How Much Money Can You Make Writing Romance Novels

I've been writing and self-publishing romance since 2013. Before then, I'd never even attempted one.

All of my writing before then was in the non-fiction, how-to genre. Boy am I glad I expanded!

Following are 12 tips that have helped me earn almost $4,000 in one month (mostly writing short romance novels for Kindle).

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate link(s), which means the site owner may earn a commission/referral fee at no extra cost to you should you make a purchase.

Self-Publishing Romance: About My $4,000 Month

Your earning potential as a romance writer is practically unlimited. I'm not a big-name author.

I (used to) create most of my own covers; never used paid advertising* beyond a few Facebook ads, and have even gotten my share of bad reviews.

Even with all of that, I still managed to earn almost $4,000 in a single month. And I'm a small fish in the big ole pond of romance authors.

So if/when the question, "How much does a romance author make" pops into your head, just know, my numbers are small.

My $10,000 per Month Romance Writing Income Goal

Right now, I'm working my way towards $10,000/per month — a goal I hope to hit by the end of this year.

There are many self-published authors you've never heard of pulling in thousands of dollars per month. All you have to do is conduct a Google search to find tons of them.

How One Self-Published Romance Author Earned Over $500,000

Speaking of high earners, here's an author on the Kindle boards who earned over $500,000 in just under three years. She wrote:

"I will likely pass the $500,000.00 in career income next month, unless Amazon implodes or an asteroid strikes. (And I'm not really a big seller or big name author in my genre)."

That thread is really inspiring, especially when she outlines how much she spent to earn that much (not a lot at all).

Writing Romance for Profit: 3 Keys That Must Be In Place

Writing romance is one of the easiest ways to make money writing. And to clarify, I don't mean easy as in, you're gonna be rolling in the dough in a month.

I mean easy as in, there's a demand for good love stories. And if you take the time to learn how to:

Write romance that appeals to readers (ie, "write to market");
Build up a readership (find your tribe); and
Constantly put out new titles (publish consistently) …

There's no reason you can't be earning $1,000 to $2,000 per month within 6 months or a year. If you continue to publish, the sky is literally the limit as far as earnings go.

12 Keys to Making Money Self-Publishing Romance

Following are 12 romance writing tips that will help you sell more books, and get you on the road to earning a full-time living as an indie romanc writer if that is your goal.

1. Create Character Profiles

The backbone of a good romance are characters. Readers have to feel for them in order to invest in them – and the eventual outcome of the story.

In order to make readers feel for your characters, you have to know them, ie:

What drives them
What makes them hurt
What makes them happy
What makes them open up
What makes them stay closed
What their greatest fear is
Etc.

When you know your character, you can write love stories that ring true. And this is where doing a character profile comes in.

You literally build your character from the ground up until they become so real to you, you know exactly how they'd respond in a given situation – as if they were a real person.

If you can "feel them," then your readers will too.

I've actually teared up and laughed out loud at some things my characters have done.

If it makes you laugh or cry, it will make a certain segment of your audience do the same — because you know what? We're all human.

And although we're all different, we're similar enough that some things are universal.

In Inkwell Editorial's romance writing course, there's a character profile sheet that guides you in creating your characters – characters readers will care about and want to read more about (hello sequel!).

2. Write a Detailed Outline

Once you know who your characters are, then it's time to create an outline. This way, you can push it out to potential readers and get them excited about your upcoming book.

You want to make sure your outline is thorough and that you know the story you want to tell. Why?

Because when you start to write, sometimes a story can take twists and turns you didn't see happening. So make your outline as thorough as possible, but don't get too specific in the blurb you put out – just in case some particulars change.

Always stay true to the story you want to tell readers, but lock yourself into a story that can't be changed.

So again, you as an author should be very detailed in the outline you create. But only give your readers a broad glimpse of what's coming, ok?

