.png)
Romance Writing Resources
No matter where you are in your romance journey, this book will improve your understanding of the genre and plot structure. It isn't prescriptive, and in the years since it was written, expectations for and the importance of the third act break-up have changed, but it's still the best book to read if you're starting your romance writing journey.
One of the reasons readers love the romance genre is the character development inherent in every romance novel. This book shows you how to build the foundation for your character's development by establishing their goals and motivation. The author's advice on conflict isn't always relevant to romance plot structure, but understanding how conflict affects a character's goal and motivation is knowledge useful for any genre.
Character development in romance novels relates not just to goals and motivations, but to emotional wounds, too. And though emotional wounds don't have to be as deep as the ones listed in this book, this book is an excellent resource if you're brainstorming reasons why your characters might be hesitant to fall in love.
Readers love, and choose books based on, tropes. But just including a trope in your book isn't enough to draw them in on its own. To really hook readers and keep them coming back for more of your books, you have to dial into the fantasies we all want to see played out on the pages. Theodora Taylor does an exceptional job of explaining exactly how to do this, and her companion book, The Universal Fantasy List, goes even deeper into the concept and gives you a list of fantasies to incorporate into your next romance novel.
Fantasy romance is having a moment, and if you want to jump on the bandwagon, there's never been a better time. But the sub-genre requires world-building, a skill that's hard to learn . . . unless you have this book series, of which On World Building: Volume I is the first, in your arsenal. It teaches you how to build every aspect of your fantasy world, leaving no element out, so by the end of the series, you'll have built a complex, intricate world readers will want to return to again and again.
Romance Marketing Resources
Like it or not, if you want to sell books, you have to write to market. And Zoe York, a fellow romance author, shows you how to plan market-friendly romance series to attract fans and keep them coming back for more.
It is a truth universally acknowledged (yup, I just went Austen on you), that all self-publishing authors must have newsletters. And if the idea of setting one up is daunting and scary, there is no better book to walk you through the process than this one, by fellow romance author Tammi Labrecque.
While the book above will help you set up your newsletter, when it comes to attracting subscribers, this is the book to read. In it, you'll learn how to attract subscribers with different types of attractive, free content—called lead magnets, or as Tammi refers to them, "cookies"—to amass a list of fans who'll tune in for every new release, making your books that much more successful.
Once you've plotted your series and written your lead magnet, you're ready to start your newsletter. But that's easier said than done, because starting one means navigating a newsletter creation platform. Luckily, if you choose Mailerlite, one of the most popular newsletter registrar options, you can follow this handy book to find out exactly how to set up your newsletter and send it to subscribers.