jennaharte
by jennaharte
Suzy England: From Wattpad to Published Author
September 27, 2022 in Blog, Publishing, Writing Romance
Suzy England: From Wattpad to Published Author
Suzy and my writing careers started similarly, but we’ve had sightly different paths to publishing. In this interview, Suzy shares how she started writing, discovering Wattpad (and Wattpad discovering her), and now landing her third traditional publishing deal.
SUZY ENGLAND ON THE WEB
💗Website: SuzyEngland.com
💗Instagram: suzyenglandwrites
💗Facebook: authorsuzyengland
The Weekend
Chasing Mr. Crown (Wattpad Paid)
Perfect…coming soon
Wattpad Deep Dive Interiew with Suzy England
Following this interview, I talking to Suzy more about Wattpad and how authors could use it in their writing efforts. Write with Harte members can view the deep dive into Wattpad here.
If you’re not a Write with Harte member, you can join here. It’s free!
by jennaharte
Wattpad Deep Dive with Suzy England (Members)
September 26, 2022 in Deep Dive (Member Only), Interviews, Writing Romance
I interviewed Suzy England about her journey to becoming a Wattpad Star and published author. You can see that part of the interview here.
Below you’ll find a members-only exclusive deeper dive into Wattpad, where Suzy shares her experience and insights on how Wattpad can help you with your writing and garnering a fanbase. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Will you be trying out Wattpad?
by jennaharte
FREE Preptober & Writevember Romance Challenge
September 21, 2022 in Blog, Writing Romance
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is coming in November! Millions of writers across the globe set out to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Here at Write with Harte, I want to support your effort in accepting the NaNoWriMo challenge, or through WWH Writevember, achieve some other writing goal, whether it’s getting your lead magnet written, writing a novella, finishing a manuscript, etc. To help with either or both goals, Write with Harte is running its free Preptober and Writevember challenge.
What is Preptober?
Preptober is the name given by NaNoWriMo participants to the month of October, where they plan out their project for November. While NaNoWriMo rules state that writer must work on a brand new project in November, there are no rules against planning and plotting.
At Write With Harte, the Preptober challenge provides a daily email to help you plan and plot your project (even if you’re a pantster), so that when November rolls around, you are all set to start and finish on time.
What is NaNoWriMo?
If you’re a writer, odds are you’ve heard about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), in which writers attempt to write 50,000 words in 30 days during the month of November. It sounds crazy. It sort of is, particularly if you’re a writer who can’t stand to write badly. Chris Baty, the creator of NaNoWriMo, and other participants agree that the month-long writing marathon is all about getting a badly written rough draft. You might be wondering, why bother to write like a madman just to get a bad draft? The answer it two-fold:
1) Bragging rights. Let’s face it, it sounds impressive to say you wrote 50,000 words in a month.
2) Completing a draft of a novel. Yes, it’s bad draft, but often the hardest part of writing is the first draft. Whether you write the draft in 30 days or 30 months, it’s not going to be presentable. No first drafts are. With NaNoWriMo, At the end of the 30 days, you have 50,000 towards a completed book. Most people never finish a book. Others who write a book take months if not years to finish. If you’re serious about writing a book, NaNoWriMo can jump start your effort.
Many NaNoWriMo particpants have parlayed their 50,000 words, after lots of editing, into a published work, including Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, and Harley Jane Kozak’s Keeper of the Moon.
I’ll be doing NaNoWriMo and I challenge you to join me. I know it sounds daunting, particularly in the middle of the holidays, but it can be done. The trick to success in NaNoWriMo is to have a plan (that’s what Preptober is for) and to average 1,667 words a day, which is really not that much, if you know what you want to write.
Some writers believe NaNoWriMo is a gimmick that promotes poor writing. I can spend a whole other blog post questioning why writing more words in less time is automatically considered “poor writing.” Instead, I’ll share my thoughts that NaNoWriMo is a great way for a would-be or struggling writer to jump-start new writing habits and to start and finish a book.
What is Writevember?
Writevember is Write with Harte’s version of NaNoWriMo. It’s set to coincide with NaNoWriMo if that is what WWH members want to attempt. However, I also know that writers might have other projects they want to work on that don’t fit into the NaNoWriMo rules (50,000 words of a new, never-before started novel). Writevember allows writers to pick their own writing challenge for November. Ideas include finishing an already-started novel. Writing a 30,000 word novella. Writing two 30,000 word novellas. Writing 60 or 80,000 words.
Further, writers who join WWH’s challenge receive daily tips, support, and motivation to achieve their goal.
FREE Preptober and Writevember Romance Writing Challenge
I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo for more years than I can remember. I haven’t always been successful at hitting the 50,000 word mark, but even then I came out with more words than I might have if I’d never signed up. The challenge for me was running out of steam and words about 10 days in. that coupled with the idea that 1,667 words a day was crazy, sometimes I’d give up.
