The Beginners Guide to Making Money Writing Short Story Romance
I had no idea this was possible. In the beginning, I just wanted to write a story. I have always enjoyed reading romance books and I thought I would love to be able to do that. So I started writing! Little did I know that in as little as three months, I would be making over $1000 a month on Amazon. When I started, I had 0 fans on Facebook, 0 followers on Instagram, and 0 subscribers on my email list. Plus, I write under a pen name, so I couldn’t rely on any friends or family to push my sales.
Writing as a side hustle is one of the easiest ways to make money. You can work it around almost any schedule. Little do people know that I write romance stories while watching my kid at baseball practice. It is doable. And it’s not expensive to start writing romance. Publishing on Amazon is FREE! The most expensive aspect of writing a book is designing the book cover. But even with that, it only cost me $5.
After seeing all the possibilities, I knew I had to share it with other wannabe writers!
What is Short Story Romance?
Short Stories range in word count of 1,500 to 30,000. However, I have found that you can put out more stories if you keep it at under 10,000 words per book. To start writing, you want to decide what type of romance story you want to write. My suggestion to you would be to write the type of story that you like to write. Romance stories can basically be broke down into 4 categories. Read the types below to help you choose what category you are going to write in!
- Clean Romance – These are a low-heat romantic stories. They have NO explicit sex scenes.
- Steamy Romance – Contains sex scenes, ranging from implied to the detailed and frequent. It has more of a story and generally a happily ever after or happy for now. Basically, if you take the sex scenes out there would still be a story.
- Erotic Romance – Written to tittilate and get the reader hot, however it still has a romantic story to it.
- Erotica – The story is focused on the sex. Sole purpose is to excite pleasure in the reader.
How to get started writing short story romance.
Here are a few steps to get you started on your own short story romance:
- Research – READ BOOKS LIKE YOU WANT TO WRITE. Look at how the author describes the characters, shows their relationship, etc.
- Outline – Outline your book. Yes there is a beginning, middle and end. Write down what is going to happen in each chapter. This is not exact, but will help direct your story.
- WRITE – Write your book. Don’t edit. Just get it all out there. I can spend hours going over one paragraph. The important part of this whole thing is to get your story on paper! WRITE
- Edit – Once you are finished with your first draft, I highly suggest you read it through and fix any spelling errors, typos and grammar. This is very important, but I have to be honest. I did not hire an editor until my 22nd book. Any negative reviews I received was due to errors in grammar. So if you are not thorough, I do recommend having your book edited or at the very least have friends and family triple check it.
- PUBLISH – PUBLISH YOUR BOOK!
- START WRITING YOUR NEXT BOOK!
Tips for Success in Writing Short Story Romance
- Have a good cover design!
- Use good keywords when you publish your book in Amazon.
- KEEP WRITING!
Common Questions/FAQ About Making Money to Write Short Story Romance
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What do I write about?
- Every love story has already been written. Think about it. Yes, it’s told different ways, but it’s already been written. You can find inspiration in a song, a movie, a book. You can even find inspiration people watching.
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How do I do a book cover for $5
- Purchase a $5 royalty free image and create the cover yourself in Canva. Look for my tutorial coming soon.
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How do I pick my keywords?
- KDP ROCKET This software tells you what buyers type into Amazon when searching for a book, it tells you how often they search by the keyword, it tells you how much money is made off the keyword and it tells you how competitive the keyword is. Keywords are so important for your book.
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How do I format my book?
- I highly recommend installing the Kindle Create Add In for Word. This is a great tool to help you format your book and it is FREE.
The Last Thing You Need to Know about Making Money Writing Short Story Romance
Is there one thing that you definitely have to do to become a success? Yes, there is. You have to put the work in and write the books. I encourage you to carry a voice recorder or notebook with you everywhere you go. You will not sell books if you don’t get them published. So, the absolute first step for you to do is write. Take the time and write your books. I promise it will be worth it.
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