Wattpad has announced that it is teaming up with Kensington, a well-known independent publisher, for a romance novel competition.

This is not the first time Wattpad has teamed up with a publisher. In 2013 Wattpad joined forces with Harlequin to host a similar competition.

The rules are fairly simple. Writers who join Wattpad between January 23 and February 27 can submit the first 5,000 words of their novel along with a synopsis. Wattpad readers will then vote for their favorite entries. The winner receives a publishing contract from Kensington.

Deadline is February 27. There is no entry fee.
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Kensington Publishing Teams Up With Wattpad For Crowdsourced Romance Writing Competition

Press Release: January 21, 2015: Kensington Publishing Corp., America’s Independent Publisher, is teaming up with Wattpad, the world’s largest community of readers and writers, to unveil “The Write Affair,” a crowdsourced writing competition for aspiring romance authors.

The competition is open to any previously unpublished author of romance fiction who joins Wattpad. Between January 23, 2015 and February 27, 2015, contestants must visit www.wattpad.com/TheWriteAffair and submit the first 5,000 words of their novel along with a synopsis.

The grand prize winner of “The Write Affair” will receive a publishing contract from Kensington and their novel will be published in both print and digital formats under Kensington’s new imprint, Zebra Shout.

Between February 28 and March 20, Wattpad’s community of over 40 million users will be
invited to vote for their favorite submissions, and their votes will determine which 10
submissions become finalists. From that pool of fan-favorites, a specially chosen team
consisting of members of the Kensington editorial board will select the grand prize winner. The
winner will be announced on Wattpad and Kensington’s website
(http://sites.kensingtonbooks.com/writeaffair/) on Monday, April 13, 2015.

Says Alexandra Nicolajsen, Kensington’s Associate Director of Social Media and Digital Sales,
“Kensington is a house that stands behind new authors, helping to build their careers and take
their books to the next level. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with Wattpad
and their huge number of dedicated readers to bring the next fresh story idea to the
marketplace—and to work with a new rising star in romance.”

Kensington’s joined forces with Wattpad to fulfill a desire to find new, burgeoning talent as well as involve an established community of readers and writers. Wattpad’s community is the
perfect solution to the question of how to get fans to play an active role in seeing their favorite
stories go from on screen to on the page.

The contest is open worldwide to first time authors writing in the English language, who must
be at least 16 years old at the time of entry. Entrants are asked to upload their completed
manuscript to: http://www.wattpad.com/user/thewriteaffair.

For a complete listing of “The Write Affair” contest rules and additional details please see Kensington’s landing page at: http://sites.kensingtonbooks.com/writeaffair/.

ABOUT KENSINGTON PUBLISHING:

Founded in 1974 by the late Walter Zacharius, Kensington Publishing Corp. is located in New York City and is known as “America’s Independent Publisher.” As the foremost independent commercial publishing house in the United States providing hardcover, trade paperback, mass market, and digital releases, Kensington publishes the books that America wants to read.

The house of New York Times bestselling authors, including Fern Michaels, Lisa Jackson, Joanne Fluke, William W. Johnstone, and many others, Kensington publishes over 500 fiction and non-fiction titles each year. Its diverse imprints include Zebra, Pinnacle, Dafina, and Lyrical Press which are well known for providing readers with a range of popular genres such as romance, women’s fiction, African American, young adult and nonfiction, as well as true-crime, western, and mystery titles. Visit kensingtonbooks.com.

ABOUT WATTPAD

More than 40 million people have joined Wattpad, making it the world’s largest community of readers and writers. People use Wattpad to connect with each other while they discover and share millions of free stories. Wattpad stories are available in more than 50 languages and can be read or written from any phone, tablet, or computer. The company is proudly based in Toronto, Canada. Learn more at www.wattpad.com.

Digital Book World has recently analyzed some statistics on romance book sales in Europe. It is not surprising that romance/erotica is the top-selling genre. Sex sells. (Freud didn't really need to teach us that.)

