Author Topic: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!  (Read 20059 times)

arebelspy

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Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« on: April 14, 2015, 01:37:51 PM »
So I have to share about the badassity of my wife.

After several people on the forums mentioned writing romance novels (either as a side-gig, or primary method of making money), she decided to give it a try.  She's been working on writing (and recently editing) them for about 6 months.  She has 4 historical romances written, and a contemporary romance.

The historical romances we asked for beta readers from Mustachians, and got a ton of help!  So she's been plugging away at editing those, and we're planning to self-publish them on Amazon.

In the meantime, Harlequin, a traditional publisher, was doing a Twitter promotion for their "Blaze" line of books called #BlazeBlitz.  Details can be found here. You had to submit a 4-6 page synopsis and the first chapter between March 2 and 16.  It wasn't a "contest," per se, but they promised editorial feedback on every submission and would ask for full manuscripts for promising ones.

So having this contemporary novel finished for awhile, she went ahead and wrote the synopsis and submitted it March 3, and on March 12 they asked for the full manuscript!

I didn't post/share about it then, as it was still just them asking to see it--they could easily not be interested after reading the whole thing.  (Though as of March 27, the assistant editor in charge of the promotion tweeted that they had over 200 submissions and had requested 7 full manuscripts so far, so it was still pretty exciting just to be in that group.)

She took a week editing it, and then submitted a week later on March 19.

Now today an editor called and said they want to publish it!  They're sending over the contract soon and some comments, but the dollar number is: $4,000 advance ($2k when signing contract, $2k upon submitting the revised manuscript with their changes). Since it's a Blaze book, it's the kind that tends to be put into the stores for a month and then pulled for the next thing, so we don't expect it to necessarily "earn out" its advance and get royalties beyond that, but if it does, that's just gravy on top.

Not bad for a side-gig started on a lark not too long ago.  :)

Perhaps more importantly, in her words (from a text earlier): "Even if something happens and it all falls through, professional people liked my book :)"  -- That affirmation is pretty encouraging.

So all in all, quite exciting.  She's such a badass.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
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Marko34

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2015, 01:49:13 PM »
This is awesome! Send my congrats her way!

Exflyboy

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #2 on: April 14, 2015, 01:52:06 PM »
Thats awesome...:)

FIreDrill

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #3 on: April 14, 2015, 01:53:21 PM »
That's awesome! Congrats :)

CowboyAndIndian

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #4 on: April 14, 2015, 01:54:46 PM »
Congratulations Mrs. ARS! Way to go.

So, ARS, are you ready to be a kept man in retirement ;-)

Neustache

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #5 on: April 14, 2015, 01:55:56 PM »
Ahhhhh!!! Tell your wife congrats!  Not a bad way to start off her retirement...published author!!

Daleth

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #6 on: April 14, 2015, 02:03:46 PM »
That's fantastic! Yay her!

SenoritaStache

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #7 on: April 14, 2015, 02:13:15 PM »
Congrats!!! Cheers to more to come 😊

Another Reader

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #8 on: April 14, 2015, 02:17:44 PM »
How does the return on her "invested capital" compare to your real estate?  I think she may have you beaten there! 

Tami1982

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #9 on: April 14, 2015, 02:31:55 PM »
That is amazing and wonderful!  I'm so happy for her - but I do want to caution her if she hasn't signed anything yet.  Harlequin has a not great reputation in regards to royalties.  Often times, people can make more epublishing, however no one argues that the editorial support isn't fantastic, and the author development is great.  This article breaks it down, but it's like under 2% royalty of the cover price.  It takes a lot of sales to earn out your advance at 2%. 

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2012/05/harlequin-fail.html

Just some FYI to see if there are better options out there for her.  I know it's a huge thing to get a book deal, and she should be so proud.  Harlequin is an institution!   

UnleashHell

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #10 on: April 14, 2015, 02:44:04 PM »
Good for her!

Gone Fishing

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #11 on: April 14, 2015, 02:59:31 PM »
Awesome! Just wait until you see the cover they pick out!

Did she read much romance before she started writing?


CommonCents

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #12 on: April 14, 2015, 03:20:34 PM »
That's pretty fantastic!

