r/romanceauthors

Love them or hate them, I want to do a cartoony cover for a rom com I am writing. I am decent with photoshop. I was hoping to find some vector style characters on shutterstock but struggling to find anything decent. Maybe I'm not searching the right terms?

Any one else have any luck with this. Considering comissioning one but heard of other authors getting burned by cover designers giving them AI produced covers. Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I'm noodling around with the idea of making my next series (either duology or trilogy) a dark-ish arranged marriage romantasy from the ML's POV where he falls first and strives to earn her love and affection.

I really want to explore and dive deep into the perspective of a male main character who is besotted with a woman who needs time to warm up to him, etc. Not in a creepy "chase her/wear her down" way either, just like... if Disney's Beauty and the Beast were only from the Beast's POV. You know that whole, "I want to do something for her" moment before he gifts her the library.

Thoughts? Do readers hate it?

And not just in the romantasy genre, but in any genre? I personally love the ML's POV in contemporary and historical romance but idk if readers will pass on it or not.

To make the story stronger, I had to split my book into two, which resulted in a seemingly tragic ending in book one, but the romance thread is resolved with an HEA at the end of book two. There are other categories I can choose (epic fantasy, LGBTQ+), but I want it to be clear that there is romance. The romance subplots are present, and there will be payoff eventually.

Hi everyone. I'm new in this sub and writing my first contemporary romance. I've been wondering about when foreshadowing is an appropriate tool to use. A lot of the time I read something and the way foreshadowing is used it spoils te plot. It gives away this huge secret that the reader should find out while reading, not because there is a huge neon sign already pointing to it.

To make it a bit more specific, I'm writing a gay awakening romance. Two best friends take a cruise together and find out on board that it's actually a couples cruise. They decide to fake it till you make it. Sophie is out and proud gay, Emma is not. Sophie is the "outgoing, do before you think" type of person. And she's had feelings for Emma for years, but values their friendship over any kind of romance and has accepted tht it's never going to happen. Emma thinks things through, at length, from every side.
Obviously, throughout the story Emma starts to develop feelings for Sophie.

Now, here is where the foreshadowing comes in. In the third chapter the protagonists come back from their first dinner on board. Here is part of that:

>The cabin door clicked shut behind them with a soft, final sound. Suddenly, it was just them again. Emma stood there for a second longer, like the room might rearrange itself if she stared hard enough. It seemed smaller, somehow. She couldn’t put her finger on why, but something seemed to be different. The bed was still the same bed. A cozy, comfortable king size with pristine white sheets, thick soft pillows and a mattress that seemed to be made out of clouds. The chair was still where they’d left it, a sofa hadn’t suddenly appeared out of thin air. But why then, does it feel different in here? Emma tried to push the thought away.

>As Sophie let herself fall backwards on to the bed she said “We made it through our first day as an official fake couple.” She unbuckled the ankle straps of her shoes, taking them off her feet with a satisfying sigh. That feels much better.

>A small giggle escaped Emma’s mouth. “We did, didn’t we?’” A sigh of relief washed away the last vestiges of tension she felt about their predicament. They survived, just like Sophie said, and for the first time Emma allowed herself to believe they can pull it off.

>“We weren’t kicked off the ship,” Sophie smiled, turning to her stomach to have a better look at Emma. “We weren’t found out. And we had a romantic stroll on deck.” She couldn’t help teasing Emma one more time.

>“You also gave a master class on emotional intimacy” Emma giggled.

>Sophie gave her a quick grin. “Professor Doctor Sophie, In da house” They both let out a laugh.

>“You know- ” Emma sat down on the edge of the bed. “- this is the most relaxed I’ve been since we got on board.” She looked Sophie in her eyes for a second. “And it’s thanks to you. You always find a way to calm my nerves…” she was quiet for a moment. “Because you see me.”

>With that uncharacteristically emotional realization from Emma, Sophie couldn’t help herself. She sat up beside her friend, and gently wrapped her arms around her. Emma reciprocating alike. It lasted but a moment, enough to seal the deepened bond the night had shaped between them. But neither of them knows yet how much further their bond will deepen.

