Well, not wanted by me, but by someone who’s posted a job offer on freelancing site Upwork.

This is just a quirky thing I came across in my Amish news feed today. I wondered some years ago if the appeal of Amish romance would continue. Going by anecdotal evidence at least, the genre appears to still be running strong.

This kind of ad seems to support that idea. Here’s what they’re looking for:

We are looking to hire someone who REALLY understands the Amish romance genre and can write good plots with the right tropes, rising tension, intrigue, and interesting characters.

Ideally, we are looking for a long-term relationship with the chosen applicant to become part of our publishing team.

Please note that we will ask to submit plot “idea” and brief character’s description for our approval before proceeding with chapter-by chapter plot.

They have some stipulations:

PLEASE APPLY ONLY IF:

You are experienced at plotting / writing Amish romance novels.

You are knowledgeable about this genre and are familiar with the appropriate terms of address, language, accurate historical settings, themes, and terminology.

Your write original plots and not used or repurposed elsewhere.

You agree to sign NDA

When you apply, please, submit a small example of your Amish plot as a brief outline. It does not need to be complete.

I’ve never come across offers like this before, but I guess that is one way to do it.

And it appears this same company is looking for not just plot writers – but entire-book-writers as well.

From a related ad that appeared on the same page:

We are seeking experienced Amish Romance authors to join our expanding ghostwriter team.

Ideally, we are looking for a long-term relationship with a reliable and committed applicant to become part of our publishing team.

We provide a full plot outline and full support.

So this is what the production process looks like – one side creates the plot outline, then it’s given to someone who can flesh it out into a whole book.

I didn’t realize that books were created this way, but apparently they are. At least that’s the model for this publisher, which goes unnamed in the ad. I don’t think most Amish fiction writers are working by this model, however.

How lucrative is this? Well, for the plot writers, they are offering $30 per plot.

What about those who write the actual books? They will pay $220 for a 20,000-word book. That’s about a penny a word.

My first book was around 60,000 words, if I recall correctly. It took years to write.

Now, a long-researched non-fiction book vs. a compact fiction novel is not an apples-to-apples comparison, but…it seems like it would be hard to make ends meet at that rate. However, maybe for someone it can be a nice way to break into the industry?

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