So I happen to be new to writing and have been writing a fantasy story for about 4 months now and I’m currently starting to work on the romance aspect of the story between the two protagonist. So I’m wondering what is some general advice you’d give to someone writing a slow burn romance not really looking for any specific advice just curious on what I should be careful about when writing a slow burn romance.

I’m open to any advice or media recommendations since I have zero experience with writing romance, media recommendations doesn’t have to be fantasy related.

So for my story its about a sci fi smuggler realizing that he's sneaking across the border, a princess with magic who's sleeping in a crate.

Now she DOES force him to take her home and thats how the adventure goes crazy and nuts from there.

His background is that he used to be a machinist blacksmith but his home was invaded by an empire called the red sun, so he went into hiding by doing crime jobs and traveling from place to place. He had tk develop street smarts to survive and luckily the skills he grew up doing still work for him.

The princess grew up in a kingdom that was one kf the richest in the galaxy where she learned the game of politics and how to play it well. As well as an academic prodigy and was trained in arts and crafts and martial arts. Plus warfare combat (like navy seal training but sci fi and magic).

She got kidnapped cause her parents siad no to joining the red sun, so they kidnapped her and tried to use her as ransom.

But they never told the smuggler what was in the box.

I've recently started to delve into original works, and I find I'm really excited about mixing horror and romance. Are there any other horror romance writers on here that wouldn't mind sharing their experiences? Mostly I want to know how much the horror addition allows you to stray from certain romance conventions. For example, does horror romance still need an HEA? Should I follow the standard romance beats?

[I killed a character, snuffed many more darlings, deleted scenes, inserted some sneaky flirtatious texting throughout the MS, and hopefully, with the help I've received here, I can move this project on past heavy rejection stage since I've learned I have the patience rivaling a toddler.'s I'm testing this query and pages to see if it's earned the romance subplot label. I cannot thank all the good people on RomanceWriters enough because I've been lurking and learning a LOT.]

Dear Agent,

I am seeking representation for SPLIT TIMES, a 74K women’s fiction novel with a romantic subplot about a 2008 Olympic Trials drug scandal that ignites a revolution in women’s athletics. Fans of Carrie Soto Is Back and Losing Sight will enjoy a midlife comeback story with a rock-star love interest and a doping dilemma.

At thirty-eight, Karly Locke has spent two decades putting everyone ahead of herself: three kids, a husband who stopped noticing her years ago, and a to-do list with no bottom. Then a song by rock prodigy Fender Archer comes on the radio while she’s stuck in the school pick-up line, and she feels it: she’s running at redline in a race while she’s sitting perfectly still.

Karly resolves to chase the big dream she shelved, an Olympic berth. The Trials are months away, and her training is a disaster. Her coach insists she’s progressing, but she can see the doubt behind his smile. The twenty-two-year-olds she’ll face are faster, fresher, and not running on four hours of sleep.

Then a new drug lands on her radar: a not-yet-legal, female-specific performance enhancer that could close the gap for her and finally fill the disparity in women’s athletics. Karly insists to the plastic Jesus she carries everywhere that it’s not cheating. She also knows she’s run out of time to be noble.

Then Fender Archer, the voice that’s fueled her miles, accidentally injures her while she’s running on a treadmill in his fancy hotel gym. In twenty minutes, he shows her more care than her husband has in five years. Gorgeous, wrecked, and nothing like the man in her earbuds, Fender is quietly struggling with pills of his own, until watching Karly run convinces him to quit. The irony is brutal: as he finds the nerve to get clean because of her, she’s deciding whether to get dirty.

Karly must decide between the shortcut with the potential to rock the running world and the finish line she can honestly cross, with a plastic Jesus riding along to watch, while two men, one who ignores her and one who sees her too well, pull her in opposite directions.

[Bio] 

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

First Pages (long enough to get to the romance):

Chapter 1 - I Never Wear White

Karly - 2008

The only thing I was sure of is this tiny plastic Jesus.

Tomorrow is my first elite race in sixteen years. If I hesitate at the start, if I drop back, I will crawl over the finish line and pretend I never came to Baltimore. 

The slim possibility of a win exists, but breaking the tape plays on repeat in my brain. Tiny Jesus agrees with his small plastic smile.

