Romance Writing in the Caribbean – the Un-explored Market and the Ten Decisions You’ll Have to Make

Books are a continuing source of entertainment for those who are bored with television and sports as well as for those whose thrill in life is to snuggle down with a good book. There is no shortage on the type of books published each year and while one may debate which genre of book is more successful than the other. There is no doubt that Romance Novels make the bestseller lists every year and is subscribed to by millions of readers around the world. If you visit your local book store and check out the fiction section, you’ll definitely find romance novels, particularly books that are sold in themes such as Mills and Boon and Harlequin.

Billions of dollars are made each year in the industry and one may now wonder, what of the Caribbean Market. The fact is the Caribbean as a Market and a source of Romance Novels and Novelists is underexplored and in the case of published novelists is almost non-existent. This is so because the more established romance publishing houses do not necessarily publish Caribbean writers in that genre. What therefore are the options for Caribbean writers who want to write and publish Caribbean romance? There are obviously some decisions that have to be made before hand.

1. DECISION #1 SHOULD I WRITE FICTION OR NON-FICTION

• This is a big question for new writers. They are concerned about what is publishable and what they can earn the most revenue from. Most publishers agree that non-fiction books are better sellers particularly when they are contemporary in their approach and appeal to a wide audience.

• There is however a big market for fiction works. It can become a source of big revenue if explored appropriately and sufficiently. The choice however is yours whether or not you want to go fiction or non-fiction.

• Caribbean readers are more fiction oriented that non-fiction oriented. The fact that non-fiction is a better seller in the US does not necessarily hold true for the Caribbean with the exception of text-books. When Caribbean readers read for leisure they would rather read a good fiction than a book on motivation or self-help.

• If your aim is for an intellectual audience then non-fiction is the way to go. However if your aim is for the general audience and that’s where the revenue is, then non-fiction is your ideal choice.

• You might be wondering, what is the scope for general fiction writing in the Caribbean. The fact is Caribbean writers are excellent fiction writers. They just need to think outside the box and package and market their product appropriately.

2. DECISION # 2 SHOULD I WRITE ROMANCE OR GENERAL FICTION

• The Success of the Mills and Boon / Harlequin Books which has millions of readers worldwide and make billions are per year is proof that there is a big market for romance novels.

• The fact also that a percentage of that market are Caribbean readers makes it an even more exciting prospect for new Caribbean writers of romance.

• Will a Caribbean audience gravitate towards Caribbean authors? There has always been a problem of acceptance for Caribbean writers and in particular where certain genres like romance are concerned. This is because previous writers were not following the trend in the business where readership preference is concerned. When a reader buys a romance novel, they are looking for exactly that, romance; and romance to them means a story with a fairy tale ending but with a plot that brings it as close to life as possible.

• The main readers of romance fiction are women and the majority or readers in the Caribbean are women, therefore the possibilities are endless for romance writing.

3. DECISION # 3 HOW DO I START – BRAINSTORMING FOR IDEAS

• This is where the jitters start and many writers develop writers block. The best possible way around this is to what I call “flooding the house”. When water floods a house, everything within the reach of the water becomes saturated. The idea here is to saturate or flood your mind with ideas and you can do this in several ways:

Watch multiple romantic movies

Read multiple romance novels

Day Dream – allow your mind to wander to all kinds of possibilities. Make up stories in your head when you are lying down or relaxing.

Visit someplace romantic.

Listen to romantic music.

Quiz your friends about their romance lifestyle.

• After you’ve brainstormed and come up with a general idea for your book, write possible synopsises and ask your close friends which one sounds like romance reading material.

• Refine your idea then, Research, Research, Research! This can’t be emphasised enough. You need to research the role and functions of your chief characters, your location and every idea that will form a major part of your book. If you are creative enough and can come up with fictional places that will sound real then thumbs up to you. If you want your book to come across as realistic however, you need to research.

• How do I research? The obvious choice in this information age is the internet, and of course there is the good old library book. There is a wealth of resources out there waiting to be explored. Just do your homework.

4. DECISION #4 CHOOSING HERO AND HEROINE ARCHTYPE

• So you have your idea and you’re thinking about your hero and heroine. This is where most new writers make the most mistakes. Most new writers have their particular favourite character prototype and they tend to think that people will love what they love. This is not always true. People essentially gravitate towards certain prototypes, and it is the strength and saleability of your characters that will make your book sell. So what are the saleable hero and heroine?

HEROS

• Heroes that sell are ultimately strong, masculine, bold, rich and handsome.

• Heroes that will attract a large percentage of the sale are your everyday good-looking guy, hot guys and best of all, bad buys (must not be too bad though – and must never cheat on the heroine).

• Heroes that will attract some percentage of the sales are you nice guys, gentle /tender guys and romantic guys. – must never be sisyish, though.

• Heroes that will attract a small percentage of sales are your everyday blue colour job guys – average looks, average pocket book but with a super personality and a great love for his girl.

• Top Careers for the guys are successful entrepreneurs/business mogul, lawyers, bankers, Popular Sports Personality, Writers, politicians, Sheikhs, Princes, Kings, and General Royalty.

Careers should be internationally focused.

• Top Race for your heroes – Key Note: Make your heroes multicultural if you want to appeal to a wide audience. Since your writing for the Caribbean however, your heroes should largely represent the culture with a few deviations now and again.