*scratches head and wonders if I should start writing rather than random editing...*

arebelspy

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #13 on: April 14, 2015, 03:36:26 PM »
Thanks everyone!  Can't wait to show her this thread tonight with all of your support.  :)

Answers to specific comments/questions:

Congratulations Mrs. ARS! Way to go.

So, ARS, are you ready to be a kept man in retirement ;-)

Haha.  Definitely!

Though I mean, do we even count as retired now if she earns some money from writing?    ;)

How does the return on her "invested capital" compare to your real estate?  I think she may have you beaten there! 

Seriously.  And her return on time isn't too shabby either!  It should net more per hour than we make teaching.

She's always made more money than me though (High School teachers have a lot more opportunity to earn extra money w/ clubs/sports, Saturday schools, prep sells, etc.--I did some tutoring where available, but she's made more than I have, even though we're at the same point on the same payscale, due to extra jobs, for years).  The real estate is my contribution.  But luckily we're a team, so we don't keep score of who made what or need to compare.  :) 

That is amazing and wonderful!  I'm so happy for her - but I do want to caution her if she hasn't signed anything yet.  Harlequin has a not great reputation in regards to royalties.  Often times, people can make more epublishing, however no one argues that the editorial support isn't fantastic, and the author development is great.  This article breaks it down, but it's like under 2% royalty of the cover price.  It takes a lot of sales to earn out your advance at 2%. 

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2012/05/harlequin-fail.html

Just some FYI to see if there are better options out there for her.  I know it's a huge thing to get a book deal, and she should be so proud.  Harlequin is an institution!   

Yeah, we've heard quite a few things like that.  And one of my priorities now is to research romance writers' contracts (and in fact, searching "harlequin romance contract" your link is the first google result).  But nevertheless, we're excited to get the ball rolling on this, even if it earns such a small amount of royalties.  As I posted in the OP, we're not necessarily expecting it to sell out its advance, so any royalties are gravy.  We'll also continue to pursue self publishing.

Awesome! Just wait until you see the cover they pick out!

Did she read much romance before she started writing?

We actually already had a cover designed for it, planning to self publish, which we probably won't need now.  Might see about changing the title on it and re-using it for a different book in the same series.

And no, not really.  She had read a handful over her few decades, but she wasn't a "romance reader."  Once she started writing them though, she got a bunch from the library (dozens over the last 6 months) and read them to make sure she has a feel for the genre (and specifically in the niches she's writing within romance).
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

MandalayVA

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #14 on: April 14, 2015, 03:39:52 PM »
As one of the beta readers I'm super-proud of her.  A lot of the big shots got their starts writing for Harlequin so this is a big deal!  Congratulations!

HappierAtHome

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #15 on: April 14, 2015, 04:07:53 PM »
Yaaaay that's awesome!

Kris

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #16 on: April 14, 2015, 05:19:25 PM »
That's very cool news, Arebelspy!

I'm glad you're looking into contracts and keeping your eyes open.  I just want to say, I've made far more than $4,000 each from the two novels I've self-published, so do keep that in mind as you go forward.  If they put it up for a month and then take it down, who gets the rights to the book when they've pulled it?  If you do, then it could be worth it.  If they keep the publishing rights for a significant period, I would actually advise thinking this through before you sign. 

2527

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #17 on: April 14, 2015, 06:06:08 PM »
Way....to.....go.......!!!!!!

expatartist

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #18 on: April 14, 2015, 06:17:03 PM »
Big congrats to Mrs. ARS!

Curious - what's the genre?

FrugalZony

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #19 on: April 14, 2015, 06:21:42 PM »
How super awesome A.R.S!!! Please give Missus Rebel Spy a big hug from me.
From what you guys told us last month, I had a feeling that this was bound to happen!!
Congratulations to Team A.R.S., you guys complement each other so well in these things!
Reading this totally made my day!

forummm

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #20 on: April 14, 2015, 06:45:05 PM »
There could be some fun characters in there. Like the strapping young frugal man--his thrifty way with money just drives all the ladies wild. And the guy with the heaving mustache that functions as a knife to slice through wasteful spending. And the hot MILFs who ride around town dragging their kids along behind them in their bike trailer/grocery conveyance.

In the big scene at the end, she whispers, "Well I guess the best things in life are free."

rockstache

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #21 on: April 14, 2015, 07:45:13 PM »
Wow, that's fantastic news, congratulations! I really liked her writing style and can't wait to see more!

okits

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #22 on: April 14, 2015, 08:08:05 PM »
Congratulations!