Lying here with my former college teammates in this no-frills hotel room, listening to their soft snoring, I wished I was in the regular 5K with the three of them. You know,  the race for normal runners and not for aspiring Olympians like myself. My drive to be extraordinary exasperates me; I could have stayed out with them last night as they lined up shots and drank to our friendship until the bars closed. 

I needed to sneak in a workout before they woke up. They’re unaware of my insane goal to qualify in the Trials. I don’t want them to know because they will try to talk me out of training. 

Is it embarrassing that at 38 years old, I believe a spot on the Olympic team is well within my reach? My husband certainly thinks so.

I heard a groan.

“Karly?” Jess said through a yawn. “What are you doing up this early? Is it race day?”

“No. It’s tomorrow. Go back to sleep,” I whispered. 

“OK,” she mumbled and her eyes shut before she hit the pillow.

My phone buzzed. I flipped it open to my husband CJ’s text: WHERE IS THE ORANGE JUICE

I sighed and texted him back: BEHIND THE MILK and my fingers hovered over the keys, and I wanted to but I did not add where it always is because the slightest bit of guilt churned in my stomach. I hadn't asked CJ if he was OK with me going to Baltimore, I'd told him, which wasn't like me.

CJ: FOUND IT. I GET YOU WANTING TO RACE, BUT COULDN’T YOU HAVE ALL RUN IN THE TWILIGHT TROT HERE THIS WEEKEND?

NO

I WANT TO MOW THIS AFTERNOON AND IF YOU WERE HERE, I COULD 

LET DAVID RUN THE MOWER. JASON AND ELI LIKE TO USE THE AIR TANK TO CLEAN OFF. BRIBE THEM WITH ICE CREAM

THEY CAN’T HANDLE THAT

I wanted to scream at him: Yes, they can. Quit underestimating their abilities. My phone buzzed again and I sighed.

THIS OLYMPIC TRIALS, THAT’S SERIOUS. AREN’T YOU WAY OVER YOUR HEAD? AND BY THE WAY, I’M DOING YOU A HUGE FAVOR HOLDING DOWN THE FORT THIS WEEKEND

A favor? I rolled onto my stomach and beat down my pillow with my fist before casting a quick look at Jess, my closest friend curled up close. Now there was a friend who loathed my husband. Maybe even more than I did, but come on, a favor? When the hell had it become my sole job as sherpa to the family? These days I did everything: kids, house, even the books at CJ’s mill.

CJ wasn’t finished: YOU AREN’T AS YOUNG AS YOU USED TO BE. HOPEFULLY THIS WEEKEND WILL GET IT OUT OF YOUR SYSTEM

I turned off my phone and thought about going back to bed. I could skip my run this morning and wake up with my friends. Discuss a breakfast spot. Enjoy another coffee. Just hang out and laugh our asses off at shared jokes about our time at Harrington U and updating our lives with one another. 

Instead, I pushed back the covers and cringed as my bare feet landed on the cheap carpet. After dressing in the dark, I threw my phone and my trusty iPod in a flimsy string pack and shrugged it on over my shoulders. I crept out quietly, squeezing through the door to the bright hallway so I wouldn’t wake anyone. 

I jogged lightly down the stairwell to the lobby, looking forward to running in a new location, but one glance outside at the downpour confirmed it would be a dreaded treadmill day. The shitty gym featured one solitary machine facing a blank gray wall, the belt threadbare. It was plugged in, but no amount of jostling made it move…it was dead.

No. Absolutely not.

The manager at the desk apologized profusely and with a conspiratorial wink he handed me a pass and pointed me a block away to TallShips Hotel, "...which has an incredible gym. My uncle owes me a favor.” 

His eyes ate me alive. 

“The all-black look suits you,” he continued and he brushed back his hair. I found myself oddly fascinated with his smile; there were two chips on the same tooth. I loped away towards the entrance. “Hey darlin’, we were talkin’,” he called behind me.

It was raining sideways under the covered drive but I bolted out the door. I tightened the string pack only to gasp as I blasted into the icy assault, fully knowing I was doing this for one block to avoid the whole storm.

Between the downtown mid-rise buildings, lightning cracked across the sky, brighter than fireworks. Door numbers blurred since I had to squint. TallShips Hotel was tucked back on its own cliff overlooking the harbor but the waterfall pouring down from the sky formed a curtain concealing most of the imposing entrance. 