What is interesting is that 1) ebooks dominate, which means, 2) Amazon, Nook, and Apple dominate, which means, 3) lower-priced books dominate.

In this genre, readers go for cheap titles, which means self-published ebooks outperform their traditionally published counterparts. In short, self-published romance writers actually stand a chance at success.

If you are a romance, writer click on the link below for your top resources.

Top 6 Sites for Romance Writers
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Romance Ebook Sales Stats From Europe: Dominance and Submission

Digital Book World, June 9, 2014 | Gareth Cuddy

In a genre full of dominance and submission, we rip away the bodices and lift the masks to reveal the truth behind the sales figures.

Figures from the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) in this report from late last year highlight that romance/erotica is the top selling ebook genre and has the largest gap in digital vs. physical shares. That report also explains how Amazon, B&N Nook and Apple have 95% of the market between them, heavily skewed in Amazon’s favor. Dominance and submission, anyone?

The first thing that pops-up when discussing the romance and erotica genre is the impact of self-publishers. It is particularly strong in this area and has turned this genre into probably the most competitive space. It’s a honey-pot for avid readers and self-published authors – a match made in heaven if ever there was one!

Read more here...

HarperCollins has announced a free contest that budding romance authors can enter. The romance market is huge, with over 30,000,000 dedicated readers. And publishers are just now realizing that money can be made from digital imprints, so they are opening their doors to writers. No agent required. And - have I said this? - it's FREE.

So, come, all you romantic New Adults, blow the dust off your keyboards and type!
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From the website:

Avon’s Digital-First Imprint Encourages Graduate and Undergraduate Writing Students to Submit Romance Manuscripts for Chance to Win One-on-One Editorial Consultation. All Submissions will be Considered for Publication by Avon Impulse!

September marks the end of summer and a return to academia—and for many university students, it’s also a return the equally grueling and rewarding routine of creative writing classes. Avon Books and Avon Impulse, imprints of HarperCollins Publishers, recognizes the raw talent and passion for the craft that many students bring to their work, and it is for this reason that they have chosen to work with HarperCollins’ Academic Marketing division to launch an initiative seeking emerging young stars of Romance.

Graduate and undergraduate students are invited to submit up to three chapters (or 50 pages), a detailed synopsis (no more than five pages) of the romance novel. Entrants should also include a brief paragraph on what their follow-up book would be to the Avon Impulse Editors.

What are Avon’s editors looking for? Amanda Bergeron,the lead editor for the Avon Impulse digital-first publishing imprint, says, “First and foremost, we always want a fresh voice and an ability to create real-to-life characters. Beyond that, we are looking for writers who have an understanding of what’s working in the current market. And if you can make us laugh, cry, or go absolutely weak-kneed, that certainly doesn’t hurt. Know your strengths when you write—and trust in a great editor to make your manuscript even stronger”

Avon is actively acquiring the following types of novels:

• New Adult romance
• Romantic suspense
• Super sexy contemporaries
• Trilogies—and beyond
• Serialized erotic romance

What types of submissions will get students noticed? Bergeron notes, “Fabulously sexy heroes who let nothing get in the way of getting what they want—the heroine of course—and giving her everything she needs,” are top-of-bell curve for Avon editorial. Emphasis is also on heroines who are unafraid to take chances in life … and in love. “World-building” is key—writers are asked to choose the setting, just make sure it’s utterly romantic! Readers should be able to immerse themselves in the wonderful world that an author creates. "Series Wanted!" Bergeron asserts that readers always cry out for more when authors give them characters to believe in … so, in outlines, aspiring authors are asked to give Avon’s editors an idea of more stories to come in the same vein. And finally—for anyone who has discovered the super-dramatic, addictive joy of New Adult, editors are looking for dark spectacles that explore the many twists and turns of true love.

Further guidelines can be found at www.avonimpulse.com—but the sky’s the limit, since there are no specific call outs for this opportunity; as long as it’s romance, it qualifies! This call for submissions is aimed directly at students.