LOL @forummm's racy-but-frugal characters.

imustachemystash

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #23 on: April 14, 2015, 08:11:58 PM »
Congratulations!  You are both so inspiring.  I hope you try out some of the steamy scenes to celebrate.

Zamboni

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #24 on: April 14, 2015, 08:56:57 PM »
Fantastic!  Glad things came together on that for her.

Secretly Saving

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #25 on: April 14, 2015, 10:11:47 PM »
Terrific!  Way to go Mrs. Arebelspy!

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #26 on: April 14, 2015, 10:42:15 PM »
Nice work!

PJ

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #27 on: April 14, 2015, 11:11:48 PM »
Congrats ARS (or rather, ARS' wife)! 

I've known a couple of people who got books published, either through self-publishing or through traditional means, and they've said it is unimaginably exciting to hold that book in their hands.  I'm curious, does she enjoy the process?  If so, then being able to retire early will free her up to engage in the kind of creative "work" that is often hard to either make a living at, or to do as a side gig long-term.  And it can be done anywhere in the world, so would fit in well with your plans to travel the world.

(It's been so long since I've been on here, that I wondered if you'd already be on the road ...)

Erica/NWEdible

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #28 on: April 14, 2015, 11:24:49 PM »
Congrats! That's wonderful!

arebelspy

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #29 on: April 15, 2015, 11:21:05 AM »
Thanks everyone for the congrats!  :)

Specific replies:

As one of the beta readers I'm super-proud of her.  A lot of the big shots got their starts writing for Harlequin so this is a big deal!  Congratulations!

She was very thankful for your help--I think you were one of only 2? Mustachians who saw this book (and not just Memories).  :)

I'm glad you're looking into contracts and keeping your eyes open.  I just want to say, I've made far more than $4,000 each from the two novels I've self-published, so do keep that in mind as you go forward.  If they put it up for a month and then take it down, who gets the rights to the book when they've pulled it?  If you do, then it could be worth it.  If they keep the publishing rights for a significant period, I would actually advise thinking this through before you sign.

Yeah, the rights is definitely something I'll be looking at when we get the contract.  Self publishing seems like the way to go for more money, but we're leaning towards taking the "easy" money to start out with.  Without any following, initial books probably won't sell that well.  We're definitely working on getting the ball rolling on self publishing though, w/ a website, mail list, looking into promotions, etc.

Curious - what's the genre?

Romance.  This one is contemporary, but most of what she's written so far has been historical.

How super awesome A.R.S!!! Please give Missus Rebel Spy a big hug from me.
From what you guys told us last month, I had a feeling that this was bound to happen!!
Congratulations to Team A.R.S., you guys complement each other so well in these things!
Reading this totally made my day!

Thanks FZ!  She was really happy to read your comment.  :)

There could be some fun characters in there. Like the strapping young frugal man--his thrifty way with money just drives all the ladies wild. And the guy with the heaving mustache that functions as a knife to slice through wasteful spending. And the hot MILFs who ride around town dragging their kids along behind them in their bike trailer/grocery conveyance.

In the big scene at the end, she whispers, "Well I guess the best things in life are free."

lol.  Awesome.  Probably not the mass market appeal of the cliched ones though.

Wow, that's fantastic news, congratulations! I really liked her writing style and can't wait to see more!

Thanks!  I think we'll be sending this one at some point to everyone for free who did beta readings on the other one, not for comments, but just if they'd enjoy it.  :)

Congratulations!  You are both so inspiring.  I hope you try out some of the steamy scenes to celebrate.

Haha.  No comment!  :)

Congrats ARS (or rather, ARS' wife)! 

I've known a couple of people who got books published, either through self-publishing or through traditional means, and they've said it is unimaginably exciting to hold that book in their hands.  I'm curious, does she enjoy the process?  If so, then being able to retire early will free her up to engage in the kind of creative "work" that is often hard to either make a living at, or to do as a side gig long-term.  And it can be done anywhere in the world, so would fit in well with your plans to travel the world.

Some part of it she likes, some days it's a grind.  She had a lot of fun writing this book in particular though.  There are definite days where she enjoys it a lot, and she says she's glad to have it as a hobby for FIRE to give a little structure/work to the day.

