Besotted Books is a publishing company focused on producing quality historical romances for those who love the genre!
We are seeking to uplift new and current voices within historical romance and expand the genre while keeping true to its roots. You can count on our books to always be human written, human edited, and human designed.
The Kickstarter for Besotted Books will launch on June 9th!
Our Kickstarter preview page is now LIVE! Please visit and hit that ‘Notify me on launch’ button!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andiejamesauthor/besotted-books
Help us spread the word about Besotted Books and share why you plan to support the Kickstarter on June 9th. Use our Media Kit to share in newsletters, facebook reading groups, or on your own social media platform.
Want to hear all about Besotted Books? Andie sat down with fellow Historical Romance author Misty Urban for a recent episode of her podcast, First Encounter to share about the project and the Kickstarter. You can find out more about the episode here.
For the Love of Historical Romance
We know that traditional publishing is supporting historical romance less and less, so more authors are turning to self-publishing. But self-publishing is hard—it requires a lot of time, effort, and upfront money to produce a quality book. Not every author has either the funds or the time to self-publish, and the options to sign with small presses are limited.
This is where Besotted Books comes in—we are hoping to fill that void by offering an avenue for new authors to enter the genre and existing authors to continue publishing.
Besotted Books strives to:
Publish quality historical romances that remain true to the tenants that make it a unique genre under the romance umbrella. While we always want to attract new readers to the genre, we believe we can do so with great storytelling and don’t need to reinvent what appeals to an already devoted reader base. We’ll celebrate third person, dual POV, and clinch style covers
That said, we also want to expand the genre in terms of time-period, setting, and who’s love stories we are telling. While we love Regency and Victorian stories set in England and will never turn away from them—we also want to expand and celebrate diversity in the stories we are telling by embracing love stories that center characters from different classes, races and ethnicities, and sexual and gender orientations—and are set in locations around the world and in all time periods (Ancient Rome to the 20th century)
Part of this includes providing opportunity for new authors to enter the historical romance community and share stories traditional publishing might find too risky
While books may be any heat level (from closed door all the way to explicit), the spice included in our books should enhance the central love story rather than be the main focus of the novel. Romance will be the center and main goal, and with physical intimacy a natural consequence of evolving adult relationships, it will often be included to show the emotional development and romantic attachment between the main characters
Human Written, Human Edited, Human Designed
It is increasingly difficult in our current landscape to know what is, and is not, created with AI. We want Besotted Books to be a safe space amidst the AI slop—a place you can come to know you are finding human created historical romances that have real emotion and soul in their storytelling. Our sincerest hope is that you will come to trust us and seek out our books, knowing any time you see the double ‘B’ or quill and inkwell, the book was created entirely without AI.
As authors and creatives, we are firmly against the use of Generative AI. Not only have large language models been created by, and profit off of, using the work of other writers and artists without their consent or compensation—it also uses an immense amount of energy, negatively impacting the communities where data centers are being built and harming an environment already ravaged by the effects of climate change. And don’t get us started on the effects to cognition…
Due to all of this, Besotted Books is dedicated to producing books without the use of Generative AI. EVER. That means our books will be written by humans, edited by humans, designed by humans, and promoted without using AI images or copy.
How Will All of this Work?
Our plan is to start small and release one book a month, starting in January of 2027. This release schedule will allow us to keep the team minimal and costs low as we build both a readership and catalog of titles. More importantly, it allows us to really focus on our authors—helping them craft the best possible historical romances for you and making sure they feel supported and celebrated along the way.
On June 9th, 2026 we will be launching a Kickstarter campaign to try and raise the funds needed for startup costs and to produce the first three years worth of books (36 books total). Our goal is to create a sustainable business that can create quality books while treating our authors well—giving them the financial benefits they deserve, and paying editors and designers fairly. So, if our fundraising goal is not met, Besotted Books will not move forward. Scroll down to learn all about the Kickstarter.
