Can I Get Paid to Write Saucy Books? Make Cash with Spicy Romance Books

Studying Time: 10 minutes

Romance books have all the time been a well-liked style – however ‘spicy’ books have a brand new and big readership because of a number of high-profile books recently (Sarah J Maas, we’re you). When you’ve all the time wished to become profitable writing books, and you’ve got a artistic creativeness, this could possibly be an effective way to become profitable. Right here’s your whole information to writing erotica, closed-door romance, and all the pieces in-between!

What’s Romance as a Style?

Romance writing spans a really broad spectrum of forms of books. There’s one apparent widespread theme: individuals fall in love. However apart from that, virtually something goes!

A latest growth in ‘romantasy’ blends romance with fantasy books, and this has launched a complete new era to romance writing (and studying). However there are many differing kinds. You possibly can both self publish or historically publish, relying on how shortly you need to become profitable and the way a lot management you need over the publishing course of.

How Spicy Do I Must Be?

‘Spicy’ is a time period used for erotic writing that’s graphic and/or express, whereas extra ‘conventional’ romance is usually known as ‘closed door’. It means you get hints of what occurs, however most is left as much as the reader’s creativeness because it occurs ‘behind closed doorways’. Spicy books are sometimes very express, so you should be comfy with writing R-rated issues!

The excellent news is there are audiences for all ranges of ‘spice’. So, if you happen to’re not comfy writing express intercourse scenes, you possibly can nonetheless become profitable writing romance books.

How Do I Write a Romance Guide?

Whereas it’s now simpler than ever to publish your writing because of eBooks and platforms like Amazon, Kobo, and Apple Books, you continue to have to put within the work if you wish to make constant cash out of your romance writing!

Listed below are a number of vital issues to think about.

Learn, Learn, Learn!

To start with, earlier than you even set pen to paper or fingers to typewriter, be sure you know your style. Get your palms on a library card, or signal as much as a free trial of Kindle Limitless, and skim as a lot romance fiction you will get your palms on. That is one of the best masterclass you possibly can take if you’re studying learn how to write romance novels.

Take note of widespread themes and tropes, what you prefer to learn and what turns you off (pun supposed), and it will show you how to form an thought of what sort of romance author you need to be. It should additionally present you what’s a bit too generally seen, the unhealthy sorts of tropes you need to keep away from, and hopefully spark concepts about how one can deal with them in a contemporary new manner.

You Don’t Want Particular Software program… However It Might Assist

You possibly can write a novel in Google Docs, Phrase, or every other phrase processing software program. Nevertheless, as you construct your romance world and get to know your characters and plot, it may be lots of info to wrangle. That’s why there are some novel-specific software program choices on the market you would possibly prefer to strive, some are free and primary like yWriter, whereas others are paid however have extra performance, akin to Scrivener and Novlr.

You will get 20% off Scrivener if you happen to enter MAGPIE at checkout. (This isn’t a sponsored hyperlink or advert).

If you wish to self-publish your books as ebooks, formatting software program will be actually useful. With Home windows, Atticus is probably the most generally used, whereas Vellum is for Macs. They assist flip your manuscript right into a correctly formatted ebook with out hours and hours of arduous work!

(There has not too long ago been a web based controversy about Vellum, the place some individuals have confused it with Vellum AI. Vellum has been round for over a decade, and is a formatting software program – assume Phrase on steroids – whereas Vellum AI is one thing launched in 2025 and is for pc builders. They’re two very various things and Vellum is NOT an AI programme).

Romance Guide Size

Romance is often between 50,000 phrases for business (‘chick lit’) as much as 80,000 for historic romance. Romantasy books that mix romance and fantasy genres are usually longer, as much as round 100,000 phrases, however it doesn’t need to be that lengthy.

You too can strive your hand at quick reads. Amazon Kindle determines the size of a learn by the web page numbers – you possibly can’t set this in your add metadata, however usually if you happen to stick inside sure web page limits you’ll come up in the suitable search filters.