HEROINES

• Heroines that ultimately sell are girls that are super-beautiful, slim, long-legged, intelligent and sassy.

• Your heroines should however reflect the culture since your audience is of that culture and will want to see women like themselves accomplishing the goals of the heroines and of course catching the coveted hero archetype.

• Heroines that will definitely sell are the Cinderella prototypes and rag to riches type. Poor girl meats handsome rich guy who sweeps her off her feet.

• Heroines that are good sellers are ladies that are successful career wise and are making their name felt in the professional field as well as in the market place.

• Your heroine should never be a door mat or mousy. She can be plain but must have a personality that makes up for her lack.

• She should have spirit but must not be too saucy or the plot will become difficult and repetitive.

5. DECISION # 5 THE PLOT

• Your plot should be developed systematically.

• The conflict should be plausible yet gripping.

• Your audience should be carried away with your plot and get caught up in your conflict. It should make them want to take sides.

• It should be suspenseful and make them want to turn the pages. The conflict however must not be too difficult or predictable. It should get the readers involved and play with their emotions.

• Your book should make them laugh and cry which is essential for romances. It must be emotionally strong and gripping.

• A writer that is able to take the reader on an emotional roller coaster and ends with the sated is a writer that will always sell. The key however when formulating your plot is to be creative.

• Think out of the box and explore variety.

6. DECISIOPN #6 HOW DO I GET MY WORK PUBLISHED?

• This is the question with the big question mark. How Difficult or easy it is to get my work published? Well I’ll tell you. If you are thinking of publishing the traditional route, then you’re in for some surprises.

First there are very few publishers out there if any that will accept romance from a Caribbean author.

If you wish to try your luck however – the key is to sign up with an established agent. Very few mainstream publishers will take your work seriously if it doesn’t go through an established agent. You can search for agents online- but most if not all are located in America.

The other best option available to you and one that I recommend is independent publishing. How do I do this you might ask? Well it’s not very hard if you are prepared to do some work.

The first thing to do is to research your publishing options. Go online and research the small independent publishers and check out their guidelines. Be prepared however to get little if any editing help and to do all of the marketing.

Another option of independent publishing is to self-publish. There are several internet resources and websites where you can publish your book for a small fee if $500 US ($35,000 Ja.) is small money to you. There is also a website. www.lulu.com where you can publish your book for free, they will sell the books and give you eighty percent of the royalties. The good thing about this website is that you set the revenue that you want to earn. For example if you want 10 US dollars for each of your book and it cost 5 dollars to produce, Lulu will calculate 20% of that $10 and add it to the $10 plus the 5 dollars publishing cost, making it seventeen dollars. The book would sell for seventeen dollars and lulu would get two dollars while you get ten dollars. There are a lot of legal issues involved however such as taxation that you will have to check out. There is another option available to you and I will present it at the end of this presentation.

7. DECISION# 7 HOW DO I MARKET MY BOOK?

• So you’ve written your book and ironed out the publishing process. How then do I get my book out to the readers? The big M is marketing. If you don’t market your books they’ll never be bought and read. So what strategy should I take? Well there are several:

You can go the predictable route of the media: TV, Radio, Print Media.
Word of Mouth or
You can set up your own book store, advertise and sell your books or better yet you can try the viral marketing approach. What is this approach you may ask?

• The viral marketing approach or affiliate marketing or networking is the best method to get your books sold. Viral marketing is essentially getting your readers to market your books for you.

• You can implore them to tell others how good your books are, or you an offer them an incentive to tell others about your book.

• You can offer them a sizeable discount off the price of their next book if they refer a certain percentage of customers or if you want to make a real business out of it, you can offer them percentage money back on the books they buy if they refer a certain amount of customers.

8. DECISION#8 HOW CAN I INFLUENCE THE SIZE OF MY REVENUE?

• You can influence the size of your revenue by your marketing strategies and by going the independent route. When you choose the viral marketing route, your earning potential is limitless.

• When you go the independent route, you basically set your own revenue and you will earn a big royalty compared to going with the more established publishers. Where you can earn 40 -50 % independently and 80 – 100% when you self –publish, when you use the traditional publishers, you will earn basically 8-10% royalty.

9. DECISION #9 CAN I MAKE IT AS A SUCCESSFUL AUTHOR OF CARIBBEAN ROMANCE?

• If you are wondering if you can make it as a successful writer, writing and selling romance, then the answer is yes.

• The key to make it as a successful writer of romance is to be creative and write as much as possible and utilize the best marketing strategies as well as making certain that your book is above par.

• If your book is first class and you market strategically, success will come your way.

10. DECISIONS #10 HOW DO I WRITE AND PUBLISH MORE BOOKS?

• Congratulations, you’ve completed your book, published it successfully and sold several copies. How do I keep the creative juices flowing so that I can write and publish more books?

• The key is to stay current. Read what’s on the market and research what people are buying. Utilize the necessary processes mentioned earlier to brainstorm ideas and write down everything. If you can keep generating ideas, you will write more books and hence publish more books.

• Hit your audience with an initial bestseller. The best way to keep your readers coming back for more is to produce that top selling book. The first book you put on the market should be a bomb. Make it good, make it last and your readers will come back for more. If you can grab their attention and hold it with that first book, you are guaranteed a second sale, and if you make a second sale that was equally good, then you’ve got it made, your name will sell books.