Naturally, it's obvious that something will happen between them. But is foreshadowing like this "hanging a flashing neon sign above it" or will the reader view it as pointing out what they already knew? I'd really like some advice from experienced writers.

Hi all!

I want to create a landing page for the warm reader magnet, which will be an epilogue to the book, so I can collect emails from people who liked the book.

I know this has probably been discussed many times, but I can’t find a clear answer: What’s the best way to do this? Is there a low-cost service that lets me set up a landing page, collect emails, host the reader magnet, and send out emails with the files?

Thanks

I've written two books of a cozy, small town romance series under a pseudonym (I'm a teacher so writing a romance as myself could be problematic for my main career). It's a typical series where there are five family members who successively fall in love. I have plans for the other three books.

However...I love shifter and omegaverse romance and got an idea for a shifter (non-RH, non-omegaverse) book. I want to write that next, then come back to the cozy series.

I know prevailing wisdom says new genre new pseudonym, but do you think that's necessary for sub genres? I haven't published anything previously, so I'll be starting my website, socials, etc from scratch once my books are ready to publish. If I do a second pseudonym, I'll have to do two sets and keep track of both on top of my teaching job.

What do you think would be best?

Has anyone done the New York Times' tiny love stories from Modern Love, written in, and heard back? I haven't heard back but don't know if I've waited long enough or if I should give up hope.

After writing a full-length novel (shelved for now) about a scandalous love affair, I realized that it includes two universally hated/disliked tropes: cheating and (not so secret) pregnancy. While pregnancy is somewhat ok but has to be disclosed upfront, cheating is a no-no in the romance world, even for dark romance readers. Am I wrong?

On top of that, the FMC's disturbing past is revealed in graphic details.

What a girl to do? To market it as women's fiction? But the core of the book is a love story..

Looking for Guidance from Fellow Writers

Hi everyone,

I’m preparing to publish my debut book, which is currently in the publishing stage and is expected to be available online within the next week. The book explores a contradiction between the Goddess and motherhood.

I’m looking to hear from writers who have already published their first book and can share their experience with the reviewing and publishing process.

How did you approach getting genuine, honest reviews? What mistakes should a first-time author avoid? And what would you recommend doing during the first few weeks after publication?

Any honest advice from fellow writers would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I know that historical romance is sadly not really getting picked up by trad publishers anymore, but I feel like I’m not seeing many new names come up even in self-publishing. A lot of historical romance forums just seem to talk about already established writers, but even some of these successful writers are no longer writing.

Added to that, I’ve heard historical romance readers say that they don’t want to engage with newer authors on kindle unlimited for fear the author is using Ai.

It’s made me wonder if it’s worth pursuing self-publishing historical romance. I’ve always loved historical settings and the high stakes and themes, but while it’s obviously a passion of mine, it would be nice to still find and connect to readers rather than publish into a void….

Is anyone currently active in this space? How have you found the process of writing and publishing in the current historical romance market? Do you think it’s still viable for a writer who is new to the genre?

Thank you!

Hi, I’m writing steamy romance and thought I was on point for the genre. But I was just reading a thread about third act break up and realized I might be incorrect.

My premise is married woman and mother starts an affair with a stranger during a week when her family is away.
It’s a trilogy and the first book ends with Grace having a fight with her lover, Jake.

The ending of book 1: She’s on the brink of confessing to her husband why she won’t accept a much needed contract.

By book 3, there is a HEA and a wedding but she goes through the wringer. Her husband leaves her, her child gets bullied. She’s building her business under financial strain.

There’s so much sex I’m exhausted. Over 30%. So the genre I chose is contemporary Romance, spicy 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Domestic
Character driven.

Am I making a mistake? Bc I can’t even get an ARC review. No one is biting.

Amy advice is so appreciated.
Book is being self published 8/12 on KU
Debut novel

I’ve tried all the sites: story origin pen pinery etc and paid $$$ and have nothing to show for it.

Any suggestions? I feel like I can’t promote fully till I have reviews. Publishing my debut novel on KDP 8/12 please help!

Book signings

Hi all new here, I am a PA so if I'm in the wrong spot I would love recommendations of different subs. I have been tasked with finding author signing sign ups and honestly have no idea where to start looking. Any ideas?