Deadlines:

All submissions should be digitally sent by 5 pm on April 1, 2014, via email to avonromancecollege@gmail.com. All submissions must be submitted from a college email address. All submissions will be reviewed and considered for publication through Avon Impulse, the publisher’s digital-first arm—winners will be announced on May 15, 2014.

Please Click Here for Official Rules

ABOUT HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS

HarperCollins Publishers, one of the largest English-language publishers in the world, is a subsidiary of NewsCorp (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NNC, NNCLV). Headquartered in New York, HarperCollins has publishing groups around the world in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and India. HarperCollins is a broad-based publisher with strengths in literary and commercial fiction, business books, children's books, cookbooks, narrative nonfiction, mystery, romance, reference, pop culture, design, health, wellness, and religious and spiritual books. With nearly 200 years of history, HarperCollins has published some of the world's foremost authors, including winners of the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Newbery Medal, and the Caldecott Medal. HarperCollins is consistently at the forefront of innovation, using digital technology to create unique reading experiences and expand the reach of its authors. You can visit HarperCollins Publishers online at: http://www.harpercollins.com.

This fascinating little industry tidbit (below) appeared in Publisher's Weekly a couple of weeks ago. Wattpad, for those of you who are not familiar with the site, features free chapters of self-published books. It boasts a readership in the millions. (Its Alexa ranking in the US is 2,553, which is very good.) This makes Wattpad an excellent platform for new writers, who generally care more about getting noticed than raking in the cash. (That comes later.)

Given Random/Penguin's recent launching of its various e-imprints, Loveswept among them, I was wondering how it was going to compete with the lure of Amazon's KDP Select, a program that has dominated the self-publishing scene for more than a decade. KDP Select allows writers to give away their books during 5 out of every 90 days in exchange for exclusive distributing rights. As a promotional tool. nothing beats giving something away for free, so Amazon, which has an immense reach, drew writers to it in droves.

Random/Penguin's strategy, apparently, is to give books away for free before they are released. Chapters will be published on the Wattpad site in serial form, another tried-and-true method for hooking readers.

The progress of Knox's novel, Truly, is something the industry will no doubt keep a close eye on. If Random/Penguin's strategy works, it will solve the pesky problem of how to build an online readership while undercutting Amazon's most successful marketing scheme.


Random House's Loveswept Partners With Wattpad

Publisher's Weekly, Aug 19, 2013

Thanks to a deal between Random House's digital-only romance imprint, Loveswept, and Wattpad, author Ruthie Knox will have her new series appear in serialized form on the online writing (and reading) community. Through the deal, Knox's novel Truly, which is the first title in a planned series, will debut on Wattpad as a free story in the fall, before being released as an e-book by Loveswept in August 2014.

Chapters from Truly will begin appearing on Wattpad on September 3, and continue to appear until the conclusion to the story is posted on November 4. Throughout the process, RH will invite Wattpad readers to take part in choosing the cover for the e-book. The effort, RH said, will also allow a high level of author access to Knox as readers will be able to use Wattpad's platform, which has mobile engagement, to contact her

Allison Dobson, v-p of business development and digital publishing at RH, said that Wattpad offers an "innovative approach to content creation and distribution," noting that the site already draws "millions of voracious readers" from all over the world.

This fascinating story was a guest post on BookRx. It's one of the better success stories out there, because Madeline Sheehan didn't "rocket" to success, she started off with only 6 sales - and she was thrilled! How did she get to #17 on Amazon’s Kindle Best Seller list (and get an agent)? Read all about it HERE. 

Self-Publishing, Blah, Blah, Blah…

By Madeline Sheehan

When I say “blah,” I mean it in the very best way. Because self-publishing, in a nutshell, is a three-ring circus.

