Tag: romance novels

Watching For Signs

Romance writers know
when people start banning
books featuring diverse characters,
romance novels will be next.

We watch for
that movement.
We try to stop it
from happening.
And we prepare
because it WILL impact us
next.

I know if the UK is experiencing
extreme weather
and climate change,
my section of the world
will likely experience it
next.

I prepare
for those weather events.
I plan around them.

There are almost always
warning signs
foretelling big changes
in our lives
and in our businesses.

Figure out
what the warning signs
for your situation
are.

Monitor them.
And then prepare
for any changes.

Be Careful With Acronyms

Every industry has acronyms,
a series of words
shortened to a series of letters.

Acronyms save time.
It is faster to say NASA,
for example,
than
National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

But acronyms are only effective
when
the person we’re communicating with
knows what those letters stand for
AND
there is only one possible
interpretation of the letters.

If I’m marketing
to the general public,
I either
don’t use acronyms at all
or
I explain them
when I use them.

I will say
something like
“In Romance Novels,
the main characters
always find their romantic
HEAs, Happy Ever Afters,
or
HFNs, Happy For Nows.”

This is important
also when using an acronym
that might have two or more possible
interpretations.

MC, for example,
in Romance Novel talk,
could refer to Main Character
OR
Motorcycle Club,
an extremely popular subgenre.

Don’t assume everyone knows
the acronym you’re using.

Considering explaining it
the first time it is used
in a communication.

Envision The Ending

I love writing Romance Novels.
I suspect I’ll always write them.

But I also suspect
there will come a day
when I don’t publish them,
when I don’t engage
in the business side of writing,
when I ‘retire’.

I knew this from the start.

Which is
(one of the many reasons)
why I publish
under a pen name
(brand name).

I can sell that pen name
if I want to do that.
I can transfer it
and all my backlist (products)
to another writer or entity.

Will I do that?
That is doubtful.
I find that a bit
ethically challenged.

But by planning
for the end of my career
at the beginning of it,
I have given myself options.

Before starting your business,
think about all the possible ways
you could wrap up your business.
Build those possibilities
into your plans.

Editing Wikipedia

I often read the suggestion
that people contribute to the world
by editing a Wikipedia post
in their field of expertise.

Yeah.
Good luck with that.

The Wikipedia posts on Romance Novels
are horrendous.
They were clearly written
by people who hate Romance.

They are so bad,
Romance writers and readers
started their own independent Wikis.

I tried editing one Wikipedia article
in my niche.
It didn’t matter how many sources
I stated or linked to,
every edit was deleted.

I’m a multi-USA Today Bestselling Author.
I’ve been published by huge New York Publishers.
I had expert sources.
I have written for newspapers.
I followed instructions,
linked to noteworthy sources.

Nothing I did was accepted.
Everything edit was overturned
by the Romance-hating gatekeepers.

I hear that about
a lot of Wikipedia articles,
especially those involving
female achievements.

If you try to add your expertise
to a Wikipedia article
and your input is deleted,
don’t take it personally.
It happens to many of us.

And please stop giving
that outdated advice
to people.

Myth Vs Reality

My very first published
Romance Novel
was based on real life.

The heroine crafted
business plans
that were targeted toward
a specific venture capitalist
(the hero).

I did the same thing
…but without the romance.
(grins)

Of all the stories
I have published,
that one drew the most criticism
from readers
for being ‘unrealistic.’

They’d read other romances
with venture capitalist heroes.
They’d watched movies
with that hero type.
They believed they knew
what venture capitalists did
and who they were as people.

They were wrong.
The venture capitalists in their minds
were Hollywood creations.
But they were certain
they were right.

I suspect you have an image
in your mind
of a role
that is false also.

It could be the bootstrapping entrepreneur
building a software company
from nothing
in her parents’ garage
(Bill Gates,
whom this story originated with,
came from an extremely wealthy family)
or
the lawyer who gets her clients
out of any mess
based on her skills alone
(pure Hollywood myth).

Before acting on these assumptions,
dig deeper
and
verify they are true.

What Problem Are You Solving?

Some writers argue
that romance novels don’t need
a romantic happy ever after
or happy for now ending.

They don’t understand
the ‘problem’
romance novels solve
for readers.

Romance readers, yes,
are looking for entertainment
but any well written book
should supply that.

They pick up a romance novel
because they are craving
that burst of happiness
the romantic happy ever after
or romantic happy for now
supplies.

THAT is the problem
romance novels are solving.
And if writers don’t supply that,
they aren’t addressing
the reader’s ‘problem.’

Successful businesses
solve problems.
And they know this.

As Seth Godin
shares

“If it was hard
to explain
why someone needed
what you were doing,
you had a real problem.”

What problem is your business
solving
for prospects and customers?

Increasing Sales By Changing The Feelings Invoked

Great Romance Novels have superbly-crafted plots.
They have unique, wonderful characters.

But, most importantly,
great Romance Novels invoke strong emotions
in readers
(customers).

THAT is what readers
are buying
– the emotions,
the way they feel
while reading the back cover copy
(the marketing),
while looking at the cover
(the packaging),
while enjoying the story
(the product).

If writers
(business builders)
want to reach
a different audience
(a different target market),
an easy way
to do this
is by changing the feelings
their stories
(products)
create in readers.

As Seth Godin
shares,
when people approach
a product or service,
they experience
“Feelings first,
then they create a story.
Facts come in third.

If our goal
is to help people
make better choices,
it helps to first
create better feelings.”

If you want to change
your target market,
consider changing
the feelings your product/service
invokes in people.

Limiting Your Effort

When I started writing romance,
I wrote short stories
for a small press publisher.

I was working the business gigs
and didn’t have a lot of time
to spend on writing
and publishing stories.

I also didn’t know
what would sell,
what I was good at,
or
what I was doing.

I used what I call
the spaghetti method.
I threw a bunch of
short, quickly written stories
at the wall (the market)
and saw what stuck
(what was successful).

I used partners
(like the publisher)
so I had time to write
more stories
to throw at that wall.

Then I developed
that best selling ideas.

Daniel Vassallo
shares
(this entire thread
is gold)

“Aggressively capping
your inputs
is important
for many reasons.
The most obvious is that
it gives you space
for more bets.
But it also helps
tremendously
with motivation.
It’s a lot easier to do
small things,
and the failures hurt
a lot less
when you haven’t put in
a big effort.”

If you don’t know
what will be successful,
consider
limiting your inputs
as much as possible
and trying more things.