“That time, I had my come-to-Jesus moment,” she said. The most recent time was during the pandemic. But every time she quits the romance game, she returns. She has a multigenerational (non-romance) novel on the burner. She recently signed a three-book deal to write children’s titles for an imprint of Penguin Random House. (Maple House Publishing)Įight years later, having put her story aside several times, I realize I have heard some version of Kathy’s “I’m done, I’m doing it my way” speech four or five times. "Alpha Betrayed" by Kathy Lyons, published on April 27, 2022. Indeed, to stay relevant, Kathy needs to write a new book every three months. So much so that a Tennessee romance writer made headlines last month after emerging on Facebook two years after faking her own death the pressure drove her to it, she told the New York Times. Major successes - such as the “Bridgerton” novels of Julia Quinn that became a smash Netflix series, and the sorta romance novels of Colleen Hoover (the biggest-selling author of 2022) - fuel hopes, but odds are long. According to a 2021 study of 4,270 romance novelists conducted by a researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder, 17% earn north of $100,000 a year, but the median income is closer to $10,000 a year. Industry jargon distinguishes a HEA (Happily Ever After) from a HFN (Happily For Now). The die is cast: No matter the story, a happy ending is required. Yet being a romance novelist is a special hell.
Kathy’s story will sound familiar to anyone who makes a living on their imaginations. Lyons writes about 2,000 words a day, roughly eight pages of a novel. Lyons edits her book in her home office on Jan.
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