Build a Backlist Fast with Novellas

About ten month before my contemporary novel, Her Hollywood Christmas (originally titled Labor Relations), was scheduled to release in February 2011, I had a small crisis. Here I was ready to debut a contemporary novel and the only title in my backlist was my Regency romance, Lady's Wager. I needed some back list titles and I needed them fast. However, life at the time was very busy and I didn’t have a lot of time to write (who does?). More and more e-publishers were asking for novellas and that’s when the idea hit me. I write short, so why not go with what I know and write to my strength.

I had a number of rejected Woman's World short stories sitting on my laptop, all of which could be quickly expanded into longer short stories. One of them was Rock ‘n’ Roll Reunion. I rewrote it and submitted it and within two months it was contracted for publication by a small epublisher for a January 2011 release. I have since received the rights back and published it myself. Once that novella was accepted, I started working on another one that became A Little Legal Luck. That novella was released by the Wild Rose Press in September 2011, and I have since republished myself. Once it was off my plate, I finished polishing up Mask of the Gladiator, my ancient Rome novella, and sold it to Carina Press. This helped me to build up my historical romance backlist. Within a short amount of time, I went from having one published novel to a handful of published titles.

So, if you're struggling to build a backlist fast, consider writing shorter. There is a lot you can pack into a little story.

If you like novellas then you will love mine because they are great to read when you don't have a lot of time.

For more writing advice and suggestions click here and here.