Writing dark romance isn’t just about crafting tension-filled love stories with obsessive antiheroes and high-stakes passion, it’s also about staying organized, inspired, and motivated through every step of the process. Over time, I’ve found a handful of tools that help streamline my writing, from plotting intense storylines to marketing my books effectively. If you’re an aspiring dark romance author (or just curious about my process), here are my go-to tools!
Milanote
I swear by Milanote for organizing my dark romance worlds. Whether I’m plotting an enemies-to-lovers revenge arc or keeping track of spicy scenes, Milanote gives me a visual workspace where I can:
✔️ Create mood boards for characters, settings, and aesthetics
✔️ Organize messy outlines into structured beats
✔️ Keep track of plot twists, backstory details, and foreshadowing
I have entire boards dedicated to my WIPs, marketing plans, and even keeping track of my income and expenses for the year. Milanote is great for both the writing side of things and the author business side of things.
You can create boards that act like pages and within each board have notes, other boards, charts, to-do lists, and more. It’s drag-and-drop and I prefer to use my iPad to get an immersive, easy-to-use experience.
I plan on writing a post in the future featuring how I organize my Milanote author dashboard so stay tuned!
Dabble Writer
When it comes to actually writing my dark romance books, Dabble Writer is my go-to tool. It offers a clean, distraction-free interface while still providing powerful features like drag-and-drop scene organization, plotting tools, and word count tracking to keep me on pace. I love that I can access my projects from anywhere, whether I’m sneaking in a writing session on my phone or working from my laptop. Plus, the plot grid feature is a game-changer for managing intricate storylines, character arcs, and those all-important revenge-fueled twists.
DIY Book Covers (Mock-ups)
For showcasing my dark romance books, I use the DIY Book Covers 3D mockup tool to create beautiful mock-ups. This tool makes it easy to transform a simple book cover into a professional-looking mockup with just a few clicks. All I need to do is upload my cover image, and it instantly generates multiple 3D mockup options, from paperback and hardback versions to eBook and tablet formats. Whether I’m preparing for a new release or sharing updates with my readers, these mockups add a polished, eye-catching touch to my promotional materials. It’s the perfect tool for authors who want to showcase their books in style without needing expensive design software or complicated setups.
Book Funnel
Book Funnel is a tool for distributing ARC (Advance Reader Copy) books to my dedicated reader team. With just a few clicks, I can send out copies of my latest dark romance novel to my ARC readers in multiple formats—whether it’s ePub, Mobi, or PDF. What I love most is how easy it makes collecting feedback and ensuring that everyone on my team receives their copy without any hassle. The platform also allows me to manage sign-ups, track download statistics, and even create custom landing pages for specific promotions. It’s a seamless way to keep my readers engaged and get crucial early reviews that help boost a book’s success.
Facebook Groups
There are a couple of different types of Facebook groups that are invaluable to an author’s business. Whether you’re looking to connect with readers, get feedback, or solve problems, these groups can play a huge role in streamlining your author journey.
ARC Facebook Groups
These Facebook groups are dedicated to helping authors connect with readers who are willing to read books before they’re released and leave reviews, and they accept authors fairly quickly. The last time I posted in a few ARC Facebook groups, I gained 50+ ARC readers. I’d suggest making the posts enticing, including the book’s tropes and maybe a spicy quote.
I Need a Goodreads Librarian Group
Every author has a Goodreads problem one time or another. This group has Goodreads librarians that look through the group’s posts and help you with your request. I mainly use it to change my pre-order placeholder cover to the real cover after I’ve changed it on Amazon. You also can use it for errors on your Goodreads profile or books.
Other Author Facebook Groups
Writing communities are great for brainstorming, sharing writing tips, and keeping motivated. There are also author marketing groups where you can exchange promotion strategies and get advice on building your author brand. Genre-specific groups, like dark romance or contemporary romance groups, can help you connect directly with your ideal audience and learn what they love about your genre. Self-publishing groups can give you helpful tips from formatting to cover design to finding the best self-publishing platforms. Pre-made cover groups are for authors on a budget to search through and purchase a pre-made cover for their upcoming book. Joining a mix of these groups will provide you with a wide range of helping hands to help your author business thrive. And the best thing about them, they’re free!