3. Research What Sells

One of the easiest ways to guarantee sales before you write a word is to scour Amazon's list of best-selling romance novels. Some things you want to look at are:

What kinds of stories are selling
How long are they
What do the covers look like
Are they part of a series, or are standalone stories
What the price points are
What the reviews say

Spending time doing this kind of research can give you insight into what readers want, especially if you read through the reviews.

4. Choose a Niche

I write contemporary, interracial romance novels. If you haven't narrowed down a niche yet, scouring Amazon's list can help you do that.

FYI, some hot niches in romance include:

Suspense Romance (A Lover for Beth, one of my best-selling novellas had an element of this)
Cowboy Romance
People of Color (POC) Romance
Gay Romance
Vampire Romance
Historical Romance
Military Romance

There are many niches and sub-niches of romance. My advice is NOT to choose a niche because it's "hot". Why? Because writing romance is hard work.

And, there's nothing worse than writing something that you don't feel connected to. Readers will feel that and the story won't come across as authentic.

I couldn't write a vampire romance if my life depended on it. It doesn't interest me and I have no idea how that kind of story is supposed to be written.

So yeah, do your research, but don't feel hemmed in by it.

A Winning Romance-Writing Formula

Find a niche you love, in a good-selling niche. Then, write stories you'd want to read in that niche. That's a winning writing formula, in my opinion (and experience).

5. Learn How to Price Your Romance Novel to Sell

Pricing can make or break your romance sells. I used to stress over this non-stop, but I put a stop to that madness by sticking with a simple formula.

How I Price My Romance Novels

It's changed quite a few times over the years. Mine are priced at between 99 cents and $3.99.

The 99 cents is usually for the first book in a series (after the second part has been put out).

$2.99-$3.99: This is the price of most of my books (standalones and successive part in most series).

Romance Novel Pricing: Can a Price Increase Work?

I used to never price my books above $2.99. That changed in 2018, when I tested the $3.99 price point.

How did raising the price of my romance novels work? Great! I earned more.

4 Reasons I Raised the Price of My Romance Novels

(i) In 2018, I started writing longer stories. As mentioned above, that's when I raised my prices too.

(ii) Reader test: This is one of the main reasons I raised my pricing. By 2018, I'd written almost 50 books. So, I wanted to see if my audience would go for a price increase.

Not only did they go for it, nobody even blinked an eye (I have received NO emails about it).

(iii) Lower price = lower quality. I'd read during some research that novels priced at $2.99 and below were seen as kind of not professional; that many readers by-passed those.

I don't know how true this is, but I do know that perception is everything, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to try a price increase.

(iv) Others charging more. Finally, the last reason I raised the prices of my romance books is because I read — again, while doing some research — that readers were willing to pay much more than I thought.

In the ecourse, we cover how to price your romance novels to sell in-depth, so you'll be able to put together a strategy that works for you and the type of romance you write.

Following is a different way to price.

A Good Romance Novel Pricing Strategy to Start With

I found this on the Kindle boards. It was written by a romance author who wrote 100 ebooks in one year (most of them "shorts"). She wrote:

Rocket Keyword Research I follow a modified version of the Selena Kitt (best-selling erotic, romance author) pricing strategy, which looks like this …

$0.99 > Short Shorts: Under 3k$
99 > Stories: 3-15k
$3.99 > Stories: 15-35k
$4.99 > Stories: 35-50k
$5.99 > Novels: 50-70k
$6.99 > Novels: 70-90k
$7.99> Novels: 90-110k
$8.99> Novels: 110-130k
$9.99> Novels: 130k-150k

This one is based on word count, and according to this, I should have been charging $3.99 all along, as most of my novellas fall in the 15-35k word range of this chart.

One of the things I love about writing and self-publishing romance though is that what you charge is totally up to you. And, you can change pricing as often as you like (as I've done). So don't be afraid to experiment.

Just know, there's no right or wrong answer, so again, don't be afraid to experiment.

6. Have a Distribution Plan for Your Titles

When I first started selling romance, I uploaded to Amazon, of course. They are the largest book seller on the planet, and love'em or hate'em, in my opinion, you can't afford NOT to be on their platform.

