So You Want to Write Romance?

It used to be that when you thought of a romance novel, you thought of the stacks of Harlequin, or Silhouette series romance novels on your mother's shelves, or maybe you thought of the Regency romances which were so popular in the 80's. Whatever your idea of a romance novel is, you can bet that if it hasn't changed it will after reading this article.

These days in the beginning of the 21^st century romance books have taken on a whole new look. For one thing while category and single title romances are still big sellers at the bookstore, there is now a whole new type of romance book to read, that being the e-book or electronic book. With the advent of electronic publishers, there has also come a willingness to try new things. Topics that had never been broached before in romance books are now regular topics, topics such as BDSM, ménage, and gay relationships are common. It is not that fiction with these topics didn't exist before, but they were never really associated with the romance industry. However as times have changed, so too have women (or maybe we just finally got over our fears of saying what we really wanted), and what might have been considered taboo in a romance book of the past no longer is.

Another trend is that it is not just women who are writing romance these days, but men too. That's right, men, and they aren't using female pseudonyms either! While men are still in the minority when it comes to romance writing, I see that trend changing as time goes on and other men who want to write romance follow in the footsteps of other successful male romance authors.

So, not only are romance novels addressing topics that may have been considered taboo in the past, they are also crossing genres. Even in mainstream romance it is not uncommon now to see books labeled futuristic, science fiction, fantasy or paranormal romance. To blur the lines even further some authors have taken it another step by actually combining futuristic and science fiction or science fiction and paranormal genres, and wonder of wonders, the publishers are letting them.

There's a catch though to all this wonderful blurring of the lines on topics and genres, and it is that you'd better come up with something really creative if you want to get noticed by publishers and readers alike. The fact of the matter is, even Harlequin has a line now called Nocturne which are books with paranormal and fantasy elements. In addition, mainstream authors such as Linda Howard are writing time-travel romance novels such as her Son of the Morning and Killing Time. Recently Kensington opened its erotic line Aphrodisia for books that are erotic romance. Books which fifteen or twenty years ago would have been ignored by mainstream romance publishers are now being published. Romance authors writing books that cross genres which in the past had been frowned upon are now winning awards for their creativity.

So, if you want to write romance and you haven't read romance before, and or you haven't ventured into the electronic book arena, you need to do so before you begin writing. Without a solid understanding of what is available and what women and men for that matter are buying, and reading when it comes to romance novels you can't even begin to compete. So, read romance, read every kind of romance there is. Get a feel for what the industry is putting out both in mainstream romance, and e-books, and find out what you like. One way to do this without going bankrupt is to become a reviewer for one of the online reviewing places such as Coffee Time Romance, Two Lips Reviews, Fallen Angel Reviews, and Romance Reviews Today just to name a few. While not typically a paid position, you get to keep the books you review, and you even get books before they are in stores. This is a fantastic way to discover what is available, as well as what you like to read, especially since we tend to write the kind of books we enjoy reading.

When you get to the point that you have a good idea of what the romance industry is churning out both from mainstream and electronic publishers, then you will be better equipped to write a romance that will be taken seriously. I'm not suggesting you write only for the market, although this usually does play a bit of a part when a romance writer decides on a story topic, having a grip on the industry and what is out there will give you a better idea of your chances for success.