Would you like to write a Regency romance story?

Today I have an exciting announcement for all your authors, particularly all you romance authors!

Wild Blue Wonder Press will be hosting and publishing a multi-author Regency romance series. The books will be slotted for 2025-2026 publication, and we are currently looking for authors to write for us!

“Rescuing Regency Romance” (working title – we’ll come up with something better, most likely!) is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek series of standalone novellas written with the goal of bringing reality and Christianity to romance tropes that have a known tendency to stray away from common sense and morality.

Our goal is to provide good, God-honoring stories that are entertaining to read and don’t cause readers to scratch their heads in confusion. However, we are not here to bully or poke fun at other authors or books, nor do we claim that there aren’t books that do almost every romance trope well. That would be a blatant falsehood.

If anything, we want to celebrate those kinds of great, well-written stories. Further, we do not seek to discourage readers from reading or writers from writing whatever they want to read or write. There is an audience for every book containing every trope.

However, that doesn’t mean we don’t have some specific requirements ourselves! So read on!

What Kinds of Novellas Are We Looking For?

The novellas will technically fall into the Regency romance subgenre but may include stories set in different countries (e.g. America or Europe rather than England) or fall slightly outside of the 1811-1820 range (1800-1825). The books may also be marketed as Georgian-Era Romance for this reason.

The novellas can be comedic or serious, can contain elements of different genres as long as they are non-magical and are as historically accurate as possible. Subgenres such as mystery or adventure are welcome but not required.

Authors can include strong Christian themes or not but must come from a Christian worldview and not go against the Wild Blue Wonder Press “Statement of Faith” and “Content Guidelines.”

As for word count, we’re asking for 20,000-45,000 words with some flexibility on either side. The idea is to do long novellas or short novels.

Our primary goal is to write these romances in a realistic, God-honoring way. A lot of our authors will be taking a trope that they’ve seen done badly before and doing it well or twisting it in some manner, but that is not a hard and fast rule.

What Will the Arrangement Look Like?

Authors in this multi-author series will write their projects with the support of other authors in the group and have them ready for printing on a timeline most agreeable to them within reason in cooperation with Wild Blue Wonder Press and the other authors in this series.

Authors will retain a large amount of creative control; however, as Wild Blue Wonder Press will be operating as the publisher of the series, final decisions will be discussed between the author and publisher. In the event that no compromise is arrived at, the author may be released from all obligation. For this reason, the author must write a draft of the novel and allow Wild Blue Wonder Press to review the work before being provided with a contract.

As the official publisher of the series, Wild Blue Wonder Press will provide cover design and interior formatting. Wild Blue Wonder Press will also handle publication details and organize a street team for the book launches.

Individual authors are obligated to take care of their own editing—it is up to the individual whether that involves beta-readers and critique swaps or if they work with a professional editor. However, Wild Blue Wonder Press will do two internal passes—one with beta-readers and one proofreading pass after interior formatting.

As contract will be provided to the authors upon the establishment of a publication date. This contract will lay out royalty information and other pertinent details. Please email kell@wildbluewonderpress.com for more information on how this process will work.

How Can You Join?

If you’re interested in joining this project, please fill out the form linked below to receive monthly update emails from me.

You will receive a monthly email through 2024 with any news on the project and requests for updates on your process if you are writing a novel for this series. In late 2024, decisions will be made regarding publishing timeline, with the goal of launching the first book in the series in summer 2025.

FILL OUT THE FORM

At this time, filling out the form is not a commitment to participate in the series; it’s just a way to receive regular updates about this Regency romance series.

My Story (potentially)

Right now, I’m thinking that I’ll be covering a couple fun tropes, including second chance romance, rivals (sort of enemies?) to lovers, scheming against each other, “independent woman who refuses help from a man for virtually no reason” (but done well), and “broody hero who is selfishly stuck in his ways” (but done well). I’ll throw in some good old-fashioned “denying that you’re in love out of utter stubbornness” for the heck of it.

Plus, you know, I’m sure other tropes will pop up as I go!

It’s a little farcical and comedic, but it has some more serious elements, too: dealing with widowhood and being a single mom (in the Regency era, no less), grieving, moving on from war-related and l0st-your-best-friend-related trauma (to a small degree), letting go of expectations and embracing what comes … even if it’s not what you want.

I don’t have a working title, and some of the plot details are up in the air, but I think I’ll be setting it on the coast because broody man needs ocean to stare at, so I know what it looks like. The visual is very much in my head!

But more than anything, it’s another shameless opportunity to write about small children. Because why not?

Are you interested in joining our Regency romance multi-author project? What sorts of Regency romance tropes do you hate … or love, for that matter?

TTFN!

~Kell~

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