Customer Reviews

Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Your Romance Published

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are interested in becoming a published romance writer, this is the best book I have read on the topic. Julie Beard is an excellent writer, so I knew this had to be a great book. Her advice is simple to understand and to-the-point. She gets right down to what is important and what isn't. The format of the book makes it fun to read, and the expert advice offered from other superb writers is helpful and informative. After reading The Complete Idiot's Guide, I felt inspired and motivated, and I still use it as a running workbook for my manuscript. She touches on just about everything I have thought about, from plot development to how to negotiate a contract. I applaud her ability to explain what sells and what doesn't, yet encourage writers to push the limits of what is currently popular. Even if your goal is to publish in another genre, The Complete Idiot's Guide gives great overall advice concerning characterization, dialogue, voice, conflict...all of the important aspects of creating memorable fiction. This is a wonderful book, and I recommend it to anyone interested in writing fiction. Thanks Julie!

Terrific! When I first read this book I'd just finished the first draft of my first novel, and while I was pleasantly surprised at parts of my work, whole sections of it were just plain sucky. I had no idea why some things worked and others didn't. I started by reading Chapter 14, Polish Until It Shines, and found the advice on using your strengths to fix your problems especially helpful. After being mesmerized by this chapter, I went back to page 1 and read the whole book. Golden nuggets were everywhere!

Make sure you read this book when you plan to write a romance, possibly before you even start. Julie Beard covers all aspects of the subject and keeps her tone light and encouraging. She also includes great references to publishers, resource books and organizations.

She mentions so many other authors that all have something unique to contribute, that I would have liked an alphabetical list and maybe their specialty and of course where they are mentioned in the book.

But even if you don't want to write a romance novel, you learn a great deal about why they are so fascinating, what their basic structure is and what separates the good ones from the rest.

Easy to read with plenty of input from published authors this book is a must have for those that are even thinking of writing a novel of their own. Or perfect if you are new to the idea and have no real direction.

Written by a published author Julie Beard this book takes you from determining what kind of book you would like to write to how the romance industry works. It has a little bit of everything to get you started on the right path! I highly recommend this book!

This book is fantastic! If you just have the idea that you might like to write a romance novel but aren't sure if you can do it or aren't sure how to do it - then this is the book for you! It's so easy to read with an outline form and layman's terms. It taught me many things I didn't know about the industry. It even gives you a list of publishers. This book and some of your old paperbacks are really all the reference you need to know how to do your basic writing. I would gladly spend my money on this book again.

Excellent advice on how to write, what to write, and where to send it once you've finished it. A realistic look at the romance industry.

If you are truly serious about becoming a successful romance writer then you MUST have this book. I've read TONS of books on writing, not only romance but fiction and non-fiction as well. None of them were as user friendly and focused on how-to info as this book. Most other books quickly brush over the how-to. This book actually shows you step by step what to do from choosing the type of romance to write, structuring your book, synopsizing each major part in 4 paragraphs to getting published!! This puts other writing books to shame and it makes me feel like I've wasted so many years with the others when I could have had this gem the entire time.

If you want to write romance and you want to get started on the right foot then you MUST HAVE THIS BOOK. No exceptions. And if you are trying to decide between this book and another (or several others), get this one! The others can't hold a match to this one. Not by a long shot.

Having read hundreds, maybe even thousands of historical romances over the last 20 years, I always dreamed of one day writing my own novel. This book is an extremely helpful tool for anyone that dreams of one day becoming a bestselling author. Julie Beard shares information about the industry and the various tricks to getting published. For those aspiring historical romance writers bogged down by the research process, Beard also gives insight to resources with which to build your historical framework.

This book is a great read. It's funny and inspiring. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to break into the romance industry.

This was the first book that I had ever read by Julie Beard. After reading her thoughts and ideas, I'm sure that it won't be the last. The book was intresting and to the point. Her ideas were well organized and thought out. A two year old could understand and utilize the information. At points there was humor and it felt as though you were talking to an old friend. Julie Beard has a new fan in me. Even if I find that I'm not intrested in her romance novels, when I am asked who is my favorite author, my answer will undoubtably be Julie Beard. The help and confidence that she offered me in this book were well worth the price. I'm not sure that I'll ever be an author, but if I fail it won't be due to anything that was lacking in her book. If I were given the opportunity I would send her a personal thank you. My out look and my life were changed in a couple of hours.

I have pretty much every book on romance writing I can get my hand on, and while there's certainly a lot of overlap among them, this is definetly the best.

While all of the books have helpful information on the romance industry, this one really stands above the rest. It's wonderfuly organized - it's the one I turn to first when I need to find something quickly. It's also well written - the information doesn't differ a whole lot from the other books, but this is by far the most fun to read. I've also found that the suggestions are truly helpful. The hints/suggestions sound really basic, but have made the writing process MUCH easier (I'm a beginner).

Most of the books in this genre have something new to offer, but if you're only going to buy one, this is definetly your best option.