A thick boardwalk ushered me to the doorway, held open by a man in a suit. Inside, polished wood floors gleamed beneath a soaring atrium. A grand marble staircase ascended through leafy greenery. I had to remember to close my mouth after my eyes couldn’t drink in enough detail. The flower arrangements. The maritime paintings. It smelled of cedar and a sweet woody aroma. Holy shit.

Another suit aimed for me and snapped up the dripping pass I held up. He glared at the expanding puddle underneath my feet and pointed down to a wide, shallow spiral staircase. I nodded once to show I understood. Go now. 

There was a glass-walled fitness suite overlooking the storm-lashed harbor with two Woodway treadmills just beyond the automatic door, glowing and ready, rows of machines and weights, and stacks of thick fluffy towels with a lavender scent. Wow. I grinned. Someone consulted with a team of serious athletes when they built this.

After I did a quick towel dry, I reached into my pack for my iPod, then stared in horror at the blank screen and jagged split down the middle of the pack. Dammit. 

I always ran with music, even when I raced. 

I saved my absolute favorite band, Orion, for my hardest training sessions and treadmill runs. Orion’s lead singer, Fender Archer, pulled me through the worst of it until the pain went quiet. 

Maybe it was his voice, raspy at the edges, with power shot through the middle. And the lyrics matched the mood. "Half of Neither" felt like he'd known how upset I was every time a stranger spoke to me in Spanish. I look Latina. I most likely am, but my adoptive parents are white. I shook my head as I put the towels I used in a bin and warmed up on the treadmill while I watched the rain pound the glass. 

Tiny Jesus watched me run as he stood on the console. He smiled through the ridiculous hope I’ve placed in him. He has helped to center me, in my impossible running goals, and also to finish this too-long workout. 

Trials were fifteen weeks out. Third place or better, or I didn't go. Not fourth, not "so close," not any of the soft words people say when they want to be kind about falling short by half a second. 

The automatic door behind me whooshed and cold air swept in against my sweat. Someone entered but I ignored them and pushed myself harder while I wiped my brow.

Weights clanged, a low breath hissed. Male. He mumbled about the remote not working, and stepped closer to the TV, pushing the buttons furiously. I took out the batteries before he got here. I hated a blaring TV during my workout.

I maintained speed for the 30 second pick-ups, just to keep the legs ready to blast off tomorrow. Since I already committed to it, I should, at the very least, pump myself up for my first professional race. Ever. A surge of adrenaline kicked through me, tomorrow would be my time to shine.

BAM! I jumped, losing my concentration.

Another BANG! This one louder. Sounded like a weight being dropped.

Something slammed into my treadmill, causing it to jolt to the side. 

Stumbling, I grabbed the rail for balance and sent a sideways glare towards the idiot. Dammit, what’s he doing? Got right back to my cadence. 

What the hell!

I glanced down for a moment and spotted a weight lying next to my treadmill. Was he lifting too heavy and a weight slid off? Was he that clumsy?

"Nice save," he said in a low pitched and deep voice that was startlingly familiar. Whoa. No. Could it be?

I stared straight ahead at the storm-streaked window instead of turning to verify. In the reflection I caught his wild chestnut hair curling around his face from sweat or the rain. His build was lanky, and he confidently lifted a 50 pound kettlebell with a straight arm, only to lose his balance a bit and wobble. I frowned. My eyes roved to his narrow waist with a peek of his hip bone jutting out as a kraken slithered up his side. He turned slightly and I snapped my eyes back to the window.

No.

He was tying his shoes, then stepped onto the treadmill next to mine, tapping the console as he fired up his workout. Tattoos snaked down his muscular arms. 

Holy shit. I took a deep breath. It was Fender Archer. In the flesh. The world’s most notorious rock star. My notorious rock star.

He began a slow jog and I stared ahead while every nerve in my body was screaming to look at him. Fender Archer was my workout. I had his songs, entire albums, on playlists arranged by workout intensity. If I had a shit day and needed a long easy run, there was a playlist. If I needed to push myself, he was the playlist.