Since I’ve become a ghost writer, averaging a book a month, I’ve learned that 1,667 isn’t so much IF you have a plan. In the WWH Preptober and Writevember Challenge I share with you my tips, hacks, and secrets for writing a lot of words in a short time.
The goal of the Preptober and Writevember is two-fold:
- Plan a novel (October)
- Write a novel (November)
The challenge starts October 1st, and each day in October, you’ll get an email with information, tips, and homework to plan your romance novel. Most lessons won’t take very long. Others might take an hour. Of course, finding time will be covered so that when November comes, you have the time and organized ideas to write 1,667 words in an hour or 90 minutes (or whatever your daily goal will be).
You’ll continue to get a daily email in November with additional tips, inspiration, and pacing cues to help you stay on track.
Along with daily emails, there will be weekly Zoom meetings to recap the week’s goals, ask questions, and get support.
Participants can connect between calls by joining the private Romance Writing Challenge group here at Write with Harte. If you haven’t joined Write with Harte, it is free, and gives you access to a variety of tools, as well as the ability to take part in groups and forums.
Don’t wait, join now! Learn more and sign up for free here: Preptober and Writevember Romance Writing Challenge
by jennaharte
Kill Your Darlings: How to Cut the Words You Love
September 13, 2022 in Blog, Editing
One of my favorite pastimes is watching bonus material on DVDs. Along with interviews and bloopers, I enjoy seeing the scenes cut from the final version of the film. Over weeks and months, movie makers create scenes telling a story, but before the movie reaches the big screen, an editor hacks away scenes that, for whatever reason, don’t make the cut.
Writing a novel isn’t that much different. During the months or years the author writes a story, but before it reaches the reader, it needs editing, including hacking out perfectly written prose. It’s painful. It’s disheartening. But like ripping a bandage off in a single quick pull, it must be done.
Watch this video on Killing Your Darlings or read the text version below.
What are darlings?
Many writers have been credited with the phrase “kill your darlings,” including Faulkner and Arthur Quiller-Couch (who said, “murder your darlings.”). But it’s Stephan King, in his own macabre way, who revealed just how difficult the process is in his book On Writing when he said, “kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.” But what exactly does this mean?
During editing, you’ll cut unnecessary words or replace them with better choices. Those aren’t darlings. Darlings are beautifully written sentences, scenes, and even entire chapters that show just how wonderful, creative and clever you are, but must be slashed from your book because they hinder your story. You love these words, and cutting them is like ripping your heart out.
Why do darlings need to go?
Many DVD bonus features of deleted scenes include the director’s reasoning for cutting scenes. The two most common reasons are; 1. the scene slows the movie down, and 2. the scene doesn’t move the plot forward. The same is true in novels.
Every scene should have a purpose that keeps the action going and moves the plot forward. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. When you’re in love with your words, it’s easy to justify keeping them. This is where beta readers can be a help, if they’re honest enough to tell you where your book stalls.
I’ve written scenes I love, defending them by saying they reveal character. But if it isn’t part of the plot, it’s just blob that interrupts the story. Certainly understanding character goals, traits, and motivations is important, but they’re better revealed as part of the plot.
Darlings To Cut
Now that you know what your darlings are and why they need to go, how do you find them?
- Does the scene serve a purpose? Does it move the plot forward or develop the character? If not, cut it.
- Have you already said it (redundant)? Yes, sometimes you need to remind readers of clues or information, but be careful that you’re not telling them something they already know and remember.
- Is it purple or wordy? Beautiful writing is all well and good, but it can go over the top. Often, in an attempt to write beautifully or to seem smart, writers use way more words than they need and come off sounding like they’re trying too hard. Short and succinct is usually best.
What to do with darlings?
As difficult as killing your darlings is, it’s a necessary part of crafting tight, compelling works of fiction that keep readers in their cozy spots until the book is done. To do that, you need to kill or murder your darlings. I find it painful to delete forever a well-written piece of work. If you do too, here are a few tips.
During initial edits, highlight or strike-through your darlings. This leaves them in the manuscript for the time being. Perhaps they’ll fit better once you revise or can tweak it to fit the plot.
Eventually though, you’ll find some that have to go. If you find it too difficult to delete evidence of good prose, you can do what I do, which is to save them in a “Darlings” file. It’s possible you’ll be able to use them, with a few changes, in another story. Most likely, they’ll live forever in the file, never to be read by anyone but you. But they’re not dead. They’re in purgatory.
Another option I’ve considered is to create deleted scenes bonus material just like on DVDs. I think it would be fun to discover what authors (or their agents or publishers) cut from the final manuscript. Don’t you?