(It's been so long since I've been on here, that I wondered if you'd already be on the road ...)

Not on the road yet, but starting at the end of August: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/journals/arebelspy-hikes-the-camino/

It's funny, your post does put in perspective that this is a goal we've been working towards for years (probably 2012 when I waas posting about it and you read it? and been a goal since before that), and though our original timeframe was 2016 or 2017, and we're early, it's fun seeing those goals that take years to accomplish finally occur.  :)

I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

Misstachian

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #30 on: April 15, 2015, 08:34:41 PM »
Good for her! Congratulations. And ditto what others said about getting rights back - negotiate the "in print" language if you can so you get the rights if they aren't selling plenty of copies. Also keep an eye on the "competitive works" and option clause if they will take a while to publish (so she can publish other things if she wants). If this is more a throw it at the wall & see what sticks situation, hopefully they will be reasonably flexible.

I don't know much about romance, but if she decides she wants an agent & wants some info from Pub Mark as she's narrowing her field, feel free to pm me.

ABC123

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #31 on: April 15, 2015, 09:07:36 PM »
Good for her! I also very much enjoyed the two historical novels she sent the beta readers. This world can never have too much romance,  right?

PJ

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #32 on: April 15, 2015, 11:38:24 PM »

(It's been so long since I've been on here, that I wondered if you'd already be on the road ...)

Not on the road yet, but starting at the end of August: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/journals/arebelspy-hikes-the-camino/

It's funny, your post does put in perspective that this is a goal we've been working towards for years (probably 2012 when I waas posting about it and you read it? and been a goal since before that), and though our original timeframe was 2016 or 2017, and we're early, it's fun seeing those goals that take years to accomplish finally occur.  :)

Well, congrats on that too - end of August, eh?  I know a couple of people who have hiked the Camino, or at least parts of it, and whether religious or non-religious, have found it pretty life changing.  Hmm.  I think I have a book written by an atheist who did it.  Hang on, I'll go check ...

Nope ... can't find it.  I didn't get all my boxes of books unpacked when I moved here, because there wasn't enough room on my bookshelves.  But according to this site http://amawalker.blogspot.ca/2009/09/books-on-camino.html there are over 101 books on the Camino!  (One of them is written by Arthur Boers, who I know, and knew that he was a writer, but didn't know that he'd written about the Camino)

Hey, maybe your wife can write one - the blog author says there's a gap in terms of books for children ...

Anyway, yeah, your plans to RE and travel the world are part of what I think I've always known about you.  As in, "ARS?  He's the guy who lives in Vegas, teaches, and owns rental properties.  One of these days, he and his wife are going to RE and travel the world."

It's nice to see you so close to achieving your goal!




matchewed

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #33 on: April 16, 2015, 06:00:11 AM »
Grats. :)

Metta

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #34 on: April 16, 2015, 06:22:41 AM »
That is fantastic news! Congrats to your wife!

Cougar

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #35 on: April 16, 2015, 08:10:02 AM »

Thats impressive, as a writer of two books; i know its nearly impossible for someone not being in journalism to get published or even looked at.

Iron Mike Sharpe

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #36 on: April 16, 2015, 08:14:40 AM »
Maybe she can start a new sub-genre:  Mr. Money Mustache erotica.

gaja

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #37 on: April 16, 2015, 08:27:11 AM »
Congratulations! As a buyer on Amazon, I prefer books from authors who have some feedback, or have been published. It lessens the chance of buying complete rubbish.

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #38 on: April 16, 2015, 10:39:30 AM »
LTTP but congrats. I'm not a romance reader but if she needs/wants an eye on technical editing for the self-pub ones, PM me.

Finishing (and publishing) a book is on my goals for 2015. Making good progress with one, though gardening season has derailed me a bit. I've been writing for years, but I'm terrible about finishing anything. At this point I've got 6 mostly finished novels and countless other projects I started and then abandoned, or wrote mostly for world-building.

OSUBearCub

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #39 on: April 16, 2015, 02:04:22 PM »
Congratulations! 

Follow up question: flowery bodice-ripper or gritty, housewife semi-smut? (I'm not at all ashamed to say I've ready a handful of the latter ha ha!)