But let me start at the very beginning, before I was introduced to the big, bad, kill-or-be-killed, survival-of-the-fittest world of independent authors. Back when I was just a lowly Public Relations Coordinator/Editor at a nonprofit organization with a writing hobby that I indulged in during my downtime, dreaming the dream of most writers to someday see their book on a bookstore shelf.

I’d been writing nearly my entire life but hadn’t completed a full-length novel until 2010 (The Soul Mate, a dystopian paranormal romance centered around modern-day gypsies), spending my evenings working tirelessly on the story line and character development. When I was finished, I didn’t have a clue what to do with it, but I did know right away I wasn’t going to be submitting it to any traditional publishing houses only to get my cherished manuscript tossed into their slush pile. So I opted instead to send it to a few family members for their opinions and amazingly enough, both my father and little sister, who are both avid readers, loved the book.

So then I thought, now what? You see, I didn’t know anything about self-publishing other than I loved Amanda Hocking’s Trylle trilogy and My Blood Approves series. I literally knew nothing about Amazon, Smashwords, or CreateSpace’s self-publishing platforms until one day my husband came home from work with a tip from a friend of his who’d self-published a book of poetry on Smashwords. Of course I looked into it, created a profile, and submitted my manuscript, and within a few weeks my e-book was available through Barnes and Noble, Apple, Sony, Kobo, etc.

And…nothing.

I sold a grand total of six books in six months. Don’t get me wrong; I was thrilled. Someone other than a family member had read my work. Had actually paid the $0.99 I was asking for it and READ it.

It was then that I decided to self-publish on Amazon as well, which, lo and behold, provided me with a lot more sales. A total of thirty in another six-month time frame.

Energized, I continued writing. While I was writing the sequel, My Soul To Take, I set up a Facebook author page to begin promoting my books to, well, my friends and family members. I had a total of a hundred likes, all of which were from people I’d known most of my life and weren’t interested in reading any of my books.

Halfway through writing My Soul To Take, I hit a mental brick wall. In the midst of trying to work through it, I pulled up a fresh Word document and began writing my third book, Undeniable. It was as far removed from the paranormal romance genre I’d been writing in as one could get. Undeniable is a motorcycle club dark romance set in a criminal underground world. It doesn’t hold back, it’s taboo, it’s gritty and ugly, it’s raw, and I make no apologies for it. I poured my heart and soul into that book; I used both real and fictional experiences, real and fictional character traits, and about a month after publishing My Soul To Take, I published Undeniable.

Fast-forward three weeks and the Internet BLEW UP...

Read the rest of this illuminating story HERE.

With no UK publishing deal for her debut novel, Tracy Bloom decided to go it alone. A few weeks later, her book was sitting at the top of the Amazon Kindle chart.

Tracy Bloom: I learned a huge amount from self-publishing

Source: The Guardian, Tuesday 9 July 2013 09.03 EDT

Why did you decide to self-publish your book?

I wrote my novel, No-one Ever Has Sex on a Tuesday, while living in Connecticut, US having moved there temporarily with my husband's job. I left behind a dream career developing rides for theme parks and found myself in a foreign country with a new baby and a desire to make the most of my dramatic change in circumstances. I joined an evening class in creative writing and about a year later I had completed my first romantic comedy, written mostly during my son's afternoon naps. To my utter shock an agent and foreign-rights deals came quickly afterwards, but although I had some very positive comments no UK publisher stepped forward. Having watched the self-publishing industry evolve to become a valid gateway to reach an audience I decided that the time was right to go it alone.

Read the rest of the article here.

Quirk Books has announced its “Looking for Love” Fiction Contest. First prize is $10,000 and publication by Quirk Books. They are looking for love stories that are fresh, fun, and strikingly unconventional. Boy Meets Girl. Girl Meets Girl. Girl Meets Shark. Shark Meets Pirate. Anything goes! (Except vampires.)

Best of all, this contest does not require an entry fee. It's FREE.

The contest deadline is October 1st, 2013. For official rules and entry form, go HERE. Good luck! 

Here are the rules. 