How hard is it for you to cut your darlings?
If you could read the cut darlings from any author or book, who/what would it be?
by jennaharte
How to Get an Audio Book Publishing Deal for Indie Authors (some come with advances!)
June 21, 2022 in Blog, Publishing
According to Writers Digest, audio books make up the fastest growing publishing platform. And like ebook and print book publishing, audio book publishing is affordable and accessible to indie authors. Using a royalty-share option through Amazon’s ACX, an indie author can have an audiobook recorded for nearly nothing, sharing the income earned off audio sales with the narrator.
However, what many indie authors may not know is that you can get an audio book publishing deal in which the author may earn an advance, and the publisher takes care of everything to create the audio at their expense, and pays a royalty similar to how traditional book deals work.
If you have a traditional book deal and your publisher doesn’t have audio rights, you can seek an audio book publisher as well.
Text of this video plus the list of publishers are below.
How to Get an Audio Book Publishing Deal
1. Build a track record of sales of your book.
While you can self-publish your audio book on your own regardless of how well your ebook or print version is doing, most audio book publishers will want to see that your indie book has a track record. Is it selling? Does it have more than just a few reviews? Unfortunately, I can’t give you a specific sales number, ranking, or review count. I know an indie author who’s first book in her series sits a 330,000 sales rank with 56 reviews and she got a deal with an audio publisher.
2. Gather your book’s information
While you might not need to submit a full synopsis or written manuscript, the publisher will likely want the following information:
~ Your Name
~ Book title
~ Book genre
~ Publisher (if not you, you’ll need to prove your publisher doesn’t have audio rights)
~ Link to your website
~ Information about book sales: This may include linking to a bookseller or gathering information from your distribution resources
3. Write a query or introduction letter
This is the first and best chance you have to grab the interest of an audio book publisher. Here is a quick and dirty tutorial on writing a query:
Hook Publisher Immediately. First, start with their name. Next, wow the agent. The first few sentences of the query letter are crucial in grabbing the attention of publisher. The hook should be intriguing and engaging, making the publisher want to know more about the book. The hook could be a tagline, a logline, a question, a quote, an anecdote, a factoid, or a short statement that highlights the uniqueness of the book.
Provide a BRIEF Plot or Book Summary. Start by telling the publisher about the genre and word count, then give a short summary that reads like a blurb. It needs to have the elements of the story or topic told in the same voice and tone as the book. But keep this short. It’s not your synopsis or proposal.
Indicate the Target Market. Don’t simply state general genre or topic readers (e.g. romance readers will love…). Do your research and get specific. List similar books to help the agent understand who the ideal reader is.
Tell the Publisher About You. The good news for fiction authors is that you don’t need previous writing experience to get a publisher. Of course, if you have it, even if it’s in a different genre or non-fiction, tell the agent. This will let the publisher know that you understand deadlines, editing, and the publication process. But if you don’t have writing experience, share about you and why you wrote this book. Also let the agent know if you plan to use a pen name.
Offer Brief Overview on How You’ll Market. Today, authors must be involved in selling their book. In fiction, you don’t have to have your platform set up yet (although it doesn’t hurt), but you do need to show that you understand that you’re a part of the sales team. Share a few things you plan to do to market your book such as social media, events, book clubs, etc.
Let the Publisher Know What You’ve Attached. This is where reading the submission guidelines is crucial! Whether you’re emailing and attaching materials, or submitting through Query Manager and uploading, only send what the publisher asked for. It could be just a synopsis. I could be the synopsis and three chapters.
End with a Thank You and Closing. Let the publisher know you appreciate their time and consideration, then close with your name.
Read and Re-Read Before Hitting Send. Check and re-check your submission for errors before hitting the “Send” button. Having grammar or spelling mistakes will make you look unprofessional. Consider asking a friend to proof the pitch for you, including your synopsis, proposal, and/or sample chapters.
4. Consider getting an agent
Many agents are now taking on indie published clients to sell additional book rights for audio, but also foreign and movies. While these are all things you can DIY, there can be an advantage to having an agent to access publishers and navigate contracts. Plus, some publishers below prefer to or only work with agents.
When querying agents, you’ll want to follow the same guidelines as above.
Audio Book Publishers
Many of these publishers you can submit to on your own. Those with an asterix will also work with agented authors. Some will only work with agented authors. A few are not currently accepting submissions, but could open up in the future.
Audible * – Audible is currently closed to submissions (as of this writing, June 2022: Update, still closed September 2023), but you can check back at a future date to see if it’s open again. Note, this is different than self-publishing your audio to Audible through ACX.