I quickly moved on to Barnes & Noble and a few other outlets.

Then, in 2015, I discovered Draft2Digital (D2D) – which is a distributor that will place your books on many outlets. They are the following (as of this update):

Amazon
Apple Books
Barnes & Noble
Kobo (including Kobo Plus)
Tolino
OverDrive
Bibliotheca
Scribd
Baker & Taylor
Hoopla
Vivlio
BorrowBox

So if you use D2D, you can upload your book once, they'll distribute it to all these places for you – for free. D2D only charges you if/when you sell a book. It's really a no-lose proposition.

Related Post: Self-Publishing with Draft2Digital: 12 Reasons Every Indie Writer Should Do It

7. Start a Romance Reader Mailing List

How to Make Money Self-Publishing Ebooks: Tips from a Self-Published Author of Almost 100 Ebooks The power of a mailing list can't be overstated. Before you write your first book, get an author website and put a subscriber form on it.

This should be the first move you make as a self-published author. Why?

Because your readers (the ones who subscribe to your list) will stabilize your income as an author quicker than anything else.

Imagine having a list of 5,000. Even if just 10 percent bought a new book you put out, that's almost $1,400 right there (using Amazon's pricing structure of 70% of $3.99).

If readers are on your mailing list, most likely more than 10 percent will buy what you put out, especially if you offer them deals.

And you get to keep the lion's share of the profits. So you want to start building your mailing list from day one.

If you haven't published anything yet, prime your sales pump by getting that outline done (as discussed in Tip #2 above) and sending it to them – letting them know what's coming.

This gets them excited, and keeps your feet to the fire to get the darned book done!

Self-Publishing Insight: Ever wondered, "Hmmm, how much does Harlequin pay its authors?" You'd be amazed – in a bad way. And this is why every self-publisher should build their own author platform.

You can make a lot of money without ever being a big-name, best-seller because you don't have to sell a lot if you're keeping the lion's share of the profits.

8. Get a Professional Cover

Covers sell books. That's just a fact. Invest in getting a professional one done if you're not a graphic designer. And luckily, this doesn't have to cost a fortune — far from it.

I've used ebook cover designers on Fiverr to design some of my romance novel covers. The most I've paid is $25. Following are examples of two.

Romance Novel Covers I Paid For

Now, compare those to the ones I designed myself …

Romance Novel Covers I Designed Myself

Obviously, I have zero design skills, which is why I keep the covers I design myself simple. They're usually just a photo of a couple on a colored background.

I don't know how to use Photoshop or any of the other design software (and have no desire to learn), so that's why I started outsourcing this part of my romance writing duties.

It's something I highly recommend, especially as it's so cost-effective via sites like Fiverr.

Romance Ebook Cover Tips : Brand your covers. How? Study top self-published romance authors like Bella Andre.

See how similar her covers are as far as style, composition, font use, etc. This is what I mean by "branding your covers."

9. Adhere to a Writing Schedule

I get emails from those interested in writing romance novels for a living all the time. Usually, it's after reading a post or they'll see something in a forum asking how I managed to publish so many books.

Note: To date, between my fiction and non-fiction titles, I've written over 100 ebooks.

Why have I been able to self-publish so many? It's quite simple actually. I sit my butt down – and write! To make sure I reach my goals, I adhere to a writing schedule.

Early in my romance writing career, I wrote novellas (usually 15,000 t0 25,000 words).

In 2020, I started writing longer ones, eg, 30,000 to 40,000 words. I even wrote one that was over 80,000 words this year (2021).

My goal is 1,500 to 2,000 words per day. Writing 20 days per month (M-F), that's 30,000 to 40,000 words, which keeps me on track to publishing a book every 30 to 60 days.

Now, does this schedule always work out? No. I have other streams of income (eg, affiliate marketing and ecourse development, blogging) that I have to nurture too.

But, having a daily word count or some kind of consistent writing schedule keeps me on track with my publishing goals.