1. There is no entry fee.

2. The contest is open to any professional or nonprofessional writer, regardless of nationality. Writers may only enter one manuscript into the contest—so take your best shot. If you are under the age of 18, you must have the permission of your parent or legal guardian to enter the contest.

3. All manuscripts submitted: a) must be original works of book length (at least 50,000 words) written in the English language by the contestants; b) must not violate the rights of any third party; and c) must feature a love story. The editors of Quirk Books will have sole and absolute discretion and authority to decide if a manuscript meets these criteria. All decisions will be final.

4. All entries must be postmarked no later than October 1, 2013 and must include:

a) A double-spaced and neatly typed copy of the manuscript (photocopies are acceptable), with pages numbered consecutively from beginning to end. The author’s name should appear only on the title page and otherwise not appear anywhere on the manuscript pages.
b) A synopsis of no more than 250 words.
c) This application form, signed and completed.
d) a self-addressed stamped envelope if you would like us to acknowledge
receipt of your manuscript.5. All entries must be mailed to: “LOOKING FOR LOVE” FICTION CONTEST, Quirk Books, 215 Church Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106.

6. You should keep a copy of the manuscript for your own protection. Quirk Books will not be responsible for lost, stolen, mistransmitted, or mislaid manuscripts. Because of the great volume of submissions (and because, hey, there’s no entry fee) we anticipate manuscripts will not be returned. Please do not send return postage or envelopes.

7. Manuscripts submitted to the contest cannot be shopped by literary agents or other third parties during the submission period, which runs from June 1, 2013, through October 1, 2013. However, you may be represented by a literary agent provided that you—and not your agent— agree to abide by these official rules.

8. The winner will be selected by the editors of Quirk Books. Quirk reserves the right not to select any winner if, in the sole opinion of the editors, none of the manuscripts submitted are of publishable quality. An attempt will be made to notify the contest winner, if any, no later than January 15, 2014.

9. If a winner is selected, Quirk Books will be prepared to publish the winning manuscript pursuant to Quirk’s standard form author’s agreement with the contestant. The winner will receive an advance against future royalties of $10,000 after that standard form author’s agreement has been executed by both parties. Additional terms will be determined by Quirk Books at its sole discretion. The contestant may request reasonable changes in the offered terms, but Quirk Books shall not be obligated to agree to any such changes. Quirk Books may, but will not be required to consider for publication manuscripts submitted by other contestants.

10. No critical evaluation or commentary will be offered by the editorial staff of Quirk Books unless, in the sole opinion of the editorial staff, evaluation or commentary is appropriate in the case of a manuscript being considered for publication.

11. This competition is void where prohibited or restricted by law.

12. Good luck!

This fabulous article appeared a few days ago in the Daily Mail (UK). Ida Pollock wrote her first novel when she was just 14. And at age 105, she is still writing romance novels that have “adventure, mystery, movement.” There was never a question in Ida’s mind that she was meant to write, although her direction did not become clear  until her mother asked her to write 'something pretty'. For Ida Pollock, romance novels are not just pretty, they are a source of joy. “My books are full of hope and romance rather than sex,” she says. “They are a form of escapism - you can escape the parts of the world that you don't like.”

World's oldest romantic novelist, who has worked under 10 different pseudonyms, is still writing racy bodice-rippers aged 105

Daily Mail
By TONI JONES
PUBLISHED: 06:38 EST, 29 April 2013 | UPDATED: 10:17 EST, 29 April 2013

Writer Ida Pollock was today hailed the world's oldest romantic novelist as it was revealed she is still producing steamy books at the age of 105.

Ida has written 123 novels during her prolific career - many of them tales of virgins, chaste kisses and dashing male heroes. Ida has sold millions of books over nine decades with risque titles such as 'White Heat' and 'Interlude for Love'. She has millions of fans but has largely avoided the limelight by writing under ten different pseudonyms. Ida has written 70 books for Mills & Boon under the names Susan Barrie, Pamela Kent, Rose Burghley or Mary Whistler.

