One Door Closes, Another Opens: The Future of Romantasy Realms
Working Title: Taking Romantasy Realms Beyond Substack 💖
It isn’t controversial to state that publishing, like the rest of the world, is experiencing a seismic shift. Like so many other aspects of our lives, we’re realizing the structures around us were built not on bedrock but on shifting sands. As my once familiar world morphs into the next thing, I am thinking deeply about what that means for my path forward in publishing.
In 2026, I’m officially retiring my business, Book Bound Coaching, and focusing on the Romantasy Realms brand.
Why? After all, the coaching industry is booming.
From 2019 to 2023, there was a 54% rise in the number of coaches in the US. Since then, the numbers have expanded again 15%, with coaching accounting for over 5 billion dollars in sales in 2025. Book coaches are one facet of this trend, and I know several women who make their living as full-time coaches after being certified by Author Accelerator.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t my experience. I’d be lying if I said this didn’t hurt my ego.
But also, I’m old enough now to know what feels like authentic living. I know how much time I have in a day in which to be productive. Between writing Rowena 2 and Romantasy Realms posts while turning my overgrown 1/2 acre property into a homestead, I no longer have the mental capacity to have Book Bound Coaching among my priorities. I will not hustle and sacrifice my well-being, not to mention games of fetch with my corgi.
That doesn’t mean I’m giving up on coaching—Quite the opposite!
My goal in the next five years is to turn Romantasy Realms into a small, collaborative indie press that helps other romantasy writers get their story out into the world by providing developmental edits, coaching revisions, and layout services provided by me, with copy editing, proofreading, and cover art provided by future collaborators.
This cohort will have three aims that would benefit everyone involved in a way that current vanity presses and writer’s workshops do not.
A Clear Focus on Niche
When I set up Book Bound Coaching, I thought a focus on writing and publishing romance, fantasy, and historical fiction was niche. Did I mention I worked in both the adult and YA spheres?
Oh, sweet summer child. That is NOT niche.
From now on, I am all in on romantasy. The work has already begun. Behind the scenes, when I’m not writing my own novels, I’m reading romantasy with a critical eye. What tropes and settings are trending? What is over saturated? Who is taking risks and wrecking their readers along the way?
In the past three years, I’ve read over one hundred romantasy novels. Not all of them have been featured on RR since I have a policy of not posting about books that didn’t work for me personally. I’m an author foremost, and I don’t make it a habit of bashing my peers on a public platform. Basic kindness is in short supply these days.
But also, friends don’t let friends publish bad books. If something is not working, in my capacity as a coach I will say so and try to help you brainstorm your way towards a powerful story.
Behind the scenes, I am working on a romantasy writing course to help writers ensure their story’s foundational structure is solid as bedrock. Once launched, writers with promising manuscripts will be invited to continue working with me as a coach to get their work into the world under Romantasy Realms’ banner.
This approach differs from many vanity presses that provide the same things, but across a wide spectrum of genres. A friend from my old writing group used the same press for his epic fantasy as his wife used for her non-fiction guide on exercise. They did a fantastic job with the smaller project. The three-volume, world-spanning epic? Not so much.
In fact, had he followed the advice of these editors, he would have destroyed his story and career in one fell swoop. And it is not uncommon to be assigned editors, coaches, and the like at these types of for-profit independent presses. I personally could not share something as personal and messy as an unpublished manuscript with someone that wasn’t 100% invested in my vision.
High Professional Standards
Since there is no bar association-type exam for coaches, pretty much anyone can call themselves a coach, editor, or self-publishing expert. Also, many informal writing groups try to perform these services for each other via free advice.
You get what you pay for.
I tried this for a few years and was beyond frustrated when the words on the page didn’t match the vision in my head. My book wasn’t able to cross the finish line until I had hired a fantastic developmental editor, took a writing workshop, read many many books on craft, completed my book coaching certification, learned how to use the Atticus layout software, AND hired a copy editor.
That took me five years, and for two and a half of them, I lived off the funds from a home equity loan because I quit my job to focus on writing full time.
Was it worth it? Absolutely. Can everyone up and quit their job to focus on their fiction? Nope. That is why I’m ready and willing to step in and help writers that don’t have the time to start from scratch. I’ve already done the groundwork.
Community Centered
If you’re still here reading, then you must be my people. So you are more than aware that writing is often a very, very lonely gig.
I’ve tried my hand at different writing groups, but none of them actually gave me what I needed. Either no one was interested in romance, or one member seemed to take all the oxygen out of the room, or I didn’t feel like I could show up as my weirdo self that schedules major revisions around Mercury retrogrades. (I mean, if the moon can move the ENTIRE OCEAN, doesn’t it follow that it and the other celestial bodies might affect us as well?)
More than anything, I would LOVE to work with a dedicated group of writers that all share a passion for romantasy. A fellowship, if you will, that can provide honest feedback and heartfelt support. A built-in book-club might be an additional bonus, because sometimes you need a break to discuss the latest batch of SJM theories, including, “Are Hunt and Bryce endgame?”
Romantasy Realms Publishing
How do I get this project started? At the moment, I’m not 100% sure. I would love to start a small writer’s group and have weekly check-ins. Is that something I can do on Substack alone, or do I need to bring in Discord, Zoom, Google Meet, or something else I’m not aware of at the moment? Would that be part of a paid feature here on Substack? Possibly.
If you were going to jump all in on an endeavor like this, what would you be looking for in a writing community? In a book coach? What are your feelings on podcasting? Let me know in the comments!
I've been having similar problems in writing groups you mention! Throw in people's opinion on romantasy (of which they've never read anything in the genre and just repeat what the naysayers on the internet say) and it's hard to be taken seriously and to discuss actually writing. I'm yet to join a writing Discord server where people do talk about writing or books; they end up being general chat rooms. Which is a nice addition, but not what I'd specifically joined for.
For me personally I think Discord servers are the best option because of the organisation of channels, though I'd never pay to join any.
Everything you said resonated with me. I am definitely interested in a romantic writing group where a certain level of knowledge about story and craft is necessary to join. I have tried other writers groups where people are just at the beginning of studying story structure, and the craft of writing and I need to be in a more challenging group. I am personally revising my debut novel, the first in a trilogy, so I’m in it for the long haul. I would vastly prefer Substack in Zoom, I just don’t have the bandwidth to be checking more platforms. Excited to support Romantasy Realms moving from dream to reality!