The tough web page rely for brief reads could be:

• quarter-hour – 1 to 11 pages
• half-hour – 12 to 21 pages
• 45 minutes – 22 to 32 pages
• One hour – 33 to 43 pages
• 90 minutes – 44 to 64 pages
• Two hours or extra – 65 to 100 pages

That is ebook pages, moderately than variety of pages in phrase. A ebook web page is round 280 phrases. So, a 30-minute learn at 15 pages lengthy could be round 4,200 phrases. These quick tales do significantly nicely when enrolled in Kindle Limitless, which is good for brand new writers to construct their model – the returns are smaller, however extra individuals are prone to learn your ebook.

You Want a Plot

Romance isn’t nearly individuals falling in love and doing impolite issues to one another! Readers of romance love the story of why individuals fall in love, out of affection, and even after they’re torn between loving two individuals. Plot is essential in romance books, however there are some key moments most may have, together with:

• A meet cute of the couple-to-be
• A honeymoon section
• The issue turning level (have they got a partner or associate already? Does another person come into their lives? and so on)
• An argument between the lovers
• Both an ending the place they get again collectively for good (often known as a contented ever after) or no less than within the short-term (known as ‘joyful for now’)

Take into consideration what it’s that makes individuals fall out and in of affection. Spicy books are nice at specializing in the bodily components of relationships, however romance readers are a sensible viewers and so they’ll need greater than floor lust to maintain them studying. Understanding who your characters are, what their goal is and the obstacles they face to get to it, and why they find yourself in love are all vital plot factors you should embrace.

Assume About Your Viewers

It helps to have a transparent viewers in thoughts earlier than you begin writing. This can affect the tone of your writing, how express you’re with intimate scenes, and the kind of plot you’ll write. For instance, some older readers desire traditional Mills and Boon ‘mild closed door romance’ whereas there’s a rising pattern for girls of their 20s and 30s to get pleasure from significantly ‘spicy’ novels. Having a few ‘supreme readers’ in thoughts if you’re writing will show you how to keep on observe and focus the ‘model’ of your ebook.

Decide Your Protagonist Nicely

Your fundamental character must be somebody who’s a go-getter, even when they’re naturally timid. They should have a motive to alter throughout the ebook – this could possibly be as a result of they’ve moved from a village to a metropolis (or vice versa), have a brand new job, go on vacation or related. A change in circumstance and/or location is often what makes characters hunt down new issues – and that’s what drives the plot of a romance ebook.

Whereas your character will be anybody, usually your protagonist shall be feminine, as the vast majority of romance readers are girls. You possibly can have male or non-binary views, however there’s a smaller area of interest for them. Many romance authors love to do ‘twin POV’ or twin viewpoint, which suggests you write one chapter in your protagonist’s voice and one other within the antagonist (or second protagonist) voice and alternate by means of the ebook to present completely different views. That is significantly helpful for telling the story in a broader manner, moderately than sticking in a single character’s head – however it may be difficult to do, so takes some follow.

When you resolve on twin POV, be very cautious to not ‘head hop’. That is if you change inside ideas from one character to a different in the identical scene. It’s complicated for the reader! So stick to at least one scene, one particular person’s internal ideas – then you possibly can all the time change the character within the subsequent scene.

Discover a Proofreader

Earlier than you publish or ship your ebook to an agent to get printed, you should have another person learn your ebook. There are various kinds of editors, costing completely different quantities. A developmental editor may be very deep-dive and can work on the construction and story of your romance novel. A duplicate editor or line editor will enhance how your sentences stream and fact-check issues to be sure you don’t make any evident errors. The most cost effective choice is a proofreader, who reads the ebook and highlights your spelling and grammar errors.

It’d really feel arduous to pay earlier than you get any revenue out of your ebook, however if you happen to’re the one particular person studying it you possibly can simply miss errors since you’ve been staring on the identical pages for weeks! An excellent proofreader will show you how to deliver your ebook as much as commonplace. It’s vital for whether or not you’re self publishing or sending to an agent. There are a lot of providers out there on-line – be a part of some writing teams on Fb and ask for private referrals from different writers (don’t simply go together with the primary one who approaches you to promote their providers!).

First, with self publishing, you will need to keep away from spelling and grammatical errors which might postpone your readers – and with platforms like Kindle Limitless, you’re paid by the variety of pages which are learn. So that you need individuals to maintain studying!

Secondly, if you wish to be seen by a writer or agent, you want your manuscript to be in one of the best form potential to get their consideration. Errors can cease them studying and reject the ebook, which suggests you’ll have to start out the lengthy question course of over again.