Axecleaver

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #40 on: April 16, 2015, 02:53:54 PM »
I did some technical books in my youth (20 years ago) that covered the advance within the first three months. When I did this, I got a royalty on the wholesale price the retail outlet paid the publisher. So on a $40 book, they paid $15, and I got 6-8% of that (6% on the first 15k copies, went to 8% after we sold a bunch). Worked out to about $1.20 per sale. I ended up making about 30k over the life of the book.

Not sure how the romance genre works out, or even if the money matters to her. For me, that book helped me close sales to clients. For her, it may just be a bucket list thing and the money doesn't matter, in which case, sell it for the $4k advance and consider it a big win!

Whatever you do, don't calculate the hourly rate. When I did that on the advance, it looked like a terrible idea, because I was giving up consulting revenue to write the book and the advance was less than half my consulting rate. But in the final analysis, the book I published made me a ton of money from helping win me more work, and you can't know what that looks like today. If this deal opens doors, it could be a huge plus for her.
« Last Edit: April 17, 2015, 07:56:39 AM by Axecleaver »

couponvan

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #41 on: April 16, 2015, 03:33:37 PM »
That's very cool news, Arebelspy!

I'm glad you're looking into contracts and keeping your eyes open.  I just want to say, I've made far more than $4,000 each from the two novels I've self-published, so do keep that in mind as you go forward.  If they put it up for a month and then take it down, who gets the rights to the book when they've pulled it?  If you do, then it could be worth it.  If they keep the publishing rights for a significant period, I would actually advise thinking this through before you sign.

At a free book week or two to generate interest and reviews then epublish for the $.99, you definitely might do better that way.  BUT for bragging rights I just might do it at least with one.  Harlequin is my #1 favorite romance novel company. :-)

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #42 on: April 16, 2015, 04:13:15 PM »
WOW - that IS badass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Super awesome. You and your wife seem to be quite the dynamic duo!!

Congrats :)

And from a librarian's perspective, let me just say that romance novels are some of the #1 most widely read and most popular books around, also I've read a few Blaze books, and they're legit. This is quite a compliment for your wife!! Very inspiring. Thanks for sharing the good news!

mm1970

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #43 on: April 16, 2015, 04:50:21 PM »
sweet!  I used to mow through those contemporary romances in my younger/ no kid days.  Always toyed with writing them. 

Doulos

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #44 on: April 16, 2015, 06:51:16 PM »
I am very happy for both of you.

It only takes a 1 hit wonder to get rich!  This could be the one.

Kris

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #45 on: April 16, 2015, 06:59:22 PM »
Congratulations! As a buyer on Amazon, I prefer books from authors who have some feedback, or have been published. It lessens the chance of buying complete rubbish.

On this, you might ask the people who were beta readers here to do Amazon reviews as soon as it comes out.

arebelspy

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #46 on: April 16, 2015, 07:01:56 PM »
Thanks for all the congrats, everyone since my last post!  :)

Specific replies:
Good for her! Congratulations. And ditto what others said about getting rights back - negotiate the "in print" language if you can so you get the rights if they aren't selling plenty of copies. Also keep an eye on the "competitive works" and option clause if they will take a while to publish (so she can publish other things if she wants). If this is more a throw it at the wall & see what sticks situation, hopefully they will be reasonably flexible.

Yup, those are definite things we're looking out for.  Apparently Harlequin has a standard contract for all new authors and aren't too flexible on it (got this from another forum I'm on to support her writing, from writers that have written for Harlequin).  But we'll see.

I don't know much about romance, but if she decides she wants an agent & wants some info from Pub Mark as she's narrowing her field, feel free to pm me.

I don't know what that means.  :)

Good for her! I also very much enjoyed the two historical novels she sent the beta readers. This world can never have too much romance,  right?

Well, I don't know about that, but I'm glad she's enjoying it, and I hope the readers will.  :)

Well, congrats on that too - end of August, eh?  I know a couple of people who have hiked the Camino, or at least parts of it, and whether religious or non-religious, have found it pretty life changing. 

Yeah, it should be quite an adventure!  :D


Thats impressive, as a writer of two books; i know its nearly impossible for someone not being in journalism to get published or even looked at.

Yeah, it's her first thing ever submitted anywhere, and she was asked to do a short blog article for one of the Harlequin sites about getting "The Call" (that they want her book), and she looked at other samples and some of them submitted a bunch of books for years before getting accepted.  She's doing quite well, apparently.  Somehow things just tend to work out for the best.