Blackstone * – Prefers to work with agents
Brilliance Publishing *(also owned by Amazon) – It’s not accepting submissions at this time, but check back.
Dreamscape – Dreamscape publishes audio, but also provides distribution services for audio, movies, and more.
NovelAudio – Says it likes to work with traditional and indie authors, including backlist books.
Podium * – Podium is popular with indie authors, especially in the romance and fantasy genres.
Oasis Audio * – Has indicated it is more responsive to submissions through an agent
Penguin Random House * – The big publishing houses normally publish audio through their own published resources, but there is some indication that Penguin Random House accepts submissions for audio books, but only through agents.
Tantor Media * – Tantor has a contact page, but for the most part, I think it prefers to receive submissions through an agent.
W.F. Howe – UK publisher that publishes audio books in many catagories and genres.
Is there a romance audio publisher I don’t have listed? Let me know in the comments below.
by jennaharte
When To Tell Instead of Show in Writing
April 11, 2022 in Writing Romance
Show, don’t tell, is the golden rule of writing. But rules are made to be broken, right? Well, sometimes. While showing brings emotion and depth to your writing, you don’t need it for every scene. Who cares if her cereal snap, crackles, and pops, unless it’s part of the story? In most cases, breakfast isn’t important, so simply stating she had breakfast is enough.
But how do you know when you should tell instead of show? Here are some tips.
Text version is below the video.
The scene does nothing to further the story or tell us about character.
The breakfast scene above is an example of this. For unimportant actions, you can tell or gloss over them so you can quickly get to the good stuff.
Example: Sally woke up early, showered, dressed, ate breakfast, then headed to work to meet her new boss.
Sally’s morning routine isn’t that important. The good stuff happens when she meets her new boss.
Move from one scene to another.
Telling is a way to transition from one scene to the next, especially if the location has changed or time has passed.
Example: Joe had a fitful night’s sleep.
In this case, the writer doesn’t need to show Joe tossing and turning if the point is to let the reader know Joe didn’t sleep well. If, however, Joe was prone to night terrors, and that was an important factor in the story or about Joe’s character, then you would show Joe sleeping.
Example: Joe drove a hundred miles to confront Jane.
Joe driving isn’t as interesting as his confronting Jane. Using telling lets the writer get from where he is at the start of the scene to Jane so the action can occur.
Provide direction or a change in mood.
This example can get tricky. Many writers tell something and follow it with showing, when all they need is the show.
Example: Pat was lost. She looked around not recognizing any of the street names or buildings.
In the above example, the showing sentence (She looked around not recognizing any of the street names or buildings) lets us know she’s lost, so you don’t need the first tell sentence (Pat was lost).
However, sometimes telling can offer direction or a cue to a shift in mood that helps the reader know where the story is going.
Suzie was having the best night of her life. High on life and love and liquor, she stumbled out of the bar. A strong hand gripped her arm, guiding her away from her car and into a dark alley. The odor of rotting garbage and urine made her gag. The man pushed her against the wall, and fear finally broke through the haze.
In this example, we have telling of Suzie’s mood (she’s having the time of her life) and right after, we’re shown that this in fact is going to be a bad night.
To summarize information
Action is where the story is at, but sometimes, you need to provide information such as backstory or setting. Whenever you’re having to jump out of story to drop information or set up the scene, short and succinct is best. Telling can provide the info or setting quickly so that the story can resume.
Joe’s heart jack hammered in his chest and his legs burned as he ran from the car chasing him up the street. He’d always hated running ever since he came in last during the mile run in elementary school.
The first part of the sentence is showing Joe running for his life. The next sentence tells the reader something about Joe’s past. And that’s all we need to know. We don’t need to be shown a ten-year-old Joe lining up with his classmates to run the mile, or what it felt like as they lapped him and then all went back to class while he was still finishing his last lap.
Do you have thoughts on when to tell vs show?
by jennaharte
Camp NaNoWriMo 2022 Plan with Free Printable
March 29, 2022 in Blog
For many writers, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is too big of a beast or doesn’t fit with their writing plans. While 50,000 words in 30 days might seem daunting, the reason for doing it is to challenge yourself to write regularly and meet deadlines.
Camp NaNoWriMo
Enter Camp NaNoWriMo, which lets you set your own goals and projects outside of fiction. Want to revise the book you wrote for NaNoWriMo in November? You can do that at Camp NaNoWriMo. Want to write a play or a short story? You can do that too. Here are other ideas for Camp NaNoWriMo:
- A novella
- Poetry
- Screenplay
- Music
- Nonfiction
- Or, my favorite use of Camp Nanowrimo, finish something already started
If you haven’t been making progress on your writing goals, Camp NaNoWriMo is just the thing to jumpstart your writing habit and make progress. You can set goals more in line with your time and project, but remember, the whole point is to challenge yourself to achieve something, whether that’s finishing a project, plotting a project, or whatever you have that is sitting and not making progress.