We need your help to spread the word. Please follow us on Instagram (@besotted.books) and make use of our Media Kit to help spread the word to fellow historical romance lovers!
How will Besotted Books Benefit Authors and Readers?
Why should authors want to work with Besotted Books?
We will in no way pretend that Besotted Books will be able to offer authors anything similar to what they will receive in traditional publishing—we just won’t have the same structure for promoting authors work, or the funds for advances. Besotted Books will operate in a manner similar to self-publishing, only all authors will need to worry about is writing the book! We’ll handle the editing and production process along with basic marketing, and all up front costs will be covered
Because the Kickstarter will work as a subscription model, authors who release books within the first three years the kickstarter funds cover will receive $1,000 upon release of their book to serve as royalties from the Kickstarter subscribers. They will also receive 50% of profits off any sales of digital and paperback books, and because we initially will not have the funds to produce audiobooks, authors can keep their audio rights and produce those on their own if they so desire
While the $1,000 on release won’t be equal to royalties earned if the kickstarter books had been sold through normal means, it’s guaranteed up front, and the books will automatically be in the hands of upwards of 5k readers—exposure that any author in the Indie publishing space would love!
What will readers get out of supporting Besotted books?
We all love historical romance and want it to continue to thrive. In the current publishing landscape, traditional publishing isn’t picking up new authors very often, and they certainly aren’t taking many risks. Besotted Books will be a place where new authors can submit their work and we can bring greater diversity of stories to readers while not adapting the genre to appeal to the market
The Indie and self-publishing market is huge and discoverability is harder than ever. And with the increase in AI created books, when you come across a new author or title—it’s hard to know whether or not it was written by a real person. Our greatest hope is that Besotted Books will become a trusted place you can turn to when looking for new books and authors to read—knowing they were human written and produced, and the books they release will appeal to HistRom lovers
Readers will also be able to support authors and the company more directly and avoid buying their books through large retailers. While our books will eventually be for sale on Amazon, etc., were looking to provide another option. Both through the Kickstarter campaign and beyond, we will be offering subscription services for our digital books so you can purchase them straight from us. That means 100% of your funds will go towards running the business and also allows us to give more back to our authors due to a higher profit margin
Who’s Behind Besotted Books?
Andie James is the (hopeful) owner and publisher of Besotted Books
A historical romance author herself, Andie has self-published five historical romance novels since 2023 and has several more books planned and in the works!
Andie also hosts the historical romance focused podcast First Encounter, where she explores the classic books of the historical romance canon and uplifts the work of Indie authors writing in the genre.
While she may not know a lot about running a publishing company, she understands the Indie and self-publishing landscape within the historical romance community and has more than enough passion for the genre to make sure that it not only lives on, but thrives!
Andie will work with authors to develop their stories and partner with trusted editors, cover designers, and artists who are committed to never using generative AI to help produce quality new historical romance books.
Kickstarter Tiers
All You Need to Know About the Kickstarter Campaign
In order to keep costs low for those backing the Kickstarter (and so we don’t have to mess with shipping!), we’ll be offering digital e-books exclusively as part of the Kickstarter. While we will be producing paperbacks that you can purchase once the book is widely released, the packages for Kickstarter tiers will only contain ebooks—BUT you get early access! An email with a link to download the book will be sent to all backers TWO WEEKS before the books go up for sale
We anticipate having the first book ready for release in January 2027, and will then release one book per month.
The Kickstarter will have four tiers, covering a variety of periods over the first three years of operation (the timeframe we are trying to fund):
Viscountess Tier—First six months (6 books)
Countess Tier—First year (12 books)
Marchioness Tier—First two years (24 books)
Duchess Tier—First three years (36 books)
Sound great, but what are the books you’ll be releasing?
