appeared in magazines and anthologies in both the US and UK. Under her pen name, she’s bestselling author Vanessa Devereaux. As well as her writing career, she’s also a tutor for Writers’ News Home Study Courses, and frequently teaches workshops through various chapters of the Romance Writers of America.

98 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2012

Reviews

[Suzanne Ruthven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rebecca Kershaw | The New Writer Bookshelf page.

This is a beginner's guide to writing and publishing a romantic novel and at only 85 pages is very accessible. It's written in n informal, chatty style and the twelve chapters are all broken down into very short segments, with 'Things To Try' lists and summaries of the main points.
It covers the expected topics such as characterisation, dialogue, point of view and sexual tension but without going into a great deal of detail. I was disappointed there was hardly anything about plotting or structure and while the author stresses how important it is to have internal conflict she doesn't really advise on how to achieve it.

The book is good on providing a breakdown of the main romantic sub-genres, markets and how to submit a manuscript. Unfortunately the overall impression I got was that the book had been written and published in a hurry to capture the Fifty Shades of Grey wannabe market. There are lots of typos and lengthy excerpts from the author's own novels, which felt like padding.

This might be a useful starting point for someone considering putting pen to paper for the first time but for me I want more substance and advice on the actual writing and editing processes than are offered here. This new title shot straight onto an Amazon top ten list and should be of interest to every would-be romance author. Whether you want to write for Harlequin Mills & Boon, or pen more erotic stories like Fifty Shades of Grey, this how-to book will get you started and help you get published.

[Maria]

*No rating because I translated this book into Italian and I also edited it.

*Nessun giudizio perché ho tradotto questo libro in italiano e ne ho fatto anche la revisione.


Un libro molto interessante se siete scrittori alle prime armi e avete bisogno di consigli per sviluppare la trama e creare personaggi accattivanti e memorabili. Utile anche se avete già all'attivo delle pubblicazioni perché -in qualsiasi campo- c'è sempre da imparare. Il testo contiene, inoltre, suggerimenti per affrontare il mondo dell’editoria. Il tutto arricchito dall’esperienza personale di Ms. Palmquist.

Il titolo della versione italiana è "Come scrivere un romanzo d'amore - Guida per principianti per scriverlo e pubblicarlo".

Buona lettura!

[Jennifer Worrell · Rating 1 out of 5]

This beginner's guide barely touches on key topics. When it does, it often makes impassioned comments about how important they are, yet gives no examples. For instance, there is a chapter on POV, which touches on 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and omniscient. Then there's a long description about how invaluable Deep 3rd is, but it doesn't explain it in any great detail except that it's like being a method actor. Great...now I need a book that explains method acting, and another to tell me how to apply that to writing. However, when the author has a chance to use her own work as an example, it can go on for a couple of pages. There are no examples from other authors' published works.
Aside from that, people who have grammar-based OCD will have a hard time getting through the run-on sentences and bad punctuation. It seems this guidebook had never found an editor.

[Dalaina Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!! So helpful!!

[Robyn Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid writing advice for writers of any genre.

[Muchandquick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found it benignly unhelpful. Key writing concepts such as POV, emotion, and character are introduced and then given only the bare description before the author moves on to the next chapter. I believe the writing exercises were along the lines of "Dialogue is important. Try writing some dialogue."

[Lindah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Points for conciseness and helping a beginner decide if she wants to write romance. She's going to need a lot more study if she does, and this book will give her the outline for topics she needs to cover.