Join in Camp NaNoWriMo with Write with Harte
The NaNoWriMo organization holds two Camp NaNoWriMos a year, one in April and one in July. To help you prepare, Write With Harte has a free Camp NaNoWriMo Planner. It’s one page on which you can determine your project, checklists to prepare and for when you’re writing, and a 30-day tracker to track your progress.
Download the Camp Nanowrimo Planner Here.
To help you achieve your romance writing goals, join Write With Harte, which will give you access to a growing library of printables and resources, a profile and blog, the ability to join in groups, including the Accountability Group, and participation in monthly giveaways. It’s free to join, so sign up now!
For 2022, I have a novella I need to finish. Because it’s nearly done, I might throw in completing another partly-written book.
If you’d like to join me, and you’re a member, come check out the Discussion Forum in the Accountability Group.
by jennaharte
Secret Pregnancy/Secret Child Trope: Ideas for Writing an Accidental Pregnancy
February 22, 2022 in Blog, Writing Romance
I have a confession. I hate the secret child trope. It always breaks my heart for the man who loses so much time with his child. I’m not a huge fan of the secret pregnancy trope either. Romance characters are driven, independent, focused, and smart, so how do they accidentally get pregnant?
Along with my own writing, I ghost write, and my client has me write a lot…I mean A LOT…of secret pregnancy and secret child books. As I prepared to start a new series of five books, all with an accidental pregnancy (one is a secret child), I was stuck in finding new ways a couple would accidentally be pregnant without being irresponsible.
I posed the question in a romance author Facebook Group: What are other ways a couple can end up accidentally pregnant that doesn’t involve antibiotics, St. Johns Wort, or being drunk? (Note, I don’t like the drunk scenario as it brings up questionable consent.)
I got so many answers and the thing that surprised me the most was how many said they were the product of or their children were the product of failed birth control pills. Plus, I got a ton of other interesting true-life stories of accidental pregnancy, and few ideas to consider.
Here is the list of ways you could write an unexpected pregnancy in a secret pregnancy or secret child romance:
(Note: These are ideas shared in the Facebook group. Except for medications, I haven’t researched to verify these claims)
Failed Birth Control
As I said, I was shocked at how many authors posted personal stories about failed birth control. Some of them more than once. My research suggested failed birth control would be rare enough that having a group of women (as appear in a series) all have failed birth control would be far-fetched (How many women in your friend group had an accidental pregnancy?) As it turns out, an unexpected pregnancy when using contraception isn’t that uncommon.
Below are a few reasons hormone-based contraceptives might fail:
Interaction with Medications, Supplements, or Other Ingestible Item
- Antibiotics
- St. Johns Wort
- Low-dose or non-estrogen birth control often prescribed for women who have migraines with aura
- Activated charcoal which is popular in skin care, supplements, cleanses, and food (including ice cream and pizza). It’s designed to remove toxins, including medications.
Illness or Conditions
- Flu or other illness that causes vomiting or diarrhea, in which case the pill can be expelled before being absorbed.
- A bicornuate uterus, which is essentially having two uteruses. The women who posted this condition indicated that each uterus acted independently; sometimes brith control worked well on one but not the other. She also indicated that it can lead to high-risk pregnancy as the uteruses are half-normal size.
- Allergies. It seems like if a character was allergic to one form of birth control, they could use another, but you could conceivably create a scenario in which all birth control was problematic.
Other Birth Control Fails
- Failed vasectomy or tubal ligation were listed as the culprit for an unexpected pregnancy by several women in the group. In a twist, one woman shared that her mother blamed a failed vasectomy on her pregnancy to hide an affair. The vasectomy occurred 5-years earlier.
- Condom slips off or breaks
- NuvaRing slips out of place, is expelled, or breaks.
- Pill-fail. Several women reported using the pill correctly and still getting pregnant. A few women said that the birth control pill was sometimes less effective on curvier women.
A Diagnosis of Infertility that’s Wrong
- Endometriosis can make it difficult to get pregnant. Several women were told they had little chance of getting pregnant, in which case, why use birth control?
- Injury can lead to infertility for both men and women, but sometimes the doctor is wrong, and a pregnancy occurs.
Human Error
- Passion turns off common sense
- Rythem Method is an age old method of contraception that requires a woman to be sure about her fertile and not-fertile days in her cycle. Since sperm can live inside the woman’s womb for up to five days, even if she’s not fertile during the sexual act, if she becomes fertile in the next few days, she can end up pregnant.
- Forgetting to take a birth control pill or not taking it at the same time daily
- Switching birth control or not using it right after a vasectomy or tubal ligation. Several women in the group indicated they got pregnant when having sex too soon after changing birth control pills, or after a vasectomy or tubal ligation.
Do you have other ideas on how an accidental pregnancy can occur in a romance novel? Let me know in the comments below!
by jennaharte
5 Ways to Get Tons of Reviews for Your Romance
February 1, 2022 in Blog, Marketing
Reviews play a bigger role than many authors might think. Yes, a review on a blog can build awareness and sales of your book, but don’t underplay the importance of the reviews on the book retailer sites or Goodreads or Storygraph. A 2018 survey by Gigi Griffis at The Ramble, revealed that 52% of readers read reviews whereas only 13% read the blurb.
This survey also showed that the most common reason readers bought a book was that they knew the author or a friend recommended it. Prominent placement or free/sale opportunities equated to less than 7% of why a person bought. This data tells us that it’s important to expand your reader fan-base and encourage them to recommend your books. One way to do that is to build up your reviews.
Here are 5 ways to get reviews for your upcoming release (or even your backlist):
1. Have a call to action at the end of your book, asking for a review.
Make the review request the first thing they see when they finish the book. In an ebook, include a link to the review page of the retailer. (Note, some ebook retailers will not accept your book if there are Amazon links. Create versions for each ebook retailer you’re selling on. For example, have a link to iBooks review page in the version on iBooks, and a link to Kobo for the books listed on Kobo).
2. Build up a list of book bloggers in your subgenre of romance.
Begin building this list early. Many bloggers need your book 6 to 12 weeks prior to release.
Start by finding comparable books to yours from best-selling authors (traditional and indie published). Search for reviews on the books you find, such as title+review or title+book review. Read the review policy of the blog, and if you’re a good fit, pitch your book. Reedsy has a more in-depth article on how to build your blogger review list.
Bonus: Read the reviews in the Editorial Reviews section on Amazon pages with books similar to yours. In this section, authors/publishers can list reviews from other sources, such as blogs.
3. Connect with active reviewers on Amazon.
Find books similar to yours and scroll down to the reviews. Click on a reviewer to learn more about them, such as other books they’ve reviewed and their reviewer rank. Sometimes they’ll include website or contact information. Pitch them as you would other reviewers.
This is time-consuming, but since Amazon reviews are powerful, it could be worth the effort. There are tools and services that can help you find Amazon reviewers, such as the Review Grabber tool at Author Marketing Club.
4. Sign up for Booksprout or Booksirens.
These services make finding reviewers and managing an ARC team easy. You can set limits on how many ARCs will be available and conditions for getting the book, such as leaving a review at Amazon is required. You can ask for reviews at other sites such as Goodreads or Bookbub as well. The services can send reminders to reviewers, and it can block anyone who got a book but didn’t leave a review from getting an ARC from you in the future. Just be sure to give your reviewers enough time to read the book. I like to get the book to my ARC team at least 3 weeks in advance.
5. Build your email list.
Too many authors wait too long to capture the email addresses of their readers, but you’re wasting time and book sales by not doing this as soon as you can. I have an extensive article on why email is better than social media for selling books, and tips on how to set up and email your readers. Build Your Email List of Raving Fans
Once you have your list, email them about the book and remind them to leave a review. In fact, you can invite them to join your ARC team through Booksprout or create a segmented list for ARC readers.
BONUS: Remind your social media followers to leave a review.
You don’t want to inundate your followers with “Buy my book” posts or with “Leave a review” post, but having them occasionally is recommended. Many readers get busy and forget to leave a review. An occasional social media post can remind them.
Do you have other ideas for getting reviews? Let me know in the comments below.
by jennaharte
Romance Beat Sheet for Swoonworthy Emotional Stories
January 10, 2022 in Blog, Video, Writing Romance
How hard can writing a romance be? Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy wins girl back.
As it turns out, writing a GOOD romance isn’t so easy. First of all, the leads aren’t always a boy and girl. Sometimes they’re not human.
Second, the meeting, losing, and winning don’t just happen. There is an emotional roller coaster ride readers expect to go on.
Writing a romance that readers enjoy involves:
- Characters readers can root for
- Conflicts and stakes readers can believe
- A plot that takes readers on an emotional ride.
So how does a writer achieve that? It starts by expanding the meet-lose-love idea into plot points, sometimes referred to as beats. These beats make up the structure of the story…essentially, they’re the steps to writing a romance novel.
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I can hear all the pantsters out there saying, “But Jenna, I don’t plot. I want the adventure of not knowing where the story will take me.” That’s fine. Even as a pantster though, your story must hit certain beats to fit within the romance genre.
There are great romance beat sheets on the Internet, including Jamie Gold‘s and Gwen Hayes‘. Billy Mernit in his book Writing the Romantic Comedy, offers an eight-beat outline. While each of these beat sheets has a different number of plot points, often called different names, they’re all referring to the same thing. You need to find the story structure sheet that makes the most sense to you and helps you develop your story.
Not to be outdone, I’ve created my own romance beat sheet that takes what resonates with me from above. This beat sheet, including a fillable worksheet, is in The Romance Author’s Novel Organizer available in print or PDF for download.
Note that this beat sheet is for a regular romance. If you write a romantic suspense or mystery, or romantic fantasy, you may need to include other beats. For example, in a mystery, you need beats that involve finding clues or being in danger. If you write fantasy, you may prefer the Hero’s Journey plot outline, but if it’s a romance, you also need to make sure you have the romantic beats included.
Before Plotting
Which comes first? Plot or character? There’s no right or wrong answer to this. Sometimes a plot idea is the inspiration and other times it’s a character. What is important that before you plot you need to have basic understandings about your characters. Primarily: their goals and conflicts. Knowing their personalities and motivations helps as well.
Plotting Using the Write with Harte Romance Beat Sheet
Below are the beats I use when plotting a basic romance. These have been adapted from three-act structure, Romancing the Beat, and other beat sheets. You’ll notice that most sheets have similar beats but with different names. Mine is no different where I’ve changed the names to some beats to make more sense to me on the purpose they serve.
ACT 1: Set Up
Opening
This is where we meet our protagonists. Often, the opening is the start of a normal day that is about to be turned upside down. You should include a few bits about the protagonist(s) that set up goals and hints at inner conflicts.
Inciting Event (Meet Cute) (Catalyst)
This is where our two love birds meet or are brought together on the page at the same time to set off the story. In a rom com, a meet cute sometimes involves humor or a screwball situation, but it doesn’t have to be that. It could be intense or scary.
This meeting is the event that sets our characters off in the direction of falling in love, even if they hate each other at this point. If the characters already know each other, there is something different in this meeting than in all their previous meetings. For example, in The Hating Game by Sally Thorne, Lucy and Josh have been hating each other from their desks for some time (opening), however the inciting event is when their bosses tell them about a new position that only one of them can get.
Note about the inciting event…in my plot sheet, this really happens in the Stuck Together beat because this beat is the catalyst to the rest of the story. A romance can introduce our couple on the same page, but there can be a status quo where nothing is changing. With that said, the meeting, resistance, and stuck together can happen in a single chapter, even in a single scene.
Resistance
The first response to the inciting event is nearly always resistance or a butting of heads between the love interest.
“The idea of a fake engagement is a terrible idea.”
“We can’t be in the same room together. How will we be able to share the only car left to rent to get to the conference?”
However, the resistance isn’t always from dislike. In a friends-to-lovers situation, often the resistance is trying to avoid revealing their true feelings. Sometimes, the meet-cute is friendly and there is an attraction between the lovebirds, yet there is still resistance. This response is rooted in their goals and/or inner conflicts. Sometimes there is an attempt to avoid each other which brings us to the next beat…
Stuck together (New Path/Inciting Event)
Act one ends with our lovebirds without a choice or reluctantly agreeing to a situation that puts them together. Snow storms and stuck elevators would be a situation in which they’re stuck without a choice. Working in the same company or living in the same building would also fit this. A fake relationship or temporary partnership would involve a reluctant agreement.
This beat is important because our lovebirds need to be together in order to fall in love. In Red, White and Royal Blue, by Casey McQuiston, Alex’s mother, POTUS, coerces him to spend time with Henry to fix an embarrassing situation he created at Henry’s brother, the Prince of England, wedding. Without this, Alex and Henry don’t spend time together because they live an ocean apart and don’t like each other.
If it isn’t presented earlier, this scene identifies the external conflict as well; the thing outside them that is preventing them from reaching their goal.
ACT 2: Falling In then Out of Love
Fighting Attraction
The lovebirds enter their stuck-together phase fully intending to keep their walls up. They’re focused on their goals and not letting the other person get in their way. If they don’t get along, there is usually banter and arguing. If they do get along, there is usually inner dialogue about how they can’t fall for the other.
Waning Resistance
As the lovebirds spend time together, their initial impressions start to change. This is especially true in an enemies-to-lovers story. But even when they get along (friends to lovers), time together shifts their feelings or heightens them (in the case of unrequited love).
In this section, they begin to entertain the possibility of a relationship, physically and/or emotionally. Note that kissing and even sex may have already occurred (in the case of a non-sweet book), but this is where the wall of resistance wanes.
Desire
Resistance is futile as desire leads them to consider giving into a relationship. Note this doesn’t have to be sensual desire. In sweet romance, this is simply moving away from resistance to considering a relationship.
Ut Oh (Pinch Point 1)
I don’t know where the term pinch point came from, but I much prefer Ut-Oh. This is a situation in which an antagonist or conflict appears to remind the lovebirds what’s at stake. In my writing, I like to make this first one one mini-sized. It’s like a tap on the shoulder reminding one (or they both can have an ut-oh) what can happen.
Imagining HEA (Midpoint)
Despite the ut-oh, the characters are drawing ever closer. They’re rethinking goals and concerns. They believe they can overcome the conflicts, but selfishly. They want their cake and to eat it too. But they haven’t grown yet, so they’re susceptible to their inner demons (conflict) and the antagonist.
HEA within Reach
This is a honeymoon moment, but the characters still haven’t delt with the conflicts that threaten their love.
Doubt/Fear
Personal fears and conflicts are creating doubt in their feelings for the other, and how the other feels about them. Fears and inner conflicts cause the characters to slow down.
Ut-Oh 2
This ut-oh is a bigger one than the last. It’s a whack on the head, reminding them of everything they could lose by abandoning their goal. For example, a CEO falling for his admin might get a talking to from a board member about the possibility of being forced out for having a relationship with an insubordinate and putting the company at risk for a lawsuit. The first ut-oh caused hesitation, but this one makes them stop in their tracks and rethink the situation, and what they’re willing to risk. Remember, they haven’t grown so, their thinking tends to be based in their fears.
Retreat
After the big ut-oh, one character or both pulls away. They don’t want to risk their heart and their goal, and they decide to choose the goal instead. The other character may notice this distance and pull away as well.
Black moment
This is where the $h!t hits the fan. Everything that could go wrong goes wrong. Done well, your readers are weeping or worried (in the case of a suspense). If motivations aren’t strong or if the stakes are weak, a black moment can feel predicable or worse, it can annoy readers.
One thing I like to do just before this scene is have one or both characters make the decision to confess their love (move HEA within Reach here). They’re about to put it all on the line for love, then whammy, the black moment. The lie or deception is revealed. A choice is made that the other can’t live with. This little gimmick doesn’t work on it’s own though. The black moment must feel believable and make sense. Something as little as a miscommunication isn’t enough for a black moment. This moment needs to feel like the end of the road for our budding couple.
A recent wish of some romance readers is a softer black moment. They lament the angsty breakup. It is possible to write a black moment that isn’t full of anger and heartache. Lauren Blakely books often have a soft black moment where the couple is parting amicably. Or the black moment can involve danger, so the risk of loss has to do with getting killed, not breaking up.
ACT 3 Fighting for Love
Aftermath/Misery
This is the aftermath of the black moment. Initially, one or both, convinced they’re right, goes off in an attempt to regain their past normal life. The problem is that they can’t go back. The more they try, the more miserable they feel. I like to live in this moment a little bit. Too often, writers rush to relieve the agony of the black moment, but I like to bring home how much they’ve lost by not choosing to change, by not choosing love.
I want to point out here that characters don’t have to give up their goal for love. The characters still win even if they don’t get their original goal. For example, in the Hating Game (slight spoiler), one person is offered the job, but the other person ends up at a different company and is much happier about it.
Epiphany (Ah-Ha)
This is when one or both characters realize their fears and inner conflicts getting in their way, and accept that they love the other person. This is where growth takes place. In order for the past problems (conflicts and ut-ohs) not to cause problems in the future, the characters need to grow into new people.
Grand Gesture
This is when one character reaches out, putting all on the line for the other person. It’s different from earlier attempts that played it safe. Here, they’re vulnerable.
HEA
The happily ever after scene is when the other person also is vulnerable and they come together with new understanding and a commitment to each other.
Life After HEA (Epilogue – optional)
This scene is optional, and shows the couple living in their new happiness not just with each other, but with their goals as well.
Some plot sheets have fewer points. Others have more. For me, this hits all the major points needed in a romance. In a romantic suspense or fantasy, you may need a few others beats, but for the relationship part of the story, these beats hit them all.
Plotting Resources
If you like to check out my beat sheet or others, you can get them here:
Download the Write with Harte Romance Beat Sheet here (no email or membership required!)
Jamie Gold’s Romance Beat sheet
Romance Plotting Books
The Romance Novel Organizer
Take your romance novel from idea to published and selling with The Romance Author’s Novel Organizer. Flesh out your idea, plan your writing and publishing schedule and routine, organize your thoughts, store research, plot, publish and sell with these checklists, worksheets, tips, and more.
The Romance Novel Organizer in print
The Romance Novel Organizer PDF for Download
Other Romance Plotting Books
Romancing The Beat by Gwen Hayes