Relay Publishing is looking for We are looking for a creative, organized, and deadline-driven Outline Writer to help create an enchanting, fast-paced and high-steam dark fantasy romance novel. Join our team of experienced writers and editors to work on our next page-turning series!

Job Outline

Relay Publishing is looking for writers who are intimately familiar with the fantasy romance genre and its reader expectations. You’ll be working alongside the team responsible for the bestselling Zara Storm pen name on a new dark fantasy romance series. 

Our ideal candidate will work within the Relay Publishing outline template to write the character set-up and plot for the book. The result is detailed character sheets outlining goals, motivations, and internal conflicts for each of the main characters, as well as a full chapter-by-chapter of the book.  This process requires extensive back and forth communication between the outline writer and outline editor as well as input from our senior editor.  

You will be the creator of the blueprint for our manuscript writer to flesh out and create an awesome story from. 

Relay Core Values

• Collaboration

• Honest, but sensitive communication

• Problem solvers

• Pride in work

• Fun & Friendly

Necessary Skills & Experience

• A love, bordering on obsession, with the fantasy romance genre.  You should be familiar with Sarah J Maas, Rebecca Yarros, Stacia Clark, LJ Andrews, and Sarah A Parker. 

• From that love should come a deep understanding of tropes and character archetypes. For example, you’ll know the heroine should be spirited, resilient, NA aged, and have hidden power/strength. Heroes should be extremely powerful, mysterious, and morally grey. Popular tropes are enemies to lovers, fated mates and forbidden love. 

• Creation of an engaging and fresh world, including magic systems, mythical beings and world backstory. 

• Like many fantasy stories, romantic fantasy will include epic quests, deadly competitions, battles between good and evil, or other forms of adventure. You must be able to juggle that plot alongside the primary romance plot.
• A real story geek—someone who loves structure, the Hero’s Journey, beat sheets, breaking down and discussing the intricacies of stories.  
• Work collaboratively with editors and concept creators to build a comprehensive outline for a complex story in a fully developed and absorbing world.

• High level writing experience. We are looking for the best of the best, with a drive to see the story come to life.

• Excellent communication and time management skills.

• Technologically savvy.

About You

• A deep knowledge of the genre is required—as above, candidates should be familiar with the bestsellers in the genre and ideally already have written a fantasy romance title or series before.  

• You are passionate about your writing and want to be among a team of exceptional creatives who respect the craft.

• You love writing and want to get paid for it. 

• You enjoy a challenge and using your problem-solving skills necessary to pen a gripping dark fantasy romance outline.  

• You are a person who enjoys high level collaborative creation. 
• Your core values align with ours!

In a nutshell: you enjoy a challenge and using your problem-solving skills to create a page-turning story. You are a person who enjoys the brainstorming process and high level collaborative creation. You are passionate about your writing and work well with deadlines.

What’s in it for You?

An amazing freelance, online, remote working environment with a real collaborative virtual office that fosters teamwork, development and open communication. We are passionate about creating an online workplace that really works! We use an online project management software that helps us keep an open, collaborative approach to all our projects.  Just because we work remote, doesn’t mean we have to be remote! We want to nurture our team and work with a consistent group of professionals to be part of the company as it continues to grow. We use an online project management system to run our projects which integrate seamlessly with your emails.

We thoroughly believe in long-term collaborative relationships and that is reflected in our approach to all our projects. We offer competitive rates, clear briefs & expectations, and friendly and fun communication throughout. Flexibility is one of our core work principles: as long as the work gets done, you can do it whenever it suits you. Unlike a traditional office we don’t require you to be at your desk 9-5—you pick your own schedule. If you’re serious about writing or editing for a living, we’d love to hear from you.

We are always open to ideas. We like to have brainstorming sessions and offer incentives for participation. Whether that’s a new book or business venture, a change to processes and workflow. No matter what your role, you are part of the team and your voice counts.

We have grown dramatically over the last couple years and we plan on growing more, come along for the ride!