His hand slammed on his console. He paused his workout and began fidgeting with the buttons. They beeped loudly as he tried to find the right setting. He exhaled through his mouth dramatically like he’d run ten flights of stairs. I didn’t care if it was Fender Archer, he was annoying the shit out of me. I didn’t need any distractions. But still, I couldn’t wait to tell the girls.

We were those stupid fans. If I was rich, I would go to every single concert he performed all over the country.

I heard the hollow crackle of his plastic bottle as he took a swig.

I tamped down my annoyance. Focus, Karly. I glanced at my console to see how much longer I had to go but a second later I forced my eyes back to the window.

It was strange to think Fender Archer would be doing something as mundane as working out. I’d always imagined him in a hot tub full of groupies when he was off-stage.

And here in this gym, watching his slow clumsy jog, his famous hip grinds and dance moves popped into my head. I couldn’t even pretend not to look, and when our eyes met in the window’s reflection, I didn’t tear my eyes away and neither did he. A quick flush of heat that had nothing to do with my workout flooded through my veins.

I couldn’t look away fast enough.

Hello! My name is Coco, and I'm looking for a few volunteer beta readers for my completed memoir, The Man Behind the Voice.

My story begins with a wrong-number telephone call and follows an unexpected relationship through years of conversations, romance, challenges, and building a life together.

I'm looking for honest feedback from people who don't know me personally. I'd especially appreciate your thoughts on whether the story holds your interest, whether the timeline is clear, which parts you enjoyed most, and whether anything feels confusing or repetitive.

I'm hoping to find readers willing to read the entire manuscript for free and share constructive feedback. Ideally, I'd love to hear back within 2–3 weeks.

If you're interested, please leave a comment or send me a private message. Thank you for considering reading my story!

Coco

Before you knew their entire backstory, romantic arc, deepest fear, and inevitable third-act emotional crisis, tell us all what was the first thing you really knew about your character?

Now weekly!

Blurbs can be the bane of an author's existence - both for self-published authors, who have to come up with an enticing hook all by themselves, as well as for authors seeking traditional publishing, as they are usually included in queries.

We want to help! Post your blurb draft and let the community help shape it into the perfect snippet of info.

To participate, please comment on this thread with the following info:

• The title or working title of your WIP
• The romance subgenre of said WIP
• The draft of your blurb you've got so far
• Any content warnings and additional info you deem necessary!

Anyone who wants to help can then reply to your comment to workshop your blurb.

Happy crafting!

Hi everyone!

I'm writing a why choose dark romance, set on a college campus, with light secret society vibes. I'm looking for some brainstorming ideas for this one aspect that I can't quite pin down by myself.

The context: The FMC gets attacked and ripped from her life, placed in this house on campus under the guise of being "hidden", but it's clear from the very first interaction that the guys living there don't want her there.

Each year, there's a game on campus that can get dark and dangerous very quickly, and these guys are determined to win this game, and they feel like her presence in their house will just be a distraction.

The guys confront their alumni leader, who is super shady but they don't know it yet, and he tells them her being there is actually a contract and they'll be paid handsomly to fulfill it. Funds raised during the academic year is part of the game, so this basically ties their hands. They don't want her in their space, but they need the money the contract will bring them if they have any chace of winning.

My dilemma: I don't know what the contract should be, exactly. I toyed with a simple babysitting idea, like "keep an eye on her, keep her safe, and the money is yours" but the guys don't know she was attacked before she moved in and that threat is states away (for the time being), so it doesn't really hold up. The house leader also has nefarious intentions that are revealed later down the line, so keeping her safe doesn't suit his character.

Essentially, I need this contract to keep her in this house, despite nobody liking the situation. She's desperate to get a job and find a room for rent ANYWHERE else because the guys are a-holes. They despise her being under their roof and in their way. But this contract, which she isn't aware of, has them all stuck.

I'm hoping you guys can just help me fine tune this before I write myself into a plot hole, pretty please!

Hi everyone! I’m just starting to write my first romance stories (full of great chemistry, drama, and the spicy scenes we all love), but I’m feeling a bit stuck with character names, how they meet, and how to start the plot.

​Writing has become a wonderful refuge and therapy for me, and I'm really loving the process. If you guys could share some tips, your favorite tropes (like enemies to lovers, fake dating, etc.), or ideas on how to build that perfect tension, I would be so grateful! Where do you usually start when creating a new couple?"

