Romans was now planning an ambitious book of some 300 pages with copper plate engravings and two large maps of the Floridas and the Caribbean. He needed to find financial backers and sign up subscribers to meet the costs of publishing the book. This effort led him into many new contacts. In August 1773, Romans was admitted into the Marine Society of the City of New York. In January 1774, he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society. A paper by Romans on an improved sea compass was published in the society's "Transactions", and he presented descriptions of new plants he found in Florida to the society. Although no longer resident in West Florida, Romans had also been appointed botanist for West Florida.