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The Romance Writer's Handbook: How to Write Romantic Fiction & Get It Published
Would you like some friendly help getting started writing some of America’s most popular fiction? Author Rebecca Vinyard has put together a collection of folksy wisdom for aspiring romance writers to help them get published. Romance fiction makes up more than half of all mass-market novels sold, with over 2,000 new titles released each and every year. And unlike other fields of fiction, romance truly welcomes new writers, as editors search through queries and conference appointments for the next Nora Roberts or Barbara Delinsky. In 49 chapters, The Romance Writer’s Handbook takes aspiring writers through a quick course in writing romantic fiction for today’s markets. Here is "from-the-ground-up" advice on how to begin to climb romance writing’s ladder of success.. The short, readable chapters in The Romance Writer’s Handbook provide practical information to help improve any writer’s stories. They offer advice on creating new but familiar heroes and heroines; crafting scenes, places and plot complications; and tackling thorny issues that range from point-of-view conundrums to steamy love scenes. The Romance Writer’s Handbook is the helping hand every author needs to get going and write romance stories that satisfy and sell. It
• Info on the business side (setting goals, finding an agent, formatting manuscripts, submitting winning query letters, and more).
• The lowdown on giving and receiving critiques.
• A paragraph-by-paragraph study of a well-written synopsis (essential to catching an agent’s or editor’s eye).
• Valuable advice on creating an author website.
• Short interviews with bestselling authors Lorraine Heath, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Connie Flynn, Katherine Sutcliffe, Judy Christenberry, and Suzanne Brockmann.
• Market information on mainstream publishers active in the romance field.
• A useful list of small presses and e-publishers.
• Info on the business side (setting goals, finding an agent, formatting manuscripts, submitting winning query letters, and more).
• The lowdown on giving and receiving critiques.
• A paragraph-by-paragraph study of a well-written synopsis (essential to catching an agent’s or editor’s eye).
• Valuable advice on creating an author website.
• Short interviews with bestselling authors Lorraine Heath, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Connie Flynn, Katherine Sutcliffe, Judy Christenberry, and Suzanne Brockmann.
• Market information on mainstream publishers active in the romance field.
• A useful list of small presses and e-publishers.
- GenresWritingNonfiction
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
3 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 13, 2018
A lot of good comments, a lot of good things to have. I would definitely read this again, because she wasn't too intense on the publishing and agents and everything that end of the writing books. I enjoyed the book, and learned quite a lot - even if my last notes didn't stay, and I don't know why.
July 13, 2023
"The Romance Writer's Handbook" by author Rebecca Vinyard offers aspiring romance writers friendly guidance and folksy wisdom to help them break into the popular genre of romance fiction. With over 2,000 new titles released each year, romance novels dominate the mass-market book industry. Unlike other genres, romance welcomes new writers, with editors actively seeking the next big names in the field.
In 49 concise chapters, this book serves as a quick course in writing romantic fiction for today's market. It provides practical advice to improve storytelling skills, covering topics such as creating compelling heroes and heroines, crafting engaging scenes and plots, and addressing various writing challenges, including point-of-view decisions and steamy love scenes.
"The Romance Writer's Handbook" not only focuses on the creative aspects but also provides valuable information on the business side of writing, including goal setting, finding an agent, manuscript formatting, writing query letters, and more. It also emphasizes the importance of receiving and giving critiques, offers insights into writing a captivating synopsis, and provides guidance on building an author website.
The book includes short interviews with bestselling romance authors such as Lorraine Heath, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Connie Flynn, Katherine Sutcliffe, Judy Christenberry, and Suzanne Brockmann, offering valuable perspectives from seasoned professionals. Additionally, it provides market information on mainstream publishers active in the romance genre and includes a helpful list of small presses and e-publishers.
"The Romance Writer's Handbook" serves as a valuable resource, offering practical advice, industry insights, and inspiration for aspiring romance writers who aim to write satisfying and marketable stories.
I appreciated that the book didn't focus too heavily on the publishing and agent aspects typically found in writing guides. It provided a solid and informative read, covering a wide range of topics. The interviews with different romance writers were particularly enjoyable, adding an extra layer of insight and inspiration. Overall, it is a book worth revisiting for its wealth of information and engaging content.
