Rejection Reflection

My Harlequin submission is now a rejection. Ce lest vie.

However much a rejection stings (and it does) I've tried to be positive and focus on the fact it wasn't a standard rejection. I got feedback (!), which everyone knows makes for a positive rejection - if there can be such a thing.

In fact, to quote Harlequin:

...your style and voice show potential. You have a wonderfully intense, powerful voice – your heroine’s grief and stress really shone out on the page!

How can I not be thrilled with that? 

Apparently it was the plot they weren't so taken with. And that's okay - it changes with every story. My voice, well I'm stuck with that *grin*.

So now I'll move onto my next story. And keep my fingers crossed for next time.

High 5 Results and Finalists

Firstly, congratulations to the six finalists: Anne-Louise Dubrawski, Bernice Greenham, Cornelia Kamp, Dorothy Martin, Melissa Smith and Jennifer St George. At the moment their High 5 entries are in the hands of Harlequin's Charles Griemsman who is judging the final placings. Best of luck to all of you!

Now for my results. Another mixed bag (seems to be the norm for me). For my current wip I received two very high scores, but the third was quite low so dragged down my overall score - I seem to have that happen a lot! I think (reading between the lines of the judges' comments) that I have a good story and voice, but perhaps there were some elements of craft that let me down. So two judges went with the story and voice (hence the high score) and the other pulled me up on the craft (hence the low score). But I am not disappointed. The craft issues were pointed out to me before the results came back so I was expecting it, and I am thrilled that my story was loved.

What more could you ask for?

SYTYCW #2

Harlequin are again running their "So You Think You Can Write" week. It started Monday - but it isn't too late to join in and catch up.

This year they have a dedicated website (here) for the event, so it is much easier to follow and participate. Best of all, this year the big contest can lead to a publishing contract (you just need a full manuscript by Dec 15th).

This is the place to learn all you wanted to know about writing series romance!

Harlequin's Superromance

Last week I blogged about series romance, what it is and the different series Harlequin's lines are divided into. It was interesting hearing the very latest on each line - what they encompass and some authors who are great representations of each line.

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.

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

Passion (A spicier, hotter read)
- Blaze
- Desire

Heart and Home (Heartwarming contemporary romances that balance life and love)
- Special Edition
- Superromance

- American Romance

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

- Harlequin Historical

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.

Post in Absence

Today heralds the first day of the annual Romance Writers of Australia conference. Unfortunately, it's published author's day today - so that counts me out. Maybe next year.....

But tonight is the e-list dinner, where those of us attending conference who are on the RWA Romaus e-loop get together so we can chat face-to-face, often for the first time. So tonight it will really feel like conference is starting. Then tomorrow it begins. I can't wait.

It's actually going to be a busy conference, because I have organised the First Time Conference Attendee's program, and am helping with the Silver Lunch fundraiser for Ovarian Cancer.

Highlights to look forward to are hard to pick, but I think Deb Dixon's GMC/Heroes Journey workshop, the Harlequin cocktail party (because I love my costume) and the awards dinner where I'm nominated for the Lynne Wilding Award (for meritorious service) probably have the edge.

It goes without saying catching up with all my writing friends and being immersed for a weekend with other romance writers is also very exciting.

Next week I'll report back on how I found RWA's 2010 Sun, Surf and Sizzle conference. I'm sure I'll have loved every minute.

I'm going to Conference!

I've registered for the 2010 RWA conference, Sun, Surf & Sizzle. WooHoo!!

The line-up is great, and like last year, I had to mull over the sessions to decide what to choose. There are awesome sessions on offer, including two with Debra Dixon - Goal Motivation Conflict & Characterisation.

And of course the Harlequin Cocktail Party. This year the theme is Fantasy Island. Okay, I have to admit this has left me a little puzzled. I've found out it was a TV show, but I've never seen it, and know absolutely nothing about it. But I think the idea is to come as your fantasy. I have the twinkling of an idea, but can see some research coming up before I can be certain it is a goer - I'll leave that for a future blog.

I can't wait for conference :)

Missing in Action

I've been a little quiet on my blog of late. Of course I have an excuse, but I think it is quite a good one.

Back in August I e-pitched to Harlequin as part of RWA's national conference. Seriously, while I desperately wanted a positive outcome, that litle red devil in my head didn't think I stood a chance. I was thrilled when the request came back for a partial + synopsis. The only catch was I needed to start the story further along.