Congratulations! As a buyer on Amazon, I prefer books from authors who have some feedback, or have been published. It lessens the chance of buying complete rubbish.

Yeah, we're not sure how far she's going to take this side-gig (/career?), but it certainly seems like it can't hurt much.

LTTP but congrats. I'm not a romance reader but if she needs/wants an eye on technical editing for the self-pub ones, PM me.

Finishing (and publishing) a book is on my goals for 2015. Making good progress with one, though gardening season has derailed me a bit. I've been writing for years, but I'm terrible about finishing anything. At this point I've got 6 mostly finished novels and countless other projects I started and then abandoned, or wrote mostly for world-building.

That's awesome, you definitely should finish some of them up!

Congratulations! 

Follow up question: flowery bodice-ripper or gritty, housewife semi-smut? (I'm not at all ashamed to say I've ready a handful of the latter ha ha!)

I don't know what that means.  :)

Here is the cover we had designed, if that gives you some idea?:


Link to larger version: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/9743562/Vegas%20Passion.jpg

Though now that we're selling it to Harlequin, they're going to be designing a new cover for it.

I did some a technical book in my youth (20 years ago) that covered the advance within the first three months. When I did this, I got a royalty on the wholesale price the retail outlet paid the publisher. So on a $40 book, they paid $15, and I got 6-8% of that (6% on the first 15k copies, went to 8% after we sold a bunch). Worked out to about $1.20 per sale. I ended up making about 30k over the life of the book.

Not sure how the romance genre works out, or even if the money matters to her. For me, that book helped me close sales to clients. For her, it may just be a bucket list thing and the money doesn't matter, in which case, sell it for the $4k advance and consider it a big win!

Whatever you do, don't calculate the hourly rate. When I did that on the advance, it looked like a terrible idea, because I was giving up consulting revenue to write the book and the advance was less than half my consulting rate. But in the final analysis, the book I published made me a ton of money from helping win me more work, and you can't know what that looks like today. If this deal opens doors, it could be a huge plus for her.

Good to know!  The money doesn't matter so much (see: latest MMM post on doing things as if they paid you $0 once you're FI), but hey, it doesn't hurt.

Her hourly rate on it is actually pretty darn good, though that's because we're comparing it to a teacher's hourly rate and not a consultant's.  ;)   She got paid more per hour for the advance--even if she never earns out and gets royalties--than she does tutoring or anything, I believe (though we don't have the exact times, so I can't be sure).

At a free book week or two to generate interest and reviews then epublish for the $.99, you definitely might do better that way.  BUT for bragging rights I just might do it at least with one.  Harlequin is my #1 favorite romance novel company. :-)

Yeah, she's pretty excited about having a print book from a legit publisher, not just printing her own.  But we'll likely be doing all the self publishing tricks w/ permafree, etc. on the other series.

WOW - that IS badass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Super awesome. You and your wife seem to be quite the dynamic duo!!

Hah, thanks.  That's a great phrase.  Makes us sound like crimefighters or super heroes or something.

We do pretty much look like this:


If you add an extra eye to her..and change the hair color from purple to blond..and change the robot to.. eh, screw it, I guess the analogy kinda fell apart there.  :P

"Dynamic duo" though just has a fun ring to it.  :D

Congratulations! As a buyer on Amazon, I prefer books from authors who have some feedback, or have been published. It lessens the chance of buying complete rubbish.

On this, you might ask the people who were beta readers here to do Amazon reviews as soon as it comes out.

Definitely planning on doing that--once we get a short freebie up on the site to encourage mail list signups, and self publish the first one (both the shorter one and the first one were sent to the beta readers), we'll email the next one and ask for reviews on the first.  :)
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asauer

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #47 on: April 17, 2015, 08:03:01 AM »
It's so affirming to have that acknowledgement!  Congrats to her!  I nearly peed my pants when I got a contract.

MgoSam

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #48 on: April 17, 2015, 09:45:48 AM »
That's incredible! Please pass along my congratulations! Should she need an in in the Christian romance publishing world, I have a few friends....

gluskap

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Re: Wife Got Offer to Publish Romance Novel!
« Reply #49 on: April 23, 2015, 02:19:56 PM »
Congrats to your wife!  That is so exciting to be a published author!  Can't wait to read more of her books =)