The romance industry's own opinion on what constitutes a successful romance novel is laid out in handbooks for writing romance novels. In such manuals experienced romance authors and/or editors explain the basics of writing and publishing a (category) romance novel. In this articulation of the aesthetically ideal romance, the roles of the genre's texts, users, and industry are taken into account, resulting in a consistent double focus: the manuals simultaneously encourage their pupils to express their individuality uninhibitedly and authentically in their writing while also directing the resulting texts towards the (commercial) demands of the genre's industry and readers. (73)