The Romance Industry

The Power of Reader Communities: How Goodreads Choice Awards Influence Romance Literature

Let’s talk about something we all know and love: the romance reader community. If you’ve ever swooned over a hero or squealed over a perfectly written grand gesture, chances are you’ve shared that excitement somewhere—with friends, book clubs, or, more likely these days, online. And one of the biggest platforms for romance fans to connect is Goodreads. It’s where we track our endless TBRs, leave reviews, and, every year, collectively lose our minds over the Goodreads Choice Awards.

The Power of Reader Communities: How Goodreads Choice Awards Influence Romance Literature Read More »

Why Don’t Romance Cover Characters Look Like Their Descriptions in the Book?

If you’ve ever picked up a romance novel and thought, “Wait, that’s supposed to be the hero? Didn’t the author say he has a scar, dark curls, and a brooding stare? Why is this guy blond and smirking like a toothpaste model?”—you’re not alone. Romance readers have been puzzling over this for decades. Let’s unravel

Why Don’t Romance Cover Characters Look Like Their Descriptions in the Book? Read More »

Why Best-Seller Lists Are the Worst Way to Find the Best Romances

Of course, you’re on the hunt for the best romances out there. Nobody picks up a book thinking, “I hope this is mediocre.” But here’s the thing: using best-seller lists, “top author” rankings, “Best of” compilations, or any similar lists to find great romances? That’s one of the worst ways to discover the truly amazing

Why Best-Seller Lists Are the Worst Way to Find the Best Romances Read More »

Are Historical Romances Really Dead This Time?

I first was drawn to historical romances because of two things.  One was, absolutely, the dresses.  A woman looks so much more womanly in some of the dresses she gets to swan around in, depending on which historical period you get to write in.  And with her breasts and waist emphasized the way most of

Are Historical Romances Really Dead This Time? Read More »

Romance and Feminism…This could change how you think of the genre!

The romance genre often gets a bad rap–usually by men, but also by pretty much everyone in traditional publishing, and a large group of industry professionals who look down their noses at the “women’s genre”. Which is sometimes hard to take, because I’m sure that many of the people disparaging romance have never read a

Romance and Feminism…This could change how you think of the genre! Read More »

Why Reviews Are Important–for readers AND authors.

If you’ve ever not left a review for a book you’ve loved (or hated!) because, well, who cares what you think?–then you should have a read through Kristen Lamb’s post “Book Reviews: Why They Matter SO Much“. It’s a really good overview of why reviews matter for both authors and readers. Even if you never

Why Reviews Are Important–for readers AND authors. Read More »

Some Pretty Big Changes Coming Up

Some Pretty Big Changes Coming Up Several weeks ago, I sent this to my reader’s list: Among the writing community I have a bit of a reputation for championing “wide” publishing. Let me explain that. As a reader, I’m sure you’re familiar with Kindle Unlimited, a subscription service that Amazon provides which, for a low

Some Pretty Big Changes Coming Up Read More »

…*made* it! (And why it isn’t “phew!”)

One of the benefits that the new world of indie publishing gives to you, as a reader, is not exactly obvious on the surface. You have to know a bit about the publishing world to realize how awesome and amazing indie publishing really is. So let me give you the nickel tour of one of

…*made* it! (And why it isn’t “phew!”) Read More »

Scroll to Top