11. What information do I need to personalize my book?
Information you'll need to provide us so we can personalize your book includes the following:
• Which book you want.
• Whether you want the Wild or Mild version.
• The couple's first names.
• Their first and last names.
• The town where she lives.
• Her closest major airport.
• Her favorite radio station for music. (Call letters or numbers.)
• Make of car he drives.
• Her favorite color for clothing. (Think lingerie or evening gown.)
• The pet names they call each other.
• Their best friends' names.
• Her perfume and his cologne/after shave.
(If none, please type in: the clean scent of soap or au natural.)
• Where they work.
(The name of the companies; or the word "home" will work fine.)
• Their eye and hair color.
• A favorite musical group/artist or type of music.
• The total amount of time they've been "a couple".
• For the dedication page: who the book is being given to, who the book is being given from, and for what date and/or type of occasion.
(Ex: Happy Anniversary, October 1, 2004).
You will also need to supply the billing, payment, and shipping information.
12. What if I don't have an answer to a question on the questionnaire?
You must fill in every blank on the order form or your order cannot be processed.
When you do not know an answer to a question, use one of the following:
» Favorite radio station: KLOV or WUSA.
» Her favorite color for clothing: red or black.
» His pet name for her: repeat the woman's first name.
» Her pet name for him: repeat the man's first name.
» Her or his best friend: you can use a sister/brother, mother/father, or daughter/son.
» Her perfume or his cologne/aftershave: the clean scent of soap or au natural.
» His or her workplace: home; or perhaps something like the bridge club, golf course, or the home office. If retired, you can use the former place of work or home. Also note we want where they work, not what they do. So home will work, not housewife; Jason's Garage will work, not mechanic; Mason Middle School, not teacher.
» Eye color: beautiful
» Hair color: sexy. (Note that bald or shaved will not work. Put in what color it used to be, or try very short or invisible.)
» Favorite music: romantic
» Amount of time: forever
Don't hesitate to be a little creative with your response. For instance, if you don't know the type of car he drives, put in something exotic. We won't check to see if he drives a Corvette or a Lexus.
The Dedication in every books reads the same. Fill in the blanks as you want yours to read, but limit yourself to less than 40 characters/spaces per line.
This book is lovingly dedicated to
_________________________
from
_________________________
_____________________________
SAMPLE:
This book is lovingly dedicated to
My Lovely Wife, Lilly
from
Jeff, Who Loves Her Dearly
Happy Valentine's Day - February 14, 2004
13. Will I receive notification of my order?
Yes, each order placed via our website has a reference number which will be sent in a confirmation back to you by email, that is, if you've provided a valid email address. Once you have completed your order form, we advise you to print it out so you will have a copy of the information you gave us.
To keep you informed, expect to receive two more e-mails from us - one, when your book goes into production; another, when your book is shipped.
14. What is your return policy?
If there is a problem with the workmanship of the book, we will correct the problem.
We will use your spelling to make the book. If you have given us the wrong spelling or any of your information is incorrect, we will not replace the book because it is an error you made.
Remember that each book is individually made, personalized just for you, so take the time to get your information correct. Because each book is customized to your specifications, we cannot offer a refund because you simply do not like the book. After we have made it to your specifications, it only has value to you.
15. Does the personal information put into the books appear in bold in the book like it does in the examples on the website?
No, it appears as regular text like the rest of the book.
16.What's the difference between the "wild" and "mild" versions of your books?
The "wild" version offers more detailed, steamy romantic scenes, similar to the romance novel genre. "Wild" uses those fun romance novel euphemisms but is never graphic. It is, however, racy in nature.
The "mild" version of each book is exactly the same story line, but the romantic scenes have been limited to more innocent hugging and kissing. In either case, do consider that the book is about two people in love, so they will make love in the book.
You can read both "wild" and "mild" excerpts from each book elsewhere on this website. If you have any qualms about the idea of ordering a "wild" version, it's our advice to order the "mild" version instead.
17. Which book should I order?
Read the descriptions about each of the books, read the excerpts, and pick the one that best suits you or the couple you're buying for. You might consider where the books are set and ask yourself if the couple would enjoy going on vacation there. Or, in the case of our compilation book of contest winners, "Celebrating Romance," which has 10 short stories, or “Shore Thing,” which has four stories, you get more of a variety.
18. Is there drinking in the books?
Our characters will drink alcohol in social settings, but the characters do not lose control of their ability to know right from wrong. Champagne and other alcoholic drinks play into toasts.
19. What happens to the personal information you collect?
We collect information from our customers to determine who is ordering, where they are from, how they found out about us, etc. We will occasionally email or mail our prior customers to notify them of new products or special offers. Our data is for our use only. We do not share or sell this information to any other company.
20. What does the shipment look like?
Standard orders are shipped in red, white, and blue US Postal Service Priority Mail envelopes.
Overnight orders are shipped in US Postal Service Express Mail envelopes; again, they are red, white and blue. Out of country orders are shipped in US Postal Service Global Priority envelopes.
Out of country overnight orders are shipped with different service depending on which country the book is being shipped to.
21. Who writes these books?
With three exceptions, the author of each personalized romance novel is Fletcher Newbern, the pen name for a husband-wife writing team that not only writes the novels, but developed the concept and originated the company, yournovel.com, Inc., that brings you these titles. They also work as travel writers and have visited many of the exotic locations that are the settings for their personalized romance novels.
"Celebrating Romance" was written by 10 contest winners to produce a book to celebrate yournovel.com's 10th anniversary. "Treasure Seekers" and “Heart of the Keys” were written by Marcy Thomas, one of the contest winners.
22. Do you have any books that can be used for same-sex partners?
All of our books are about a man and a woman in love, so the pronouns and body parts are masculine/feminine and cannot be changed.
23. How did you come up with the idea for these books?
It's a great story that dates back to 1992:
Newbern: "I was on a panel at a public relations conference and the ice-breaker question was: 'What would people be surprised to find out about you?' I answered that I had written a yet-to-be published romance novel, which got an appropriate response. Fletcher, then my boyfriend, had driven to the conference with me, and at lunch, one of the women, a friend, at the table said, 'Wouldn't it be great to read about yourself in one of those romance novels?' Well, we all laughed and kidded around about it. Then, on the four-hour drive home, Fletcher and I looked at each other, and the proverbial light bulb went off. We said, 'You know, we could do that!' and actually started outlining our first book, 'Another Day in Paradise,' on the back of a manila folder on the drive. We started writing it the next day."
Fletcher: "We acted on a great idea, and today are going strong. We firmly believe that the only way to get something done is to do it."
Newbern: "We did not want to look back at some point and say, 'You know, if we had just done that personalized romance novel thing...' "