Do I Want an Agent to Publish My Romance Novel?

Sure or no! There are two causes each solutions are true.

Self publishers don’t want an agent – they will publish no matter they need, at any time when they need. However as we talked about earlier, additionally they need to do all of the advertising and marketing and enterprise aspect of promoting romance novels, too.

Some conventional publishers, like Mills and Boon (learn extra beneath) will settle for ebook submissions from somebody who doesn’t have an agent. There aren’t many locations that do that, and so they’re very aggressive, however it’s a manner in to the trade if you will get it.

Most conventional publishers will solely take submissions from an agent. This implies you should get literary illustration earlier than you possibly can take into consideration publishing. This tends to be extra for business girls’s fiction or high-profile genres like romantasy.

The place Can I Publish My Romance Guide?

You possibly can select to self publish your ebook on platforms like Amazon, or historically publish to get your ebook into outlets. There are professionals and cons to each.

Self publishing offers you whole management over what you write, when it’s printed, and also you obtain a better proportion of sale income. Nevertheless, you additionally have to design your ebook cowl, run your PR, and proceed to market the ebook as soon as it’s printed, all of which might value cash and take lots of time to study and perform. You don’t get an advance fee with self publishing, so that you want some funds to get began.

Conventional publishing is traditionally extra ‘prestigious’, however that issues much less lately. Nevertheless, you’ll have an editor and advertising and marketing crew behind the ebook if you happen to handle to promote it to a writer, so that you don’t need to do all the pieces as you do with self publishing. Additionally, you will be paid an advance if you happen to promote the ebook, however make a smaller proportion on royalties.

Publishing on Amazon

It is vitally straightforward for anyone to self publish on Amazon and related platforms. It’s essential have a completed ebook that’s in a ebook format – software program like Vellum might help you with this, or there are Phrase templates on-line you should utilize.

You want a number of issues earlier than you possibly can hit publish:

• A ebook cowl
• A again blurb (the quick description on the again of the ebook to entice readers)
• The manuscript
• An ISBN quantity (two if you happen to plan to permit for bodily copies to be bought)
• Social media artwork for promotion
• Brief descriptions for meta knowledge
• A listing of key phrases that relate to your ebook to assist individuals discover it in searches

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing is the commonest platform for brand new writers to start out on. There’s a useful tutorial on the web site, and many YouTube movies for extra in-depth classes in regards to the nuances of selling your romance ebook.

Publishing Mills and Boon Books

If self publishing sounds too difficult, otherwise you need the status of being a historically printed writer, Mills and Boon are probably the most well-known identify in romance. The good information is that you simply don’t have to have an agent to undergo them – which may be very uncommon on this planet of conventional publishing!

There are some pointers to observe earlier than you submit. Learn their submission pointers on the web site – and be sure you know which imprint you need to undergo, too. Completely different imprints are like completely different manufacturers beneath the Mills and Boon umbrella, and so they every have a particular voice, viewers, and forms of story.

Mills and Boon Fashionable – has a hero prepared to take cost, however the heroine has a feisty aspect to her. Assume worldwide glitz and glamour for this collection.

Mills and Boon True Love – this collection is about relatable girls and deeply fascinating males, with out graphic scenes however intense emotion and pressure.

Mills and Boon Medical – the clue is within the identify right here, with medical settings taking the foreground, and devoted medical professionals with hearts of gold who work collectively.

Mills and Boon Historic – each time interval as much as the Nineteen Fifties and each stage of spice is accepted, with dynamic characters who’ve relatable conflicts

Harlequin Books

Mills and Boon even have Harlequin books, which is one other sort of novel. They’re extra cross-genre than the above imprints. The Intrigue submission pointers state that books with thriller storylines round 55,000 phrases are welcomed. The Suspense submission pointers state that imprint is for extra complicated, sustained suspense romance tales round 70,000 phrases lengthy.

Getting Began Assets

The web is your pal! There are such a lot of wonderful YouTube channels and podcasts and Substacks, it’s too many to checklist, however these ones are nice for newbie writers – some are romance-specific, whereas others show you how to study extra in regards to the craft of writing and likewise self-publishing.

YouTube Channels

Podcasts, Web sites, and Newsletters