One of the biggest myths about writing a romance is the same myth found in other genres of fiction. Namely, that since the books follow a formula — girl meets boy, girl loses boy, girl wins boy back — they must be easy to write.

They're not, of course.

In fact, a strong argument could be made that the opposite is closer to the truth.

The market is fiercely competitive. Most publishers no longer accept unsolicited work from unagented writers, and many unpublished authors find it difficult to find an agent to represent them. While the books do follow a loose formula, publishers require — and readers demand — freshness and variety. To succeed in romance fiction, a writer not only has to tell a good story that has a unique twist to a familiar formula, she must write a good book.