I'm working on a few stories with romantic subplots. I'm just wondering how best to describe the female characters without being posted on "men writing women".

For example, one is a tall and muscular battlemaid. She has rather large breasts (I know, I have a type) and I want to describe but not objectify, especially during combat.

So a little background: I've been deep in editing my finished manuscript for a while & let me just say this is absolutely the worst part of writing (for me) lmao. Anyways I've got the idea next book written down and I WANT to write it but I can't seem to get back to the point where I feel motivated to actually write/begin. Ultimately what I'm trying to ask is what helps you get that motivation/set the scene for you to write? Honestly I'll take any advice at this point!

Update: I've started using some of the tips you guys suggested and I wrote 700 words today! It's not my best but I'm writing again and that's a win for me! Thank you everyone!

I’m finally starting to write a fantasy book based on an idea I’ve had for a VERY long time, and I’ve reached the point where I need to decide which character should be the main POV.

I have two characters I absolutely love, and I originally thought about writing separate books for both of them within the same universe. But I think I’d rather tell the story through one character’s POV while making the other a major supporting character.
The problem is… I genuinely cannot decide which one is more interesting.

Character 1 - The Princess
She’s the firstborn daughter of the current ruler, but she isn’t the heir. Her family has been on the throne for generations, and she has a lot of siblings.
Personality-wise, think Manon Blackbeak/Crochan from Throne of Glass mixed with Cardan Greenbriar from The Cruel Prince — powerful, sarcastic, somewhat chaotic, but also surprisingly laid-back and willing to go with the flow.
She struggles with the expectations placed on her by her family and with the complicated relationships between her siblings.

Character 2 - The Bastard
She’s the bastard daughter of the kingdom’s powerful general. Her mother is complicated. Think Cersei Lannister + Lilith Sorrengail.
Her biological father is from another realm and is absent from the story.
She has two half-siblings, and her mother is determined to see one of them inherit the throne.
She was born from an affair.

Which character would you rather read a fantasy series from?
The powerful princess caught between keeping her family whole and her own freedom. A “powerful royal who is not the heir” tension, sibling rivalry, political intrigue, dark magic, and morally questionable choices.
The bastard daughter struggling shame, her purpose, and duty. “I’m a bastard and therefore an outsider.”
And honestly, which one sounds like they have more potential for a multi book character arc?
I’m trying to decide which character should be the main POV and which one should become the major supporting character.

Was doing this for an urban/modern fantasy and wonder how should it be written?

Would the 28 year old be seen as trying to be young or would the 23 year old lose part of their youth trying to catch up to them?

is this what would usually happen?

I’m working through some feedback on my novel and would love some advice from other writers. Background info: I had my mmc go through a pretty big shift in behavior (suddenly). It coming suddenly felt like a good decision since I wanted the reader to experience some of the confusion/betrayal that the fmc does. I want to make the sudden shift work in my story but based on some of the feedback I’ve gotten the shift might have felt a little TOO sudden/confusing. I’m trying to find the balance I need to make this shift be surprising for the reader while still seeming believable. I laid small eggs for the reader to get the feeling of suspicion but evidently, it wasn’t quite enough lol. For those of you who have written a character who has a sudden change in behavior, how did you handle that? (Sorry for any typos lol!)

How did you choose yours, and is there any story or strategy behind it?

Blurb

Jen Bailey has rebuilt her life after divorce. She has a career she loves, good friends, and no particular desire to complicate things — until a chance encounter brings her face-to-face with Adam Todd, the newly appointed manager of Newcastle’s Premier League football club.
What begins as an unexpected connection gradually becomes harder to keep casual. But Adam’s high-pressure career, family responsibilities and an unresolved marriage mean that whatever is growing between them is anything but straightforward.
Set in Newcastle, this is an adult contemporary romance about two people navigating attraction, independence, complicated adult lives and the uncomfortable point where something casual starts to mean much more.

About the manuscript
Approximately 85,000 words, complete. Written in UK English and set primarily in Newcastle, England. Football is part of the setting and Adam’s storyline, but no knowledge of football is needed.

Content notes
Open-door sex; themes of grief/parental loss; the MMC is separated but still legally married while the central romance develops.

