The Romance Writer's Handbook: How to Write Romantic Fiction & Get it Published

Romance fiction makes up more than half of all mass-market novels sold, with over 2,000 new titles released each and every year. And unlike other fields of fiction, romance truly welcomes new writers, as editors search through queries and conference appointments for the next Nora Roberts or Barbara Delinsky. In 49 chapters, The Romance Writer’s Handbook takes aspiring writers through a quick course in writing romantic fiction for today’s markets. Here is "from-the-ground-up" advice on how to begin to climb romance writing’s ladder of success..

The short, readable chapters in The Romance Writer’s Handbook provide practical information to help improve any writer’s stories. They offer advice on creating new but familiar heroes and heroines; crafting scenes, places and plot complications; and tackling thorny issues that range from point-of-view conundrums to steamy love scenes.

The Romance Writer’s Handbook is the helping hand every author needs to get going and write romance stories that satisfy and sell.

It includes:
• Info on the business side (setting goals, finding an agent, formatting manuscripts, submitting winning query letters, and more).
• The lowdown on giving and receiving critiques.
• A paragraph-by-paragraph study of a well-written synopsis (essential to catching an agent’s or editor’s eye).
• Valuable advice on creating an author website.
• Short interviews with bestselling authors Lorraine Heath, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Connie Flynn, Katherine Sutcliffe, Judy Christenberry, and Suzanne Brockmann.
• Market information on mainstream publishers active in the romance field.
• A useful list of small presses and e-publishers.
 

Customer Reviews:

rudimentary

I'm going to begin by picking a nit, here. This book is not authored by Ms Vinyard in the conventional sense. Probably 50% of the copy is authored by other women.
On to more important issues:
1) Most of the material in the book is quite elementary. If you don't know what point of view is or what the options are, this book explains that. But if you want advice beyond "don't change point of view too often," you will not get much help.
2) Unlike other writing manuals, this book is not structured in a way to help a beginner actually write a romance. It reflects this in it's contents, which include "Elements of Romance Storytelling," but nothing on putting the elements together.

I prefer "On Writing Romance" by Leigh Michaels and "Writing Romance" by Vanessa Grant, both of which rewarded my reading time with a great deal of useful information.

On the other hand, if you want to be part of the romance writers' community, this might be a good book for you, as it often mentions Romance Writers of America and the author's own web site. The section on "Support Networks" is as long as the one section on writing, "Elements of Romance Storytelling," and there is a whole section titled, "Inspiration, Comisseration and Information." That's all padding, from my point of view.
My own experience? I've won a state wide fiction award, edited a very small magazine and a book published by a major publisher, and written for a web site with ga-zillions of hits a week (yes, that's a technical term), and a glossy magazine. I teach college. I need to organize my material well and include plenty of useful content if I want my work to benefit my students.

2007-07-16

I'm Gonna Be A Star.

This book is generally known as the mack-daddy of the "how to write a romance" books. My sister and I intend to become embarrassingly rich with the information we glean from it. Should you never see my name again, rest assured, the fault lies with me, and not the book.

2007-01-09

A Keeper!

I'm about halfway through this book and have already learned so much that I'd pay FULL price for the book (I'm a used book nut, so that is saying a lot).

The info about proper manuscript set-up is worth buying this one.

I am not a "new" writer but haven't written romance until now. Looks like I chose a quality reference for the job!

I'm afraid many sub-par books are published every year about how-to-write. THIS one is not one of those!

2006-11-26

A Must Have for all new Romance Writers!

A wealth of knowledge! A must-have for the new writer and an excellent guide for writers at any level. It covers virtually everything you need to know when writing about romance, Including a basic understanding of the different types and sub-categories within this genre! Starting from the basic idea or concept, it takes you through the writing process with ease, step-by-step information teaches you about writing and selling in this genre. This book contains tips, ideas, advice, examples and more on every topic. I have read more than 25 books on this subject but THIS BOOK is undoubtedly one of the BEST!

2006-07-03

The BEST book on Romance Writing

Many of the books on this subject are not current and are only mildly entertaining... Ms. Vinyard on the other hand fills the pages with exciting descriptions of the current Romance market and piles on the practical advice for the new and experienced writer. This book is a must for ever Romance writer!!

2005-02-26