This is where we are asking for your faith in us. Because we are not yet able to sign authors, we can’t tell you what books you’ll be receiving as part of the Kickstarter packages. We hope you’ll back this project because you love historical romance and want to see the genre continue to thrive, you want to read new authors, and you trust that we’ll bring you books that exemplify the best of the genre we love
Think of it this way: It’s Book of the Month meets Blind Date with a Book!
And what is the fundraising goal?
The goal of Besotted Books is to become a business that is sustainable—that can exist beyond the first initial years funded by the Kickstarter, so we need a solid foundation to start and are looking to raise $450,000
This amount will cover the startup costs for the remainder of 2026 as well as the first three years of book releases (2027-2029)
We know that a lot of money, In an ideal world, we'd actually be raising enough for the first five years (how long most small businesses need to become stable and profitable), but we're not confident in raising that much money. And since Kickstarter is all or nothing, I want to make sure we have a chance to get off the ground!
We're attempting to raise enough funds for business start up costs as well as the first three years of business, producing one book a month (36 books total). We want to have the money in hand and not worry about the need for business loans or running out of funds before the business has enough titles in its back catalog to be sustainable moving forward. In an ideal world, We'd raise the funds for five years of business, we're just scared we'd not be able to raise that much money in one go!
How will the money be used?
Short answer: a salary for Andie and to produce twelve books a year.
Long answer:
—Kickstarter takes 5% off the top, then there are card charges and processing fees, so it's best to assume 10% off the top, leaving $405,000
—We'll need $30,000 for start up (Andie's salary for July through December 2026, business start up costs, and taxes)
—A budget of $110,000 a year ($330,000 over the three years of publication)
—If you're doing the math, that leaves $45,000 which will go towards paying taxes (which may likely be even more than that)
How did you come to a budget of $110,000 a year?
Running the company and doing developmental editing for all projects will become Andie's job, so $36,000 of that ($3k a month) will be for her salary.
Producing the books will average $4k per book as we are using real humans for all editing and production. That will cover editing, proofreading and cover design. Multiplied by 12 books a year, that's $48k
We'll also be paying each author $1,000 on release of their book to compensate for the royalties lost to those who subscribe through the Kickstarter. Multiplied by 12 books a year, that's $12k
If you've been doing the math, we're at $96k. The remaining $14k a year will be for business operations and marketing.
Why support the Kickstarter? So there will be new books to love!
We think there are a million reasons to support Besotted Books, and even more importantly, back this Kickstarter rather than waiting for our books to be released. However, here is a summary of why this is a great deal:
You’ll get the best discount on book bundles that we’ll ever offer—We plan to offer subscription bundles in the future, but the price for those packages will never be this low!
You can lock in the Kickstarter discount for the first three years—If you aren't ready to commit to all three years worth of books right now, that's okay. If you pledge any of the tiers other than Duchess level, you'll be able to buy the nex few years books at the Kickstarter price. AND everyone who backs the Kickstarter will be noted in our system as an early supporter and will have access to special deals for as long as Besotted Books is in operation!
You’ll get early access (2 weeks!) for each book released—Read the books you love FIRST (and embrace the bragging rights that comes with that privilege)!
You’re supporting the business and authors directly instead of retailers—Your money will stretch further and you can feel good about your dollars supporting a small business and authors
You’re voting against AI and for the historical romance genre—Your supporting real authors, editors, and creatives, and your showing the large publishers that we still care about this genre, and Historical Romance isn't going anywhere!
You’re supporting new voices and diversity within Historical Romance—we will sign the new voice that traditional publishign won't, and becuase we'll already have the money for these books, we are not beholden to pressures of the market and are willing to embrace the diverse stories trad pub won't.
The business won’t happen, and there will be no books, without you!—This is the most important one. Please don't wait to read our books down the road. If we can't raise the funds to start Besotted Books now, there will be no new books for you to read later. We literally can't do this without you, and Historical Romance needs you!
Authors—We Want to Work With You!
Are you a historical romance author who is interested in working with us? Please click on the button below to be taken to our author information page