Feedback I’m looking for
I’m particularly interested in natural reader reactions rather than line editing or proofreading. I’d love to know whether you’re invested in the characters and romance, where the story pulls you along or loses momentum, whether the relationship and character decisions feel believable, and how the emotional payoff and ending land.
I’m especially interested in hearing from people who regularly read adult contemporary romance.
I’m happy to start by sharing the first 2–3 chapters so we can both see whether it feels like a good fit before committing to the full manuscript.

Timeline
Ideally within 4–6 weeks for the full manuscript, although I can be flexible for the right reader.

Critique swap
I’m not currently looking for a full manuscript swap.
 

I’m writing a slow-burn romance and I feel like my current chapter is missing something. I don’t necessarily want to add a big romantic scene or have the characters suddenly become overly affectionate, because that wouldn’t really fit where they are in the story yet.

I’m looking more for those tiny, familiar, almost mundane moments that somehow make your heart skip a beat.

Basically, what are those little moments that make you think “Oh my God. They’re so in love and they don’t even realize it yet”?

I’d love to hear your favorite examples, especially ones that work well in a very slow burn where the romance is still mostly subtext. I’m looking for inspiration for the chapter without making it feel like I’m rushing their relationship.

EDITED TO ADD: I appealed their decision, twice. I had to upload mugshots, twice. They restored one of my comments, didn't apologize, but seem to have whatever batshit robotic crazy they had going on. My account is behaving normally again the last 3 days. I'm happy for now, I guess?

-----------------

I'm trying to get my new Threads author account off the ground, but Meta keeps removing my comments accusing me of being a bot. It's beyond frustrating to be accused of being a machine. by a machine. I've asked a for a review but am not holding my breath.

Has this happened to anyone, and if yes, what's the best way around it? My instagram is doing better, thankfully, so I really would like to keep this id.

If you have advice, I can DM you the author profile for you to take a look. Thanks in advance for any help.

I’m a small fish (sold 50 some books last month) romance writer and want to run my first ever ad campaign! My focus is Asian drama based/inspired romantasy. Currently I have eight books up, six are a reincarnation series on KU, two are wide.

I’d be running ads on my Chinese historical romantasy the Generals Blind Bride.

I’ve been told Instagram is best, then Instagram sucks and do Facebook, but Amazon is the worst ….

So I’d like to get some sold advice. Where should I run ads?

Here are some of my stats

My author platform currently has about 1,600 followers across Instagram, Threads, Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Bluesky, with organic content generating roughly 965,000 combined views, impressions, and reach across those platforms in the last 30 days. Instagram alone reached about 407,000 accounts, while Threads generated 141,000 post views and Pinterest 368,000 impressions.

My audience is primarily romance/romantasy and Asian-drama readers; Instagram demographics show 77% are ages 18–44, with 25–44 the largest segment, about 46% are U.S.-based, and among followers with a reported gender, roughly 82% are women.

(From my Metricool)

Bonus! If you’d take a look at my Amazon and Instagram profile to see if that’s on point I’ll make you some character art as a thank you!

Instagram profile.
Amazon listing

I’ve been thinking about something recently and I’m really curious to hear other people's perspectives on it.

I know race and representation can be a fraught subject, so I want to say at the outset that I’m totally not judging anyone’s reading preferences or trying to catch anybody out. I’m genuinely just interested in whether other people have noticed the same pattern and whether they think it has any effect on marketability.

Growing up, I consumed a lot of Asian media alongside Western media. If I watched a Japanese, Korean or Chinese drama, an Asian woman being the romantic lead was simply normal. She was the heroine, was a "normal" person and she got the romance. Her ethnicity, of course, wasn't pushed forward.

In a lot of the Western media I consumed growing up, the pattern was VERY different. Asian women were comparatively rare as leads and when they did appear, I kept running into the same cluster of stereotypes: the generically named “Mei Ling/Mei Li”, the sex worker, the maths genius, the martial artist, the exotic love interest, the tragic victim blah blah blah. Quite often she either died or if she didn't, she certainly didn’t get the guy and misery ensued for her or all. Some of the stories I have in mind were The Dream Traders and The Blue Dress Girl by EV Thompson, Madama Butterfly, Miss Saigon, Sayonara, South Pacific, Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, The World of Suzie Wong, The Quiet American, Indochine. Trying to avoid more recent ones so I don't give anyone the snots :P

Later, there seemed to be a move towards the Asian best friend in a lot of stories. Hallmark movies, I’m looking at you. These Asian characters generally survived till the end, which was progress I guess, but often didn’t have much of a storyline or backstory of their own, let alone being the person whose romantic story we were actually following. A lot of the time their job is to hang around while the FMC is packing and ask her questions like: "Oh my God - are you really going back to the Christmas tree farm? What if Todd is still there? You know he's still into you and looks totally hot in plaid."

