Printed with permission of Sam Morrison.
Nov 29, 2010
Nov 25, 2010
Harlequin's Superromance
The line I'm aiming for is Superromance. According to Victoria Curran, who spoke about the line during eHarlequin's webinar (link here), this is Superromance:
Superromance is the longest of the 3 lines in Heart and Home at 70-75k. This is an important distinction. They are about family/unity/career/home - offer opportunities to explore subplots and secondary romances welcome. There's more elbow room for characterisation.Supers are character driven romances grounded in realism. Senior Editor Wanda Ottewell said that characters should be recognisable and remind readers of friends or family. Issues characters find themselves in could happen. In Superromance love may not come easily but it's always worth the effort. Urban, small town and country settings, as well as international settings welcome. Primarily the word count is what gives us the opportunity to work with deeper subplots and secondary romances.
Specific authors weren't provided as best examples of the line, unfortunately.
It was a bit of a shock to hear the word count was 70-75k... it had been 60-65k (in fact the website still has this listed for the line). But it is definitely increasing. The first books with the new word count will hit shelves in June 2011. The reason for the increase is because Harlequin are looking for deeper character exploration and complex stories, always high conflict!
Guess I need to rethink my daily word count goal to finish.
Nov 22, 2010
Nov 18, 2010
Harlequin's Series Romance Explained
Recently eHarlequin hosted a SYTYCW (so you think you can write) week.One of the sessions was a webinar (like a combined powerpoint slide show and podcast rolled into one - but live). Hosted by Harlequin editors Susan Litman and Victoria Curran it included a clear explanation of what is a category/series novel. I thought it was worth sharing (if you want to listen to the whole webinar, you can find a replay here):
What is Series?
- set number of books per month under a specific brand
- particular kind of read, creating reader expectation
- create a fan base so readers return to their beloved lines each month
- each book has a strong romance with a happy ending
- each series has its own set of requirements including word count and story elements
They also grouped Harlequin's lines into Series. I hadn't been aware of this division before, so found it quite interesting. The series are:
Classic (Quintessential, modern love stories)- Presents/Modern/Sexy Sensation
- Presents Extra/Modern Heat/Sexy
- Harlequin Romance/Sweet
- Medical Romance
- Blaze
- Desire
Heart and Home (Heartwarming contemporary romances that balance life and love)
- Special Edition
- Superromance
Suspense and Paranormal (Heart stopping contemporary stories with intrigue and mystery... where true love always triumphs)
- Intrigue
- Romantic Suspense
- Nocturne
Inspirational (Christian/faith-based)
- Love Inspired
- Love Inspired Suspense
- Love Inspired Historical
Historicals
African-American
- Kimani Romance
Throughout the discussion they outlined each line in detail, as well as recommending a few authors who truly represent the line. I won't list them here, but if you are interested you can listen to the replay yourself (link above). I learnt a few new things about my line, and in particular one big change - but I'll leave that for a future post.
Nov 15, 2010
Nov 11, 2010
Nov 8, 2010
Nov 4, 2010
Nano Time Again
I think this cartoon sums up my approach to NaNoWriMo perfectly. I have so much on my plate I know 50,000 words is a dream, but every extra word I write is one more on my novel. so I am going to do my best and aim for 20k. Oh, and I think crazy fully applies *grin*. So only a few days into November it's not too late to give it a whirl. Who else is joining in?
Nov 1, 2010
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