Oh my gosh!!! I reread the request a good half a dozen times looking for the catch, or the word I'd misread. Once I'd convinced myself it was real, it hit me. Start the story further along. Ummmm, where? I struggled with that decision. I thought of 3 or 4 places I could re-start it. I didn't want to screw the opportunity up, so I took a while analysing and thinking, and finally made my decision.

As a result, my hero and heroine meet in a totally new way, and quite important elements have been changed as a result. But I think it is a much better story for it.

So I have been rewriting my first 3 chapters, and am now well on the way to having them shining. Will let you know once they have been sent off, but for now I need to pick up that polishing cloth and get back to work.

My Secret Life

I've blogged about this topic before, but it was brought fully to my attention yesterday.

I told a friend I am writing a Harlequin novel, that I would love nothing more than to make a career of it, and that I'm attending the RWA conference next week. Being a fabulous friend who knows me well, she nodded, mulled over the idea for a minute and then began to ask 1001 questions.

At the end she made the comment it's like a secret society, that I have a whole second life no one knows about. You know what, it's true!

She is only the third person out of my family or writing circles who know about what I am doing. Why? Because I don't want to be constantly asked are you published yet? Can I read it? You should write about blah blah. That's so easy, anyone could do it. And so on.

and

I know so many fellow romance authors, chat to them, critique their work, send them mine, write this blog, help with RWA blog, and have done nearly all of it with my anticipated pen name - but have never met or spoken with them. It's all done in the cyber world.

Together it does have the makings of a secret life in a secret society.

And this is why I'm really excited that next week I will be breaking away, slicing open my secret society by attending the RWA conference in Brisbane. Meeting face-to-face the wonderful people I know by name in the RWA.

See you there.

Karma

Must be Karma.

Within a few hours of posting my last blog I received an email outlining the requirements for my e-mail pitch to Harlequin London. So now I have a smidge over a week to put together a killer pitch and tweek my first chapter before submitting.

My WooHoo's of excitement have since been replaced with groans of terror - how to write a pitch? Is my first chapter really polished? Can I really write at all?

And the little squeals of hope hiding behind them all. What if...?

Not sure how it will go, but fingers crossed.

Conference Pitch... or Not

Finish writing my M&B Sweet and pitch it at the RWAust August conference. Goal #1.

One of my two writing goals for the year. For those of you who have been following my blog you might remember I have 2 major goals for 2009 - plus 8 other goals that are really a mini-action plan to help me achieve my 2 big goals.

But, a spanner in the works. Harlequin aren't actually attending RWAust's annual conference (a scenario that hadn't even occurred to me, duh). This makes it hard to meet my first goal. Or does it?

Well, the fabulous organising committee for the conference is trying to organise to get our mss in front of an editor for assessment. Gulp. With no details what does this mean? And will I need to have my ms ready before August? I have a mental timetable to have my ms polished in time... and of course the timeline fits in with the August conference.

So. This is how I've decided to look at it. If my ms gets assessed by an editor, I've still achieved essentially what pitching would have achieved. With no pitch to stress over in August, I can kick up my heels from the get go and truly enjoy my first conference.

There is always a silver lining.

Word Counts

50,000 words.

That is my goal. 50,000 words. My work in progress is aimed at Harlequin Mills and Boon Sweet so the size of my ms is already determined.

But how do I tell just how many words I've written?

I know there are two different ways of calculating word count.
1. The actual word count
2. The number of pages x 250 (when your page is set up to hold 25 lines).

Originally I'd been following the first method. But then I heard on the grapevine that publishers were more concerned with the number of pages in a book, so I switched to option 2.

Last night I celebrated breaking the 20,000 mark. But then I was told that Harlequin tend to just want the actual word count these days, back to 18,000. Bang. Just like that.

So how am I supposed to count my words?

New Look Blog

Phew. I think I have done it. I have updated my blog. Having been a newbie to blogging (only starting late last year), my skills at creating a blog left a lot to be desired. Sure, the last blog had posts - but that was about it. Hopefully my new blog has a lot more to offer.

I intend to focuss on all the bits of my life that weave into, get in the way of and prop me up as I try to reach my dream. So watch this space. Hopefully "Anita Joy, Harlequin's latest author" will be a post of the future.