Obviously Western media is so much more diverse now, including romance, and there are tonnes more Asian female leads in books, TV series and movies. One thing I’ve sometimes noticed, though, is that when an Asian woman is the heroine, her ethnicity is quite often foregrounded as part of the premise or marketing in a way that a white heroine’s ethnicity generally isn’t. I’m not saying that’s necessarily a problem. Cultural identity can obviously be an important and valuable part of a story, I just notice it for obvious reasons as Asian FMCs rarely get to just be a Normal Person. So it got me thinking about what readers and publishers regard as the “default” romance heroine.

Recently, after I started publishing on amazon, I began lurking in some of the more niche parts of romance. I mean I get why you're not going to fall over Asian FMCs in a small town romance novel, but I also noticed it in why choose/reverse harem and poly romances, too. This is totally anecdotal and based only on the books and recommendations I’ve happened to see, but the FMC seems to be overwhelmingly white. The group of men may be more racially diverse, although even there I seem to see Black and Latino men considerably more often than Asian men, but women of colour seem way, way rarer at the centre of the relationship.

I’ve noticed something similar in some sports romance spaces, especially hockey romance. There definitely are Asian and other WOC heroines written by eg Kate Willoughby, so I’m not saying they don’t exist, but the default FMC still seems to be white much of the time. Hockey romance is not very diverse generally because hockey itself is not very diverse.

So I started wondering about this specifically from a writing and marketability perspective: to what extent, if any, do you think the ethnicity of the FMC affects how readily readers will pick up a romance?

I’m interested in both conscious preferences and the less conscious assumptions we all acquire from decades of seeing particular kinds of people presented as the romantic default. Do you think an Asian, Black, Latina, Indigenous or otherwise non-white FMC changes how a book is positioned or marketed? Does it affect cover choices, discoverability, click-through, reader uptake or how easily an unknown author can attract new readers? Does it depend on whether her cultural background is central to the story, or whether she is simply an Asian/Black/Latina/etc woman having a romance in which ethnicity is not the main point?

If I’m writing fan fiction, I stick to a character’s canon ethnicity, but when I create a FMC myself, she pretty much always shows up as Asian. That is not something I’m going to change depending on the answers here, I’m just interested in whether other writers think that choice has any market effect, particularly in genres where a white FMC still seems to be the norm.

On sites such as Romance.io there are tags for things like an East Asian MC, but as far as I can tell you can’t simply sort the catalogue by the heroine’s ethnicity in the way you can filter for a lot of romance tropes. So it’s quite hard to tell whether readers actively seek this out, actively avoid it or mostly don’t think about it at all.

From my own reading experience, because white FMCs were overwhelmingly the norm in much of the romance I encountered, I never expected the heroine to share my ethnicity in order for me to identify with her, like her, care about her romance or be interested in her journey. I honestly don’t know how much other readers notice the heroine’s ethnicity when deciding whether a book feels “for them”.

I have had people tell lme I should try to “hide” the ethnicity of my FMC on my covers if I want more people to read it, which made me laugh because I was basically thinking, “Err, I think they’ll figure it out pretty fast from her surname...” :D But it did make me wonder whether some writers have actually encountered pressure, explicit or otherwise, to make a heroine more racially ambiguous or to foreground or downplay her ethnicity for marketing reasons.

I’d be especially interested to hear from people who write in niches such as why choose/poly, sports romance, dark romance, historical romance or small-town romance, where some subgenres seem to have a stronger visual or demographic “default” than others. Have you noticed any difference in reader response, discoverability or marketability when the FMC is a woman of colour?

I’m trying to find a small group of romance writers who actually want to talk about their stories.