ETA: if there are any awesome PA subs I would love to know about them 🥰

^(Definitions) ^((how I understand them anyway))
^(Duet narration - Female narrator does all female voices or all FMC lines and all other voices in the FPOV, Male narrator does all male voices or just all MMC lines and all other voices in the MPOV.)
^(Dual narration - Female narrator does all voices in FPOV chapters, Male narrator does all voices in MPOV chapters.)

Why are duets in romance audio books not standard? Even if it's not a full duet and just with the main characters voices staying consistent throughout. It makes a huge difference to the enjoyment and tone of the books, especially Romance audiobooks with spicier scenes. Duet narrations are a total game changer, it adds depth to the book and brings the book alive, allowing the chemistry to shine through. I have listened to many duet audio books multiple times as they are so comforting and enjoyable to listen to. When I find an author who has duet audio books I tend to purchase all their duet audio books, I have found a number of new authors thanks to them having duet audio narrations!

Andi Arndt/Elena Wolfe, Savannah Peachwood and Jacob Morgan/Zachary Webber are some of the only ones I can listen to without cringing when its dual/single narration however I still much prefer to listen to them in duet format. When I hear narrators attempting to do the opposite gender I just imagine them talking to themselves with a wig. I find male narrators are often the worst and performing female voices and can often sound offensive and cringy. Some have been so bad that I had to return the audiobook. It makes it even worse when the narrator chosen isn't the best choice for the character, for e.g. sounds too old, doesn't have the skill to bring the book alive.

Who chooses the audiobook format i.e. Duet/dual/solo narrator? Is it the publishers/authors/producers?

Who chooses the narrators? Do the authors have final say?

Can audiobooks recorded as a dual narration easily be rerecorded into a duet narration by having the male narrator rerecording the MMC lines in the FPOV and the female narrator rerecording the FMC lines in the MPOV chapters? Or does it have to be completely redone? Does this happen often?

If the quality of one of the narrators is not up to par, how much say is there to have them rerecord? There is a female narrator I have found stands out because the quality of her audio isn't as crisp as her counterparts, she also sounds robotic due to cadence/tone/performance, in one audiobook her audio sounded sped up. I had to look up if she was AI the first time I heard her it was so bad. I find her really tough to listen to but sadly she is a prolific narrator and often paired with my favorite narrators. I have always wondered why she wasn't asked to rerecord or not chosen as much. Natural sounding narration with a good performance is also so important to enjoyment of the book.

Why would an author have duet audio books earlier in a series then switch to dual narration for subsequent books? I recently discovered a new author and fell in love with the story but don't want to listen to the rest of the series as they are dual narration.

Enemies-to-lovers will probably take me out one day 😭. Especially when they're still arguing while everyone around them can clearly see they're attracted to each other.

Should I have a different pen name for different sub genres i want to write? For example, if one pen name has sports romance and I write a series about that, then want to switch to writing about workplace romance, I should get a new pen name?

Hello fellow authors. I have lost so much money on FAKE cover artists, I thought I'd give this a try next. I want to hear from you, if you have a romance book artist you have actually used and published your book with their cover art. When I posted on another thread, I got hundreds of responses with images and portfolios, and have now given two artists a shot, sent them money, only for them to come back with almost the same thing I did in two seconds on ChatGPT. So, how can I find someone who isn't trying to scam this system? I'm hoping for recomendations for artists that have proven to be real. Thanks

If you see the word 'player' in a title, is it pretty much expected there will be sports (or video gaming, D&D, etc) inside? When I started this book a loooong time ago, the term player could go either way, but it seems like now the majority of the time it implies the MMC is both a womanizer AND a sports professional of some type. My MMC isn't a sportball (sportpuck?) player at all, but now that it's ready for a cover and I have to commit to a title, I'm having a terrible time giving up the original with 'player' in it.

Soooo... if you see 'player' in a title are you going to be annoyed that it's not a sports romance? Or on the other hand, skim past it if you aren't a sports romance fan? The cover illustration isn't sporty at all.

Also gladly accepting any suggestions for another word for player, though I've done lots of thesaurus type searching. (F*ckboy or man-w**** don't quite fit the vibe, even if I could get them past Amazon. LOL)