How hard is it to break into the romance industry?

Question

I know that children's books is the hardest, but what about romance? Does anyone know the percentage of publications for that? Like how many are new authors, reprints, and publications by previously published authors?

Answer 1

Romance accounts for about 50 percent of all mass market paperback fiction sales, and the genre has made strong inroads into the hardcover and trade paperback markets in the last few years.

You can easily look at a book you don't like, that was horrible, and think, "If that got published, I can throw together anything and still find a publisher." Don't count on it. No publisher sets out to publish a weak book, but it just happens sometimes I guess. So it isn't as easy as writing anything and sending it out there.

Contemporary romances account for the bulk of sales, in large part because most series romance lines are contemporary, but historical romances are extremely popular.

Category romances, also known as series romances, are published on a monthly schedule in groups of about 4 to 6 novels. Like Harlequin Blaze etc. Mainstream romance are the ones that are single titles, like say something Johanna Lindsey would write and publish today. These are placed on bookracks by author's last name, rather than the series they are published in. These usually have a larger page count, sometimes twice as much as series books. 100,000 words or longer for mainstream, and series range from 50,000 to 100,000 words generally.

But the reason I explain that bit is this. Mainstream is tougher to sell, in part because you don't have an easy way to define the book in terms of a larger grouping, so it's harder for editors, marketers, PR people, and sales reps to talk about the novel. Not impossible, but harder.

The rewards of writing single titles can be huge, but it's a tough market to crack. Far more authors aspire to sell a mainstream than there's room for in the market, and actually getting published is no guarantee of the kind of success and fame most authors dream of. For every giant advance and printing run, a dozen or more mainstream authors get advances that don't pay the bills. Most authors' books don't get the advertising and PR push to support the big print runs that turn a novel into a bestseller, so luck, as much as talent, often makes a star.

Writing for series has both upsides and downsides, just as writing mainstream does. Category-only writers can never earn the huge advances that some mainstream writers receive, and they rarely star on the national bestseller lists or become household names. On the hother hand, most mainstream authors can only publish one book per year, either because of the time it takes to write a long novel or because most single-title publishers find that one-book-a-year schedule works for them. Plus, series authors can often contribute to several different series. So the advances may be smaller, but several per year, plus royalties, can add up. Every month, publishers put out over 70 original titles in series romances so there is a larger demand for series writing than mainstream. AND (this makes me feel giddy lol) many mainstream authors, including some of the biggest and most successful, got their starts in series. This migration is constant, so publishers constantly need new authors.

I'm sorry that I don't have any percentages for you but hopefully I gave you a little insight to HOW romances sell. If you decided to give series a try, keep in mind that most publishers have a certain style that the books in that series follows. Like the sensuality level, and word count etc. You can write to the publisher and get 'tip sheets' that will tell you what that series requires.

Good luck, I hope this helped!

Answer 2

I am not a romance writer, but from what I hear, the industry is a little more open to new authors. Many companies even post suggestions on how to write a good romance and tell you exactly what they are looking for. They do request certain formulas.

The volume of romance novels published annually alone should tell you there is some room for newcomers. Also, I have heard of many cases where people's favorite romance novelist "retired".

Check out some of yoiur favorite romance publishers and read their submission guidelines. They will tell you if they are reading unpublished authors. Also visit the site of RWA - The Romance Writers of America. They hold annual conventions, classes, etc. They will be able to help you a great deal too.

This has been added to my starred questions - add me as a fan to read a series of great Q and A selected from questions asked here regarding writing.

Pax- C

Answer 3

It's very hard, even if you have talent. There are a lot of other people hoping to do the same thing. If you've written a novel, submit it to a publisher, and if they reject it, keep trying other places. I heard a talk once by a published author - her second book was an Oprah pick. She said she had a whole shoebox of reject letters before her first novel was bought and published.

Answer 4

I'm not sure. Its all about persistance.
If you KNOW you have a good book, you just keep going. And if you dont' have a passion for the genre you wright, it shows.