So keep this in mind, as it'll help you achieve success as a romance writer that much quicker. Because remember, success in self-publishing romance depends on publishing regularly.

Learn How to Make Money Writing Romance

I've earned almost$4,000 in one month writing short romance novels and selling them on Amazon (and other outlets). You can too! Learn how to:

Properly plot and write a romance novel;
Price your romance novels to sell;
Create covers that sell;
Make a full-time living writing romance (if that's what you want); and
So much more.

Diversifying your writing income streams is one of the easiest ways to make a full-time living as a writer. Thanks to advances made in marketplaces like self-publishing and online education, the ways to make money writing are more diverse than ever.

Learn more.

10. Write Series

This is one of the best things you can do as a self-published romance author to increase sales. If readers like the first book in a series, a good percentage of them will go on to purchase successive books.

And speaking from a writing perspective, it's easier to write series because you already know the characters.

In Inkwell Editorial's romance writing course, we dig deeper into this concept, why it' so successful, and why it should be an integral part of your romance writing career.

11. Advertising (Spend Money on Ads)

I left this tip for last for a reason. The reason is two-fold.

(i) You can make a full-time living writing romance novels without spending money on ads. But, at some point, your income might plateau. Paid advertising is a way to break through plateaus.

(ii) The main reason I left this tip for last is because marketing is not something I think self-publisshed romance writers should focus on when they first start out. Why?

Because romance readers are prolific readers. By some surveys, they read on average of a book a week. Some read a book a day!

If you spend money on ads and you just have one book out, readers have no place else to go after they finish that one book.

That's why I advise new writers to wait until they have at least three books out — 5 or more is better — before they invest in ads.

What Kind of Ads to Run to Sell More Romance Novels

There are two platforms many use when they start spending money on ads: Amazon and Facebook.

I've had experience with both. They're time intensive to learn, and you can lose a lot of money — fast! — if you don't know what you're doing.

But they are worth investing in when you get to a certain level in order to get to that next level.

12. Rinse & Repeat

Rinse and repeat — as in the writing/publishing process.

Some stories you write will bomb. Others will take off. And yet others will be plodders (eg, start off slow, then just plod along in sales).

But if you keep writing, you'll have a catalog of books you can market that will earn you money year in and year out.

Even when I took off a year and a half of writing romance, there was not a month that went by — not one — where I didn't get a payout from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc., from existing titles.

So never stop publishing. Ever.

Can You REALLY Make a FT Living Writing Romance?

I hope what you picked up on in this post is that making a full-time living writing romance is not only possible, it can be very lucrative. Now for sure, it's not a get-rich-quick scheme.

I don't want you to get that idea at all because writing is hard work. And then there's the promotion, which is where the real work of being an indie author comes in.

But what I absolutely love about it self-publishing romance in particular is that it's a numbers game – a numbers game that favors you, the author.

It's proven that romance readers buy books often. They're loyal to the genre; most have been reading romance novels for over two decades, according to a survey done once by the Romance Writers of America.

When asked, "How long have you been reading romance," following is what readers said:

35.1 percent: 20 years or more;
20.6 percent: 5 to less than 10 years;
20.4 percent: 10 to less than 20 years; and
16.1 percent: 2 to less than 5 years.

I can testify to these stats ringing true because I've been reading romance novels since I was a pre-teen.

I started with Harlequins and as I got older, moved on up to historical romances, which are my favorites. So as a writer, all you have to do is constantly feed them new stories.

Even if you never become a breakout, big-selling author, you can still make more money than you've ever dreamed writing romance. For me, it just doesn't get cooler than that.

Related

How to Start a 6-Figure Romance Writing Business Using Ghostwriters
Make Money Writing Romance: Answers to Tons of Frequently Asked Questions

P.S.: Make Money Writing Romance – FREE Webinar

Got more questions? Register for this free webinar. Ask all the questions you want and get answers in real time — from moi (a self-published author of over 60 romance novels)! How to Make Money Writing Romance: Free Ecourse

This post was first published in February of 2018. It has been updated.