Tips & Tricks from Romance Authors

Here's a thing that is actually happening in the romance community right now: Readers are buying the candle before the book. They're purchasing a character art print of a fictional love interest they haven't even met yet. They're hunting down signed bookplates on author websites before launch day. They're adding trope-themed bookmarks to their cart alongside a preorder and a tote bag and calling it a reasonable Tuesday. Romance readers are not just consumers of stories. They'

Be honest with me for a second. When someone asks for your website link, do you send it confidently — or do you add a little disclaimer? Something like "it's a work in progress" or "I know it needs updating, but..." If you're hedging before you even share your own URL, that's not a traffic problem. That's a romance author branding problem. And I get it. When you first built your brand, it probably felt fine. Maybe even good. You picked colors you liked, found a font that felt

Picture this. A reader discovers you on TikTok. She watches your video, laughs at your trope breakdown, thinks "okay, I need this book in my life." She taps the link in your bio, lands on your website and... Nothing happens. She can't figure out what to buy first. The navigation is confusing. The homepage has a Canva logo and a stock photo of roses that could belong to literally any romance author on the internet. She clicks around for thirty seconds, can't find a buy button,

Let me tell you about two romance authors. Author A has a gorgeous logo. Custom script font, delicate florals, perfectly on-brand colors. It's on her website, her social media, her bookmarks. Beautiful. Author B has... a logo. It's fine. Nothing special. She probably made it on Canva in 20 minutes. Guess which author readers recognize instantly? Author B. Because Author B doesn't just have a logo. She has a brand . And there's a huge difference. Here's the thing most romance

A romance author I know launched a special edition of her romantasy novel last fall. Foil cover. Sprayed edges. Bonus chapter. Signed bookplate. Limited to 500 copies. Priced at $45. She was nervous. Who's going to pay $45 for a book they can get on Kindle for $4.99? Turns out? Her readers. All 500 copies sold out in 72 hours. That's $22,500 in revenue from one book in three days. And she's not alone. Romance authors across every subgenre—contemporary, historical, romantasy,

Here's the thing about Amazon: they've been really, really good to romance authors for a long time. Kindle Unlimited made it possible for thousands of authors to quit their day jobs. The algorithms actually worked. KDP Select exclusivity felt like a fair trade for page reads and visibility. But something shifted in 2025. And now, in 2026, romance authors are doing something that would've seemed impossible five years ago: they're breaking up with Amazon exclusivity and buildin

Last month, a small business owner in Florida got hit with a $75,000 lawsuit. The reason? Their website wasn't accessible to people using screen readers. Not a scam. Not a competitor being petty. A legitimate lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). And here's the part that should make every romance author pay attention: you're not exempt just because you're "just an author" with "just a website." You're running a business. You're selling products. You have a

Author website conversion in 2026 isn’t about luck—it’s about psychology. The romance authors making consistent sales from their websites understand something critical: traffic means nothing if visitors don’t buy. Right now, you might be getting visitors to your author website. Maybe 100 people visit this month. Maybe 500. Maybe 1,000. But if author website conversion isn’t optimized, most of those visitors leave without buying anything. Here’s the reality: improving your aut

A Shopify store for authors in 2026 can be one of the smartest investments in your author business—or one of the most expensive mistakes. The difference isn’t luck. It’s knowledge. Three romance authors launched Shopify stores in December 2025. One is making $2,000/month in direct sales. One breaks even. One lost money. The only difference? What they knew before they started. If you’re considering whether a Shopify store for authors makes sense for your romance business, this

Author SEO in 2026 looks completely different than it did just a year ago. Google’s algorithm changed everything and romance authors who adapted are getting discovered by readers actively searching for books like theirs. The ones who didn’t? Invisible. Here’s what you need to know—in actual English, not tech speak. Look, SEO isn’t optional anymore. But here’s the good news: it’s not actually scary once you understand what you’re doing. 2026 is completely different from 2025.

Looking back at 2025, we’re honestly blown away by the incredible authors we got to work with this year. Every single project started the same way: an author who was ready to level up their online presence but didn’t quite know where to start. Some had websites that didn’t match their vibe. Others were drowning in DIY attempts. A few just needed someone who actually got the romance industry to build something that worked. And here’s what we love most: these aren’t just prett

So here we are. 2026 is basically here, and if you’re a romance author scrolling through your to-do list feeling that familiar knot in your stomach about your “online presence,” you’re not alone. I’ve been having the same conversation with authors for months now. It usually goes something like this: “Stacey, I know I need to work on my brand. And my website is… well, it exists. And everyone keeps talking about direct sales, but I don’t even know where to start.” Here’s what I

Well, we made it. 2025 is almost over, and honestly? What a year it’s been. I’m sitting here with my coffee, looking back at everything we published this year, and I’m kind of blown away by which posts you all loved most. Some of them I expected. Some totally surprised me. And a few made me go “wait, THAT one? Really?” But that’s the beautiful thing about writing for romance authors – you tell me what you need by what you read, share, and come back to over and over again. So

Can we talk about something that’s been on my mind lately? I’m watching Instagram change its algorithm every other Tuesday like it’s got commitment issues, and Facebook… well, Facebook is what it is at this point. Meanwhile, I’ve got three grown boys who barely check social media regularly (they’re too busy living their lives, apparently), and I’m sitting here thinking: what’s the ONE thing that’s actually stable in this crazy online world we’re building our careers on? Email

Let’s talk about something that might make your accountant very happy: keeping more of your book money. I know, I know. You didn’t become a romance author to think about profit margins and sales funnels. You became an author because you love writing stories that make people feel things. The butterflies. The tears. The “I need a cold shower” moments. But here’s the reality that smacked me in the face after a building websites for authors: some authors are making 60-80% of thei

It's go time. You've optimized your store. You've created exclusive offerings. You've written your email sequence. Now you need to actually execute Black Friday weekend. Early Black Friday campaigns generate 40% more revenue than last-minute promotions. Black Friday Marketing: Proven Strategies for 2025 This isn't the time to wing it or see how things go. This is the time to follow a tested plan, hour by hour, so you can maximize sales while everyone else is scrambling. I'm

You have 11 days until Black Friday. If you've been reading the blog posts for the past two weeks, you know your store needs to offer something Amazon can't match. You know you need exclusive editions. You know you need to make buying direct worth the extra wait and the lack of free two-day shipping. But what does that actually look like? Today I'm going to show you exactly how to create Black Friday book bundles that make readers think "I need to buy this from the author's s

Here's something that might surprise you: 23% of authors selling direct don't even use a Black Friday email sequence. According to the 2025 Selling Books Direct survey, nearly a quarter of indie authors are leaving money on the table by ignoring their email lists during the biggest shopping weekend of the year. Meanwhile, authors who use a strategic Black Friday email sequence see significant direct sales from the same holiday weekend. Same number of books. Same readers. Diff

You built your store. You're driving traffic to it. But only 1 out of every 100 visitors actually buys something. If that sounds familiar, you're not alone. Most author stores convert at only 1-2%, while optimized stores convert at 3-5% or higher. That's not just a small difference. That's the difference between making $200 and $800 from the same 100 visitors. Here's what that looks like for your Black Friday weekend: At 1% author store conversion rate: • 1,000 holiday visito

When MJ Penn first reached out to us, her author website was doing the digital equivalent of hiding behind a bookshelf. Her brand was sending mixed signals to readers, making it nearly impossible for contemporary romance fans to discover her books, while her paranormal romance readers felt confused by her growing catalog. Four weeks and one author website makeover later? Her site is converting browsers into buyers and casual readers into devoted fans across multiple romance s