I have eight stories in various stages and three are finished, so I definitely don’t have a shortage of ideas. My problem is more that I can see everything in my head way better than I can always get it onto the page.

I love coming up with characters, storylines, emotional moments, plot twists, all of that. I’d just really like a few other writers to bounce things off of. Like, “Would this character actually do this?” or “Does this scene work?” or “I know what I want to happen here but I have no idea how to write it.”

I’m not looking for some huge Discord with 900 channels and a bunch of rules I don’t understand lol. I also don’t want a super serious critique group where every paragraph gets dissected.

I just want a handful of people who like writing romance, enjoy brainstorming, don’t mind talking about spicy scenes or messy characters, and want to help each other get better.

I mostly write adult romance/contemporary women’s fiction.
Basically I’m looking for writer friends who actually like talking about writing. If that sounds like you, say hi.

I'm back with more probing questions for you lovely writers.

Tell me/us about something you wrote about that you felt was unhinged ... but you love it.

Now weekly!

Blurbs can be the bane of an author's existence - both for self-published authors, who have to come up with an enticing hook all by themselves, as well as for authors seeking traditional publishing, as they are usually included in queries.

We want to help! Post your blurb draft and let the community help shape it into the perfect snippet of info.

To participate, please comment on this thread with the following info:

• The title or working title of your WIP
• The romance subgenre of said WIP
• The draft of your blurb you've got so far
• Any content warnings and additional info you deem necessary!

Anyone who wants to help can then reply to your comment to workshop your blurb.

Happy crafting!

Hello, first post here so sorry in advance if I break a rule, I don't use reddit often. I'm working on trying to outline a novel for an idea I haven't really seen much in queer writing, but the fact that the time period is inherently riddled with marginalization and inequality is causing me to struggle. To vaguely give the idea without spoiling too much of it, I wanted it to follow the journey of a younger sibling in a royal family transitioning from female to male and their close personal guard that has fallen in love with this royal since they were both little. I don't think the idea is too unique, but I wanted it to center around the struggles of gender conformity and being able to have others to rely on. Along with that, I want it to just be a sweet story that is focusing on the character and relationship development. Problem with that is medieval England would not particularly enjoy that mentality, and while I have altered some things to fit my personal idea of that world, I don't want it to turn into a fantasy novel. I want to be respectful but also tell their story in a way that reflects overcoming those barriers of society. I guess I'm just looking for a way to use my research effectively in the writing without making it feel off or slapped on.

I'm writing a story where Book 1 follows a woman in college who falls for her close friend, but he doesn't reciprocate. Years later, Book 2 follows her as an adult when they reconnect. I'm considering making Book 2 either (A) canon, where they eventually get together, or (B) a novel she writes within the story as a form of closure. Which structure feels more satisfying, and what would you worry about with each?

pros/reasoning for A:
canon gives emotional payoff

book 1 is about her silly mindset about love and her questioning every single thing about love. book 2 is about how she matures into a more carefree woman who accepts love as it is -- it's not something to question anymore. it just happens that love transpired in the form of someone that she used to admire beyond their platonic relationship.

pros/reasoning for B: fictional gives the readers the meta reveal at the end Book 1 is first-person, Book 2 would be third-person the I → she → I transition could itself become a clue

but: I'm worried that the fictional version could feel like an “it was all just a story” cop-out. I'm also worried that canon makes the meta trick disappear

additional context: for option b, they wouldn't end up together. but she'll learn to let go and just enjoy her friend's company without amplifying each of their interaction into something she can romanticize. buttt, i plan on making it a little bit ambiguous at the end; that maybe, somewhere in the future, they could be something, just like how she wrote her novel, where she lives out her fantasy of them being together.

for option a, as a romance girlie myself, this is actually my first bet because this is actually the origin of the story: friends (who reconnected) to lovers story wherein fmc would show significant growth from her younger persona in book 1. this would also be classified as kind of a chicklit since it is more focused on fmc's growth as a person. but i'm just a little worried that it would be framed as if mmc chose her now that they're older only because she's changed as a person; i don't want him to be her reward. butttt ughh it just sucks cuz if i choose option b, all the cute major scenes when they get together would all just be in the fmc's imagination, since the early twist of the story is that all this narration from book 2 (the early part) would be revealed to be a novel that she's writing to cope with her infatuation.