Despite turning 105 last week Ida is still writing and her latest novel The Runaway is due to be published shortly.

Read the rest of this article here.

Romance novels are arguably the most economically successful of all fiction genres. According to Romance Writers of America, romance books bring in a whopping 1.3 billion dollars a year, more than mystery novels, science fiction and fantasy combined. It's no wonder that more than half of all new fiction is comprised of romance novels. (This statistic is borne out by Amazon's top ten bestsellers – both free and paid – half of which are romances.) Not surprisingly, 90% of the market for romance novels is comprised of women.

If you are thinking of becoming a romance writer, the competition will be stiff. But by the same token, with over 30 million dedicated readers, there is always room for more. This is one market that will never be saturated. But, even with that uplifting thought in mind, romances, like any other genre, need to be marketed. These are the best sites to help you ensure your romance is a success.

1. Stephie Smith … Fiction with Humor and Heart
http://www.stephiesmith.com/resources.html
Host: Stephie Smith

Stephie Smith, who describes herself as a "Database Administrator for a software systems and services company... oh, and, yeah, I write," has put together this excellent general resource for romance writers.

This site has everything you need to get your romance off the ground – book review sites, online resources for period romances, book news, and general writing resources.

Site features: An incredibly well-organized spreadsheet of contests, including sponsor, cost, eligibility, dates and genre (more than romance is listed); general writers' resources, publishing and promoting your book, grammar, agents, epublishing, script writing, romance writing; romance book review sites; and some wonderful historical resource sites, including period costumes, coinage, ships and, of course, pirates. Be sure to check out Stephie's fabulous links.

2. Top 50 Romance novel blogs
http://www.invesp.com/blog-rank/Romance_Novels

Blogrank – an extremely useful site for investigating any type of blog – ranks blogs according to the number of unique visitors, RSS feeds, Alexa ranking, monthly visitors and various other criteria. Visitors to some of these blogs number in the millions. A number of these high-profile blogs review books, others allow guest bloggers. If you want to get noticed in the romance community, this is a good venue to pursue. Posting a guest article on one of these blogs will guarantee traffic to your site. (Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the other genres ranked by Blogrank.)

3. Romance Junkies
http://www.romancejunkies.com/

Writer's Digest named Romance Junkies one of the “101 Best Web Sites for Writers” for three years running. Romance Junkies is an impressive site, with written reviews, interviews, trailers, bloghops and contests. With over one million hits per month, this is one of the most heavily trafficked romance review sites on the net.

Site features: Reviews of romance novels, author bios and spotlight, a “cocktail hour” with featured writers, contests, free reads, a writer's corner offering information on Indie publishing, critique partners, and articles about the craft of writing. Submissions by paper or PDF attachment: http://www.romancejunkies.com/contact.html

4. Passionate Pen
http://www.passionatepen.com/
Host: Jenna Peterson

This is an excellent website put together by Avon author, Jenna Peterson. Here you will find links to publishers and agents who accept all kinds of romance, writing tips, research and marketing links. The information on publishing is particularly useful for writers – of any genre – who are trying to break into the print market.

Site features: Extensive list of agents representing romance writers with links to their submissions pages, a complete list of romance publishers (including electronic publishers, a large-print library and Christian presses). Also includes a very useful submission checklist with detailed instructions for contacting agents and publishers as well as a great list of links covering every aspect of the publishing industry.

5. Romance Writers of America
http://www.rwa.org/
General membership is $120.00

If you are a romance author, this is the organization for you. The RWA, a nonprofit association, represents more than 10,250 writers and publishing industry professionals in 145 chapters offering local or special-interest networking and education. RWA hosts an annual national conference and contests and awards for both published and unpublished writers. Membership includes subscription to the monthly Romance Writers Report, and access to lists of approved agents and publishers.

Site features: Statistics on the romance industry, description of sub-genres (with word counts), reader statistics, awards, chapter contests, an honor roll and “hall of fame.”