Writing for a Niche

I’ve written since I was old enough to write words, but I never shared my stories. They were private to me. Many years ago, maybe fifteen or twenty, I started a story with a football player hero named Derek and his relationship with Rachel.

About five or six years ago, several friends encouraged me to share my stories and write for publication. I joined an RWA chapter and took tons of craft workshops. The first rule I was told about romance writing was sports heroes don’t sell unless you’re Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Well, believe it or not, at the time I’d never read any of her books, so I bought them all and loved them.

But I had two problems: My original football hero romance seemed really similar to one of hers, and no one would ever believe I’d written it before reading her books. Second, sports hero romances are a hard sell to big publishers unless you’ve already established a name for yourself.

I stashed my handwritten chapters in a chest in my attic, used my heroine in another book, and wrote Who’s Been Sleeping in My Bed? In 2008, I sold Who’s to Siren Publishing. Yet, I always knew I’d return to my football hero romance someday.

With the increasing popularity of ebooks and the number of small presses available, a whole new world has opened up for writers. In the past, if you didn’t write a book with mass-market, commercial appeal, you had little chance of getting it published. Small publishers are filling the niche markets -- areas larger publishers won’t touch because the mass-market appeal isn’t there, or they believe it isn’t.

At this point, I’d published six books, the three m/f books mentioned above, and three ménages under a different pen name. That football hero romance kept haunting me, and I decided to start from scratch and write it, even though the characters stayed essentially the same. To me there appeared to be niche for sports hero romances. I should know, I swear I’ve read them all. Besides, what’s sexier than a sweaty, muscular man in those tight football pants?

I had one obstacle, I’d used the heroine’s character and personality in another book. She needed redefining.

Originally, Rachel, my heroine, was an interior designer. Then I made her an aspiring veterinarian trying to get into vet school. That version of the book just didn’t work. As I toyed with Rachel’s need for a career change, I reflected back on the football romances I’d read lately. Most of the heroines weren’t football fans, rarely went to a game, and in several, the hero quit the game for the heroine.

I didn’t want my book to be that kind of book. I love football, and I don’t believe I’m alone. It’s my understanding 45 percent of all NFL fans are women. So I took a gamble on their being a niche for a book with heroine who actually lived and breathed football as much as the hero.

In the final version of the book, Rachel attempts to break into the male-dominated ranks of football scouts, a far cry from her “original” profession, as an interior designer. In fact, my editor stated this book was a football story with a romance, rather than a romance story with some football.

Within a week of submitting this version of Fourth and Goal, Loose Id offered to publish it. The book came out on Tuesday in ebook format.

I’ve never believed in books of the heart. Authors should pour their hearts and souls into every book they write, so all their books should be books of the heart. Yet, I must admit this book comes as close to a book of the heart as any book I’ve written. I loved writing Fourth and Goal. I hope my readers love reading it.

I’m working on the sequel, starring Tyler Harris, the bad-boy quarterback in Fourth and Goal. Tyler meets his match when my animal communicator heroine thrusts an orange tabby cat into his life.