The Romance Writer's Handbook [Paperback]

Rebecca Vinyard (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0871162040 | ISBN-13: 978-0871162045 | Publication Date: April 1, 2004

Would you like some friendly help getting started writing some of America’s most popular fiction? Author Rebecca Vinyard has put together a collection of folksy wisdom for aspiring romance writers to help them get 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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is for anyone looking to get published: a no-nonsense guide that’s accessible and packed with sensible advice." -- Eileen Goudge, bestselling author of Thorns of Truth
and Garden of Lies

About the Author

Author Rebecca Vinyard is a romance novelist and journalist, and manages the popular Romance Central website (romance-central.com)

Product Details

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: Back Stage Books (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871162040
• ISBN-13: 978-0871162045
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #630,896 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for both the beginning and experienced writer, April 18, 2004

By 

Rene M. Miller (Claremont, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Romance Writer's Handbook (Paperback)

The author uses an informal style that immediately puts her readers at ease. She uses her own experiences to illustrate points in her book, a method that really helps the reader understand why she is saying what she is saying. Another thing is how short the chapters are. It makes for easier reading. I know that seems kind of minor, but for me, sitting down and spending an hour reading just isn't possible. I read this book while on the elliptical machine at my gym. By making a point in a few pages then moving on, it held my interest. If I put the book down for a few days, it was easy enough to pick it up and get back into the groove.

The chapters entitled "Finding Your Voice" and "Imagery" were both excellent. They are very helpful to both new and experienced writers. I really liked Connie Flynn's chapter on paranormal romances. She made a couple of points that were salient to my writing.

I've got a bunch of how-to romance writing books, but I don't think I ever read one of them all the way through. It is simply written and the author makes her point and moves on. I recommend it highly to anyone wanting to write a romance.

I must confess that I did contribute a small article to the book. I did so knowing that Ms. Vinyard would put together a good book. I was not disappointed.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars rudimentary, July 16, 2007

By 

skiwoman (Utah) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Romance Writer's Handbook (Paperback)

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.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent and "writer friendly" resource, April 14, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Romance Writer's Handbook (Paperback)

The Romance Writer's Handbook: How To Write Romantic Fiction & Get It Published by novelist, journalist, and www.Romance-Central.com webmaster Rebecca Vinyard is a quick-study course to crafting romance fiction for the markets and readers of today. From practical advice to creating heroes and heroines that resonate with the reader; to delicately orchestrating plot complications; to bringing alive sensual love scenes, and more, The Romance Writer's Handbook is an excellent and "writer friendly" resource and primer especially recommended for beginners seeking to break into print and intermediate level romance writers seeking to expand their published title list.