A Write to Review: https://lrjohnson13.blogspot.com/2023...
In 49 concise chapters, this book serves as a quick course in writing romantic fiction for today's market. It provides practical advice to improve storytelling skills, covering topics such as creating compelling heroes and heroines, crafting engaging scenes and plots, and addressing various writing challenges, including point-of-view decisions and steamy love scenes.
"The Romance Writer's Handbook" not only focuses on the creative aspects but also provides valuable information on the business side of writing, including goal setting, finding an agent, manuscript formatting, writing query letters, and more. It also emphasizes the importance of receiving and giving critiques, offers insights into writing a captivating synopsis, and provides guidance on building an author website.
The book includes short interviews with bestselling romance authors such as Lorraine Heath, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Connie Flynn, Katherine Sutcliffe, Judy Christenberry, and Suzanne Brockmann, offering valuable perspectives from seasoned professionals. Additionally, it provides market information on mainstream publishers active in the romance genre and includes a helpful list of small presses and e-publishers.
"The Romance Writer's Handbook" serves as a valuable resource, offering practical advice, industry insights, and inspiration for aspiring romance writers who aim to write satisfying and marketable stories.
I appreciated that the book didn't focus too heavily on the publishing and agent aspects typically found in writing guides. It provided a solid and informative read, covering a wide range of topics. The interviews with different romance writers were particularly enjoyable, adding an extra layer of insight and inspiration. Overall, it is a book worth revisiting for its wealth of information and engaging content.
A Write to Review: https://lrjohnson13.blogspot.com/2023...
February 4, 2014
I found this book in the library, as I searched for way to enhance my stories with the understanding that a novel without love and romance is incomplete. There are a number of parts to this book, but I wasn't so interested in a fair amount of the information that dealt with the publishing end of writing, seeking the parts specific to romance writing. I found two chapters particularly interesting and informative: archetypes for male and female characters, of which eight are described for each. Mapping out the characters for my work, I've always looked at this under the rubric of role: why is this character there, what role does he or she to play, why is he there and is she actually necessary? This author comes at this in a different way, using stereotypes as an approach. When I combine my way of looking at the characters and her way of looking at the characters I find that they blend in parts but provide a certain amount of uniqueness that I hadn't given much thought to in the past. In this sense I learned a great deal and recommend this book to those who wish to investigate romantic characters, reading those parts that best apply to their needs.
Each reader is different, comes to book for different purpose. If you're looking for different ways to approach your work, this book holds lessons to be learned.
Each reader is different, comes to book for different purpose. If you're looking for different ways to approach your work, this book holds lessons to be learned.
April 23, 2015
Non-romance writers: don't run away. I don't read this for the romance writng aspect either, at least not specifically. All around, this is one of the best writing books I've read, and I've read plenty of them in the past.
Both entertaining and informative (What more could one ask for?), Rebecca Vinyard manages to pull you into the fantasy: you can write. It's the first time I really got the bug, way back in my freshman year of high school, and it stuck. She provides exercises to help you, ideas, advice on all things from rejections to query letters, and generally managed to demystify publishing. Now, I'm the first to admit that these books can quickly go out of date, but only to an extent. The writing advice is still sound, and will be for years and years to come.
A great bookshelf turn-to, when in a pinch or jsut straight-up bored.
Both entertaining and informative (What more could one ask for?), Rebecca Vinyard manages to pull you into the fantasy: you can write. It's the first time I really got the bug, way back in my freshman year of high school, and it stuck. She provides exercises to help you, ideas, advice on all things from rejections to query letters, and generally managed to demystify publishing. Now, I'm the first to admit that these books can quickly go out of date, but only to an extent. The writing advice is still sound, and will be for years and years to come.
A great bookshelf turn-to, when in a pinch or jsut straight-up bored.
March 8, 2008
This book was okay not really what I was looking for but would work if you don't have a basic understanding for romance or how to write one. The best part was the synopsis information and query but it is generally useful more for romance then anything else.
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September 6, 2011This is a good survey for beginning writers. As fast as publishing is changing though, I wonder if these type of books are relevant anymore.
December 6, 2011
this was a solid read full of a lot of information. i especially enjoyed the interviews with various romance writers.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews