Cover Art: Leta Nolan Childers
Now available in paperback at CafePress 
Cover Art:
Jim Farris
The romance market is the most interesting and lucrative field in
publishing today. New windows of opportunity have opened to talented writers
with persistence and determination. Prolific authors who consider themselves
storytellers, rather than literary greats with an inclination to change the
world, often resent the analysis of a commercial endeavor. Romance novelists
are entertainers. They write from the heart with inspiration and hope. Scholars
who try to decipher their words usually fail. The message of the romance novel
is not a complicated one. It is above all else a love story. Complications set
in when a critic examines the various types of romance, its categories and
sub-genres.
The literary criticism of romance has led to numerous scholarly
books, some of which cast a gray sheen on the business through a dark filter.
Just like an uplifting rose-colored glass, these negative distortions do not
give an accurate picture of reality. Reality to the millions who enjoy romance
novels is the pleasure derived from reading and the feeling of contentment that
lingers afterwards. Reality to the published author is an advance and quarterly
royalty statements. Accomplishment and creative achievement are deeper motives
for pursuing this spectacular profession, a glamour job with awards and
acclaim.
This book explores romance writing from its literary roots to its
commercial categories today, a guide for aspiring beginners and established
professionals.